Willi Herold, the Emsland Executioner – Part I: THE BOY — Transcript

Greetings, and welcome to my little project. This is Ivo speaking, and I'm here to share my research on the infamous war criminal Willi Herold with you. I found out about him when I watched Robert Schwenke's film "Der Hauptmann" while in quarantine and fell down a rabbit hole that ended up with me retracing Herold's steps around Germany, digging into archives and talking to people who had known his family.

His is a fascinating and very sobering story about power, authority, and the devastating effect the Nazi regime had on Germany.

For this project, I have used two categories of sources which I would like to briefly present to you. The first category is official documentation. I have gathered the documents pertaining to the case from the London National Archives, Oldenburg, and Wolfenbüttel.

We are talking about trial transcripts, personal inmate files, officially recorded testimony, and so on and so forth.

The second category is constituted by the historians whose research has been made available to the public either through books or articles they published or documents they wrote and donated to various archives.

The four historians I will quote in this project are as follows: Major Theodore Pantcheff. He was the British Intelligence officer assigned to lead the investigation into Herold's case.

It's thanks to the work that he and his team put in that Herold was brought to justice. Major Pantcheff wrote the first book on Herold, named "The Emsland Executioner," in which he used his own detailed diary entries from that time and official documents to bring the story of those dark days back to life.

Heinrich and Inge Peters have researched the case for fifty years out of a personal reason: Inge Peters was the daughter of Albert Sommer, a political prisoner who was murdered in Aschendorfermoor during Herold's infamous massacre.

Seeking to understand what happened to her father, Inge dedicated a great deal of her time to researching the case together with her husband and to restoring her father's honor.

Her book "Pattjackenblut" is meticulously researched and reconstructs certain events in great detail. Paul Meyer is an expert on Herold's story.

He had grown up in the Emsland town of Papenburg and had always heard stories about a crazy young captain and a horrific crime he was supposed to have committed. These stories intrigued him, and he wanted to know exactly what happened, and this interest led him to create a documentary, "Der Hauptmann von Muffrika" (The Captain from Nowhere) in the 90s together with Rudolf Kerstin, a very valuable resource known for its numerous interviews with witnesses.

Wolfgang Bönitz was born in 1931 in Lunzenau and grew up there at the same time as Herold and knew him personally. In 2002, he wrote an essay called "An Executioner from Lunzenau" containing very valuable information about Herold's childhood and adolescence, which he gave to the Lunzenau village archive in the same year. I am very eager to share the information I found there with you because I think it sheds quite a bit of light on who Herold really was. So then, let's plunge right in.

1925. Exciting things are happening all over the world. In the U.S., on April 10th, "The Great Gatsby" is published by F. Scott Fitzgerald.

On April 13th, women win the right to vote in Newfoundland. On the 25th of August, the French troops leave the Ruhr region. In Denmark, the now world-famous tango "Jalousie" by Jacob Gade was performed on the 14th of September for the premiere of the silent film "Don Q, Son of Zorro." But a few days before that, on September 11th, something else happened in the small Saxon village of Lunzenau.

This guy was born. Willi Paul Herold was the firstborn son and eldest child of Paul and Elsa Herold.

His father was originally from Upper Lusatia and was nicknamed The Roller thanks to his typical dialect. A roofer by trade, he was known to have an easy-going nature and light-hearted outlook on life and was a very hard-working, honest, and upstanding member of his community.

In the beginning of the 1930s, he struggled with unemployment for a long time, and when he finally did land a good job in the second half of the decade, he was so far away from Lunzenau that he was forced to live away from his family during the work week, leaving his children in the care of their mother, Elsa. Elsa Herold was by all accounts a strict, fiery, and temperamental woman who was not afraid to get into quarrels with her neighbors and whose child-rearing methods were by all appearances quite rough, even for that time.

