Figure 1.--Here we see a group of German soldiers, some look rather old. This suggests tous the photograph was probnly taken in 1944. The boy does not seem to be German. The Wehrmact as part of the Volkstrum took in teenage boys as young as 16 years of age. Some even younger boys as part of the Hitler Youth joined the fight in the final year of the War. This boy is not, howver, a HJ boy. Infact his uniform looks like a Red srmy uniform. It was very unusual for German soldiers to take in boy mascots of Slavic ancestry. There were interests of Volkdeutsche from the Soviet Union, but as far as we know there were no Slavic boys. Of course some Ukranians and even Russians fought with the Germans and these units may have taken in Slavic boys if allowed by their German officers. These soldiers look German, but do not seem to be front-line soldiers. We are not siure just who the boy here. He seems to be wearing a Red Army uniform, but looks very comfortable with the Germans. We do not know where the photograph was taken, presumably somewhere in the Reich. The building is rathger destinctive, perhaps someone will recognize it.

Here we see a group of German soldiers, some look rather old. This suggests to us the photograph was probnly taken in 1944, but as they are fully uniformed, they are not Volkstrum. The uniforms suggest that they are regulr Heer soldiers. Note that they seem to have carteridge holders on their belts which means we tink that they were somewhere near a combat zone. The boy does not seem to be German. The Whermact as part of the Volkstrum took in teenage boys as young as 16 years of age. Some even younger boys as part of the Hitler Youth joined the fight in the final year of the War. This boy is not, howver, a HJ boy. Infact his uniform looks like a Red srmy uniform. It was very unusual for German soldiers to take in boy mascots of Slavic ancestry. There were interests of Volkdeutsche from the Soviet Union, but as far as we know there were no Slavic boys. Of course some Ukranians and even Russians fought with the Germans and these units may have taken in Slavic boys if allowed by their German officers. These soldiers look German, but do not seem to be front-line soldiers. We are not sure just who the boy here. He seems to be wearing a Red Army uniform, but looks very comfortable with the Germans. We do not know where the photograph was taken, presumably somewhere in the Reich. The building is rathger destinctive, perhaps someone will recognize it. Click on the image for a fuller discussion.

The Soldiers

Here we see a group of German soldiers, some look rather old. This suggests to us the photograph was probnly taken in 1944, but as they are fully uniformed, they are not Volkstrum. The uniforms suggest that they are regulr Heer soldiers. Note that they seem to have carteridge holders on their belts which means we tink that they were somewhere near a combat zone.

Red Army Boy

The boy does not seem to be German. The Wehrmacht as part of the Volkstrum took in teenage boys as young as 16 years of age. Some even younger boys as part of the Hitler Youth joined the fight in the final year of the War. This boy is not, howver, a HJ boy. In fact his uniform looks like a Red Army uniform. It was very unusual for German soldiers to take in boy mascots of Slavic ancestry. There were incidents of Volkdeutsche boys adopted from the Soviet Union, but as far as we know there were no Slavic boys. Of course some Ukranians and even Russians fought with the Germans and these units may have taken in Slavic boys if allowed by their German officers. These soldiers look German, but do not seem to be front-line soldiers. We are not sure just who the boy here. He seems to be wearing a Red Army uniform, but looks very comfortable with the Germans.

Sasha Khorev

Although we do not know this boy's name. We note a boy named Sasha Khorev, a Russian boy that was adopted by a German artillery squad during the War and even visited Germany. This story was published in the German magazine Alte Kameraden, but I havent found any links to the original article. A Russian reader writes, "In my opinion, almost everything was possible at such a massacre like World War II. been. Maybe some of your German contributors will find more information." The German article read, "The famous story of the writer Valentin Kataev "Son of the regiment," which told about Van Solntsevo, of course, known to all. Such stories during the war there were many. However, there have been cases when our Russian boys become "sons of regiments," not believe in someone else's - the German army. Frankly, when I met with a similar case, I have brought up the memory of the heroic pioneers, it initially just did not fit in my head. How did this happen? We all know that the traitors and deserters at all times the conversation was short. But we should not jump to conclusions and condemn. Not everything was so simple and straightforward as we thought for many years. In war there are many persons. A few years ago in the German Military History magazine "Alte kameraden" published in Stuttgart, was published memoirs of former non-commissioned officer Heinz Koottsa, in which he told an amazing story about the "son of regiment" Sasha Horev."

Location

We do not know where the photograph was taken, presumably somewhere in the Reich. The building is rathger destinctive, perhaps someone will recognize it.

Russian Discussion

This image has appeared on a few Russian interet sites and has been the subject of some discussion. A Russian reader tells us, "The sources about this picture in Russian Internet are limited and controversial. At least one source claims, that this boy served in the Red Army as a musician, was captived by Germans, and shot immediately after that photo was taken. Another two sources say, that this boy was adopted by soldies military brat ("son of the squad" in Russian) and was of Russian origin. He thus accompanied an unknown German military unit. Here I have no facts, but know, that there were such incidents. I have found this article ("Русский сын немецкого полка") from the Russian newspaper Pravda published in 2009: Sorry I have no time to make a good translation for you, but nowdays we all have a Google translate, that works roughly, but effecively. The Google translation is: "Russian son of a German regiment". In brief the article describe Sasha Khorev, a Russian boy that accompanied a German artillery squad during the war and even visited Germany. This story was published in the German magazine Alte Kameraden, but I haven't found any links to the original article. In my opinion, almost everything was possible in the massacre like World War II was. Maybe some of your German contributors will find more info."

Created: 7:49 AM 9/27/2012
Last updated: 9:28 AM 9/29/2012