Arno Krause

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NSDAP
The Bundesarchiv (BArch), the former Berlin Document Center (BDC) in Berlin, holds the membership card index of the NSDAP. According to the Bundesarchiv, all members of the Krause family were members of the NSDAP.

	Applied	Joined	Membership number
Gustav Krause	01.05.1937	25.05.1937	5125505
NSLB*	K.A.	01.04.1933	103317
Gertrud Krause	01.05.1937	31.12.1937	5086731
Arno Krause	01.09.1938	12.10.1938	7004565

*Nationalsozialistischer Lehrerbund (National Socialist Teachers’ League)
A curious circumstance is that on all three membership cards the date of admission precedes the date of application. Since normally the application for membership comes first, the error has been corrected here.

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Education
Arno Krause was a pupil at the NPEA (Nationalpolitische Erziehungsanstalt) in Stuhm, commonly known as Napola. On the NSDAP membership card his occupation is listed as: Jungmann. This was the official designation for a pupil at an NPEA.
In researching information, a board member of the Kreisgemeinschaft Fischhausen e. V. was able to assist. Two photographs on which Arno Krause can be seen were even found. One photograph shows Arno Krause as a pupil at the NPEA.
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Arno Krause (right) as a pupil at the NPEA in Stuhm, approx. 1936. Source: H. Meller

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A former neighbour from Elchdorf still remembered the Krause family and was able to share some information about Arno Krause. Arno Krause had obtained his secondary school leaving certificate, after which he is said to have begun studying medicine — despite his father having envisioned a different path for his son. He was conscripted into military service and was unable to complete his studies.
Unfortunately, contact with this former neighbour was lost prematurely.
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According to information from the Deutsche Dienststelle (WASt), Arno Krause’s unit, as recorded in reports dated 02.07.1940 and 23.12.1944, was the Luftnachrichtenkompanie (Air Signals Company) of the Flughafenbereich (airfield district) Heiligenbeil. A further letter from the Deutsche Dienststelle dated 05.12.2008 states that Arno Krause’s last unit of assignment was Fallschirmjägerregiment 13. In yet another letter from the Deutsche Dienststelle dated 13.02.2012, the following is stated in response to an enquiry:
“The American prisoner of war records indicate the 13th Parachute Regiment.”
This attribution can almost certainly be traced back to the entry on the Death Certificate. No second source confirming this has been found to date. Regarding Fallschirmjäger-Regiment 13, a US Army report covered the capture of 5 members of the regiment. It is of course possible that this subsequently led to confusion during administrative processing.

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There is a record at the Deutsche Dienststelle concerning a hospital stay.
On 24.03.1941, Arno Krause was admitted to the Reservelazarett Braunsbaag due to an inguinal hernia. Since no reserve hospital by this name existed, it must refer to Braunsberg / East Prussia, which would also be logical. He was discharged from the hospital on 16.04.1941 and returned to the Luftnachrichten Kompanie Heiligenbeil.

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The Family History

Gustav Krause had been employed as a teacher at the Protestant elementary school in Elchdorf, district Fischhausen (East Prussia) since 01.02.1928. He passed his first teaching examination on 04.03.1911, and his second examination followed on 16.03.1914. On 01.10.1916, Gustav Krause was given a permanent appointment. Nothing more can be gleaned from Gustav Krause’s personnel card for teachers.
During the 1930s (and into the 1940s), an international student exchange programme took place in which both Germany and the United States participated. Pupils from various German elite schools, mostly so-called Napolas, took part in the project. One of these exchange students was Arno Krause. We find Arno Krause on a passenger list of the MS St. Louis, in January 1938. According to the passenger list (see below), the group stayed in the United States for 6 months. The group consisted of eleven pupils and one teacher. Three passenger lists containing student groups were found. The port of arrival was always the same: New York. The lists give no information about which schools the individual pupils were placed in. Contact with the United States was handled through Tabor University; Professor Lillard played a decisive role in the student exchange. More on this subject can be found, among other places, in the book “The Third Reich’s Elite Schools” by Helen Roche.

