glorifying the waffen-ss and nazi war criminals

Glorifying the Waffen-SS and
Nazi War Criminals
Der Landser Magazine,
Published by Pabel-Moewig, a subdivision of the Bauer publishing firm
A special Simon Wiesenthal Center Report
Written by
Dr. Stefan Klemp
July 2013
SIMON
WIESENTHAL
CENTER
leadership with a global reach
report
pages 1-8
letter to minister of interior
pages 10-11
letter to minister of Justice
pages 12-13
visuals pages 14-29
Introduction
From the very beginning, the publication Der Landser has been a topic of controversy. It was
accused of glorifying the Wehrmacht and the Third Reich. Der Landser was first published in
1957. Since then, thousands of these small “pulp” magazines that contain novels on the heroic
battle of the Wehrmacht and the Waffen-SS have been published. They are in the shops all
over Germany and they are available online. While Der Landser has previously been
criticized for whitewashing the Wehrmacht and Nazi Germany, so far its distortion of the role
of the Waffen-SS has not being carefully examined, which is the aim of this report.
Der Landser claims that its “experience reports” on the life of German soldiers during the war
are authentic. But, in fact, the stories in the Der Landser magazines sanitize the Third Reich
by presenting stories of conventional warfare out of context. They methodically reduce the
war to stories of German heroes, purposely ignoring the crimes committed by their units as if
they are irrelevant. The war they present appears to be an adventure, albeit with some
casualties. Most of the stories told in that manner deal with the Wehrmacht, but others tell
stories of the SS and police in the same benign style.
Another feature of Der Landser appears on page two of each issue. It presents individual
German soldiers or officers, who were honored for bravery during the war. Most of them
received one of the Third Reich’s highest decorations, The “Ritterkreuz”. Among these
soldiers were members of the Waffen-SS. One recent issue praises Generalfeldmarschall
Albert Kesselring as a brave and brilliant officer. This report will examine who some of these
“heroes” really were.
During the research I got in touch with Professor Peter Conrady of the University of
Dortmund who examined Der Landser in his book “Faschismus in Texten und Medien:
Gestern – heute – morgen?” that was published in 2004. He wrote to me that, “This subject is
especially worth dealing with because it has been totally ignored for more than 10 years.” He
certainly is right.
Today, these magazines can be found in the shops in railway stations. It is also sold online by
Amazon and can be obtained from other online bookstores. Every week there is a new story
on the “heroes” of the German Armed Forces during World War II, including the Waffen-SS.
As Professor Conrady puts it: “Here, a brown mash appears that is still alive, almost
unnoticed by the responsible political establishment.” He thinks that it is about time to do
something about it.
1
Background on Der Landser, Pabel-Moewig and Bauer:
In the beginning of the 1970’s, the Bauer publishing firm took over the Pabel-Moewig
publishing firm. Since 1999 Der Landser magazine comes out under the direction of the
editor Guntram Schulze-Wegener, who is also editor-in-chief for two historical magazines of
Pabel-Moewig, “Geschichte und Wissen” and “Militär und Geschichte”. According to the
German newspaper, Sueddeutsche Zeitung, (June 21, 2013), Bauer is about to become
Europe’s biggest magazine publisher.
According to Professor Conrady, the circulation of Der Landser in 2003 was
42,000 for the regular magazine,
28,000 for a Großband (some kind of special edition) and
20,000 for Der Landser SOS (on the navy)
Der Landser today claims to be non-political. Nazi war crimes are not denied, but neither are
they mentioned and if mentioned often excused by accusing the other side (the enemy) of
committing war crimes or by saying that – for example during the Warsaw uprising of 1944 –
the Poles had started the cruelties and the German extermination of the civilian population
was only the reaction to that. (Der Landser Großband Nr. 1303)
Der Landser transforms the Waffen-SS into a regular military formation like the Wehrmacht,
ignoring its association with Hitler’s “Final Solution”. The fact is that units of the Wehrmacht,
as well as the Waffen-SS, were very much a part of Hitler’s war against the Jews. The fact
that members of the Waffen-SS were ideological soldiers is ignored by the editors and authors
of Der Landser.
Research
Granted, the editors do not engage in propagating anti-Semitism today, but at the same time
their attempts to get around German law are dubious, because by intentionally omitting the
true historical background, they, in effect, glorify the Third Reich.
