Former SS soldier and skifield tourism 'founding father' Willi Huber dies in NZ
Willi Huber, one of the founders of Mt Hutt skifield, with Annalise Coberger. Photo / Supplied
One of the world's last surviving members of the Nazi army unit the Waffen-SS, Willi Huber died in a New Zealand ski town on August 9.
The 97-year-old, who has been called the "founding father" of the Mt Hutt skifield, featured in a Sunday programme on TVNZ in 2017 which was criticised for playing down Huber's time as a Nazi soldier.
Holocaust Centre of New Zealand board chairman Jeremy Smith said at the time positive and uncritical representations of former SS men who served the Nazi regime were outrageous.
"At best, such representations imply a tremendous ignorance and at worst, attempt to promote an intentionally distorted version of history for political or ideological reasons."
Shalom.Kiwi, a pro-Israel website commented: "Any piece that involves interviewing a former Nazi should be handled sensitively and with the utmost care.
"To glorify a Nazi Waffen SS soldier is to trivialise the horrors of WW2, is an insult to the Kiwi soldiers who fought for freedom and desecrates the memory of the millions murdered."
In the programme Huber said times were extremely hard in Austria when he was growing up there and Hitler "offered a way out".
On being advised of Huber's death, Holocaust Centre of New Zealand chief reporter Chris Harris said their thoughts were with Huber's family.
"It is tragic to lose a family member," Harris said.
"I don't what to speculate on what his full part was [in the war], what he did or didn't do.
"Ultimately, if he's responsible for anything within the Holocaust he'll have to live with it even as he has passed on.
"Our thoughts are with his family."
After Nazi Germany annexed Austria, Huber's father joined the Nazi Party and Huber and his brothers became members of Hitler Youth.
He said, when interviewed, Hitler was "very clever".
At 17, Huber volunteered for the Waffen-SS, in which he served as both a machine-gunner and then as a gunner in Panzer tanks, including in the Russian invasion.
The Waffen-SS was established by Heinrich Himmler, the main architect of the Holocaust, in late 1939.
Huber's unit took part in the invasion of the Soviet Union, history's largest military operation which claimed the lives of millions of people.
His unit came within 30km of Moscow before retreating. He took part in the Battle of Kursk, the largest tank battle in history, which was considered a turning point in the war and ended Hitler's dream of conquering Russia.
Huber received an Iron Cross first class for his service in the Battle of Kursk, by which time he had the officer's rank of Hauptsturmfuhrer, equivalent to a captain.
Earlier, he had received an Iron Cross second class.
When interviewed by TVNZ, he declared during the war he had no knowledge of war crimes committed by the Waffen SS or German forces, nor of the Holocaust, the Nazis' mass murder of about six million European Jews and millions of others, many of whom died in concentration camps run by the SS.
"It never occurred to us what happened in Germany or Poland."
Late in the war, Huber survived being bayoneted by a Soviet soldier.
Because of his service in the Waffen SS, he was arrested and served 16 months in a military prison during which time he was interviewed three times regarding his actions during the war.
By then, because of its connection to the Nazi Party and involvement in numerous war crimes, the Waffen-SS had been declared a criminal organisation.
Huber, a former mountain guide in his native country, came to New Zealand in the 1950s and married.
He worked in mountain sports retail in Christchurch and climbed Aoraki Mt Cook many times. For his work at Mt Hutt, a skifield hut loft was named after him as well as a ski run.
Huber's death notice said he was the dearly loved husband of Edna for 65 years, proud father of four children and their partners and grandfather to 10.
"At Willi's request, a private family service has been held," the notice said.
Taken from: https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12356856
