Looking for information on Stefan Aschenbrenner German Soldier WW2

[CarolineDuck]

Hi there,
I am researching my daughter-in-law's grandfather. His name was Stefan Aschenbrenner, he immigrated to Australia in 1957 with his wife , Ursula and four children,: Norbert, Reinhard, Tom and Barbara. He served in the Germany army and was possibly in the SS? All that is known about him is that he was made a prisoner of war by the Americans in West Berlin at the end of the war and subsequently released and was able to reunite with his family in East Germany at Darss. They were then able to immigrate to Australia. He never talked about what he did during the war and nothing is known about his family history. He was born December 1913 possibly in Austria, possibly in Prussia. His son Tom and his daughter Elkie (my daughter-in-law) would like to know how to find out about his life prior to Australia.
Thanks in anticipation

[Palomino]

Hi,
Stefan was born 27 dec 1913 in Fuerstenthal. There is a F. in Romania / Bukowina  and one in Germany "Erzgebirge". Religion: catholic

Wife and children were born in Darss and are of protestant religion.

They ve left Germany from Aurich
12. feb 1957. Last address: Aurich-Sandhorst Skagerakstr 1

Parents prob. John and Barbara.

[Palomino]

Information about Stefan Aschenbrenner, b 25 dec 1913 concerning WW2 and NSDAP

https://www.archivportal-d.de/item/XD343PRX5I3E2WN7GT3DOIJA4WYD3DMA?offset=0&rows=20&viewType=list&hitNumber=1

[davecapps]

This could be the family
https://gedbas.genealogy.net/person/show/1261773220

[CarolineDuck]

Thank you for the these replies I will have a look at them and let you know

[CarolineDuck]

Hello again.I have looked into the links that you gave me and it looks like that is the Stefan we are looking for. I have emailed the links to my Daughter-in-law's family to look into. They are able to translate the German records, so hopefully we'll be able to buildup a picture of him. If anyone else can help I would be be so grateful.

[Palomino]

Their marriage certificate might really be helpful.
Do you know when Stefan and Ursula married?
First child was born in 45, second child 47.
Obviously he s been prisoner of war for just a few months. This might show that he didnt play an important role in NSDAP, if at all.

[JustinL]

Hello Caroline,

Stefan's forefathers were so-called Bukovina Germans (see https://www.rootschat.com/links/01qt5/). The village of Fürstenthal was founded in 1803 by German-Bohemians, who had migrated to the area from the Bohemian Forest at the end of the 18th century. See this interesting paper https://feefhs.org/sites/default/files/material/bukovina_germans.pdf

I was intrigued by the family story that Stefan was a PoW of the Americans in Berlin. Northern Pommern including Darß had been taken by the Soviet Red Army by the end of first week of May 1945, i.e. 3 months after the birth of Stefan and Ursula's first son. Berlin wasn't divided into the four occupied zones until somewhat later; US troops established their zone in the southwest on 4th July 1945.

After a bit of digging, I can confirm that Stefan/Stephan did serve in the Waffen-SS In this list (https://www.rootschat.com/links/01qt7/), you'll find the following entry:

ASCHENBRENNER Stephan (*25.12.13 Fürstenthal/Buchenland, Rum.),
Blutgr. (blood group) O,
EM-Nr. (dog-tag no.) 285
12./SS-AER (SS-Artillerie-Ersatz-Regiment) = 12th Battery, SS Artillery Replacement Regiment

Judging by the unit's name changes (https://www.rootschat.com/links/01qta/), Stefan must have joined the SS-AER between 10 Apr 1941 and 1 May 1943.

No rank is given, so he was probably just a private (SS-Schütze).

From wikipedia: SS-Panzergrenadier-Brigade 49 was a short-lived Waffen-SS unit formed in June 1944 from SS Kampfgruppen (Combat Groups) 1 and 2. Although designated as Panzergrenadier (mechanised infantry) the unit was only equipped with wheeled vehicles. The SS Main Office ordered it redesignated as the 26th SS Panzer Division on 10 August 1944, but this was strictly notional. It played a minor role in the Battle of France before it was merged into the 37th SS-Panzergrenadier-Regiment of the 17th SS-Panzergrenadier-Division Götz von Berlichingen on 8 August 1944.

Stephan's unit became SS-Artillerie-Regiment 17.

Here is a calendar of battles and actions of the division http://www.waffen-ss.no/diary-17-SS-Gotz-von-Berlichingen.htm

See this wikipedia entry https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/17th_SS_Panzergrenadier_Division_G%C3%B6tz_von_Berlichingen

The division surrendered to US troops in northern Austria in May 1945.

Justin

[JustinL]

PS.

The archive reference to the Auslands-Organisation der NSDAP that Palomino found merely indicates that Stefan received a Rückwanderer-Ausweis (Remigrant's, Returnee's or Resettler's ID card) from that organisation following his repatriation from Bukovina.

However, as a solder in the Waffen-SS, I believe he would have had to join the NSDAP.