Hitler's 50th Birthday Celebration (20 April 1939)

Adolf Hitler’s fiftieth birthday on 20 April 1939 was marked throughout the German Reich as a national holiday, the only occasion on which the date was officially designated a public holiday by the government. The celebrations, carefully orchestrated under the direction of Reichsminister für Volksaufklärung und Propaganda Joseph Goebbels, were designed as a grand demonstration of national unity, the cult of the Führer, and the military strength of the rearmed Wehrmacht. Berlin served as the principal stage for the most elaborate of these observances, while similar festivities, including military parades and party ceremonies, took place in cities and towns across the Reich and in annexed territories.

Preparations had been underway for weeks. Public buildings, streets, and private houses were ordered to display flags bearing the Hakenkreuz. The newly completed Ost-West-Achse, a broad ceremonial boulevard designed by Albert Speer as a central element of the planned transformation of Berlin into Welthauptstadt Germania, was prepared as the main route for processions and the principal parade. On the afternoon of 19 April, Hitler led a motorcade of fifty white limousines along this thoroughfare. Crowds lined the route, and the occasion was used to inaugurate the avenue formally. In the evening, Goebbels delivered a nationwide radio address praising Hitler as a man of historic stature who had achieved bloodless territorial gains and restored German power. Later that night, members of the “old guard” of the NSDAP from the various Gaue staged a torchlight procession. At midnight, within the Neue Reichskanzlei, leading figures of the regime offered formal congratulations and presented gifts. These included works of art, porcelain from Meissen, statues, tapestries, models of architectural projects and military equipment, rare coins, antique weapons, and numerous other items. Speer offered a large model of a planned triumphal arch. Heinrich Himmler presented a painting of Frederick the Great. Ferdinand Porsche and representatives of the Deutsche Arbeitsfront delivered a convertible Volkswagen. Hitler also inspected a model of the Westwall fortifications and a model of his personal Focke-Wulf Fw 200 Condor aircraft. Contemporary accounts note that he examined some gifts with interest, mocked others, and largely ignored the rest.

On the morning of 20 April itself, the band of the Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler performed a short concert in the garden of the Reichskanzlei, playing the national anthem and the Horst-Wessel-Lied. Hitler appeared briefly to acknowledge the musicians before returning indoors to view the accumulated presents. Shortly after 10:00, he departed the Reichskanzlei in an open Mercedes, travelling via the Stadtkommandantur to the reviewing stand erected opposite the Technische Hochschule in Charlottenburg along the Ost-West-Achse. There he took his place on a raised dais under a canopy decorated with eagles and Iron Crosses, seated on a gilded chair covered in red plush. Surrounding him on the grandstand were senior officers of the Wehrmacht, party leaders, and approximately 20,000 official guests, including foreign diplomats and military attachés.

The military parade that followed was the largest yet staged by the German armed forces. It lasted more than four hours and involved between 40,000 and 50,000 troops drawn from all branches. Units of the Heer, Luftwaffe, and Kriegsmarine each contributed twelve companies, supplemented by formations of the Schutzstaffel. Marching contingents were interspersed with motorised columns that included roughly 600 Panzer vehicles of various types (among them PzKpfw II, III, and IV), heavy artillery pieces, anti-aircraft guns such as the 8.8 cm Flak, searchlights, motorcycle units, engineer equipment, and other specialised vehicles. Overhead, 162 aircraft of the Luftwaffe flew in formation. The parade route stretched along the Ost-West-Achse, with troops forming up over a considerable distance beforehand so that the flow past the reviewing stand remained continuous and precise. Contemporary film and photographic records show infantry, cavalry, sailors, airmen, Fallschirmjäger, and SS men marching in close order, dipping their standards as they passed Hitler. The event was intended both as a birthday homage and as a public display of the Wehrmacht’s recovered strength and modern equipment, directed as much at domestic audiences as at foreign observers.