In family possession are several letters that report on the family of Arno Krause. The family lived until the very end in Elchdorf / East Prussia. Shortly before the Soviet invasion in 1945, the parents of Arno Krause were found dead on the marital bed. The murder-suicide is mentioned in several sources. In a handwritten letter dated 06.10.1964, Mrs Dehm describes the discovery of the two bodies.

“….The entire village fled on the night of 28.1 to 29.1.45. We lived apart from the village, at the edge of the forest. On 29.1.45 the Pole came in the morning and said the whole village is empty. The Krauses are lying dead in the bedroom. We went to see if it was true. Mrs Krause had strangulation marks on her neck, Mr Krause had been shot. On 30.1.45 at 3 o’clock in the morning the Russians arrived. The Krauses are buried behind the house in the garden. On 6.2.45 we had to leave Elchdorf.”
In connection with Arno Krause, the most important letter is probably that of 16.06.1949. This letter comes from an uncle who was a lawyer. Shortly after this letter, the uncle received confirmation that his nephew had died. The Deutsche Dienststelle also informed the uncle about the circumstances.
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Letter from family property. Source: Family property. * By Korczany, Otto Skorzeny was of course meant.

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On 28.06.1954, Arno’s uncle writes that he visited Arno’s grave in Belgium. He had initially intended to travel to Henri-Chapelle. At the Belgian border he already learned that the German soldiers had all been transferred to Lommel. This letter contains nothing further about Arno Krause.

The Trial Record

In the possession of the relatives of Lieutenant Krause is an apparently translated from English and clearly abridged transcript of the trial documents. Unfortunately the translation lacks any stamps or other indications that would allow conclusions to be drawn about the origin of the document. A covering letter or envelope has likewise not been preserved.
On the basis of the grammar, one can conclude that the translated text was not written by a German. In the 10 pages there are also references to his six comrades who were captured together with Arno Krause. It is notable that the alias name of Rolf Meyer in this “file” differs considerably from that given in other sources.
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Since the original source of the trial proceedings is unknown, further sources were sought regarding details of the capture of Lieutenant Arno Krause’s group. A brief description was found in the book History of the CIC by John Mendelsohn (see General Information Horst Görlich). At least part of the described sequence of events was confirmed there. However, the account of the capture was presented differently.
What is confirmed in Mendelsohn’s book is that the seven soldiers were travelling on foot. It is also stated there that the purpose was to reconnoitre the artillery positions near Géromont. According to Mendelsohn, there was direct contact between American artillerymen and the German commando soldiers. However, it is not noted why seven commando soldiers were needed to interrogate the American soldiers. While many details about this group seem to fit, there are, particularly with this group, individual points in the various documents that raise at least some questions.
Statement of a committed ideologue
Until now, only few details from the interrogations of captured members of the Stielau unit have become known. A PWI Report (PWI stands for Prisoner of War Interrogation) of the First Army states that 4 of the prisoners made statements: Schilz, Meyer, Miegel & Struller. The others invoked the fact that they had been carrying out orders. According to the report, Lieutenant Krause additionally stated: “Had I been ordered to shoot my mother, I would have done it.” It is noted that some of the prisoners still had a lot to say for themselves.
Bundesarchiv Department PA, formerly Deutsche Dienststelle (WASt)
In March 2021, I examined his personnel index card, held at Bundesarchiv Dept. PA.
According to a report dated 29.05.1945, Arno Krause had been listed as missing in the Malmedy area since 23.12.1944.
A report dated 05.11.1947 references and cites the Death Certificate. The next of kin were notified, though the search for his parents failed for reasons already known to us.
A report dated 12.12.1951 noted the reinterment in Lommel. No further useful information can be extracted from the personnel index card. *_{Reference see Sources}

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Information from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Geneva

(International Committee of the Red Cross, ICRC)

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Grave of Arno Krause, German Military Cemetery Lommel (Belgium) 2012. Photo: © Stichting Oorlogsslachtoffers.