Editing Hendrik Hoos (section)

== Military career ==
Hoos voluntarily entered the [[Reichswehr]] in 1924 and joined [[6. (Preußisches) Pionier-Bataillon]] at [[Minden]]. His metalworking experience was used in equipment maintenance within the battalion. He had reached Feldwebel by 1935. When [[Pionier-Bataillon 46]] was formed at Minden on 15 October, Hoos transferred into the new motorized unit.

When the German Army mobilized in August 1939, Hoos served in Pionier-Bataillon 46's ''Instandsetzungsstaffel''. He supervised repairs to vehicles and engineering equipment. In 1940 he stayed with the repair echelon while the battalion moved through the Netherlands and Belgium before entering France. Its later deployment took Hoos through the Balkans to the Eastern Front. By early 1942 he was serving in Crimea.

Early in 1942, Hoos learned that a German civilian contractor behind the front still owed money to Toetanchamon from before the war. He took a Wehrmacht truck for the collection and ordered two mechanics from his section to accompany him. The contractor paid after Hoos intimidated him. Hoos received two months' military imprisonment and loss of rank. When he returned to service, he did so at the lowest enlisted status.

Pionier-Bataillon 46 moved toward the Caucasus after Hoos completed his sentence. There he was temporarily attached to a technical element working with SS-Division Wiking. In September 1942 he formally transferred to the Waffen-SS. He was appointed SS-Scharführer on the basis of his previous NCO and mechanical experience. Hoos then led small recovery teams that repaired damaged vehicles far enough for them to be towed to workshops behind the front.

During the breakout from the [[Korsun–Cherkassy pocket]] on 16–17 February 1944, a nearby artillery burst caused Hoos multiple shrapnel wounds and a concussion. He reached German lines with other survivors before being evacuated to hospital. He did not return to front-line recovery work.

After leaving hospital, Hoos was posted to the [[SS-Kraftfahr-Ausbildungs- und Ersatz-Abteilung]] at [[Buchenwald concentration camp|Buchenwald]] near [[Weimar]]. The unit became the [[SS-Kraftfahr-Ausbildungs- und Ersatz-Regiment]] in August 1944. Hoos worked around its motor-vehicle workshops. American aircraft bombed the Buchenwald complex on 24 August. He escaped serious injury and helped recover damaged vehicles after the raid.

On 11 April 1945, with American forces approaching Weimar and the SS leaving Buchenwald, Hoos abandoned his unit. He removed clothing that identified him as a Waffen-SS member and began walking toward Oberhausen. He had already stopped shaving several weeks earlier, and the journey left him with a heavy beard.

The first leg took him northwest through [[Bad Langensalza]] to [[Eisenach]], then west through [[Ifta]] and [[Eschwege]] toward [[Waldkappel]]. Near Ifta, a farmer found Hoos sleeping in an agricultural outbuilding. Hoos ran across the fields when the farmer went back toward the farmhouse. Several days later, an American vehicle patrol spotted him near Waldkappel. A soldier ordered him to stop, but he escaped into the woods beside the road.

Hoos continued through [[Hessisch Lichtenau]] and passed around [[Kassel]] before reaching [[Warburg]]. At a crossing over the [[Diemel]], he saw American soldiers checking civilians and turned away before reaching the bridge. He hid for several hours near the river before continuing west. The next leg took him from [[Paderborn]] through [[Geseke]] and [[Soest]] to [[Werl]]. From [[Unna]] he passed through [[Dortmund]] to [[Bochum]], then continued through [[Essen]] and reached Oberhausen in early May. The journey had taken about three weeks on foot.