Although one must have sympathy for a woman left alone with all the household tasks and three growing children for most of the week. When I went to visit Lunzenau, I spoke to the village archivist, who had grown up in the same house as the Herold family and had known Mrs. Herold personally. The archivist, who was born in 1955 and was about five or six years old when Mrs. Herold was still around, told me, and I quote: "I never saw that woman smile once."

And not in a "she didn't smile because she was sad" kind of way but in a rather sour kind of way. Herold was a dark-haired, blue-eyed, and sharp-faced boy. He was not classically handsome.

His eyes were small, his lips very thin, he had a huge forehead, and to top it all off, he was gap-toothed. But nature compensated for these imperfections by giving him a strong, well-built, and healthy body and endowing his youthful face with a bright and alert expression.

Like pretty much all the children in the village, Herold was expected to contribute to the household as soon as he could, either by tending to the vegetable patch, feeding the chicken, chopping wood, and helping his mother with chores. In their free time, the young people of Lunzenau could enjoy hikes around their beautiful region, raise kites late in summer, go swimming, and enjoy all kinds of winter sports during the cold season.

At that time, Lunzenau was a bustling little village absolutely filled to the brim with shops and businesses. Lunzenauer Gert Berthold wrote the following account about the village: "Here at the end of the Friedestrasse were the gardening centers Mende and Müller.

At the corner of August-Bebel-Strasse was the Meister shoe factory. A few houses further on, veterinarian Dr. Geyer had his practice.

Next to it was the so-called Brown House, followed by Terrazzo Heyer, carpenter Schröder, and the Kohlen-Walther carrying company.

On the other side of the street, the carrier Hoffman who brought wood with his old carriage and horses to the Kübler company and cellulose to the train station. On Mendelssohnplatz master tiler Hälzig, embroiderer Saupe, and shoemaker Korn had their workshops.

On Friedenstrasse was the beer and lemonade distributor Friedrich. Next to it, cigar manufacturer Barthel, followed by carpentry Kühnert, health insurance Schuster-Schröder, grocery store Heinrich, grocery store Dorsch with a laundry ringer and cab business. In the back house, pants tailor Ehlich.

Every cat he caught ended up in the cooking pot. On the right side of Friedenstrasse, the cemetery and the carpenter shop Schulze.

Here is the entrance to the Ringgässchen street. The plumber shop Nebel and the restaurant "Zum Weißen Ross" with the horse butcher's shop Uhlig and upstairs in the back house the Sunday School of the Protestant Church, followed by the bakery Wüstner, the coal merchant Götze (his son Herbert was later principal of our school), the film stage Tivoli. At the corner, hairdresser salon Krumbiegel." By the way, dear listeners, one should remember this name as it will come up in our story later. Let's continue.

"Here is the entrance to the Töpfergasse. Diagonally across from the cinema lived Erich Zella, a man who taught us how to really run when we plundered his fruit. Next to him was the baker Meinig, where you had the best cakes in Lunzenau. At the corner was the hardware store belonging to the Bönitz family. The store was called "Geist." Then the drugstore "

At that time, Lunzenau was a bustling little village absolutely filled to the brim with shops and businesses. Lunzenauer Gert Berthold wrote the following account about the village: "Here at the end of the Friedestrasse were the gardening centers Mende and Müller.

At the corner of August-Bebel-Strasse was the Meister shoe factory. A few houses further on, veterinarian Dr. Geyer had his practice.

Next to it was the so-called Brown House, followed by Terrazzo Heyer, carpenter Schröder and the Kohlen-Walther carrying company.

On the other side of the street, the carrier Hoffman who brought wood with his old carriage and horses to the Kübler company and cellulose to the train station. On Mendelssohnplatz master tiler Hälzig, embroiderer Saupe and shoemaker Kornhad their workshops.

On Friedenstrasse was the beer and lemonade distributor Friedrich. Next to it, cigar manufacturer Barthel, followed by carpentry Kühnert, health insurance Schuster-Schröder, grocery store Heinrich, grocery store Dorsch with a laundry ringer and cab business. In the back house, pants tailor Ehlich.

