List of surviving Axis Powers veterans of World War II
This is a list of notable surviving Axis Powers veterans of World War II (1939–1945).
List
Total of {{#expr: +++++++++++++++++++++++++}} veterans listed
A
veterans
Veteran |
Birth |
Notability |
Service |
Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Reuel Abraham |
1924 |
Reputedly, first [...] convert to Judaism. |
Luftwaffe |
|
Giorgio Albertazzi |
Actor and film director |
Italian Social Republic Army |
||
Karl-Otto Apel |
Philosopher |
German Army |
||
Erich Axthammer |
Recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross |
Luftwaffe |
B
veterans
Veteran |
Birth |
Notability |
Service |
Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Egon Bahr |
Politician |
Wehrmacht, 1942–1944 |
||
Karl-Ludwig Barths |
President of Volkswagen Canada Ltd. |
Heer |
||
Friedrich L. Bauer |
Computer scientist |
Wehrmacht |
||
Ludwig Bauer |
Soldier |
German Army |
||
Karl-Heinz Becker |
Soldier |
German Army |
||
Joachim Boosfeld |
Soldier |
Waffen-SS |
||
Hugo Broch |
World War II flying ace |
Luftwaffe |
||
Friedrich Buck |
World War II Knight's Cross recipient |
Waffen SS |
C
veterans
Veteran |
Birth |
Notability |
Service |
Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Otto Carius |
Panzer Ace, Author |
German Army |
D
veterans
Veteran |
Birth |
Notability |
Service |
Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Kurt Dahlmann |
Journalist, newspaper editor, & political activist |
Luftwaffe |
||
Francesco Dapiran |
Olympic rower |
Italian Navy |
||
Dieter Damerius |
World War II Knight's Cross recipient |
German Army |
||
Hans Georg Dehmelt |
Nobel Prize-winning physicist |
German Army |
E
veterans
Veteran |
Birth |
Notability |
Service |
Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Alfred Eick |
U-boat commander & tax advisor |
Kriegsmarine |
G
veterans
Veteran |
Birth |
Notability |
Service |
Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Franz Gapp |
Oberfeldwebel |
Luftwaffe |
||
Tuomas Gerdt |
Last living recipient of the Mannerheim Cross |
Finnish Army |
||
Luigi Gorrini |
Fighter Pilot, WWII ace credited with 19 (24 according to some sources) enemy planes shot down plus 9 damaged |
fighter pilot in the Regia Aeronautica and in the Aeronautica Nazionale Repubblicana, Medaglia d'Oro al Valor Militare (Gold Medal of Military Valor) |
||
Karl Otto Götz |
Painter |
Germany |
||
Günter Grass |
Author, poet, playwright, sculptor and artist |
Waffen SS |
||
Dieter Grau |
Rocket scientist |
Member of the "von Braun rocket group" at Peenemünde |
H
veterans
Veteran |
Birth |
Notability |
Service |
Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Günter Halm |
Grenadier |
Heer |
||
Reinhard Hardegen |
Highest scoring U-Boat ace still living. |
Kriegsmarine |
||
Karl-Günther von Hase |
German ambassador in London 1970–1977 |
Heer |
||
Eberhard Heder |
Sturmbannführer |
Waffen-SS |
||
Anton Heinemann |
Soldier |
Luftwaffe |
||
Fritz Hellwig |
Politician and European Commissioner |
German Armed Forces |
I
Veteran |
Birth |
Notability |
Service |
Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Masashi Itō |
1921 |
Soldier |
Imperial Japanese Army |
|
Nobuaki Iwatake |
1923 |
Soldier & translator |
Imperial Japanese Army |
K
Veteran |
Birth |
Notability |
Service |
Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Ain Kaalep |
Poet and literary critic |
Forest Brothers |
||
Otto Kaiser |
Old Testament scholar |
Heer |
||
Søren Kam |
Last living foreign recipient of the Knight's Cross |
Free Corps Denmark |
||
Johann-Alfred Klaus |
Soldier |
Luftwaffe |
||
Mauno Koivisto |
9th President of Finland |
Finnish Army |
||
Väinö Koskela |
Olympic long-distance runner |
Finnish Army |
||
Gerhard Krems |