Hundreds of thousands of spectators lined the route and filled side streets. Security was provided by large contingents of the SA, NSKK, regular police, and several hundred men of the SS positioned near the reviewing stand. Similar, though smaller, military parades and ceremonial assemblies took place the same day in garrisons throughout the Reich. In many locations, the day began with a Großer Wecken by military bands, followed by formal appeals, promotions, and the presentation of gifts from local populations. Evening events often featured party rallies at which the Führer’s achievements were praised and the national anthems sung.

The scale of the Berlin parade and the accompanying nationwide observances reflected the high point of the pre-war cult of the Führer. Propaganda emphasised national recovery, territorial expansion achieved without major bloodshed, and the restoration of military power. Gifts and messages arrived not only from within Germany but also from German communities abroad. Foreign military attachés present in Berlin noted the emphasis on motorised and anti-aircraft units, even if little entirely new equipment was displayed. The celebrations concluded without incident, leaving a carefully constructed image of unity, discipline, and strength that the regime sought to project both at home and abroad in the months preceding the outbreak of war later that year.

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RECEPTION AND GIFTS

Some of Hitler's 50th birthday gifts, including vases with swastikas and paintings, in the Neue Reichskanzlei (New Reich Chancellery). The picture was taken by Hugo Jaeger. On 20 April 1939, Adolf Hitler celebrated his 50th birthday amid elaborate festivities in Berlin, during which he received a vast array of gifts from Nazi officials, military leaders, organizations, and citizens that filled rooms in the Reich Chancellery. Albert Speer presented a detailed scale model of the planned gigantic triumphal arch intended for the reconstruction of Berlin as Welthauptstadt Germania. His personal pilot Hans Baur offered a model of the four-engined Focke-Wulf Fw 200 Condor, known as the Führer plane that later entered service as his official aircraft. Ferdinand Porsche, accompanied by Robert Ley of the Deutsche Arbeitsfront, delivered a black convertible prototype of the KdF-Wagen, the forerunner of the Volkswagen. Hermann Göring, head of the Luftwaffe, gave a solid gold model of the Haus der Deutschen Kunst in Munich. Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler presented a prized portrait of Frederick the Great, which Hitler kept until the final days in the bunker. Other presents included statues, bronze casts, Meissen porcelain, oil paintings, tapestries, rare coins, antique weapons, and numerous kitsch items such as swastika-embellished vases and embroidered textiles. The Free City of Danzig conferred honorary citizenship upon him through Albert Forster. A Munich brewery specially produced low-alcohol beer suited to his digestive preferences. Additional offerings comprised silver architectural models, porcelain from the Allach factory associated with the SS, handcrafted clocks from the Sudetenland, food items like hop salad and apples from grateful regions, and even thousands of pairs of soldiers’ socks along with a living eagle!

Source :
Hugo Jaeger photo collection
https://alifrafikkhan.blogspot.com/2010/10/koleksi-ratusan-foto-berwarna-dari-life.html
https://artsandculture.google.com/search/asset?q=hugo%20jaeger&hl=en

German and Italian Troops in Stalino

NCOs of the German 1. Gebirgs-Division with Italian soldiers of the "Celere" Division in Stalino, Ukraine, October 1941. In that month, during the Axis advance into the industrial heartland of the Donets Basin as part of Operation Barbarossa, the 1. Gebirgs-Division, operating under the command of Generalmajor Hubert Lanz within the XXXXIX. Gebirgs-Korps led by General der Infanterie Ludwig Kübler, pushed southward after the Battle of the Sea of Azov and reached the major Soviet industrial city of Stalino (present-day Donetsk) on 20 October. Simultaneously, elements of the Italian Corpo di Spedizione Italiano in Russia (CSIR), commanded by Generale Giovanni Messe and attached to the German Heeresgruppe Süd, advanced in coordination with the German mountain troops; the highly mobile 3ª Divisione Celere "Principe Amedeo Duca d’Aosta" formed the spearhead of this effort, deploying its 3° Reggimento Bersaglieri in fast-moving columns supported by the cavalry regiments Savoia Cavalleria and Lancieri di Novara. Despite heavy mud, destroyed bridges, fuel shortages and determined Soviet rearguard resistance, the Italian cavalry and Bersaglieri executed flanking manoeuvres and seized the vital railway station and northern approaches to Stalino on the evening of 20 October, while German Gebirgsjäger entered the city from the south and completed the occupation of the industrial zone. The joint action, praised by both Italian and German commanders for the decisive contribution of the Celere Division’s mobility and the tenacity of the mountain troops, secured the key mining and metallurgical centre for the Axis and opened the route toward the Mius River. Following the capture, the 1. Gebirgs-Division continued eastward through Stepanowka, Amwrossijewka and Dmitrijewka, establishing a bridgehead across the Mius by early November, while Italian units of the Celere Division consolidated positions in and around Stalino before later sharing defensive sectors with the 1. and 4. Gebirgs-Division along the same river line through the harsh winter of 1941–1942.

