Jump to content
SASS Wire Forum

Wehrmacht soldier Private Karl-Heinz Rosch


Subdeacon Joe

Recommended Posts

http://www.warhistoryonline.com/war-articles/controversial-memorial-honor-wwii-german-soldier-karl-heinz-rosch.html

 

 

What prompted the small village of Goirle, Netherlands to make a small statue honoring Wehrmacht soldier Private Karl-Heinz Rosch?

The steel helmet Private Karl-Heinz Rosch wore during the height of WWII unmistakably spoke of what side he was on – the side of the enemy. He belonged to Germany’s Wehrmacht.

But to the eyes of the residents in the tiny southern Netherlands village of Goirle, he was a hero worthy of commemoration which they just did – through a small bronze statue they erected of him.

October 6, 1944 - Three days after Rosch’s turned 18, the young German soldier, along with his platoon, was stationed in a farm in Goirle when Allied forces took fire on them. He was about to hide in the basement along with his comrades when he noticed that the two children of the farmer who owned the land seemed oblivious of the danger that was on them and continued to play in the courtyard.

He quickly dashed to them, took each in his arms and brought them into the safety of the basement. He again ran outside to position himself on the other side of the courtyard when a grenade hit him right at the spot where the children were earlier.

 

 

Karl-Heinz-Roschs-Memorial.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

There are good men on both sides of any conflict.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

As most know today, very few Germans were Nazis. The Wehrmacht were just guys fighting for their country. On the other hand, the Waffen Schutzstaffel, or SS were essentially a political paramilitary, and later the military, arm of the Nazi Party. Thewe are the ones most folks envision when they think of savage war criminal Nazi troops. Those were the troops who were mostly responsible for atrocious acts, although many regular Wehrmacht troops were ordered into vicious acts by their superiors.

 

Don't know if you can find them any longer, but a German author, Hans Helmut Kirst wrote a series of novels back in the 1950's about an irreverent Wehrmacht soldier, Gunner Asch, that are very entertaining and I recommend them now. I recall now that the first one in the series is called, "The Revolt of Gunner Asch." (Hmmmm. That just popped into my mind after all these years.)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Of course there are fine people everywhere, but there has always been a certain amount of postwar mythmaking about the Wehrmacht vs. the SS.

 

In the East, at any rate, the Wehrmacht was fully complicit in Nazi criminality. As much as the SS? Maybe not, but it hardly mattered.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Of course there are fine people everywhere, but there has always been a certain amount of postwar mythmaking about the Wehrmacht vs. the SS.In the East, at any rate, the Wehrmacht was fully complicit in Nazi criminality. As much as the SS? Maybe not, but it hardly mattered.

Agreed. We can recognize that there weremany regular guys caught up in a badsituation......but

The Wehrmacht overran and occupied Europe and killed a whole lot of people. They served the same master as the SS. Just because they were doing their job as soldiers doesn't justify things. There were die hard Nazis in the regular army too. It's good that examples of humanity can be found amid the horror of war.

 

My dad would probably say he wasn't rescuing kids but taking hostages. ;)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Sort of like radical jihadist Muslims and moderate peaceful Muslims? Most Germans weren't warmongering Nazis or wanted to kill all Jews and weren't our enemies in 1939.

Nevertheless, they fought hard and killed many thousands of Americans. They didn't have to be Nazi zealots. Their dedication to the Fatherland was enough.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Of course it is! You don't really believe civilization actually learns by its mistakes, do you?

Hitler was not a native- born German........

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Growing up I heard from both sides, and it can be debated till the end of times. Yes, astrocities were committed by common soldiers, some caught up by the heat of warfare, some thinking it was for their country, family. Then some did it for a demented leader, and some for the elite demented training for this.

Long before outbreak the common soldier was a German soldier, in whatever service he enlisted or was called for. His first and only thought as many soldiers was the defense of their country, and it was what he swore to do. How he felt about invasion and start of WW2 is also debatable, but also the consequence of not following orders he knew well. It was a time when every child received indoctrination and learning to hate in the schools, the fear of the Gestapo, and knocks on doors in the middle of the night when neighbors were taken away to be never seen nor heard from again. Fear for not only yourself, but your friends and family, was always forefront on not only the civilian, but the soldiers mind, and worry of not doing the right thing. Hearing of children turning in neighbors, and then their own family. A nazi was a political party, same as Republican or Democrat, everyone did not belong to the party.

When the Wall came down, my mother was along with me and my wife. It was our first time to visit the family, many we had never heard from nor seen after our escape. I listened, heard and learned a lot of the history of families, ours and neighbors, and the town how it had survived all these decaded since WW2 and Freedom. I also heard of why the fighting was so fierce, why young, and old, boys, girls, men and women fought so vigorously against both the Russians and American. Word and knowledge was there of what the Russians had done to soldiers, but it was Civilians also, then they heard about how German soldiers had surrendered and were shot, rather then taken prisoner. Also many soldiers, who would not fight, were hanged, or shot on the spot, many times with their families joining them on the rope or firing line. Books can be written, movies made, and words and stories heard, but unless you lived it, you cannot judge.

They say war changes many!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

See the similarity?

 

de~1933.gif

 

ISIL.jpg

And several others.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Growing up I heard from both sides, and it can be debated till the end of times. Yes, astrocities were committed by common soldiers, some caught up by the heat of warfare, some thinking it was for their country, family. Then some did it for a demented leader, and some for the elite demented training for this.

Long before outbreak the common soldier was a German soldier, in whatever service he enlisted or was called for. His first and only thought as many soldiers was the defense of their country, and it was what he swore to do. How he felt about invasion and start of WW2 is also debatable, but also the consequence of not following orders he knew well. It was a time when every child received indoctrination and learning to hate in the schools, the fear of the Gestapo, and knocks on doors in the middle of the night when neighbors were taken away to be never seen nor heard from again. Fear for not only yourself, but your friends and family, was always forefront on not only the civilian, but the soldiers mind, and worry of not doing the right thing. Hearing of children turning in neighbors, and then their own family. A nazi was a political party, same as Republican or Democrat, everyone did not belong to the party.

When the Wall came down, my mother was along with me and my wife. It was our first time to visit the family, many we had never heard from nor seen after our escape. I listened, heard and learned a lot of the history of families, ours and neighbors, and the town how it had survived all these decaded since WW2 and Freedom. I also heard of why the fighting was so fierce, why young, and old, boys, girls, men and women fought so vigorously against both the Russians and American. Word and knowledge was there of what the Russians had done to soldiers, but it was Civilians also, then they heard about how German soldiers had surrendered and were shot, rather then taken prisoner. Also many soldiers, who would not fight, were hanged, or shot on the spot, many times with their families joining them on the rope or firing line. Books can be written, movies made, and words and stories heard, but unless you lived it, you cannot judge.

They say war changes many!

 

 

Well said, sir.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Marshal Troop, SASS #70448, on 11 Jan 2015 - 06:22 AM, said:snapback.png

 

A nazi was a political party, same as Republican or Democrat, everyone did not belong to the party.

Not exactly.

 

Seems I recall Patton got in trouble for saying the same thing

Link to comment
Share on other sites

To put this hero...and I have no doubt his actions were such...Private Rouch in perspective, he did what any decent soldier should do, especially for having been billeted with civilians in a hot war zone.

 

ALSO, even today, there is little love or no love lost for the Germans by the Dutch people. I can personally attest to that.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think we can all applaud this selfless act by a soldier who showed that his first duty was to humanity, regardless of his political or national orientation.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use.