German POWs in Italy & Grandfather's Information

[Arunas]

Greetings,

I am looking for information on my my grandfather who served in the Wehrmacht. From the limited information I have his unit was sent to Italy around 1944. I have a unit photo and will post it here shortly. The unit is standing in the snow and I would suspect the location to be somewhere in northern Italy. My grandfather left behind a copper colored oval ID tag that had his name on it as well as an ID number. It has a groove in the middle like a traditional dog tag. I know that true German dog tags did not list the names of soldiers on them. My grandfather's name was Michel Szeschka which was Germanized as he was Lithuanian. According to my family relatives, he was taken prisoner and was returned back to Germany after the war. I suspect that he was captured in 1944 or 1945 but I am not sure at this time. I have an old ID photo which shows him in a Coastal Artillery uniform which was taken earlier.

My grandfather's family lived in the Klaipeda region of Lithuania or Memelland and by the start of the war were considered to be German citizens or "Volksdeutsche". During the Soviet annexation of Lithuania in 1940 they were allowed to leave Lithuania for Germany. I believe that his family went to Hamburg and I suspect that he was inducted into military service there. This might explain his photo in a Coastal Artillery uniform. I suspect that as things worsened he was transferred into the Wehrmacht and sent to Italy. He was 45 years old in 1944 and most of the fellows in his unit look about the same age or even older. This probably meant that younger men were either on the Russian front or in France. Eventually my grandfather emigrated to the United States.

My goal would try to recreate his service record in the German armed forces. I suspect that I can some how find his POW record through NARA. I contacted the German Embassy's military attache's office who recommended that I contact the Military Historical Institute in Potsdam for further information. Any other research suggestions would be welcomed. I knew my grandfather and he was a great man. He died in 1972. I miss him.

[Hans]

From info. I have Potsdam will not assist. You need to go there in person and do your own research. WAS[t] is your best bet. His date of birth is absolutely essential.

- Hans