This is clearly in evidence by Der Landser’s treatment of its “heroes”, which regularly
appears on page two.
Let us now examine who these “heroes” really are. The results are alarming.
Actual examples of the glorification of SS members:
Der Landser not only glorifies the Wehrmacht and the Third Reich, but even members of the
Waffen-SS, including Nazi war criminals and members of Waffen-SS units notorious for their
participation in war crimes among them the SS-Division “Totenkopf”.
Example Nr. 1
Der Landser Nr. 2883 published in June 2013 introduces SS-Unterscharführer, August Zingel
of SS-Totenkopf-Infantry-Regiment Nr. 1 as “Ritterkreuzträger der Waffen-SS”.
(Document 1)
Example Nr. 2
In Der Landser Großband Nr. 1303, another Ritterkreuzträger of the Waffen-SS, SSOberscharführer Balthasar Woll, is presented. Woll was a member of the SS-Infantry-
2
Regiment 1 of SS-Division “Totenkopf” in 1941. He was a Waffen-SS volunteer and later
belonged to another infamous unit, the 1. SS-Panzer-Division “Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler”.
(Document 2)
Example Nr. 3
Der Landser Nr. 2885 introduces SS-Sturmbannführer Anton Ameiser as one of the
“Ritterkreuzträger der Waffen-SS”. Ameiser volunteered for the SS Cavalry. Research
indicates that Ameiser, in 1941 and 1942, served in the 1st SS Cavalry Brigade that
participated in mass murder in the East during that time.
(Document 3)
Upon further research at “Apabiz” (an anti-fascist archive based in Kreuzberg), and the
“Zentrum für Antisemitismusforschung” at Berlin Technical University, I found many
additional examples. In the Apabiz archive I discovered seven more Waffen-SS members and
at the Zentrum für Antisemitismusforschung another 19. Altogether, 29 SS “heroes” were
featured by Der Landser magazine on page two. Of the 29, I was able to check the records of
the former Berlin Document Center that are now kept at German Federal Archives in Berlin.
The results of my research:
24 out of the 29 SS men featured by Der Landser served in units that participated in Nazi war
crimes. Here is the list of the units where these 24 were attached:
1st SS-Panzer Division Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler (Times and places of crimes committed:
May 1940 France; Taganrog Oct. 1941, Febr. 43 Soviet Union, Sept. 1943 Italy)
2nd SS-Pz.Div. Das Reich (September 1941 Minsk, June 1944 France)
SS-Pz.Gren.Rgt. 4 “Der Führer” (Oradour, 10. June 1944)
3rd SS-Pz.Div. “Totenkopf” (May 1940 Bethune/France, 1941-1942 Soviet Union)
4th SS-Polizei Pz.Gren.Div. (März 1944 Larissa, Distomo/Greece June 1944)
5th SS-Pz. Div. Wiking (Summer 1941 and Feb. 1944, Soviet Union; Warsaw, Summer 1944)
8th SS-Kavallerie Div. “Florian Geyer” (1943 Warsaw)
SS-Kavalleriebrigade (Summer 1941 Prpjet swamp, Pinsk)
Examples of Nazi War Criminals featured in Der Landser:
Worse, three of the SS-Fuehrer presented in Der Landser are known Nazi war criminals.
The first and most prominent Nazi war criminal who made it into Der Landser is Hermann
Fegelein who was commander of the SS-Kavalleriebrigade in 1941 and responsible for the
murder of 40,000 Jews in the Soviet Union. He is introduced as a hero in Der Landser
Großband Nr. 715. (Document 4) He was not convicted after the war only because he was
killed in 1945 in Berlin.
The second Nazi war criminal is SS-Standartenführer Günther Anhalt who served as an
officer in the 2nd SS-Police Regiment when it exterminated the Ghetto of Glebokie in Belarus
3
on August 20, 1943, where 3,000 Jews were murdered. He also participated in many so called
“anti Partisan operations” in Belarus in 1943 and 1944 as commander of this unit. (Der
Landser Nr. 2113, Document 5) He also was killed in Berlin just before the end of the war.
The third SS-Fuehrer who can be characterised as a Nazi war criminal and is introduced by
Der Landser is Anton Ameiser (see above). (Der Landser Nr. 2885, Document 3)
He lived in Germany until he died in 1976.
