Willi Huber News Today : Breaking News, Live Updates & Top Stories | Vimarsana

Undated illustrative image of Waffen-SS 'Wiking' division in Russia. (CC BY-SA Bild National Archives, Wikimedia Commons) NEW ZEALAND — The widely reported death in New Zealand last year of former Waffen-SS soldier Willi Huber served to awaken the consciousness of New Zealanders to the reality that Nazi war criminals and sympathizers live, or have lived, among them. Huber, who migrated to New Zealand in 1953, was a keen skier. Often referred to as “a heartland hero” and “the founding father” of the South Island’s Mt. Hutt ski field, he achieved near-legendary status in the skiing ...

Most of the media stories on Willi Huber focused on his work founding the Mt Hutt skifield. This month, North & South finally unravelled the other central event of Huber's life: his role in one of the most brutal divisions of the Nazi army.

Willi Huber was a champion of Mt Hutt's ski field developments, and a popular local. But it wasn't until he died that the full horror of his past was revealed. 

That rang alarm bells with military historian and journalist Andy Macdonald, who realised there was an untold story here. "It was a hundred per cent obvious that he was Waffen SS. And there were other things that he said that would strain credulity, such as he was unaware of the events of the Holocaust, war crimes and that sort of thing while on the Russian front and in the most indoctrinated Nazi units around." Macdonald then worked with journalist Naomi Arnold to produce a major story for the June issue of North and South that’s been months in the making.

'Remarkable insight': Kiwi historian reveals alpine pioneer's Nazi past Newshub 1 day ago Hannah Kronast © Image - Supplied; Video - The AM Show Watch: Andrew Macdonald spoke to The AM Show about the story. A Kiwi historian has revealed the previously untold story of a former Nazi soldier who moved to New Zealand and went on to play a pioneering role in Mount Hutt ski field. Author Andrew Macdonald and his colleague Naomi Arnold uncovered the history of Willi Huber which has been published in the latest issue of North & South. Macdonald told The AM Show on Tuesday they sp...