Hardy Krüger
Hardy Krüger was the first German actor to be accepted by film audiences outside Germany after the war, with his 1957 portrayal of Franz von Werra, the only German POW to successfully escape from Allied custody, in the British war film The One That Got Away. From 1941, Krüger went to an Adolf Hitler School in Bavaria and at age 15 made his film début in a German picture, The Young Eagles (from which the still of the young Krüger is taken). His acting career was interrupted when he was conscripted into the German Infantry in 1944 at the age of 16. In March 1945, Krüger was drafted into the 38th SS Division Nibelungen, where he was drawn into heavy fighting before being captured by American forces.
The 38th SS division was ready for battle on 24 April 1945, when it entered the ranks of the XIII SS Army Corps on the Danube river Front, facing American forces on the southern bank
The Nibelungen was supposed to hold the corps' right wing from Vohburg to Kelheim, but the line was too long for the division's strength, so it withdrew to a new front on 26 April, which it held until 28 April. The following day it had to retreat again across the Isar river to a new position south of Landshut, while coming under strong pressure on its flanks. The next day the division retreated once again, this time to a defensive line northwest of Pastetten and on 1 May it had to withdraw almost 20 km to Wasseburg. The US 20th Armored Division then breached the division's front on 2 May, forcing the Nibelungen to retreat once more to Chiemsee.
The remains of the division regrouped on 4 May and established a new line west of Oberwoessen. It surrendered to the American forces on 8 May 1945. The German actor Hardy Kruger was among the members of the Hitler Youth battalion that was incorporated into the division. He was later captured by advancing units of the US Army.