Does anybody have a late war (1942-1944) SS service list that show that Otto or Ernst Behnke were still alive and listed.Thanks

He is not in the October or November 1944 lists.

Hi Zorro:

Neither Ernst or Otto turn up in the SS-Dienstalterslistes after 1938 (I have them all).

Otto Behnke (SS No. 3309, b.01 June 1905) is killed 24 September 1939 and is buried:

Otto Behnke ruht auf der Kriegsgräberstätte in Mainz-Hauptfriedhof (Bundesrepublik Deutschland). Endgrablage: Block 72b Reihe 1 Grab 13

Ernst Behnke (SS No. 7489, b.21 March 1893) is killed 28 January 1945: Trestno, Poland.

Enjoy!

Ross Kelbaugh
www.ssdaggers.com

Wow! I cannot thank you enough for that information guys.Ross would you be able to research Ernst.If you can let me know and I will be in contact with you.

Otto has a pretty good reason in why he was not listed after 1938. Ernst was not killed until 1945 so why would he be excluded after 1938 in the service list.

His rank was not high enough to be listed in the SS-Dienstalterslistes of the 1940s. With some exception, they list SS-Standarteführer and above. Though he was an SS-Untersturmführer in 1938, he is listed as an SS-Rottenführer in the records of his death from 1945. Could be an error or something more. Perhaps further research will reveal the rest of the story.

Enjoy!
Ross Kelbaugh
www.ssdaggers.com

Indicated reduced rank to EM was normally punishment, often found in legal proceedings if one studies SS court records. Wartime DAL only covered Sturmbannführer and Obersturmbannfürer (Oct 42, Oct 43, and Oct 44) or Standartenfüherer and higher for the other wartime issues with the exception of the Waffen-SS issue for July 1944 that included Hauptsturmführer.

After further research into his records, Ernst Behnke was a SS-Untersturmführer in the Allgemeine-SS. When he joins the Waffen-SS in February 1944, he goes in at the rank of SS-Rottenführer which he held at the time of his death.

Ross Kelbaugh
www.ssdaggers.com

Ross, yes, i was going to say that very few of the rank and file A-SS members retained the rank they held when they joined the Waffen-SS.

The same held true if they joined the Wehrmacht.It would be interesting to see if it worked in reverse when you were invalided out of the service, and rejoined the A-SS...