In the German military during the Second World War, facial hair was strictly regulated across the Wehrmacht, with the Heer, Luftwaffe, and Waffen-SS generally requiring soldiers and officers to remain clean-shaven or to wear only a small, neatly trimmed moustache that did not extend beyond the corners of the mouth, a standard rooted in the need for a proper seal on gas masks, maintenance of a disciplined martial appearance, and the practical demands of hygiene in barracks and on the march; these rules were formally outlined in service regulations and were enforced rigorously in rear areas and during inspections, though they were frequently relaxed under prolonged field conditions, particularly on the Eastern Front during the harsh winters of 1941–1943, where limited access to hot water, soap, and razors, combined with the extreme cold that made shaving painful or impractical, led many ordinary soldiers, Gebirgsjäger mountain troops, and even some officers such as Generalmajor Theodor Scherer during the 105-day Cholm Pocket siege to grow full beards or heavy stubble as a matter of necessity rather than preference. In the Kriegsmarine the approach was more permissive, especially among U-boat crews, who routinely grew thick, full beards during extended Atlantic or Arctic patrols because fresh water was rationed primarily for drinking and cooking, shaving was considered a wasteful luxury in the cramped, damp conditions of a Type VII or Type IX boat, and the resulting facial hair became an unofficial badge of endurance and camaraderie that was almost invariably shaved off upon return to port in order to restore the regulation clean-shaven or lightly moustached appearance expected of sailors and officers ashore; surface-ship personnel followed stricter standards closer to those of the army, though longer deployments could still produce temporary beards. Overall, while photographs occasionally capture bearded German troops in isolated combat zones or after prolonged encirclements, the overwhelming visual record of the period shows clean-shaven faces as the norm for the vast majority of soldiers, airmen, and naval personnel, reflecting both institutional discipline and the technological requirements of modern warfare.
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HEER
General der Gebirgstruppe Julius “Papa” Ringel (1889-1967) was born on 16 November 1889 in Völkermarkt, Carinthia, then part of Austria-Hungary, and died on 11 February 1967 in Bayerisch Gmain, Bavaria. He entered military service in the Austro-Hungarian Army around 1909, fought as an officer with mountain troops in Galicia and on the Alpine front during the First World War, and continued in the Austrian Bundesheer after 1918. Following the Anschluss he transferred to the Wehrmacht, was promoted to Oberst on 1 February 1939, and at the outbreak of the Second World War served with the 268. Infanterie-Division, commanding the Infanterie-Regiment 266 during the campaign in the West. In 1940 he briefly commanded the 3. Gebirgs-Division before taking charge of the newly formed 5. Gebirgs-Division as Generalmajor from November 1940. With this division he participated in the Balkan campaign, breaking through the Metaxas Line and advancing through Greece. During the airborne invasion of Crete in May 1941 Ringel led the main group; employing the Fallschirmjäger who had secured Maleme airfield together with the Gebirgsjäger airlifted there, he repulsed enemy counter-attacks, smashed the stubborn defence near Canea and seized the western part of the island, ensuring that only part of the British-Greek garrison could be evacuated by sea while strong elements fell into German captivity. For this decisive leadership he received the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 13 June 1941 as Generalmajor and Kommandeur of the 5. Gebirgs-Division. The division later moved to the Eastern Front, fighting in the sectors of the Newa, Wolchow and Lake Ladoga against the Soviet Volkhov Front. Promoted to Generalleutnant on 1 December 1942, Ringel was awarded the Eichenlaub (312th award) to the Ritterkreuz on 25 October 1943 as Generalleutnant and Kommandeur of the 5. Gebirgs-Division in recognition of the unit’s continued distinguished performance, including its earlier successes in the Balkans and Crete and its dependable fighting on the Eastern Front. He subsequently commanded the LXIX. Armeekorps from spring 1944, was promoted to General der Gebirgstruppe on 1 June 1944, and later led the XVIII. Armeekorps as well as Korps "Ringel"
before the war’s end.
Generalleutnant
Theodor Scherer (1889-1951) was born on 17 September 1889 in Höchstädt
an der Donau, Bavaria, and began his military career on 14 July 1908 as a
Fahnenjunker in the 12. Infanterie-Regiment „Prinz Arnulf“ of the
Bayerische Armee, receiving his commission as Leutnant in 1910; during
the First World War he served on the Western Front, was captured by the
British in July 1916 during the Battle of the Somme, later interned in
the Netherlands, and released after the armistice, thereafter leaving
the army on 30 August 1920 under the terms of the Treaty of Versailles
and joining the Bavarian Landespolizei, rising to Oberstleutnant der
Polizei by 1935 before re-entering the Wehrmacht that November in the
same rank and serving as Bataillonskommandeur and later Kommandeur of
Infanterie-Regiment 56, then as Oberst and Kommandeur of
Infanterie-Regiment 507 during the Western campaign of 1940, where he
led an assault across the Marne and earned the Spange to both classes of
the Eisernes Kreuz. Promoted to Generalmajor in November 1940, he
briefly commanded Adolf Hitler’s headquarters at the OKH in Zossen from
March to September 1941 before assuming command of the 281.
