Via War History Online Aug 11, 2023ย Rosemary Giles, Guest Author
The above photo is undoubtedly one of the best-known German images ofย World War II, showing a soldier carrying ammunition around his shoulders. It's understandable that such a famous photo would spark curiosity as to who, exactly, this individual is. While it's difficult to know with certainty, the general consensus is that he's 23-year-old Hans Tragarsky ofย SSโKampfgruppeHansen.
Supposedly, the imageย was captured byย a member of theย Propagandakompanieย (PK), who came across Tragarsky and his unit during theย Battle of the Bulge. This was the last major offensiveย the Germans undertook on the Western Front.
Followingย D-Day, they'd hoped to prevent further Allied movement throughout Europe, with their goal being to inhibit the use of the Port of Antwerp in Belgium, as it allowed access to supplies that would aid in the continued clearing out of Germans from the areas they occupied.
This photo of Tragarsky was taken in the early days of this engagement, and it's believed it wasย actually a stillย taken from a film byย SSโUnterscharfรผhrerย Schรคfer, at the behest ofย SSโKriegsberichterย Max Bรผschel.ย Kampfgruppe Hansenย had just ambushed an American convoy. After taking them out, they raided the wreckage to take weapons, cigarettes and food.
Tragarskyย can be seenย wearing an American raincoat, which was likely also taken during the ambush. This particular image was popularized after the PKย dispatch rider was captured by the American forces only a day later with the film reel that Schรคfer shot. A portion of the video can be seen above, with the German soldiers celebrating their American loot.
There's little other concrete information known about Tragarsky, except that he survived the war and died on January 7, 2011.
Although he's believed to be the soldier in the photo, there was once a time when individuals believed the image was of Walter Ambrusch. Members of his own unit largelyย discredited this theory, despite Ambrusch himself saying that it was him. While a machine gunner during the Ardennes Offensive, he wasn'tย thisย machine gunner.
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Although there's plenty of speculation about this mysterious German and his identity, we ultimately might never know the truth. The information on the topic is scant at best. It could very well be Hans Tragarsky, or it could be someone whose wartime story will never be uncovered.
Find the article in its entirety at War History Online.
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5 Comments
Died in 2011?? Thatโs BEFORE WW2 began.
Nein, das ist falsch. Der Zweite Weltkrieg endete 1945. Er starb 2011, 66 Jahre spรคter
With people like this bot Steve Rogers being allowed to pollute comment sections with his fraudulent get-rich-quick ads on websites like this, you must often wonder whether the correct side won the war. It gets less and less certain every day.
They finally removed it. I wish we had a Report or Mute button for those.
No you are not