For Germany, that was the responsibility of the Deutsche Dienststelle (WASt) für die Benachrichtigung der nächsten Angehörigen von Gefallenen der ehemaligen deutschen Wehrmacht, which would send out an official notification by mail. Because of the chaos of war, many official notifications, like this one (note the English on the stamp) or this one, were not made until after the war had ended. As with other armies, the commanding officer would often write to the family directly as well. Those families of German soldiers living outside Germany were notified by telegram via the Red Cross.