Iconic Photo ID'ed

[shep854]

 

[shep854]

The second photo shown is also well known, especially among Browning P35 enthusiasts.

[RichTO90]

No, it isn't Hans Tragarsky. According to his Personalakten from the former SS Personalhauptamt. He was actually assigned to III./SS-Panzer-Artillerie-Regiment 1 LSSAH, which was assigned to Kampfgruppe Sandig and not Kampfgruppe Hansen. It was nowhere near Poteau. He was an SS-Rottenführer, while the man in the Poteau photos has an (Ober)schütze collar tab. There is a long running discussion of this subject at AHF https://forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic.php?f=50&t=179572&hilit=hans+tragarsky, with all the most prominent "this is who he was" notions debunked by the expert on LSSAH in general and KG Knittel in particular, Timo R. Worst AKA "Harro".

[mkenny]

 

 

 

I suspect very few (if any) will read the whole thread so this is the final post in the AHF Thread :

 

To deal once and for all with the story that his name is Hans Tragarsky.

Today I received Tragarsky's Personalakten from the former SS Personalhauptamt which are kept at the Bundesarchiv in Berlin. The file confirms that he was NOT the man in the Poteau photos.

1. wrong unit: Tragarsky served in III. Abteilung, SS-Panzer-Artillerie-Regiment 1 LSSAH. This was an artillery battalion which was assigned to Kampfgruppe Sandig. A unit that was never anywhere near Poteau.

2. wrong rank: Tragarsky was an SS-Rottenführer. The man in the Poteau photos has an (Ober)schütze collar tab.

 

 

Edited October 26, 2023 by mkenny