It is important to note that eight of these SS officers joined the Nazi Party and/or the SS
before 1933, before the Nazis came to power. Even those who joined the SS after 1933
proved themselves hard-core Nazis. For example SS-Fuehrer Dr. Wolfgang Roehder. He
joined the SA in 1933, the SS in 1936 and the NSDAP in 1937. According to his Berlin
Document Center records, his superiors were very pleased because as a leader and trainer he
was able to turn his men into “fanatical fighters and SS-men.” He also served for the SD, Nazi
Security Service, (Der Landser Nr. 1851, Document 6)
It is ludicrous to attempt to justify how such people could be presented to the German public
as heroes without glorifying the unspeakable acts committed by the SS during the Second
World War. In addition, General Field Marshal Albert Kesselring was featured in Der
Landser, and is described as a legendary and impressive officer. Kesselring was convicted of
war crimes in Italy. (Documents 7, 8)
The Waffen-SS
The SS as a whole was adjudicated as a criminal organization at the Nuremberg War Crimes
Trials. This certainly includes the “SS-Totenkopf” units of which nine of the above
mentioned SS soldiers belonged.
The Waffen-SS was a criminal organization directly linked to Concentration Camps. One
example is the Mauthausen trial at Dachau in 1946: 55 out of 61 accused were members of the
Waffen-SS. (Klemp, Aribert Heim, page 37) In general, guards and commanders of
concentration camps were members of the Waffen-SS. (Klemp, Aribert Heim, page 68) The
Waffen-SS was also responsible for the administration. For example the concentration camp
of Majdanek officially was a “POW camp of the Waffen-SS”. Injured members of SSDivisions were sent to guard concentration camps. In exchange, younger guards were
transferred to the SS-Divisions.
These so-called military units of the Waffen-SS were deeply involved in the Holocaust –
outside the concentration camps, in the so-called rear area. Battalions of the Waffen-SS were
attached to the Einsatzgruppen of the Sicherheitspolizei and SD.
Der Landser minimizes the role of the Waffen-SS by portraying its members as ordinary
soldiers. Here, Der Landser uses the same method as for the Wehrmacht. The Waffen-SS is
described as a regular military unit.
Examples:
Der Landser No. 1 – English: Winter battle in the East. December 1941 – Soviet
Counteroffensive before Moscow – Combat scenes of the Waffen SS division Das Reich, by
Lebrecht Sandner. (available via amazon.de)
4
Der Landser Großband Nr. 753: Die Ritterkreuzträger von Kowel, 1944, Originalbericht nach
dem Kriegstagebuch des Panzerregiments Wiking, by K. Kollatz. This is a very special
edition featuring 4 high-ranking officers of Division Wiking: Johannes Mühlenkamp, Otto
Schneider, Karl Nikolussi-Leck and Hans Dorr (including photographs). With these three, the
number of glorified SS men would increase up to 32.
Der Landser Nr. 2283: Die Schlacht vor Berlin. Der Endkampf der SS-Jagdpanzer-Abteilung
561 unter Ritterkreuzträger Jakob Lobmeyer – Tapferkeitstaten im Schatten der späteren
Niederlage, by L.S. Robert. (Document 9)
Der Landser Nr. 2757: Leibstandarte am Feind. Ostfront 1943 - die sowjetische
Großoffensive beginnt - Einheiten der SS-Division “Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler” treten zum
Gegenstoß an, by W. Wallenda. (Document 10)
Der Landser Nr. 2809: “Wiking” im Feuer. Ostfront 1941 – Kradschützen der Waffen-SS in
Russland – Der Tod ist ihr ständiger Begleiter – Nach authentischen Berichten, by W.
Wallenda. (available via amazon.de)
Der Landser, Nr. 2822: Waffen-SS im Westen. 1940 – Die SS-Verfügungsdivision im
Westfeldzug – Soldaten der Standarte I “Deutschland” kämpfen den Gegner nieder, by W.
Wallenda.
Der Landser Nr. 2865: “Drauf, dran, durch!” Russland 1941 – Pioniere der 4. SS-PolizeiDivision ringen mit der Roten Armee an der Luga – Nach authentischen Unterlagen, by W.
Wallenda.
