Karl-Heinz Rosch

Karl-Heinz Rosch was a German soldier during World War II who saved the lives of two Dutch children.[1]

Karl-Heinz Rosch
Memorial of Rosch
Born(1926-10-03)October 3, 1926
Meissen, Germany
DiedOctober 6, 1944(1944-10-06) (aged 18)
Riel, Goirle Netherlands
Buried
Ysselsteyn German war cemetery
Allegiance Nazi Germany
Service/branchWehrmacht
RankKanonier
Battles/warsWorld War II

Background and Rescue

Rosch was an eighteen year old German soldier and along with his platoon, was stationed in a farm in Goirle when Allied forces took fire on them. Rosch noticed that the two children of the farmer who owned the land seemed oblivious of the danger around them and continued to play in the courtyard. He ran to them, took each in his arms and brought them into the safety of the basement. He again ran outside to position himself on the other side of the courtyard when a grenade hit him right at the spot where the children were earlier. Rosch was killed instantly.[2]

Aftermath

Because Rosch was a German soldier, and the enemy, his story was kept private after the war. The Dutch did not show remorse towards the German soldiers that they had been under occupation for five years during the war. The story of Rosch was not brought public until 2008. Public funding for a statue was rejected, however funds were raised to created a statue as a memorial. On November 4, 2008 a bronze statue was erected on a private property in Goirle in memory of Karl-Heinz Rosch. The statue is considered to be one of the only monuments to a German World War II soldier in the world.[3]

Escription at the base of the statue. The last line reads "This statue is a tribute to him and to all who do good in evil times".
gollark: *I* don't have these problems.
gollark: Hallucinating.
gollark: I thought about how to interpret it, and thought of that, and it was right.
gollark: English is highly redundant. You should be able to extract meaning from terse communications.
gollark: Lack of coherent response to it interpreted as bees at the femtoscale.

See also
  • Friedrich Lengfeld

References
  1. Pitogo, Heziel. "The Controversial Memorial in Honor of WWII German Soldier Karl-Heinz Rosch: "Hero with No Glory"". War History Online. Retrieved 11 March 2020.
  2. Burmeister, Von Thomas. "Dutch citizens honor a Wehrmacht soldier". Welt. Retrieved 11 March 2020.
  3. "The hero of Goirle: The untold story of Karl-Heinz Rosch". ARGunners. Retrieved 11 March 2020.
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