Willi: Yes, I am not much into speaking about politics so I will tell you about my service time. I was born in 1917 and was a typical youth. I was admitted into the HJ [Hitler Youth] early on, as they were the only ones who seemed to have any fun. We were able to play organized sports, do outdoors trips often and had a good fellowship. This service prepared me for later on in life, we had very good leaders, and I eventually became one in my group. It is too bad today's youth will never know the bond that the HJ had. It was for both boys and girls, each having their own flags and groups. We learned a deep love for our people and the land we possessed. At age 18 you had a choice to make, to either serve in the RAD [Reichsarbeitsdienst, or Reich Labour Service] and then go into schoolings for a career, or serve in the military. Hitler started to rebuild the Wehrmacht in 1935, and there were ample choices to go into. I had a wish to be a police officer, to serve and protect my people. At the same time the SS-VT [SS-Verfügungstruppe, or SS Dispositional Troops, better translated as SS Combat Support Troops] was heavily recruiting, due to the war starting in 1939 many of my friends went to join the SS, as they felt it was most loyal to the Führer, and thus truer to Germany. We thought of the Wehrmacht as still too based on the old aristocratic caste system. The men who could not give up the old Kaiser idea eventually turned on the Führer and were finally discovered in July 1944. So, you could say many of us joined the SS-VT because we were led to the most loyal group of men. I was a member of the NSDAP, something that is a liability today, and must never be said. It was not always so in Germany, back then you were going places if you were in the party.

I understand you were in the 'Wiking' Panzer Regiment, was Wiking made up of non-German volunteers?

Willi: Yes, Wiking encompassed men from mainly Denmark, Norway, Germany and some Swedes. These were some of the best men I have ever met. Many north men fought in our ranks, and they fought like lions. No one in Wiking could ever be called a coward; we fought against tremendous odds and stood fast. I had many comrades that were close friends who never came home to their loved ones. They now rest in foreign soil, forgotten, and hated, but it was not like that 40 years ago, we were heroes. We formed a strong bond that, for many of the survivors, still unites us today. I understand you have met many of my comrades and it is nice to see a young man take such a strong interest in our history. You seem to have a very keen mind where you listen and absorb what is said, then make up your mind. That's the way it should be, so many historians choose to believe what another 'historian' tells them to. Wiking was not a unique division; most SS divisions, especially later in the war, had foreign members who volunteered. Some Germans were, you might say, drafted against their will to the SS, and generally made poor soldiers. This would have been Kriegsmarine and Luftwaffe men who no longer had a role to play, and the SS needed men.

I had a man who was sent to us from the Luftwaffe, and we promptly dismissed him as he was lazy and would have gotten us killed in the first battle. The Waffen-SS was no place for lazy men or cowards, you always had to be willing to risk your life for your comrade next to you. We endured the worst the enemy had to offer, in both physical and mental strengths. A friend of mine, our doctor, Tor Storm, was burned alive by the Bolsheviks in Hungary after he surrendered with wounded soldiers.