Source :
https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=2324520138285504&set=gm.4294751364097123&idorvanity=1599549446950675

Hitler and Mussolini Visited the Eastern Front (1941)

In August 1941, as German forces surged deep into Soviet territory during Operation Barbarossa, Adolf Hitler invited Benito Mussolini to witness the triumph firsthand. Between August 25 and 28, the two dictators embarked on a high-profile visit to the Eastern Front—an event immortalized in vivid Agfacolor footage by Hitler’s personal pilot and filmmaker, Hans Baur. The visit was both a diplomatic gesture to reinforce Axis unity and a calculated propaganda display at a time when the Wehrmacht appeared unstoppable.

Hitler and Mussolini flew aboard a Focke-Wulf Fw 200 “Condor”, escorted by Luftwaffe fighters, landing first at Uman, Ukraine—then headquarters of Army Group South under Field Marshal Gerd von Rundstedt. Hans Baur’s color film captures their arrival: the Condor descending on a dusty airstrip, Hitler descending first in his trademark field-grey uniform, followed by Mussolini in his black Fascist tunic and high boots. They were greeted by Rundstedt, General Walther von Reichenau (6th Army), and Sepp Dietrich, commander of the Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler (LSSAH). The Italian entourage included General Alfredo Guzzoni and Count Galeazzo Ciano, Mussolini’s son-in-law and foreign minister, who recorded his impressions of the visit in his diary.

The itinerary took them to several forward areas where Wehrmacht and LSSAH units were stationed. At one encampment near Berdychiv, Hitler showed Mussolini captured Soviet tanks and artillery, while LSSAH troops demonstrated new German equipment. Baur’s color footage shows the two leaders walking through lines of soldiers, Hitler speaking animatedly, and Mussolini—clearly impressed—saluting the men with his characteristic Roman gesture. The mood was one of triumph and confidence; maps displayed on field tables showed German pincers closing around the Dnieper bend, signaling what seemed an imminent Soviet collapse.

A particularly striking sequence filmed by Baur shows the leaders observing a Luftwaffe reconnaissance flight, with General Wolfram von Richthofen briefing them on air operations. Later, at an improvised mess tent, Hitler and Mussolini dined with their generals, toasting the victories and the “brotherhood in arms” of the German and Italian peoples. Mussolini expressed admiration for the discipline and efficiency of the German campaign, reportedly telling Hitler that “the Bolshevik colossus is already crumbling.”

Baur’s color film—bright, almost surreal amid the dust and wreckage—captures a fleeting moment of Axis euphoria. The footage later appeared in Die Deutsche Wochenschau No. 573 and Italian newsreels, portraying an image of unity and invincibility. Yet history would soon mock the scene. Within months, the Wehrmacht’s advance stalled before Moscow, and Mussolini’s armies in the East would face disaster. What Baur preserved on film was the last great meeting of Hitler and Mussolini at the height of their power—two dictators standing together on conquered soil, unaware that the road ahead led not to victory, but to ruin.