Soldier |
Luftwaffe |
||
Erwin Kreßmann |
Served in Schwere Panzerjäger-Abteilung 519. Awarded with Knight's Cross. |
Heer |
||
Hans Krohn |
Radio operator / gunner in Sturzkampfgeschwader 2 |
Luftwaffe |
L
Veteran |
Birth |
Notability |
Service |
Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Lee Teng-hui |
Tawainese president (1988–2000) |
Imperial Japanese Army |
||
Hellmut von Leipzig |
Field Marshal Rommel's driver |
Heer |
M
Veteran |
Birth |
Notability |
Service |
Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Prince Mikasa |
Japanese royal |
Japanese Imperial Army |
||
Shigeru Mizuki |
Manga cartoonist |
Imperial Japanese Army |
N
Veteran |
Birth |
Notability |
Service |
Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Yasuhiro Nakasone |
Prime Minister of Japan from 1982 – 1987 |
Imperial Japanese Navy |
||
Kokichi Nishimura |
Soldier & businessman |
Imperial Japanese Army |
O
Veteran |
Birth |
Notability |
Service |
Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Makoto Ogawa |
February 1917 |
Japanese army aviator & officer |
Imperial Japanese Army |
P
Veteran |
Birth |
Notability |
Service |
Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Heinz Polz |
Soldier |
Luftwaffe |
R
Veteran |
Birth |
Notability |
Service |
Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Alexander Raab |
Pilot in Kampfgeschwader 77 |
Luftwaffe |
||
Karl Radermacher |
Soldier & Knight's Cross recipient |
Heer |
||
Georg Ratzinger |
Catholic priest |
Reichsarbeitsdienst |
||
Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger |
Pope Benedict XVI, the 265th Pope |
Luftwaffenhelfer |
||
Willi Reschke |
Luftwaffe ace |
Luftwaffe |
||
Rudolf von Ribbentrop |
Son of German foreign minister Joachim von Ribbentrop |
Waffen-SS |
||
Heinz Rökker |
World War II flying ace |
Luftwaffe |
||
Erich Rudorffer |
Luftwaffe fighter ace |
Luftwaffe |
||
Heinrich Ruhl |
Soldier |
German Army |
S
Veteran |
Birth |
Notability |
Service |
Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Guy Sajer |
Military writer |
Wehrmacht |
||
Kurt Sametreiter |
Oberscharführer |
Waffen-SS |
||
Walter Scheel |
German president (1974–1979) |
Luftwaffe |
||
Josef Scheungraber |
Lieutenant & businessman |
Wehrmacht |
||
Walter Schuck |
World War II flying ace |
Luftwaffe |
||
Helmut Schmidt |
German chancellor |
Wehrmacht |
||
Johann Schwerdfeger |
Only living NCO Oakleaves recipient |
German Army |
||
Gerhard Sommer |
Soldier |
Waffen-SS |
||
Seijun Suzuki |
Filmmaker & actor |
Imperial Japanese Army |
T
Veteran |
Birth |
Notability |
Service |
Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Jiro Tanaka |
Aircraft & automotive engineer |
Imperial Japanese Army |
||
Georg von Tiesenhausen |
Rocket scientist |
Member of the "von Braun rocket group" at Peenemünde |
U
Veteran |
Birth |
Notability |
Service |
Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Eino Uusitalo |
Politician |
Finnish Army |
||
Ishinosuke Uwano |
October 1922 |
Soldier |
Imperial Japanese Army |
V
Veteran |
Birth |
Notability |
Service |
Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Jaakko Valtanen |
General |
Finnish Army |
||
Lauri Vaska |
Chemist |
Estonian Legion |
||
Fritz Vehse |
World War II Knight's Cross recipient |
Heer |
||
Arved Viirlaid |
Novel writer and poet |
Finnish Army |
W
veterans
Veteran |
Birth |
Notability |
Service |
Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Richard von Weizsäcker |
German President (1984–1994) |
German Army |
Z
veterans
Veteran |
Birth |
Notability |
Service |
Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Hermann Zapf |
Typeface designer and calligrapher |
See also
- List of living Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross recipients