Der Landser Nr. 2883: “Leibstandarte vor!” 1941 – Die Waffen-SS in Russland –
Artilleristen der LSSAH zu Beginn von „Barbarossa“ – Nach authentischen Unterlagen, by W.
Wallenda. (Document 11)
Crimes of Totenkopf Division:
The Totenkopf Division is especially connected with war crimes as this division originally
was formed with KZ concentration camp guards. The first commander of this division was
none other than Theodor Eicke, the former commandant of infamous Dachau Concentration
Camp. I want to emphasize that that one third of the 29 SS that appear in Der Landser
magazine as heroes, in fact served in Totenkopf units.
3rd SS-Pz. Div. “Totenkopf” carried out war crimes in France in 1940 near Bethune and in
several cases from 1941 until 1942 in the Soviet Union.
The criminal career of the unit was evident since it was recruited from the personnel of the
“SS-Totenkopfverbände”, the guards of the concentration camps. These men had been trained
at concentration camps. The impersonation of the link between the unit and camps was the
first commander of the Division, Theodor Eicke, who had been commander of KZ Dachau
before, the model concentration camp. If Dachau was the model camp, Totenkopf was the
model for the SS-Divisions.
At the end of 1942, the unit was sent back to France from the Soviet Union for a so-called
“refitting” after losses in the east. After that, the number of camp guards went down, but still
the unit was filled with new recruits from concentration camps.
5
On May 27 1940, members of the division shot 97 British POW at Le Paradis in France.
The killers belonged either to 3rd company or 4th company of SS-Totenkopf-Infantry
Regiment 2.
From May 1940 on, SS-Division “Totenkopf” carried out the murder of French soldiers with
non-European background together with the Wehrmacht Infantry-Regiment
“Großdeutschland”. (Snydor, Soldaten des Todes, p. 100f.) Snydor points out, that officers of
the division killed black and Morroccan soldiers during the battle in France. (p. 257)
On June 19, 1940, members of 5th company, 2nd battalion SS-Totenkopf Infantry Regiment 2
killed Moroccan soldiers of the French Army near L’Arbresle in the area of Dijon.
In several cases, members of “Totenkopfdivision” shot black PoWs, who were also French
soldiers. According to a report of June 21 1940, 3rd Battalion of SS-Totenkopf-Infantry
Regiment 1, 24. Squadron killed 24 French soldiers with black skin; seven other blacks were
killed in the battle while 24 white French soldiers were arrested as PoW.
The balance for the whole day: 25 French POW, 44 dead black soldiers.
In the Soviet Union, Division Totenkopf carried out the “Kommissarbefehl” of the
Wehrmacht. They also participated in the deportation of forced laborers to Germany.
After losses in front battle in the East, a Company of the “Waffen-SS-Battalion z.b.V.” was
transferred to Division Totenkopf. This unit had participated in the murder of Jews in the
North of the Soviet Union and in the Baltics with the Einsatzgruppe A. The Battalion was
attached to 3rd Totenkopf-Infantry Regiment. (Snydor, p. 263f.)
There were two trials against members of Division “Totenkopf” in the DDR, taken from the
collection “DDR-Justiz und NS-Verbrechen“, edited by Frits Rueter, Amsterdam.
Verdict Number 1078
In 1961, Hugo Willi Friedrich Eg. was sentenced to 5 years imprisonment for participation in
the hanging of three civilians, shooting of six civilians and shooting of ill Soviet POW on the
march from Demjansk to Staraja Russa by a court at Schwerin. He was a member of SSTotenkopf Division. The crimes were committed in 1941 and 1942
Verdict Nr. 1198.
Heinz Sch. was sentenced to 13 years imprisonment for the murder of Jews and civilians in
the Demjansk area in 1941. He was convicted in 1951 by a court at Greifswald.
Swastikas
Apart from the features on SS-officers, at least in the past Der Landser frequently published
Swastikas. (Documents 12, 13 - Der Landser Nr. 2301; Documents 14, 15 – Der Landser Nr.
2285)
Conclusion
In conclusion, based on this report, I firmly believe the Der Landser glorifies the WaffenSS, Nazi war criminals and the Third Reich. One must certainly ask whether it is
appropriate for a global publishing firm like Bauer to continue to distribute such
6
dubious material. Another serious question is whether glorifying individual SS members
on page two is even legal. It seems to me that the above-mentioned publications may in
fact be violating § 86 of the German Criminal Law.