Source :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=50KRsWppOYA

U-Boat Ace Joachim Schepke Photo Album

U-boat ace Joachim Schepke

Source :
https://www.facebook.com/diedeutscheubootwaffe/posts/joachim-schepke-u-100/386759410389605/

Wehrmacht Soldier and His Son in Christmas

Berlin, family at home, celebrating Christmas, father and son playing with toy train at the table.

Source :
https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=9766168046803254&set=gm.2421573974694678&idorvanity=237076659811098

German Gebirgsjäger and Italian Bersaglieri

NCOs of the 1st German Mountain Division (1. Gebirgs-Division) with Italian soldiers of the "Celere" Division in Stalino (nowadays Donetsk), Ukraine, October 1941.

Source :
https://www.alamy.com/stock-photo-events-second-world-war-wwii-russia-1941-ncos-of-the-1st-german-mountain-24443135.html
https://www.reddit.com/r/GermanWW2photos/comments/13z4tc0/german_mountain_troops_and_italian_bersaglieri_in/

Afrikakorps Exchange POWs

Two German soldiers smiles to the camera. They were part of exchange POWs (mostly Afrikakorps) who just returned from England. The picture was taken by Hugo Jaeger in Stuttgart, summer of 1944. Other pictures from this sequence can be seen HERE.

Source :
https://artsandculture.google.com/search?q=hugo%20jaeger&hl=en

Hitler's 50th Birthday Gifts

Some of Adolf Hitler's 50th birthday gifts - including flower vases emblazoned with swastikas and paintings - stored in a room at the New Reich Chancellery. The painting at left shows the figure of Helmuth von Moltke the Elder (1800-1891), a Prussian field marshal who is regarded as the creator of a new, more modern method of directing armies in the field. The picture was taken by Hugo Jaeger on 20 April 1939.

Source :
https://www.life.com/history/adolf-hitler-at-50-color-photos-from-a-despots-birthday-april-1939/

Celebration in Liberated Paris

Celebration in Paris after the French capital was liberated in August 1944

After more than four years of Nazi occupation, Paris is liberated by the French 2nd Armored Division and the U.S. 4th Infantry Division on 25 August 1944. German resistance was light, and General Dietrich von Choltitz, commander of the German garrison, defied an order by Adolf Hitler to blow up Paris’ landmarks and burn the city to the ground before its liberation. Choltitz signed a formal surrender that afternoon, and on August 26, Free French General Charles de Gaulle led a joyous liberation march down the Champs d’Elysees.

Paris fell to Nazi Germany on June 14, 1940, one month after the German Wehrmacht stormed into France. Eight days later, France signed an armistice with the Germans, and a puppet French state was set up with its capital at Vichy. Elsewhere, however, General Charles de Gaulle and the Free French kept fighting, and the Resistance sprang up in occupied France to resist Nazi and Vichy rule.

The French 2nd Armored Division was formed in London in late 1943 with the express purpose of leading the liberation of Paris during the Allied invasion of France. In August 1944, the division arrived at Normandy under the command of General Jacques-Philippe Leclerc and was attached to General George S. Patton’s 3rd U.S. Army. By August 18, Allied forces were near Paris, and workers in the city went on strike as Resistance fighters emerged from hiding and began attacking German forces and fortifications.

At his headquarters two miles inland from the Normandy coast, Supreme Allied Commander Dwight D. Eisenhower had a dilemma. Allied planners had concluded that the liberation of Paris should be delayed so as to not divert valuable resources away from important operations elsewhere. The city could be encircled and then liberated at a later date.

On August 21, Eisenhower met with de Gaulle and told him of his plans to bypass Paris. De Gaulle urged him to reconsider, assuring him that Paris could be reclaimed without difficulty. The French general also warned that the powerful communist faction of the Resistance might succeed in liberating Paris, thereby threatening the re-establishment of a democratic government. De Gaulle politely told Eisenhower that if his advance against Paris was not ordered, he would send Leclerc’s 2nd Armored Division into the city himself.

