Walter Harzer
| Walter Harzer | |
|---|---|
| Born | 29 September 1912 |
| Died |
29 May 1982 (aged 69) Stuttgart |
| Allegiance |
.svg.png){kind=small} Weimar Republic .svg.png){kind=small} Nazi Germany |
| Service/branch |
 Waffen-SS |
| Rank | Oberführer |
| Commands held |
SS Division Hohenstaufen SS Polizei Division |
| Battles/wars | World War II |
| Awards | Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross |
Walter Harzer (September 29, 1912 – May 29, 1982) was a German member in the Waffen-SS who commanded the SS Division Hohenstaufen and SS Polizei Division. He was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross of Nazi Germany. After the war, he became active in HIAG. a Waffen-SS revisionist and lobby group established by senior Waffen-SS men in 1951 in West Germany.
World War II
Born in 1912, Harzer joined the SS in 1931. In March 1934 Harzer joined SS-Verfügungstruppe and was assigned to the Sicherheitsdienst and later the SS Division Das Reich. He participated in the invasion of Poland and later served as a regimental commander. From mid-1942 until April 1943 Walter served as a staff officer first with the LVII.Panzer Corps and later, after completing the General Staff Course, with the SS Division Frundsberg.
In April 1943, Harzer was assigned to the SS Division Hohenstaufen.[1] The division participated in relief attack on Tarnopol and later took part in the Battle for Caen. On 19 August 1944, Harzer was decorated with the German Cross in Gold for his leadership during the operations in Normandy.
As Hohenstaufen was ordered for a refit in the Netherlands, Harzer became its fifth commander, taking over for Friedrich-Wilhelm Bock. However, on Sunday 17 September 1944, the Allies launched Operation Market Garden and Harzer’s division was engaged in the Battle of Arnhem.[2][3] Harzer was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross for his actions during these battles.[4]
On 10 October 1944 Harzer became the Chief of Staff of V SS Mountain Corps before receiving the command of the 4th SS Polizei Division at the end of November 1944. Together with the rest of this division Harzer surrendered to the American Army on 8 May 1945.
Post-war activities
After the war Harzer worked as an official historian for HIAG, an organization of former Waffen-SS members. He helped coordinate the writing of numerous tendentious unit histories and memoirs by former Waffen-SS officers.[5] Harzer died in 1982.
Awards
- Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 21 September 1944 as SS-Obersturmbannführer and Ia (operations officer) of the 9. SS-Panzer-Division "Hohenstaufen"[4]
References
Citations
- ↑ English: Interviews by Cornelius Ryan mwith Walter Harzer regarding Operation Market Garden
- ↑ http://stonebooks.com/archives/100404.shtml Review of Bob Gerritsen's und Scott Revell's: Retake Arnhem Bridge: An Illustrated History of Kampfgruppe Knaust, September-October 1944. Renkum, Netherlands: R.N. Sigmond, 2010 ISBN 978-90-812703-3-5
- ↑ Himmlers Krieger: Joachim Peiper und die Waffen-SS in Krieg und Nachkriegszeit, von Jens Westermeier, Page 572, Verlag Ferdinand Schöningh GmbH; (11. Dezember 2013), ISBN 978-3506772411 Detailed report about Walter Harzer's, Wilhelm Bittrich's and Heinz Harmel's work with author Cornelius Ryan regarding the battle of Arnhem.
- 1 2 Scherzer 2007, p. 369.
- ↑ MacKenzie 2013, pp. 136-137.
Bibliography
- MacKenzie, S.P. (2013). Revolutionary Armies in the Modern Era: A Revisionist Approach. Routledge. ISBN 978-0415867771.
- A Bridge Too Far: The Classic History of the Greatest Battle of World War II by Cornelius Ryan (Simon & Schuster; Reprint edition (1 May 1995), ISBN 0-684-80330-5, ISBN 978-0-684-80330-2).
- Scherzer, Veit (2007). Die Ritterkreuzträger 1939–1945 Die Inhaber des Ritterkreuzes des Eisernen Kreuzes 1939 von Heer, Luftwaffe, Kriegsmarine, Waffen-SS, Volkssturm sowie mit Deutschland verbündeter Streitkräfte nach den Unterlagen des Bundesarchives [The Knight's Cross Bearers 1939–1945 The Holders of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross 1939 by Army, Air Force, Navy, Waffen-SS, Volkssturm and Allied Forces with Germany According to the Documents of the Federal Archives] (in German). Jena, Germany: Scherzers Miltaer-Verlag. ISBN 978-3-938845-17-2.
| Military offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by SS-Oberführer Friedrich-Wilhelm Bock |
Commander of 9th SS Panzer Division Hohenstaufen 29 August 1944 – 10 October 1944 |
Succeeded by SS-Brigadeführer Sylvester Stadler |
| Preceded by SS-Brigadeführer Fritz Schmedes |
Commander of 4th SS Polizei Division 27 November 1944 – March 1945 |
Succeeded by SS-Standartenführer Fritz Göhler |
| Preceded by SS-Standartenführer Fritz Göhler |
Commander of 4th SS Polizei Division March 1945 – 8 May 1945 |
Succeeded by none |