Every cat he caught ended up in the cooking pot. On the right side of Friedenstrasse, the cemetery and the carpeter shop Schulze.

Here is the entrance to the Ringgässchen street. The plumber shop Nebel and the restaurant "Zum Weißen Ross" with the horse butcher's shop Uhlig and upstairs in the back house the Sunday School of the Protestant Church, followed by the bakery Wüstner, the coal merchant Götze (his son Herbert was later

principal of our school) the film stage Tivoli. At the corner, hairdresser salon Krumbiegel." By the way dear listeners, one should remember this name as it will come up in our story later. Let's continue.

"Here is the entrance to the Töpfergasse. Diagonally across from the cinema lived Erich Zella, a man who taught us how to really run when we plundered his fruit. Next to him was the baker Meinig, where you had the best cakes in Lunzenau. At the corner was the hardware store

belonging to the Bönitz family. The store was called "Geist." Then the drugstore "Leni Kohl." This woman was hard of hearing and had an ear trumpet that she held to each customer's mouth.

Her husband Hans was the first Lunzenauer who fell in the Second World War. On the market square of the Mulde bridge was and is the restaurant Muldenschlösschen.

Next to it, the sewing store Matthes, the restaurant Sächsischer Hof, later department store of Lunzenau. Further, the hairdresser's shop Günther watchmaker Czeka, the "Kaffee Hans" and watchmaker Spreer.

Next to the farm Matthes was the book binder store of the family Jäh as well as the Town Hall with the Sparkasse bank and in the upper floor doctor Hellmilch. In the Lunzenau church served Mr. Zeitz as pastor and professor Merker as cantor. Pastor Zeitz confirmed us in

1954. Behind the church were the fire department depot, the post office and farmer Scheubner.

In today's shoe store at the corner of Friedenstrasse was the store of the stove fitter Posern. In front of it was a gas station.

After the town hall on the left on Roosevelt Strasse, later Karl-Marx Straase, in the direction of Altenburger Strasse was the book bindery Dietze owned by the Mußdorf family. From here we got our school books and exercise books and many other school supplies.

Right next door was the restaurant Zur Börse, the hat store Schlimper, later HO Vehicles, in the back house plumber Illert, the candy store Bohne, the exchange center later HO Shoes the butchery Killig, the cigar and tobacco store Ackermann, the textile store

Günther, the blacksmith (in operation until 1956) the pharmacy, Haushaltwaren Dietze in the back house plummer Meinig and the grocery store of Miss Hempel.

From the market on the right side there was the hairdresser's store Eckert the leather store Hoffmann, the restaurant Sonne, the later Kulturhaus Lunzenau which was demolished in 2003. In a rear side building was until the 50s the movie theater Sun."

Believe it or not, I am only halfway through the list of businesses to be found in Lunzenau during Herold's time. When I went there this year I was shocked at how small the village was. It was about three streets

and there was almost no sign of life there. it was clean and well maintained and charming, as many German villages are but it did not resemble the lively village in Mr. Berthold's recollections. It must have looked and sounded very

differently when Herold was still a boy. Even with only half the list we can see that the villagers of Lunzenau were very well supplied with pretty much everything they needed in terms of necessities, medical assistance and entertainment. This is the microcosm in which Herold

grew up in. Herold's family lived on one of the newer residential streets in Lunzenau, which had been built in the 20th century.

So for that time their house was new and well built and the neighborhood was very nice. The people who owned a house there were the more well-off villagers and many of Herold's teachers lived there.

Like in many small villages, it was impossible to keep a secret and rumors travelled like wildfire.

Your reputation had to be spotless and parents drilled that into their children's heads. Wolfgang Bönitz mentions an interesting aspect of life in Lunzenau. "The principles of a good cohabitation were instilled in children and teenagers by their parents through the teaching of

life goals and the development of universal character traits. Wishes ,dreams, hopes for one's development or for a better life without poverty and the fear of the future were kept deep inside and revealed only in the most trusted company.