On August 22, Eisenhower agreed to proceed with the liberation of Paris. The next day, the 2nd Armored Division advanced on the city from the north and the 4th Infantry Division from the south. Meanwhile, in Paris, the forces of German General Dietrich von Choltitz were fighting the Resistance and completing their defenses around the city. Hitler had ordered Paris defended to the last man, and demanded that the city not fall into Allied hands except as “a field of ruins.” Choltitz dutifully began laying explosives under Paris’ bridges and many of its landmarks, but disobeyed an order to commence the destruction. He did not want to go down in history as the man who had destroyed the “City of Light”—Europe’s most celebrated city.

The 2nd Armored Division ran into heavy German artillery, taking heavy casualties, but on August 24 managed to cross the Seine and reach the Paris suburbs. There, they were greeted by enthusiastic civilians who besieged them with flowers, kisses, and wine. Later that day, Leclerc learned that the 4th Infantry Division was poised to beat him into Paris proper, and he ordered his exhausted men forward in a final burst of energy. Just before midnight on August 24, the 2nd Armored Division reached the Hótel de Ville in the heart of Paris.

German resistance melted away during the night. Most of the 20,000 troops surrendered or fled, and those that fought were quickly overcome. On the morning of August 25, the 2nd Armored Division swept clear the western half of Paris while the 4th Infantry Division cleared the eastern part. Paris was liberated.

In the early afternoon, Choltitz was arrested in his headquarters by French troops. Shortly after, he signed a document formally surrendering Paris to de Gaulle’s provisional government. De Gaulle himself arrived in the city later that afternoon. On August 26, de Gaulle and Leclerc led a triumphant liberation march down the Champs d’Elysees. Scattered gunfire from a rooftop disrupted the parade, but the identity of the snipers was not determined.

De Gaulle headed two successive French provisional governments until 1946, when he resigned over constitutional disagreements. From 1958 to 1969, he served as French president under the Fifth Republic.

Source :
https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/paris-liberated

U.S. Tank Men Enjoying Italian Grapes

 

Three battle-wearied tank men enjoy Italian grapes in the vicinity of Fauglia, Italy, August 21, 1944. The trio are, left to right, Corporal Jerome J. Lackman, Private First Class Everett L. Idell, and Sergeantt Peter DeWispelaere of the U.S. First Tank Battalion, First Armored Division, Fifth Army.

Source :
https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/three-battle-wearied-tank-men-enjoy-italian-grapes-in-the-news-photo/176655161

Luftwaffe Officer With a Cat

Luftwaffe officer feeding a cat in Russia 1941.

Source :
https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=737984006863778&set=gm.1702667603251989

Interior of the KDF Ship Robert Ley

Interior of the KDF Ship Robert Ley on its maiden voyage in the North Sea, 1939. Photos by Hugo Jaeger.

The Robert Ley was a cruise ship of the Nazi Party leisure organization Kraft durch Freude (Strength Through Joy). It was considered the flagship of the KdF fleet. The ship, which was named after the Nazi politician Robert Ley, was designed exclusively for cruises. The keel was laid on behalf of the Nazi organisation Deutsche Arbeitsfront (German Labour Front) at Howaldtswerke Hamburg. The Robert Ley was owned by the DAF and was managed, crewed and maintained by the Hamburg-Amerikanische Packetfahrt-Actien-Gesellschaft (HAPAG). The interior design was commissioned by architect Woldemar Brinkmann. The launch took place on 29 March 1938 in the presence of Adolf Hitler. The commissioning took place on 24 March 1939. The ship was designed for about 1750 passengers in addition to the crew members.