7
Literature and sources:
Antoni, Ernst, “Landser” - Hefte. Wegbereiter für den Rechtsradikalismus, hg. Von Wolf
Brühan, München 1979.
Dirk Wilking, “Der Landser” - Wie ein Mann ein Mann wird, in: Wolfram Hülsemann,
Michael Kohlstruck (Hg.). Mobiles Beratungsteam, Einblicke. Ein Werkstattbuch, Potsdam
2004, s. 61-94.
Peter Conrady, “Wir lagen vor Stalingrad“. Oder: nichts gelernt aus der Geschichte? Die
Landser-Hefte der 50er und 60er Jahre, in: Peter Conrady (Hg.) Faschismus in Texten und
Medien: Gestern - Heute - Morgen?
Oberhausen 2004, S. 119-134.
Charles W. Sydnor, Soldaten des Todes. Die 3. SS-Division “Totenkopf” 1933–1945. 4.
Auflage. Schöningh, Paderborn 2001.
Der Landser Nr. 874, 966, 1311, 1762, 1791, 1851, 1931, 1954, 1965, 1971, 2065, 2068,
2092, 2113, 2123, 2129, 2137, 2139, 2175, 2285, 2339, 2734, 2738, 2757, 2883, 2885
Der Landser Großband Nr. 651, 715, 753, 1303
Der Landser Sammelband Nr. 549
Gerd Pommer, Der Landser präsentiert Ritterkreuzträger: Generalfeldmarschall Kesselring,
Rastatt 2013.
Bundesarchive, Berlin Document Center (BDC)
RS B 193, D 091, E 092, E 5502, F 0380, F 0449,
SSO 003, 007, 018A, 023C, 039B, 067B, 083B, 087B, 116, 121, 130, 150, 159, 179, 186,
205A, 306A, 392A,
SM/SS S 051
SM/SS U 36
SS A 5
8
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SIMON
WIESENTHAL
CENTER
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Rabbi Marvin Hier
Founder and Dean
BoaRD oF TRusTees
Larry a. Mizel
Chairman
Nelson Peltz
Co-Chairman
ed snider
Co-Chairman
Merv adelson
allen R. adler
Dawn arnall
Bill Belzberg
Frances Belzberg
samuel Belzberg*
syd Belzberg
Lawrence Bloomberg
Richard Blum
elliot Broidy
Norman Brownstein
alan I. Casden
Gordon Diamond
Leslie Diamond
Jonathan Dolgen
George Feldenkreis
Howard Friedman
Michael Fuchs
Russell Galbut
Brian Greenspun
Daniel Greenspun
steve J. Ghysels
Judah Hertz
Murray Huberfeld
stuart Isen
ezra Katz
Jeffrey Katzenberg
stephen a. Levin
Ira a. Lipman
Peter Lowy
James Lustig
Peter May
Ron Meyer
Jack Nagel
Brett Ratner
Martin Rosen
Lee C. samson
Gerald W. schwartz
David shapell
sidney sheinberg
Jay snider
Don soffer
Jeffrey soffer
Jaime sohacheski
Burt sugarman
sol Teichman
Marc a. utay
Gary Winnick
Rosalie Zalis
July 22, 2013
The Honorable Hans-Peter Friedrich
Minister of Interior
Federal Republic of Germany
Alt-Moabit 101D
10559 Berlin, Germany
Via Email
Dear Minister Friedrich:
I am writing to you with a request from the Simon Wiesenthal Center
that your Ministry investigate Der Landser magazine for violating section
86 of the penal code, which prohibits glorifying Nazism. Der Landser is
published by Pabel-Moeig a subdivision of the Bauer Publishing.
We have come to this conclusion after conducting our own independent
research into the matter. Dr. Stefan Klemp, a renowned German expert on
the crimes of the Third Reich and long time Wiesenthal Center consultant,
undertook the study. His report, which I am enclosing along with 15
photographs, shows clearly why such an investigation is necessary.
Klemp writes, “Der Landser claims that its ‘experience reports’ on the life
of German soldiers during the War are authentic. But, in fact, the stories
in the Der Landser magazine sanitize the Third Reich by presenting stories
of conventional warfare out of context. They methodically reduce the war
to stories of German heroes, purposely ignoring the crimes committed by
their units as if they are irrelevant. The war they present appears to be
an adventure, albeit with some casualties. Most of the stories told in that
manner deal with the Wehrmacht, but others tell stories of the SS and
police in the same benign style.”
