Commissar D, the Evil wrote:Aye, Forgotten Heroes is the Honor of Feldgrau!!! Please , Please tell us more about Hans Knospler, as we are always honored to know More!
Some folk are disposed ti believe that we--Feldgrau--are inclined to know as little as possible about Heroes--I am here you tell you that every True Feldgruian is here to learn about your Ancestor's courage, nothing m or less. The sacrifices of a Landser at Stalingrad, of all places, is a matter that concerns even the most lax of us all, a place of HONOR!!!
Very Best,
D, the EviL Commissar
Hans Knospler is one of my relatives, not really sure how close because of a screwed up family tree. He was in the Waffen-SS, and his ultimate rank was lieutenant (AKA Obersturmfuhrer)
I really don't know much about him, because he came to the United States illegally and my relatives are trying to cover him up. They have a few period photos of him that I will see soon, but for now, I have no idea what he looked like.
He was very young (17-19) when he was recruited. He lived on a farm in Austria with his sisters and parents.
So I was told, one of his sisters and his mother were creating anti-national social propoganda leaflets that were speaking out against the government and the war. When the recruiters came for Hans, he refused to join, so later they came back and threatened him with his sister and mother's safety.
Obviously, he agreed to join, and served in the eastern front. He always complained how cold it was, and told a story of how he and his men were in a defensive trench when they were attacked by the Russians. Running down the trench, he fell followered from a heavy blow to his back. He reached over, thinking he had been shot, which he had.
Fortunately, he was wearing so much winter clothing, that he was protected by the wall of steel. He counted six bullets stuck in his coats. Lucky him
He got frostbight later in his genitals, and had them removed
He was then sent back to Austria, but was considered of no further use since he was not fighting, hence; his mother and sister were tried and sentenced to a concentration camp. His sister was experimented on and died, but his mother survived.
Afterwards, he was sent back to the east in the last ditch effort to get all the men together to fight. He was able to retreat to the west, where he surrendered to American troops and sat in a POW camp for a while.
After his release, he came to the USA illegally, and he died about 10 years ago. He still held alot of hatred for the Russian people to his death, and he held some hatred for the Jewish people, not because of the propoganda going around during the Second World War and the Holocaust, but because he blamed them for the war and his suffering.
I never met the guy, but this is what my family members told me. I know alot of the information has HUGE gaps in it, but this is only because I don't know everything.
, Are you really going to revive this thread about ME ? 
