Editing Georg Nikolaus Schäfer (section)

== Second World War ==

In summer 1940, Schäfer left Mauthausen for the transport troops of the [[3rd SS Panzer Division Totenkopf|SS Division Totenkopf]], then stationed in occupied France. He had requested the transfer on the basis of his experience repairing vehicles. That November, a dispute over requisitioned spare parts at a garage near [[Mont-de-Marsan]] ended when he punched the French owner. The owner complained to the German military authorities. Schäfer received a reprimand and was temporarily removed from requisition visits.

The division took part in the German invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941. During an attack on a supply-unloading point near [[Sebezh]] in July, one of Schäfer's drivers was wounded. Schäfer drove the loaded truck away without him. Another transport section later recovered the wounded man. Questioned by his superior, Schäfer argued that he had needed to save the vehicle and its supplies. He kept his transport assignment.

When Soviet forces encircled German troops at [[Demyansk]] in February 1942, Schäfer and part of his detachment remained outside the pocket. His trucks carried food and ammunition to an airfield from which the [[Luftwaffe (Nazi Germany)|Luftwaffe]] supplied the surrounded troops. He also delivered aviation fuel and repaired damaged trucks. He continued this work until German troops reopened a land route to Demyansk in April.

During the division's reorganization in December 1942, a transport officer recommended Schäfer for officer training because of his mechanical experience and years of SS service. His earlier disciplinary offences were recorded, but he was admitted to the 9th Kriegs-Junker-Lehrgang at the [[SS-Junkerschule Bad Tölz (Nazi Germany)|SS-Junkerschule Bad Tölz]] on 1 February 1943. During a June exercise, he found another route for a simulated convoy after its planned road was blocked. He changed the drivers' departure order and brought the column to its destination within the allotted time. The instructor recommended that he return to transport duties.

Schäfer completed the course on 31 July 1943 and was commissioned as an [[SS-Untersturmführer (Nazi Germany)|SS-Untersturmführer]] on 1 September. He rejoined Totenkopf during its withdrawal toward the [[Dnieper]]. Soviet artillery killed the commander of a motor-transport platoon, and Schäfer took charge of the surviving trucks, led them away from the shelling and delivered their cargo. He was confirmed as the platoon's commander in early October.

One of his supply trucks became stuck in mud near [[Kryvyi Rih]] later that month. [[Jan Paap]], a soldier of [[Infanterie-Bataillon z.b.V. 500]], was passing with an infantry detachment and helped the drivers free it. Schäfer offered him a ride toward his position. They arranged to meet again and became friends.<ref name="jan-service"/> In November, they entered a village near Kryvyi Rih looking for food. Schäfer forced his way into a house and shot the elderly Ukrainian couple who lived there. Paap saw the murders and helped carry food taken from the house. Neither reported the killings.

On 17 January 1944, Paap decided to desert. He contacted Schäfer through [[Feldpost]], and they met near Kryvyi Rih on 23 January. Schäfer had bribed a clerk at a German-controlled civilian office to arrange false identity papers without informing his own drivers. He gave Paap the papers and civilian clothes, then carried him west in one of his transport movements before leaving him in [[Uman]]. Paap paid him for the help.<ref name="jan-service"/>

As the division retreated toward [[Pervomaisk]] in March, Soviet artillery struck near a road where two of Schäfer's trucks had become immobilized. He ordered the crews to leave the trucks and their cargo behind so the remaining vehicles could continue. His superior questioned the losses. Schäfer argued that recovering the trucks would have put the rest of the convoy at risk, and he retained command of the platoon.

In May 1944, Soviet aircraft attacked a vehicle assembly area near [[Pașcani]] in [[Romania]] while Schäfer was inspecting a broken-down truck. A shell fragment wounded his left forearm. Another driver took him to a military dressing station, from which he was sent to a field hospital. He returned to his platoon after two weeks of recovery. The division moved from Romania to Poland in July.