Thread by @garius

@samkellyproof Gangl joined the army in the late twenties straight out of school. He served in the artillery, acting in a recon role in the Lowlands invasions before being recommended for officer training.

He then served on the Eastern Front and was assigned to a Nebelwerfer battery.

@samkellyproof He fought in the advance through Russia and the retreat, picking up his Iron Crosses for actions that saved other units by holding the line.

What probably saved his life (at that stage) was his Nebelwerfer expertise. He was sent back to Germany to train/lead a new unit.

@samkellyproof He was then sent with that unit to France ahead of D-Day, and fought there, retreated and survived the Falaise gap.

He was then promoted again and sent with his depleted unit to Austria where they were to form the core of a new battalion for the 'last stand'.

@samkellyproof Gangl's surviving war records show him to be a professional officer who joined the nazi party at the time when it became necessary to do so to advance and who said the right things when asked but wasn't politically active.

@samkellyproof France seems to have been the breaking point for him in terms of his loyalty to his military oath (and thus beyond that Hitler) over the lives of his remaining men and the scorched earth approach to civilians and territory now in effect.

@samkellyproof His arrival in Austria, from surviving accounts, marked the point where he actively, but quietly, made contact with the Austrian resistance and agreed to help them how he could - his assumption being this would be the sharing of intelligence from HQ.

@samkellyproof Mayr thus knew him already, and that he was the right man to appeal to when the Wehrmarcht began withdrawing.

That caught Gangl by surprise, and his decision to stay behind with his men, in an area now swarming with SS looking for deserters was a big one.

@samkellyproof Especially as many other fellow units under the same overall command opted, when the order to retreat to the Alpine Fortress for a last stand, opted simply to melt away and try to get home.

@samkellyproof When I say Gangl was 'no nazi' I don't mean he wasn't a member of the party. He was. And it would be naive to think that any junior German officer at that time wouldn't have made that choice. The ones that didn't generally had family or fame to protect them.

@samkellyproof What he was really was a German nationalist. He fought for his country and was probably quite happy to turn a blind eye to a lot of shady stuff, or at least rumours of it, as long as it didn't affect him.

Which tbh is how most of us would be in his shoes.

@samkellyproof But he didn't have to accept Mayr's plea for help defending the area. He didn't have to try and save the VIPs. There's a good chance he would have survived the war at that point if he hadn't.

But he did. Once he was pushed to help, he did when others didn't.

@samkellyproof Does that excuse him from his role in the overall nasty stuff the Wehrmacht did? No. And we should never downplay that.

But we owe people in the past nuance. We have to treat them as real people, not good or bad cutouts.

@samkellyproof I see Gangl as both a hero AND a warning. A warning that just going along with things can mean good people do bad. We are all potentially the bad guys in someone's story. Apathy can be the same as evil.

@samkellyproof But also a hero in that it is never too late, once your eyes are opened, to do SOMETHING.

Gangl, once his eyes were opened, didn't stop for a second before committing to protecting his former enemies.

And it cost him his life. I can honour him for that I think.