He goes on to say, “I want to emphasize that that one third of the 29
SS that appear in Der Landser magazine as heroes, in fact served in
Totenkopf units.” These units of course were directly involved in the Nazis’
‘Final Solution’.
*Founding Chairman
BoaRD oF GoveRNoRs
Brian Roberts
INTeRNaTIoNaL HeaDquaRTeRs 1399 south Roxbury Drive La, Ca 90035-4709 tel. 310.553.9036
10
Ne W yoRK
CHICaGo
MIaMI
ToRoNTo
fax . 310.553.4521
JeRusaLeM
www.wiesenthal.com
PaRIs
BueNos aIRes
SIMON
WIESENTHAL
CENTER
leadership with a global reach
Dr. Klemp’s report comes at a time when crimes by the far right in
Germany rose from 16,873 to 17,616, when anti-Semitic attacks are up
10.6 percent. It follows on the footsteps of a 2012 Government report
presented to the Bundestag that showed that 20 percent of all Germans
still harbor anti-Semitic attitudes.
I know you will agree that we must leave no stone unturned in closing
down any attempts to rewrite history. The post-war German generation,
forced to face the reality that history’s greatest crime was committed by
fellow Germans, were right to protect themselves against the reoccurrence
by enacting tough laws against glorifying the Third Reich. We must now
uphold those laws to the fullest extent and offer no succor to the neoNazis, skinheads, and jihadists other than the bare truth that there was
no honor or nobility ever attached to the Third Reich other than the simple
fact that Nazism and her supporters were the apex of evil and the enemies
of mankind.
The Simon Wiesenthal Center believes that by presenting members of
the Waffen SS, members of the infamous Totenkopf units and Nazi war
criminals as German heroes, the Der Landser is desecrating the memory
of the Holocaust and glorifying Nazism. We urge your ministry to begin
an investigation on Der Landser magazine immediately and to take the
appropriate action.
Looking forward to hearing from you.
Cordially,
Rabbi Marvin Hier
Founder and Dean
Simon Wiesenthal Center
P.S. I have also sent a similar letter to the Honorable Sabine LeutheusserSchnarrenberger, Minister of Justice of the Federal Republic of Germany.
Enclosures
11
worldwide activism
moriah films
campus outreach
museum of tolerance los angeles
museum of tolerance new york
museum of tolerance jerusalem
tools for tolerance®
SIMON
WIESENTHAL
CENTER
leadership with a global reach
Rabbi Marvin Hier
Founder and Dean
BoaRD oF TRusTees
Larry a. Mizel
Chairman
Nelson Peltz
Co-Chairman
ed snider
Co-Chairman
Merv adelson
allen R. adler
Dawn arnall
Bill Belzberg
Frances Belzberg
samuel Belzberg*
syd Belzberg
Lawrence Bloomberg
Richard Blum
elliot Broidy
Norman Brownstein
alan I. Casden
Gordon Diamond
Leslie Diamond
Jonathan Dolgen
George Feldenkreis
Howard Friedman
Michael Fuchs
Russell Galbut
Brian Greenspun
Daniel Greenspun
steve J. Ghysels
Judah Hertz
Murray Huberfeld
stuart Isen
ezra Katz
Jeffrey Katzenberg
stephen a. Levin
Ira a. Lipman
Peter Lowy
James Lustig
Peter May
Ron Meyer
Jack Nagel
Brett Ratner
Martin Rosen
Lee C. samson
Gerald W. schwartz
David shapell
sidney sheinberg
Jay snider
Don soffer
Jeffrey soffer
Jaime sohacheski
Burt sugarman
sol Teichman
Marc a. utay
Gary Winnick
Rosalie Zalis
July 22, 2013
The Honorable Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger
Minister of Justice
Federal Republic of Germany
Mohrenstrasse 37
10117 Berlin, Germany
Via Email
Dear Minister Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger:
I am writing to you with a request from the Simon Wiesenthal Center
that your Ministry investigate Der Landser magazine for violating section
86 of the penal code, which prohibits glorifying Nazism. Der Landser is
published by Pabel-Moeig a subdivision of the Bauer Publishing.
