How do I find out what my great-grandfather actually did in the Wehrmacht?

by TheGreaterJesus

I know he got in US war captivity in Africa (probably while the Tunisian campain) and was shipped into the US afterwards (probably Texas). He came back 1946 or 1947. I also know his name, profession and his birthyear (1905).

Edit: I don't know if I have to clarify that we are germans. I also know the 3 cities he lived in.

My grandmother told me he was forced to join the german troop in 1943 or 1944 (i don't exactly know if it was the Wehrmacht).

I got very suspicious because of these reasons:

  1. There are many family photos available from ~1920 until today... Except in the time between 1936 and 1946 where there's only one photo album covering this time. It is the only album where ~35% of the photographs are missing (the others lost around 0-10% of their photos) and in some places you can clearly see that the photos were ripped out.
  2. My family can give me more or less detailed informations of his live at any age, except in the very same time span like above, in which what I've written firstly is the only thing i got to knew.

So my question is: Where do I need to search to find out what he did in that time?

jschooltiger

Hello there! As your question is related to looking for identification/information regarding military personnel, our Guide on Military Identification may be of use to you. It provides a number of different resources, including how to request service records from a number of national agencies around the world, as well as graphical aids to assist in deciphering rank, unit, and other forms of badges or insignia. While the users here may still be able to lend you more assistance, hopefully this will provide a good place to start!

DeadPengwin

My father works for the German National Archive which is responsible for keeping and providing such information. I'm afraid though that they won't be able to help you since their main focus is helping people identifying the graves of family members lost in WW2.

Since your grandfather survived the war, information about him can only be provided with his personal authorization which (as far as I know) is not hereditary and can't be granted by his descendants.