Even though every teenager had these feelings, they were very reluctant to admit it." When Herold was only eight years old, the Nazis came to power in Germany and placed the country and Herold's life on a path towards catastrophic destruction.

By the time he was ten, membership in the Jungvolk, which was a kind of mini-Hitler Youth for children between the ages of 10 and 14, was almost compulsory and Herold joined.

Boys in the Jungvolk were called Pimpfs and we do know that as a Pimpf, Herold went on a visit to Berlin. He would later claim that he got kicked out of the Jungvolk pretty quickly. He joined in 1935, was kicked out in 1936

because he skipped meetings without a proper excuse and tried to organize his own band of Indians over which he could be the boss. We already see at this point that even as a young boy, Herold was rebellious and wanted to be seen as a

leader. Willi seems to have inherited some of his mother's temperament and quarrelsome nature as he was remembered by some in his village as an aggressive bully who started arguments with boys from other streets, often hit the younger ones and had

therefore sometimes trouble finding playmates, as 1930-born Johannes Müller recalls. "Nobody wanted to play with him!" In a letter stored in the Lunzenau village archive, Mr. Müller remembers the following: "I knew him very well because even as a boy he was a bully with whom no one

wanted to play. He was violent towards the younger children! He wanted, as can be read in the newspaper, to organize a band of Indians but he never got on with boys of the same age and never became an Indian!

He always beat the younger ones! When it was my turn, my brother, the same age as Herold, gave him a trashing. After that, he was finished in our group and he retreated to the other part of town.

Herold's birth in 1925 was followed by that of his sister Jutta in 1927 or 28 (the archivist wasn't very very sure about the the dates) and in late 1928 or very early 1929 by that of his brother Waldo.

Now, the archivist was also not sure about the name of Willi Herold's brother. She thought it was something something like Waldo or Walter but he's not an important character in our story so we're just going to call him Waldo. We don't know much about his sister but

his brother reportedly had the very opposite personality as Willi as the aforementioned Mr. Müller remembers him being "a complete wimp." Mr. Bönitz describes Herold as following: "Willi Herold corresponded in many ways to the Nazi educational ideals: he was very agile, athletic, ambitious and observant.

He quickly learned how to use the command tone and how to give orders, how to form and lead groups. He was cold-blooded, adventurous, clever and extraordinarily self-confident. He wanted to assert himself and was capable of doing so, towards the other boys or, if he felt

like it, the Jungvolk leaders. But here is where his difficulties started. He didn't wait to be promoted in order to be able to give orders. Instead, he placed himself at the top of the arbitrarily formed groups in his neighborhood and began quarrels with

boys from other streets. There, he was the undisputable leader and could usually succeed in asserting himself. He liked that much more than the rigid obedience and the enforced conformity found among the Pimpfs. He developed for himself a Rambo-like persona he became a rowdy boy."

In 1939, at the age of 14, Herold received his Evangelical confirmation. We can see him here ,in a well-tailored suit, looking rather serious. One year later in 1940, Herold joins the Hitler Youth and for a while he is enthusiastic about them thanks to the

long hikes they took him on and the other advantages they offered. Although he was never a hardcore Nazi, Herold was probably not unaffected by the principles and values of the Hitler Youth. According to their doctrine, a man was supposed to be above all else tough. Physical prowess was highly valued as

well as readiness to act. The ideal man, as envisioned by the Nazis was tough and resilient, a man of action who serves his community and country valiantly, even when, or particularly when it is difficult for him.

Weakness had to be overcome, pain had to be endued and the Hitler Youth boys had to prove their masculinity. Anything feminine had to be excised from their behavior and mentality like a tumor. They were supposed to be "real men", tough and capable like their fathers and

grandfathers. Hitler said in 1932: "Nothing could happen to a people whose youth gives up everything to serve its great ideals." The Hitler Youth ate up a lot of the free time of its members and one was almost always in service.

