Descriptive list of German Military Archives of the Second World War


German Seized Records-Divisions, G.S.R./T315/30-2312, 1940-1945

Project manager: Dr. Dimitrios K. Apostolopoulos

This program goes into a part of the German Seized Records concerning the military operations in Greece during WWII, aiming at the creation of an electronic database and the publication of a descriptive catalogue. The copies (in microfilms) of this archival material was ordered by the Research Centre for the Study of Modern Greek History of the Academy Athens - KEINE during the 1980’s from the United States of America, who had confiscated the material after the War. In the meantime, the original archives have been returned to the German Federal Republic and are located at the military archives (Militärarchiv) of Freiburg.

In detail, the unit of microfiches chosen for this research program concerns the military operations of the Divisions (G.S.R./T315/30-2312, 1940-1945) and includes the following issues:

  • Documents of the 1st panzer division, 1940-43
  • Documents of the 1st mountain division (resistance in Greece, eastern front), 1942-43
  • Documents – maps – daily orders – activities reports – maps with locations of the enemy of the 1st mountain division (military operations of the Balkans and Greece), 1943-44
  • Documents-maps of the 2nd panzer division, 1940-41
  • Activities reports, orders and supply matters of the 4th mountain division (advance in the Balkans), 1940-41
  • Documents of the 5th mountain division (attack of the Metaxas’ Frontline), 1941
  • Activities reports of the 5th panzer division, 1940-41
  • Activities reports of the 6th mountain division, 1940-41, 1941-42 and documents regarding the occupation of Athens, 1941. Documents and maps of the 6th mountain division regarding the taking of Crete, 1941
  • Documents of the 9th panzer division, 1941-42
  • Documents of the 11th air expedition division (operations in the Aegean, Chalcis, Lamia, Corinth, Megara), 1942
  • Documents-orders-activities of the 22nd infantry division (movements  towards Thessaloniki, Athens, Crete, N. Africa/ operations in the Dodecanese and Samos, resistance in Crete), 1942-43
  • Documents of the 50th infantry division (movements in the Greek-Bulgarian borders and in Thessaloniki, operations inGreece in general, but also the campaign in Russia – advance from Greece to Bulgaria), 1940-41
  • Documents of the 72nd infantry division (transport from Romania to Neurokopi, Drama, Kavalla), 1940-41. Then, transport from Kavalla to Russia, 1941-42
  • Documents of the 73d infantry division (operation in the Balkans, occupation of Greece, Tsolakoglou government), 1941
  • Documents of the 104th raiding division (transport to Athens, Chalcis, Thebes, situation in the Peloponnese, situation in Yugoslavia), 1943-45

This research program reveals a hardly accessible archive directly concerning contemporary Greek history. As general research often lacks references to German archives, the treatment and use of this material is of major importance.