>There are multiple supposed identities of this soldier floating around the internet.
>Apparently he is:
>Arno Funke --> Shares the name with a famous German blackmailer. Little evidence of this being the name of the soldier besides forum posts claiming such. In conclusion it is probably trolling taken as fact be people who don't know the blackmail Arno.
>Walter Armbrusch --> Survived the war and was often claimed to be the soldier. However people who personally knew him and talked with him about the photo could confirm it was not him. Armbrush was an SS machine gunner during the Ardennes Offensive, but he is not the SS machine gunner photographed during the Poteau Ambush. Members of the SS LAH Divison present that day who recognized themselves and others in the images failed to ID the man pictured and some of the other soldiers seen with him. This makes it somewhat likely that they did not belong the the SS LAH, which Armbrusch did.
>Heinrich Severloh --> A soldier of the same name exits who is infamous for killing many soldiers during D-Day. The Severloh supposedly pictured in the Ardennes however has no evidence of existing besides his story and obituary featured on what looks like a revisionist "Clean-Wehrmacht" kind of website. In conclusion it is fair to assume it is not him, if the story and person is not even a complete fabrication.
>Hans Tragarsky --> Has recognized himself as the soldier in the image. However the unit he was with at the time the picture was taken was not in the same area. It could be an old man's faulty memory making him see himself in a picture that doesn't actually show him, or he was there, due to transfers between units or other reason not properly documented. So far it is the most plausible identity. The soldier in the picture is likely part of the Kampfgruppe Hansen.
Comments
>There are multiple supposed identities of this soldier floating around the internet.
>Apparently he is:
>Arno Funke --> Shares the name with a famous German blackmailer. Little evidence of this being the name of the soldier besides forum posts claiming such. In conclusion it is probably trolling taken as fact be people who don't know the blackmail Arno.
>Walter Armbrusch --> Survived the war and was often claimed to be the soldier. However people who personally knew him and talked with him about the photo could confirm it was not him. Armbrush was an SS machine gunner during the Ardennes Offensive, but he is not the SS machine gunner photographed during the Poteau Ambush. Members of the SS LAH Divison present that day who recognized themselves and others in the images failed to ID the man pictured and some of the other soldiers seen with him. This makes it somewhat likely that they did not belong the the SS LAH, which Armbrusch did.
>Heinrich Severloh --> A soldier of the same name exits who is infamous for killing many soldiers during D-Day. The Severloh supposedly pictured in the Ardennes however has no evidence of existing besides his story and obituary featured on what looks like a revisionist "Clean-Wehrmacht" kind of website. In conclusion it is fair to assume it is not him, if the story and person is not even a complete fabrication.
>Hans Tragarsky --> Has recognized himself as the soldier in the image. However the unit he was with at the time the picture was taken was not in the same area. It could be an old man's faulty memory making him see himself in a picture that doesn't actually show him, or he was there, due to transfers between units or other reason not properly documented. So far it is the most plausible identity. The soldier in the picture is likely part of the Kampfgruppe Hansen.