German Volkssturm troops in Ratibor, Germany (now Racibórz, Poland), 2 Feb 1945; note Kar98k rifles and Panzerfaust

Caption     German Volkssturm troops in Ratibor, Germany (now Racibórz, Poland), 2 Feb 1945; note Kar98k rifles and Panzerfaust ww2dbase
Photographer    Unknown
Source    ww2dbaseGerman Federal Archives
Identification Code   Bild 183-H29033
More on...   
Mauser Kar98k   Main article  Photos  
Panzerfaust   Main article  Photos  
Photo Size 800 x 574 pixels
Photos on Same Day 2 Feb 1945
Added By C. Peter Chen
Licensing  Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 3.0 Germany License (CC BY-SA 3.0 DE).

See Bild 183-H29033 on Wikimedia Commons

According to the German Federal Archive (Bundesarchiv), as of 21 Jul 2010, photographs can be reproduced with if these preconditions are met:
- quote the "Federal Archives" as source,
- add the signature of the pictures and
- of name of the originator, i.e. the photographer.
...
You also can use fotos from the Federal Archives for free on Wikimedia Commons
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:Bundesarchiv According to the German Federal Archive (Bundesarchiv), as of 19 Jul 2023, "You also can use fotos from the Federal Archives on Wikimedia Common free of charge".

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Visitor Submitted Comments

1. Commenter identity confirmed Bill says:
8 Oct 2016 07:22:49 PM

ARMY OF OLD MEN & BOYS:

File photo shows an older out of shape veteran, rank on collar shows two pips that of a Zugfuhrer.
Both have been issued winter greatcoats, the other is a much younger man, rank unknown, weapons are two Mauser K98 rifles and an anti-tank Panzerfaust.

THEY DIED WITH THEIR BOOTS ON:

The Volkssturm Militia was made up of older men, veterans and boys between 16 or younger to 60 years old. Not all units were issued field-gray uniforms, while others were equipped with a mix of civilian and field-gray uniforms, for identification they wore Volkssturm armbands.
Weapons were German, as well as a mix of captured British, French, Belgian and Italian many of which had different calibers.
Volkssturm troops were no match against the combat experienced Soviet army...they were just cannon fodder.

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