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Germany (1922)
Source:
Sigrid Tanz (niece) / Urnhausen
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Helmut Kastner was born on October 21, 1922 in the town of Oberplanitz, south of Zwickau (of which it is now a district). He was the third son after his siblings Johannes and Heinz, who were born in 1919 and 1920. Two sisters and two brothers were to follow later. So he grew up in a large family, went to school and probably did an apprenticeship afterwards. Helmut Kastner grew up with National Socialism and idolized Hitler frenetically. His enthusiasm even went so far that he said to his mother when he once caught her listening to the enemy radio station: "If you weren't my mother, I would report you."
His two older brothers joined the navy before the war began. While Johannes Kastner was not allowed to go to sea due to a hearing impairment and later served on land in Norway, Heinz Kastner was assigned to the destroyer Friedrich Eckoldt immediately after his basic training. He soon saw his first action there. Helmut Kastner was also carried away by the stories of his two brothers and volunteered for service in the navy. On June 1, 1940, he started basic training at the 11th Schiffsstammabteilung in Stralsund. The basic training was completed after just one month and Helmut Kastner was now looking forward to getting on board a warship straight away.
His first command was not on just any ship, but on the largest and newest that the Navy had to offer: the Bismarck. Before he could settle on board, however, he first went to a barge in Gotenhafen, where the Bismarck's seafaring personnel were assembled. He was particularly proud when he finally arrived in Hamburg in mid-August 1940 to take up his new command on the still not quite finished ship. The first training voyage in the Baltic Sea took place from mid-September to early December 1940. The Bismarck then returned to its Blohm & Voss shipyard to undergo the final work. Helmut Kastner's brother Heinz was waiting for him in Hamburg. His destroyer, the Friedrich Eckoldt, had been in the Hamburg shipyard since November 5th to repair bomb damage. They enjoyed their time together in the Hanseatic city until the destroyer left port at the end of December 1940. The Bismarck followed in March 1941 to the Baltic Sea, where the Friedrich Eckoldt had already completed its training program. The two brothers certainly met again, either in Gotenhafen or at sea.
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At the beginning of May 1941, Helmut Kastner found himself face to face with his idol when Adolf Hitler inspected the ship. Soon after, the Bismarck completed its training program and set off on its first mission in the middle of the month. It was also the first mission for Helmut Kastner, who had recently been promoted from sailor to ordinary seaman, 1st class. From the Friedrich Eckoldt, which was to accompany the first part of the mission, Heinz Kastner followed his brother's further route. On May 22nd at 4:20 a.m., the Friedrich Eckoldt turned off with the other two destroyers of the escort near Drontheim. This was where the two siblings' paths finally parted. Helmut Kastner did not survive the sinking five days later. He died on May 27, 1941 at the age of 18.
His brother Heinz was to continue to sail on his destroyer until the beginning of 1942. He then spent more than a year as a petty officer on the battleships Schlesien and Schleswig-Holstein before he took up command on a destroyer again in the autumn of 1943. His new destroyer Z 35 struck a mine in the Gulf of Finland on December 12, 1944 and sank. Heinz Kastner lost his life.
Click on the pictures to enlarge.
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