One was expected to fulfill their task efficiently and without complaint. Personal feelings didn't really matter.

But the uniforms looked okay and there was a sense of community around the organization.

According to former Hitler Youth witnesses and members, it didn't matter what kind of job your father had or if your family was rich or poor. Everybody was equal there, and it offered plenty of opportunities for adventure for someone like Willi Herold, who is always thirsting for

action.They'd go camping, make bonfires and dare each other to jump over them go on skiing trips in winter, march and train in a manner very similar to the military, which many boys enjoyed because it was so exciting in comparison to

their usual lives. The Hitler Youth leaders were most often chosen from the community and in some cases they genuinely cared about their charges and wanted the best for them, or at least this is what former Hitler Youth members

felt and thought at that time. And although Herold tended to be a pragmatist and an individualist rather than an idealist, quite a lot of the Nazi ideal of masculinity seeped into his character and influenced his decisions, as we will see in the future. Herold was an ambitious boy who

possessed a great deal of imagination. stories about Cowboys and Indians fascinated him and he dreamed of something more grand than a regular life.

However, since the financial situation of those times demanded that the children learn a trade as soon as possible, it's no surprise that Herold began an apprenticeship with a chimney sweep master at the age of 15.

It was a good profession. Only two years before, the Nazis had granted chimney sweeps a monopoly over their residence areas, meaning that each licensed chimney sweep automatically received a set number of houses to visit and inspect every year. This assured an income even in the most

difficult circumstances. And chimney sweeps were considered lucky. They appeared often on New Year's cards and people would often want to touch them if they met them on the street for good luck.

Some people even had them at their weddings in full chimney sweep uniform to wish the newlywed couple good fortune as they came out of the church.

They usually entertained a good relationship with the inhabitants of the region they served as they provided an essential service: making sure that the chimney, ovens and everything in between were in good working order and that there was no danger of explosion or malfunction.

Aside all these advantages, the profession was glamorous. Many young boys dreamed of being able to put the nice black uniform and adventurously climb up on the rooftops.

During his apprenticeship, Herold also had to attend the vocational school day in Lunzenau. The vocational school teacher and principal was called Ludwig and he was a friendly and fair man who endeavored a great deal to give his students a top-notch education,

something which was acknowledged and very appreciated by their parents. His was to be a sad fate, as the Nazi party, of which he was a member, tasked him with informing the people of Lunzenau whenever one of their relatives were missing or dead,

which made the entire village eye him wearily whenever he went out and about. Shortly before the end of the war this terrible task caused him to finally succumb to despair and take his own life. The chimney sweep master who took Herold

on had a good reputation and was a kind and patient teacher. However, sometime between the start of his apprenticeship and December 1941, Herold ran away from it together with his friend Hans Brettschneider. The reason he later gave was very candid:

he didn't feel like working and wanted to emigrate to America, whom Hitler at the time hadn't declared war. The two friends probably wanted to go to Genoa, Italy and take a ship to the US from there but they were caught in

northern Italy by the Gestapo and held for a week. Herold recalls receiving the mother of all beatings from them and when his father arrived to pick him up, he gave Herold more of the same.

But aside that, his bid for freedom had gained him prestige in his friend's circle. Running away from home at 15 or 16 was a brave thing to do and he grew in the eyes of the other boys. Luckily for him, his chimney sweep master

did not kick him out from his apprenticeship either, although his feelings about Herold's ill-advised bid for freedom from the clutches of respectable work remain unclear.

At this point in my research, I began to get the feeling that Herold was the kind of child and teenager whom his parents had a difficult time getting a good grip on. His mother's renowned strictness and physical punishment seemed to have done little in the face of his strong will

and resilient personality. He was a very good liar and a risk taker who didn't seem to fear neither his community nor his parents and who wanted to set out and achieve his goals his own way.

