Emmershausen History - The May 1945 US Army Tank Affair

 

Reference about Wednesday, 28th March 1945

US Army Armored Car shot by SS Troups with bazookas at Weilstrasse Winden Crossroad Leistenbach

Source : 

Weilroder Hefte 9 (1999) p 40-44 - Author Otto Ernst

Rod an der Weil im 2. Weltkrieg Teil 2 - The Battle of Rod

Comment :

The cited source localizes the "Tank Event" at Winden / Leistenbach crossroad (Red Arrow).

The "Tank Event" mentioned in the CID Museum article as told by unconfirmed sources was situated several kilometers more near towards Emmershausen and localized there at the height of the former Waste Storage (Blue Arrow) at the entrance of Weilstrasse inside the forest towards Winden. The time data referring to the second event was "after armistice" = later than 8.5.1945.

Source :

The "Tank Story" was "carried" by the Zanger Klinge Weil family when living at Emmershäuser Hütte, probably because between the spouse of SA member Günther Klinge (+4.7.1942) and unnamed "SS-men" still existed an informational exchange, so that by knowledge about the event the Weil Family at Emmershausen remained informationally "integrated" in the attack on the armoured US Army vehicle.

In 1968/69 the Weil-Zanger family got constructed by Emmershausen construction companies new housings and a factory at Weilmuenster and moved to there. When some years later all Emmershausen factory personal had removed, the company owner Rolf & Heinz Zanger had to search new personal. One new contracted worker was a "Mister Rink".

The author here remembers an event from probably around 1975 where his father Rolf Zanger complained in front of his wife, that he "trapped" his employee Mr. Rink in the factory when he packed up inside the metal storage room several pieces of brass to take them away from the factory to his home. When interrogated the employee Mr. Rink about why he tried to steal metal from the factory, the latter justified himself that "He needed the metal because he wanted to construct a Toy-Tank".

This detail is understood here as following :

A greater informational circle of former Nazi SS-Personal descendences after the retrieve of Emmershausen employees from Zanger-factory followed them and remained observing the companies behaviour related to it´s knowledge about the "Tank-Event" and provoked by the action of that Mr. Rink to check if they are able to "squeeze out" something about the Tank Event (Technics of Regional Private Military Justice).