32 SS Division ,,30 Januar,,

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zoltay
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32 SS Division ,,30 Januar,,

Post by zoltay »

:[] Could any one recommend any books about 32 SS Division ,, 30 Januar,, ?? I am trying to find out what happened to the 200/250 men that were transferred from 26 SS Division ,,Hungaria,, in January/February 1945.
panzermahn
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Re: 32 SS Division ,,30 Januar,,

Post by panzermahn »

Georg Tessin's book on Waffen SS OoB should have snippets of these units but other than that, don't expect much on English language secondary sources...

Dr. Norbert Svamzeber book on Hungarian Waffen SS (in Hungarian but I can't recall the title but it seems it is out of print at the moment) should also have some info on them
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zoltay
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Re: 32 SS Division ,,30 Januar,,

Post by zoltay »

Thanks for the help.
Norberts book does not as far as i am aware mention the men who got transferred to ,,30 Januar,,. The subject is mentioned in another Hungarian book. There are also 2 lists of names contained in the archives of the Hungarian Military museum dated 27.02.1945 of men who were transferred but these are not available to copy. A updated version of Norberts book is suppose to becoming out sometime in the future (and with a English version) so I have been told.
Harry64
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Re: 32 SS Division ,,30 Januar,,

Post by Harry64 »

You know this book:

Kampf und Untergang der 32. SS-Freiwilligen-Grenadier-Division "30. Januar" from Rolf Michaelis, unfortunately in German

also a good help is this link:

http://forum.panzer-archiv.de/viewtopic.php?t=7329

maybe it helps.
Blix
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Re: 32 SS Division ,,30 Januar,,

Post by Blix »

Michaelis' book is available also in English.
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zoltay
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Re: 32 SS Division ,,30 Januar,,

Post by zoltay »

Thanks for the help. I know about Rolfs book and hope to get a copy eventually. It will go on the ever growing pile of things to translate lol. :[]
Harry64
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Re: 32 SS Division ,,30 Januar,,

Post by Harry64 »

a few others, that can help:

LANDWEHR, RICHARD. 'V. SS Mountain Corps and 32nd SS Panzer-Grenadier-Division "30 Januar" on the Oder Front, 1945'

Truppenkameradschaft: 'Pionierchronik 32. SS-Freiwilligen-Grenadier-Division „30. Januar“. '

Johann Untch: 'SS-Artillerie-Regiment 32 der Division "30.Januar" Endkampf - "Tage die man nie vergißt"'
Stephan H.
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Re: 32 SS Division ,,30 Januar,,

Post by Stephan H. »

I just finished building the ’30 Januar’ operational history for my Vol2 of the Oder Front 1945 series. I did not mention the Hungarian unit.

Regarding the Hungarians, Tissier does mention a group of Hungarians (200/250 men) that were disarmed (as per Heinrici’s direction to disarm foreign soldiers on the Oderfront—with a few exceptions) and that they were rearmed on 19 April by a SS Major Hengstmann with “weapons discarded by fleeing German soldiers and incorporated into the group moving to the support of the XI.SS-Panzer-Korps.” (Zhukov on the Oder, p. 236.)

This might be the Hungarians you are looking for.

I can tell you that IMHO Michaelis and Landwehr are barely adequate sources for the division, but unfortunately there is just not much published material on the unit. Michaelis relies on scant documents and Landwehr on interviews. I have not seen either Truppenkameradschaft: 'Pionierchronik 32. SS-Freiwilligen-Grenadier-Division „30. Januar“' or Johann Untch: 'SS-Artillerie-Regiment 32 der Division "30.Januar" Endkampf - "Tage die man nie vergißt"' but I’d like to see those!

Another excellent source I would recommend, though it has no mention of the Hungarians is Helmut E. Seifert’s Erinnerungen 1945 an Falke: Der Waffen-SS Regiment z.b.v. Fuchsbau. It contains a wealth of first person accounts for the division and units that were subordinated to the V.SS-Gebirgs-Korps. A very imformative source, indeed.

Cheers,
Stephan
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zoltay
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Re: 32 SS Division ,,30 Januar,,

Post by zoltay »

Thanks for the extra info. It is possible that the group of Hungarians you mention is the group I am trying to get information on. I have a date of February 28th 1945 for the transfer from 26 ,,Hungaria" to 32 ,,30 Januar" (the documents in the archives are dated 27th February 1945 and clearly state "32 SS Division ,,30 Januar" ) 26 ,,Hungaria" was in the Gruno area around this date during their retreat from Neuhammer. Not sure about the dis-arming as ,,Hungaria" had lost most of their weapons and equipment around January 14th 1945 as the Germans had taken them back. Its another avenue for me to explore. :[]
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