ogenoct
08-31-2008, 12:20 AM
GEORGE WASHINGTON BRIGADE?
by Constantin von Hoffmeister
Ten Americans served in the Waffen-SS before the entry of the United States into World War II. Some of these may have continued afterwards, but it is unclear how many. According to MI5, at least one is believed to have fled to Switzerland in 1942.
Despite various claims about a "George Washington Brigade," no unit made up of American volunteers was ever raised. According to Alexander Dolezalek of the SS-Hauptamt (main office), there was never an attempt made to recruit Americans at all. Neverthless, according to SS sources, five Americans served in the Waffen-SS in May 1940.
Born in Louisiana, Peter Delaney (calling himself Pierre de la Ney du Vair) was an SS-Hauptsturmfuehrer (captain) in the SS-Standarte Kurt Eggers and served in the Legion des Volontaires Francais (French Voluntary Legion). He was killed in 1945.
Delaney met Martin James Monti (from St.Louis, Missouri; he was the son of first generation Americans - the father Italian-Swiss, the mother German) in 1945. Monti (second lieutenant in the US forces) went AWOL in October of 1944. He escaped from Karachi to Cairo, then Tripolis, then Naples. There he stole a P-38 fighter and flew to Milan where he surrendered to the Germans. After interrogation by German intelligence, Monti was given the position of a propaganda broadcaster (preaching fascist propaganda under the name Martin Wiethaupt). Eventually, with the aid of Delaney, Monti entered the Waffen-SS as a SS-Untersturmfuehrer in the SS-Standarte Kurt Eggers.
At the end of the war, Monti headed south to Italy and surrendered to the Americans, still wearing his SS uniform. He claimed that Italian partisans supplied him with the uniform. Monti was "only" charged with desertion and sentenced to 15 years of hard labor. After the Justice Department grew suspicious, he was charged with treason and received a 25 year sentence. He was paroled in 1960.
The SS-Standarte Kurt Eggers was primarily a war correspondents unit and included photographers, movie cameramen, writers, broadcasters and recorders, who all served in the field. The unit had several foreign volunteers who reported for their home countries. Members covered the Waffen-SS troops in battle, and their dispatches were featured in the SS journal Das Schwarze Korps. Kurt Eggers was the former editor of that journal. He was killed in action west of Kharkov on August 13, 1943.
Here is one of the pieces of propaganda that the SS-Standarte Kurt Eggers was responsible for:
http://www.psywarrior.com/timessemite.jpg
by Constantin von Hoffmeister
Ten Americans served in the Waffen-SS before the entry of the United States into World War II. Some of these may have continued afterwards, but it is unclear how many. According to MI5, at least one is believed to have fled to Switzerland in 1942.
Despite various claims about a "George Washington Brigade," no unit made up of American volunteers was ever raised. According to Alexander Dolezalek of the SS-Hauptamt (main office), there was never an attempt made to recruit Americans at all. Neverthless, according to SS sources, five Americans served in the Waffen-SS in May 1940.
Born in Louisiana, Peter Delaney (calling himself Pierre de la Ney du Vair) was an SS-Hauptsturmfuehrer (captain) in the SS-Standarte Kurt Eggers and served in the Legion des Volontaires Francais (French Voluntary Legion). He was killed in 1945.
Delaney met Martin James Monti (from St.Louis, Missouri; he was the son of first generation Americans - the father Italian-Swiss, the mother German) in 1945. Monti (second lieutenant in the US forces) went AWOL in October of 1944. He escaped from Karachi to Cairo, then Tripolis, then Naples. There he stole a P-38 fighter and flew to Milan where he surrendered to the Germans. After interrogation by German intelligence, Monti was given the position of a propaganda broadcaster (preaching fascist propaganda under the name Martin Wiethaupt). Eventually, with the aid of Delaney, Monti entered the Waffen-SS as a SS-Untersturmfuehrer in the SS-Standarte Kurt Eggers.
At the end of the war, Monti headed south to Italy and surrendered to the Americans, still wearing his SS uniform. He claimed that Italian partisans supplied him with the uniform. Monti was "only" charged with desertion and sentenced to 15 years of hard labor. After the Justice Department grew suspicious, he was charged with treason and received a 25 year sentence. He was paroled in 1960.
The SS-Standarte Kurt Eggers was primarily a war correspondents unit and included photographers, movie cameramen, writers, broadcasters and recorders, who all served in the field. The unit had several foreign volunteers who reported for their home countries. Members covered the Waffen-SS troops in battle, and their dispatches were featured in the SS journal Das Schwarze Korps. Kurt Eggers was the former editor of that journal. He was killed in action west of Kharkov on August 13, 1943.
Here is one of the pieces of propaganda that the SS-Standarte Kurt Eggers was responsible for:
http://www.psywarrior.com/timessemite.jpg