A natural born leader, he was nevertheless not adverse to rule breaking and taking unethical shortcuts to obtain whatever he wanted.

Back then, other organizations aside the Jungvolk and Hitler Youth were forbidden and yet he skipped meetings to try and run his own pack of boys. That could have had some particularly unfortunate circumstances for his family since being excluded from the Jungvolk or Hitler

Youth was a black mark on the whole family and could get ugly, going as far as to affect the child's chances for a good future.

The fact that he wanted to run away from home and leave everything and everybody behind was also quite telling. He didn't feel particularly connected to his family and was confident enough that he could make it on his own. Herold dutifully finished his

apprenticeship in 1943 when he passed the official examination and became a licensed chimney sweep. There is a common mistake that people make when they refer to Herold as a chimney sweep apprentice.

That is incorrect. Herold was a proper chimney sweep by German law. This mistake was first made by the British authorities, who most likely did not understand the German apprenticeship system. Now a freshly minted professional Herold did not have time to work because he had to fulfill his Reich Labour

Service on the Atlantic Wall in France, from June 6th until September 11 of the same year. When he arrived there, he was handed the traditional shovel and bicycle and put to work. We don't know what he felt about his time in the camp

but as a strong, athletic individual he probably enjoyed the change in scenery and meeting new people, although he might have been ambivalent about having to do some actual work. After returning home, he volunteered to join the Wehrmacht, although as an 18 year old

he would have been drafted anyway. Here we can see his glamorous photograph, where he looks the picture of confidence itself. He was sent to Tangermünde and trained as a paratrooper in the 18th Fallschirmtruppe, Sixth Parachutist Division.

The paratroopers were considered elite units and received highly specialized and demanding training, which attests to the physical and mental fortitude of our protagonist.

The bodies of paratroopers in training were constantly covered in bruises as they often trained how to fall and they had to wrap and pack their own parachutes. Forgetful or inattentive soldiers had no chance to survive this strict training regime.

Finally, Herold makes his first contact with the real war as he takes part as an infantryman in the bloody battles of Nettuno and Monte Cassino.

It is at this point that he is promoted to the rank of Gefreiter - a Lance Corporal. He suffers long shot but survives and is sent back home in the summer of 1944 to recuperate, although the villagers were careful to note that

he did not appear to have any visible injuries which confused them somewhat. The Wehrmacht had never been generous with the amount of leave days they would give to their soldiers and many villagers were rather envious that Herold was allowed to stay for so

long at home. Herold was always in uniform during his leave home. Now, coming back from the military wearing one's uniform isn't unusual for young men even today.

They like the prestige the uniform offers and feel proud of what they accomplished. However, Herold was in uniform all the time no matter where he went in Lunzenau which was decidedly odd. Wolfgang Bönitz kindly supposes that he might not have

had anything else to wear but I doubt it. He had to have had something to wear before he left war he was only gone for about eight months and he couldn't have grown that much during that time and surely there was a

pair of pants and a shirt around the Herold household. It's more likely that the uniform fed his desire for self-importance and authority, but after a while not even that was enough for Herold.

Suddenly, one day he appeared wearing some very prestigious medals including the Iron Cross First and Second Class, the German Cross which was normally awarded for repeated acts of bravery or military leadership, an Honor Cross and the insignia of a non-commissioned officer.

All this caused quite a murmur in Lunzenau. People believed he was simply too young to have earned those medals but the battles of Monte Cassino and Nettuno had been bloody, so it was not inconceivable for a strong, agile young man like Herold

to have gained them. Mr. Hoffman, the owner of the textile shop in Lunzenau, sold him the medals in good faith.

For his part, Herold savored the newfound authority granted to him by his medals and soon began to stick his nose in other people's business.