 Source :
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Ley_(ship)
https://www.facebook.com/groups/237076659811098/permalink/1670742463111170/?__cft__[0]=AZWqpDSKpasqmAIqYSXZFXGpnYM50iHfZlXg3NPYmf-F4HwKuUgYttPeoXVWgAGovFVxwTJ-a2zmWTPkAc4ryMvXw8BkbwQjWToo62ezEAZxr1oprOarBZzCjwd-ouHnIdELjY1dlRqzXFWiZtN8LC3dt0QVFagi9hQlKjTiTbqPmxcZc2Y5Xw1BRQLhEgx2iHY&__tn__=%2CO%2CP-R

German Sunday Clothing

 

 

This is not a traditional German costume, but Sunday clothing from northern North Rhine-Westphalia. The man is holding a Steinhäger schnapps bottle (also sold under the name Schinkenhäger) made of earthenware. The town Steinhagen, where the schnapps is produced, is not far from Bielefeld, so the clothes should come from this room.These ceramic schnapps bottles are also traditionally used for jenever (in the Netherlands). The womans clothing is closest in style to those in the eastern parts of Saxony but looks like both outfits were reinterpretations and maybe even custom made for this occasion. The mans clothing looks like a traditional sorbish mens church going outfit. The style fits somehow, but the colors are off. Traditionally the long coat was blue and the vest usually red. The collar (of the coat. The shirts collar looks way off) and buttons are on point, but buttons on the sleeves are missing and there's not visible of any pockets on the picture. The cylinder top hat was usually but not always reserved for more festive occasions like weddings. It looks like someone recreated the style from a description or a very old black and white photo, which would make sense because the traditional sorbish mens clothes went out of style decades before the Nazis took power. It is possible that those people were there for propaganda reasons and not so much because of tradition.

Source :
Akira Takiguchi photo collection
https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=10222925565841126&set=gm.1658973144288102

Villagers of the Eastern Europe

 

Villagers photographed while Organization Todt works in a village in eastern Europe, 1943. From the estate of Dr. Grögl. Peugeot DMA truck in the background.

Villagers photographed while Organization Todt works in a village in eastern Europe, 1943. Another slide (a few frames back) added - dance time. Mostly women and children, a few young lads and one older man from the village.

Source :
Akira Takiguchi photo collection
https://www.facebook.com/groups/237076659811098/permalink/1621195738065843/?__cft__[0]=AZVh0Uofo_RtYTAlS3_Z3kmliBbdIPBwud9ehnXi75oZyM-Od-41rELEu1jamMrM0UJ10dB2sKT5y8rLpGo-4sJf92YcN1zdElXqa4lnLj0SwyGOM0jcLPnBKibk8XiuziLH4Vv5sc-R7gmM9frZxTCK&__tn__=%2CO%2CP-R

Flak Soldiers Wearing Sunglasses

Different shades worn by Flak soldiers (Sunglasses left. Welder goggles right). Which shades do you prefer to wear? From a color slide group of Flak-Regiment 3

 

 

Source :

Akira Takiguchi collection

https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=10222409857428738&set=gm.1604601179725299

Lance Bombardier Jack Grundy with His Wife on Vacation

An Eighth Army Man on Leave, Wirral, Cheshire, 14 April 1944: Lance Bombardier Jack Grundy, of 441 Battery, 128 Field Regiment, Royal Artillery, 50 Division, during his seven days privilege leave with his family. Jack Grundy and his wife Dorothy while on a picnic in the Cheshire countryside. The picture was taken by Lieutenant A.J. Tanner from British War Office official photographer.

Source :
https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205188862

Christmas with the British Liberation Army in Holland 1944

Christmas with the British Liberation Army in Holland, November 1944. A unit postman from 4th Armoured Brigade with a sack of Christmas parcels decorated with holly near Weert, Limburg, Netherlands. The picture was taken by Captain E.G. Malindine from No. 5 Army Film and Photographic Unit.

Source :
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Christmas_With_the_British_Liberation_Army_in_Holland,_November_1944_TR2567.jpg
http://www.desertrats.org.uk/bde/4thABartefacts2.htm

Canadian Sergeant with German Medals

To the victor go the spoils: Sergeant Gerard Alderic Durocher - of Canadian Les Fusiliers Mont-Royal - displaying twenty-nine German medals which he acquired as souvenirs. The picture was taken by photographer Michael M. Dean at Schmargendorf , Berlin, Germany, on 19 July 1945. The "booty" aside, Sergeant Durocher wears two wound stripes and the ribbon for the Military Medal (MM) for Gallantry in the field. A .pdf of the original citation can be found HERE. Possibly another case on Montgomery downgrading an award, in this instance from the Distinguished Conduct Medal to an MM.

