Hans Klingesberger

Prepared by the Witnesses of War team

Hans Klingesberger was born on 28 October 1923 and grew up in Gmunden, Austria. Still at school when Nazi Germany annexed Austria in 1938, he witnessed the removal of teachers and the growing influence of Nazi ideology in his community. He trained as a blacksmith in his father’s workshop before being conscripted into the German military in 1941.

Following training in Vienna and Amiens, France, Klingesberger served with the 10th Panzer Division as the driver of an Sd.Kfz. 251 armoured half-track. Deployed to North Africa, he fought in Tunisia, including against American forces during the Battle of Kasserine Pass in February 1943. He later recalled navigating the desert by compass and surviving frequent Allied air attacks.

In May 1943, with ammunition, fuel, food and water exhausted, German resistance in North Africa collapsed. Klingesberger was captured by French forces, describing the early months of captivity as among his harshest wartime experiences. Subsequently transferred to American custody, he spent nearly three years as a prisoner of war in the United States, held in camps in Kansas, Michigan, Illinois and California. He worked in agriculture, factories and laundries before returning to Austria in 1946.

After the war, he resumed the family business before moving into motorcycle and Fiat car sales with his brother Robert. Reflecting on his experiences decades later, Klingesberger described war as a tragedy that should never be repeated.