He would go to the Brown House during the Jungvolk training sessions and take the Jungvolk leader the notebook from his hands, something which the leader would allow out of respect for his purported military service. Herold would then organize the

afternoons as he pleased, ordering the youngsters left and right, visibly enjoying his position. Wolfgang Bönitz was 13 years old at the time and remembers: "He would shout at us for the smallest mistake and I, who had been a Pimpf for

three years already at that point and had been promoted to the rank of Young Leader, was always annoyed by this presumptuous behavior." Another notable and sadder incident happened on the Friedhofstrasse, now Friedenstrasse, when Herold came across his hairdresser

Mr. Krumbiegel. Wolfgang describes Mr Krumbiegel as "a very polite, customer-oriented businessman with nimble, somewhat suspicious eyes, a fleshy nose and rapid gestures. He was quite short in stature and because of that he was very sensitive fragile and resentful. He had surely cut Herold's hair all

throughout his childhood and adolescence." Mr.Krumbiegel was merely a "Soldat" equivalent to a recruit, and being older and having known Herold since he was a young boy, did not salute him first. Herold caused a terrible scene at this perceived slight and humiliated the older

man in view of the whole village, shouting at him and ordering him to march around. Herold was known to have a loud voice and one former Aschendorfermoor inmate once testified that "He could shout like a madman." So you can imagine the scandal that he

caused. This wounded the already famously sensitive Mr. Krumbiegel and was an enlightening incident regarding Herold's personality. He was someone who had a deep, all-encompassing desire to be respected who wanted to feel important and powerful and he didn't think twice about

humiliating a man whom he had known his entire life and who had done absolutely nothing to him except offer his services and courtesy for so many years.

He did not have the chance to inflict further humiliation on the good people of Lunzenau however, as he attracted the attention of the Feldgendarm the military police in Saxony, who unmasked him. It turns out that he had awarded the least some of his medals to himself, to everybody's

amusement. The rumor in Lunzenau was that Mr. Krumbiegel took his revenge on Herold by reporting him to the military police ending his leave home. If that is the truth we might never know. Mr. Krumbiegel himself has never spoken

about this. Now, Wolfgang Bönitz was 13 at the time as we have already mentioned and probably heard this through the grapevine so we don't know exactly what medals Herold didn't earn. We do know for sure that Herold was not a non-commissioned officer, nor did he earn

the German Cross or the Honor Cross, but it's never been clear whether he did earn the Iron Cross First and Second Class. He would stubbornly claim to the British that he was rightfully decorated with them, together with a Silver Close Combat Clasp the Parachutist Badge

Infantry Assault Badge and Silver Wound Badge. It's not unlikely but this is Herold we are talking about - he's not an honest person. The question that arises over and over again in my mind is if he really was that experienced and

great and brave and full of valor on the battlefield, why was he never promoted above the rank of Gefreiter? By the end of the war, he had been in the military for 18 months, with one full year of active service.

Surely, if he had been that amazing as he wanted people to believe, he would have been promoted at least one more time, especially under the circumstances of such a difficult war for Germany. The question remains open to this day.

Back to the summer of 1944. Herold is unmasked. It is not clear if he was ever punished for this act of stolen valor. He was a strong, capable young man in 1944 Germany. He was a precious resource and had to be handled carefully. So he was sent to the front yet again.

And here is where we end the first part of our story. When I read the incident related to poor Mr.Krumbiegel and Herold's first act of stolen valor, I saw him in a completely different light. Wolfgang Bönitz's essay was a revelation for me. It showed that the seeds for Herold's later deeds were

already there from the beginning: the lust for authority, the risk-taking, the rule-breaking, the tendency towards lying and abusing one's power.

Throw in the destabilizing forces of war and you have a perfect recipe for disaster - although as many people would later repeat throughout the decades nothing in his upbringing would have inevitably led to what he would eventually do. In the next video, we will delve into the

apex of Herold's life - his grisly exploits in Emsland. Until then, take care.