Sicherungs-Division on 1 October 1941 for rear-area security duties
against partisans in the occupied Soviet Union; in January 1942, when
Soviet forces and partisans attacked and encircled German units at Kholm
(Cholm), Scherer took charge of the ad-hoc Kampfgruppe Scherer,
initially some 3,500 men drawn from elements of his division, police
companies, and other stragglers that later grew to around 5,000–6,000,
organizing improvised defenses without heavy artillery or adequate
supplies amid severe winter conditions, repeatedly repelling superior
Soviet assaults, coordinating limited aerial resupply and wounded
evacuations, and holding the pocket for 105 days until relief forces
linked up on 5 May 1942. For his leadership during the first month of
the siege he was awarded the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 20
February 1942 as Generalmajor and Kommandeur of the 281.
Sicherungs-Division, and following the successful relief he received the
Eichenlaub (92nd award) on 5 May 1942, along with a mention in
the Wehrmachtbericht and the newly created Cholmschild for the
survivors; subsequently promoted to Generalleutnant on 1 November 1942,
he commanded the 34. Infanterie-Division and then the 83.
Infanterie-Division (which suffered heavy losses at Velikiye Luki),
later served as Inspekteur des Küstenschutzes for the Eastern Front, and
at the war’s end directed field-gendarmerie units in the Elbe sector
before entering captivity, dying in a car accident near Ludwigsburg on
17 May 1951.
Oberfeldwebel Christoph Krämer (1913-1990) was born on 21 August 1913 in Menden in Westphalia and died on 6 October 1990 in Brühl in North Rhine-Westphalia. Serving in the Heer during the Second World War, he rose to the rank of Oberfeldwebel and distinguished himself as a Zugführer in the ranks of Panzergrenadier-Regiment 7 of the 7. Panzer-Division. His decorations included the Eisernes Kreuz 2. Klasse and 1. Klasse, the Medaille “Winterschlacht im Osten 1941/42”, the Dienstauszeichnung der Wehrmacht 4. Klasse for four years of service, the Medaille zur Erinnerung an den 1. Oktober 1938 with Spange, the Nahkampfspange in Bronze, and the Deutsches Kreuz in Gold awarded on 7 August 1943 while he was with the 7. Kompanie of the II. Bataillon. On 14 May 1944 he received the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes as Oberfeldwebel and Zugführer of the 5. Kompanie, II. Bataillon, Panzergrenadier-Regiment 7. At that time the 7. Panzer-Division was heavily engaged on the Eastern Front in the southern sector, having fought through the bitter defensive battles around Zhitomir and Shepetovka in early 1944 before being drawn into the great encirclement of the 1. Panzer-Armee in the Kamenets-Podolsky pocket during March and April. In the course of the subsequent breakout operations westward across the Zbruch River under continuous pressure from superior Soviet forces, the division’s panzergrenadiers repeatedly conducted determined close-combat actions to keep escape corridors open, protect the flanks of the advancing columns, and repel enemy attempts to cut the withdrawing formations. As Zugführer, Krämer led his platoon through these critical fighting days, demonstrating the personal bravery and tactical skill required of junior leaders in the fluid and costly battles that enabled the remnants of the division to extricate themselves from the pocket and reassemble further west near Buczacz and Brody. His award of the Ritterkreuz recognised outstanding leadership and combat performance in these operations that preserved the fighting strength of his unit under extreme conditions. After the war he lived quietly in Brühl until his death in 1990.