We have come to this conclusion after conducting our own independent
research into the matter. Dr. Stefan Klemp, a renowned German expert on
the crimes of the Third Reich and long time Wiesenthal Center consultant,
undertook the study. His report, which I am enclosing along with 15
photographs, shows clearly why such an investigation is necessary.
Klemp writes, “Der Landser claims that its ‘experience reports’ on the life
of German soldiers during the War are authentic. But, in fact, the stories
in the Der Landser magazine sanitize the Third Reich by presenting stories
of conventional warfare out of context. They methodically reduce the war
to stories of German heroes, purposely ignoring the crimes committed by
their units as if they are irrelevant. The war they present appears to be
an adventure, albeit with some casualties. Most of the stories told in that
manner deal with the Wehrmacht, but others tell stories of the SS and
police in the same benign style.”
He goes on to say, “I want to emphasize that that one third of the 29
SS that appear in Der Landser magazine as heroes, in fact served in
Totenkopf units.” These units of course were directly involved in the Nazis’
‘Final Solution’.
*Founding Chairman
BoaRD oF GoveRNoRs
Brian Roberts
INTeRNaTIoNaL HeaDquaRTeRs 1399 south Roxbury Drive La, Ca 90035-4709 tel. 310.553.9036
12
Ne W yoRK
CHICaGo
MIaMI
ToRoNTo
fax . 310.553.4521
JeRusaLeM
www.wiesenthal.com
PaRIs
BueNos aIRes
SIMON
WIESENTHAL
CENTER
leadership with a global reach
Dr. Klemp’s report comes at a time when crimes by the far right in
Germany rose from 16,873 to 17,616, when anti-Semitic attacks are up
10.6 percent. It follows on the footsteps of a 2012 Government report
presented to the Bundestag that showed that 20 percent of all Germans
still harbor anti-Semitic attitudes.
I know you will agree that we must leave no stone unturned in closing
down any attempts to rewrite history. The post-war German generation,
forced to face the reality that history’s greatest crime was committed by
fellow Germans, were right to protect themselves against the reoccurrence
by enacting tough laws against glorifying the Third Reich. We must now
uphold those laws to the fullest extent and offer no succor to the neoNazis, skinheads, and jihadists other than the bare truth that there was
no honor or nobility ever attached to the Third Reich other than the simple
fact that Nazism and her supporters were the apex of evil and the enemies
of mankind.
The Simon Wiesenthal Center believes that by presenting members of
the Waffen SS, members of the infamous Totenkopf units and Nazi war
criminals as German heroes, the Der Landser is desecrating the memory
of the Holocaust and glorifying Nazism. We urge your ministry to begin
an investigation on Der Landser magazine immediately and to take the
appropriate action.
Looking forward to hearing from you.
Cordially,
Rabbi Marvin Hier
Founder and Dean
Simon Wiesenthal Center
P.S. I have also sent a similar letter to the Honorable Hans-Peter Friedrich,
Minister of Interior of the Federal Republic of Germany.
Enclosures
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1
14
2
15
3
16
4
17
5
18
6
19
7
20
8
21
9
22
10
23
Nr. 2883
www.landser.de
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W. Wallenda
„Leibstandarte vor!“
1941 – Die Waffen-SS in Rußland – Artilleristen der LSSAH zu
Beginn von „Barbarossa“ – Nach authentischen Unterlagen
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Jetzt bestellen auf www.PresseKatalog.de
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25
13
26
14
27
15
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Documents in order of appearance
SS-men:
Document 1, August Zingel, Der Landser Nr. 2883, Juni 2013
Document 2, Balthasar Woll, Der Landser Großband Nr. 1303.
Document 3, Anton Ameiser, Der Landser Nr. 2885, Juli 2013.
Document 4, Hermann Fegelein, Der Landser Großband Nr. 715.
Document 5, Günther Anhalt, Der Landser Nr. 2114.
Document 6, Dr. Wolfgang Roehder, Der Landser Nr. 1851.
Document 7 and 8, Albert Kesselring, Der Landser paperback 2013.
Stories on Waffen SS
Document 9, Der Landser Nr. 2283.
Document 10, Der Landser Nr. 2757.
Document 11, Der Landser Nr. 2883.
Swastikas:
Documents 12-13 (Der Landser Nr. 2301), 14-15 (Der Landser Nr. 2285).
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