You were awarded the Honor Roll clasp, can I ask how you won this?

Georges: Well, all I will say ii that it was given for the final battles for Kharkov. Stalin wanted this large city back and there were three main battles that the SS was involved in. I was part of the third battle and was in the Panzer regiment of Das Reich, SS-Panzer Regiment 2, of the 6th Company. I was a driver on the Panzer IV with the long barrel, the 7.5cm cannon. I took my lessons to heart, I never missed a gear and got us moving quickly all the time. Speed and movement were what won the day in a Panzer battle. We had to aim fast, fire first, and repeat. My commander always stressed this, and we took many Ivans from the fight. We had a good crew on our Panzer. We practically lived in our Panzer, and it was home, unless we stopped in a village to rest, then we could stay with a family or in a barn. I remember the smell of the gun coupled with our sweat and stink. In the summer it was the worst, as in battle we had to have all hatches closed which made the temperature sometimes go very high, fans did not help. Our loader would keep a bucket of water full for us to dip into if we needed, but many times we spilled it. It helped to have something to chew on like straw or tobacco to help ease thirst. Many awards were handed out for the battles around Kharkov, it was a hard battle with heavy losses, but we decimated Ivan.

With regards to the Russian people, I have read relations were very bad and many crimes committed. Can I ask if that is true?

Georges: If it is true, I did not see any of it. We were not fighting the Russian people; it was the reds that had power over the people we wanted to defeat. As I said we stayed in many Russian villages and towns, I can attest that life returned to pre-red revolution times for the people. They came out to welcome us, as we had freed them from a tyranny that lasted 20 years. I saw the churches open again and free markets were allowed, where they could sell items without having to give profits to the state. I know that welfare people came from all over Europe to work towards helping the people as best they could. Belgium even had a hand in this; I saw a train with donations for the Orthodox Church in the Kharkov region. Food was getting scarce, and people were brought in to rebuild the factories that Stalin destroyed in scorched earth. Food was a priority, we were even asked to help a farmer with his harvest during a lull in the fighting.

There were also hospitals that were rebuilt and new ones built to give the people better care and to aid the front. We had a nice repair depot that was rebuilt from a destroyed factory. All I saw in Russia were areas that were being renewed and reborn behind the frontlines. I saw nothing that would give me any impression that the people were oppressed and harmed. The papers and others have claimed many were hung or shot, which is false. The only times this happened was if it was bandits who attacked German forces illegally. I saw photos of this, but luckily, we were spared any major engagements until later in the war when they were absorbed into the Red Army, then they were treated as a regular POW.

What about the claims regarding crimes?

Georges: We are not going to talk about those, I told you they are not factual and based on hateful lies. I saw nothing that would make me ashamed to wear the uniform. My comrades all feel the same way, every claim has turned out to be a lie or overstated. Even Oradour is something that got out of control, due to the resistance, not the Das Reich men who were there to search for captured [German] soldiers.