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KRIEGSMARINE
Kapitän zur See Klaus Scholtz (1908-1987) was born on 22 March 1908 in Magdeburg and joined the Reichsmarine on 5 April 1927 as a Seeoffiziersbewerber of Crew 1927, serving initially on training ships and later on torpedo boats including the Jaguar, which he commanded from 1937 to 1939. In April 1940 he transferred voluntarily to the U-Bootwaffe, completed the necessary courses, and on 22 October 1940 assumed command of the Type IXB submarine U-108 of the 2. Unterseebootsflottille. On his first Feindfahrt from 15 February to 12 March 1941 he sank two ships totalling 8,078 BRT; on the second patrol he sank the British Hilfskreuzer Rajputana of 16,444 BRT on 13 April 1941. Subsequent Atlantic patrols yielded further successes, including seven ships of 26,931 BRT on the third voyage, and by the end of his fifth Feindfahrt in December 1941 he had sunk thirteen ships amounting to 61,760 BRT. For these achievements he was awarded the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 26 December 1941 as Kapitänleutnant and Kommandant of U-108. Promoted to Korvettenkapitän on 1 November 1941, he continued successful operations, sinking five ships of 20,082 BRT on his sixth patrol and five more of 31,340 BRT on the seventh. On his eighth and final Feindfahrt from 13 July to 10 September 1942 he sank three additional ships of 17,496 BRT, bringing his total to twenty-five vessels of approximately 128,000 BRT. For these further successes he received the Eichenlaub on 10 September 1942 as the 123rd recipient while still Kommandant of U-108. He then relinquished command and on 15 October 1942 became Flottillenchef of the 12. Unterseebootsflottille based at Bordeaux. Promoted to Fregattenkapitän in July 1944, he was captured by American forces on 11 September 1944 while leading remaining personnel from the isolated fortress of Bordeaux and was released in April 1946. After the war he served in the Grenzschutz See and later the Bundesmarine, rising to Kapitän zur See before retiring in 1966; he died on 1 May 1987 in Bad Schwartau.
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WAFFEN-SS
SS-Sturmbannführer Wilfried Richter (1916-1981) was born on 9 May 1916 in Pforzheim, Germany, and died on 18 April 1981 in Engehausen near Hannover. He served in the Hitlerjugend from 1 April 1933 to 9 November 1934, joining the NSDAP and SS on 9 November 1934 with SS-Nr. 279.192 and NSDAP-Nr. 3.615.042. After RAD service in 1937 he entered the SS-VT, assigned to the 15. Sturm of SS-Standarte "Deutschland" on 1 November 1937. He attended the SS-Junkerschule Braunschweig in 1939-1940 and was promoted to SS-Untersturmführer on 1 May 1940, serving with the Kradschützenkompanie of SS-Infanterie-Division „Totenkopf“ (mot.) during the campaign in France. On 25 June 1941 he became Führer of a Batterie in SS-Sturmgeschütz-Abteilung 3 of the SS-Totenkopf-Division and fought in the Demjansk Pocket. Promoted to SS-Obersturmführer on 30 January 1942 and to SS-Hauptsturmführer on 20 April 1942, he received the Eisernes Kreuz 2. Klasse on 14 September 1941 and the Eisernes Kreuz 1. Klasse on 22 October 1941. The action that earned him the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 21 April 1942 as SS-Obersturmführer and Führer of the Batterie in SS-Sturmgeschütz-Abteilung 3, SS-Totenkopf-Division, occurred at Kalitkino. From 15 March 1942 his unit endured constant enemy artillery, aircraft and tank fire. On the morning of 5 April 1942, on the northern front of Gruppe Eicke, sixteen T-34 tanks supported by infantry attacks from the west and northwest broke into the defensive positions. With only two Pak guns available, which destroyed ten T-34s and accompanying infantry, the enemy nevertheless cut off the defenders. Richter gathered his remaining men, counterattacked despite intact enemy tanks and infantry fire, and knocked out five further T-34s using magnetic Tellerminen. They advanced into the enemy positions, capturing a tank officer and another soldier. Throughout the day they expanded and held their positions. His determination inspired the isolated group, enabling Kalitkino to be held as a vital support point two kilometres ahead of the main line, important both defensively and as a future jump-off point. Later he served as Chef of the 13. Schwadron, SS-Panzer-Regiment 3 of the 3. SS-Panzergrenadier-Division „Totenkopf“ from July 1943, then with the SS-Panzer-Ausbildungs- und Ersatz-Regiment from October 1943, and as Taktiklehrer at the SS-Junkerschule Bad Tölz from March 1944. Promoted to SS-Sturmbannführer in July 1944, in April 1945 he became Führer of the II. Bataillon, SS-Panzergrenadier-Regiment 95 of the 38. SS-Grenadier-Division „Nibelungen“. Additional awards included the Medaille "Winterschlacht im Osten 1941/42", the Panzerkampfabzeichen, the Demjanskschild, the bronzes SA-Sportabzeichen, the DRL Sportabzeichen in Bronze, the SS-Ehrenring and the Julleuchter der SS.
Source :
https://alifrafikkhan.blogspot.com/2011/06/album-foto-jenggot-dan-cambang-nazi.html
https://forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic.php?t=5192
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