For the identification of the medals:

1. Ritterkreuz des Kriegsverdienstkreuz mit Schwertern
2. Tapferkeits- und Verdienstauszeichnung für Angehörige der Ostvölker 1. Klasse in Silber
3. Tapferkeits- und Verdienstauszeichnung für Angehörige der Ostvölker 1. Klasse in Gold
4. SS-Dienstauszeichnung 1. Stufe (25 years)
5. SS-Dienstauszeichnung 2. Stufe (12 years)
6. Treudienst-Ehrenzeichen 1. Stufe (40 years)
7. Treudienst-Ehrenzeichen 2. Stufe (25 years)
8. Kriegsverdienstkreuz 1. Klasse ohne Schwerter
9. Eisernes Kreuz 2. Klasse
10. Kriegsverdienstkreuz 2. Klasse ohne Schwerter
11. Ehrenkreuz für Frontkämpfer
12. Kriegsverdienstmedaille
13. Treudienst-Ehrenzeichen Sonderstufe (50 years)
14. Dienstauszeichnung der NSDAP 1. Stufe (10 years)
15. SS-Dienstausteichnung 3. Stufe (8 years)
16. Dienstauszeichnung für den Reichsarbeitsdienst 4. Stufe (4 years)
17. Schutzwall-Ehrenzeichen
18. Erinnerungsmedaille für die spanischen Freiwilligen im Kampf gegen den Bolschewismus
19. Tapferkeits- und Verdienstauszeichnung für Angehörige der Ostvölker 2. Klasse in Silber mit Schwertern
20. Medaille Winterschlacht im Osten 1941/42 (Ostmedaille)
21. Olympia-Erinnerungsmedaille
22. two Mutterkreuze

Source :
http://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/discover/military-heritage/second-world-war/faces-second-war/Pages/item.aspx?IdNumber=1911&
https://forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=153613&p=2173089#p2173089
https://forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic.php?t=222543

Captured German Kübelwagen in the Liberation of Paris

Paris, France, 26 August 1944: Car carrying journalists and photographers of YANK magazine give a ride to French partisan and unidentified woman during parade held the day after the liberation of Paris by Allied troops. They are using a captured VW Kübelwagen Typ 82, a light military vehicle designed by Ferdinand Porsche and built by Volkswagen during World War II for use by the German military (both Wehrmacht and Waffen-SS). Based heavily on the Volkswagen Beetle, it was prototyped as the Type 62, but eventually became known internally as the Type 82. Kübelwagen is an abbreviation of Kübelsitzwagen, meaning "bucket-seat car" because all German light military vehicles that had no doors were fitted with bucket seats to prevent passengers from falling out. The first VW test vehicles had no doors and were therefore fitted with bucket seats, so acquiring the name VW Kübelsitzwagen that was later shortened to Kübelwagen. Mercedes, Opel and Tatra also built Kübel(sitz)wagens. The picture was taken by Frank Scherschel from LIFE magazine.

Source :
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2100326/Stunning-rare-colour-images-World-War-II.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volkswagen_K%C3%BCbelwagen
https://www.gettyimages.com/license/72430265

Two Luftwaffe Soldiers Wearing Black Glasses

Two Luftwaffe soldiers with the rank of Gefreiter (left) and Obergefreiter (right) posing their smile. They were both wearing black glasses a.k.a. shades. This picture comes from a collection of Akira Takiguchi, a moderator in Wehrmacht-Awards.com. Based from the text above, it was taken from the album of the 3.7cm Flak crew, even though it is possible the two guy in this picture is not a member of Flaktruppen (which usually wearing red collar tabs).

Source :
http://www.wehrmacht-awards.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=14