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German Cross
The War Order of the German Cross (german: Der Kriegsorden Deutsches Kreuz), normally abbreviated to the German Cross or ''Deutsches Kreuz'', was instituted by Adolf Hitler on 28 September 1941. It was awarded in two divisions: in gold for repeated acts of bravery or military leadership; and in silver for distinguished non-combat war service. The German Cross in Gold ranked higher than the Iron Cross First Class but below the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross, while the German Cross in Silver ranked higher than the War Merit Cross First Class with Swords but below the Knight's Cross of the War Merit Cross with Swords. Eligibility The German Cross was issued in two versions: gold and silver (the color of the laurel wreath around the swastika). The gold version was awarded to military personnel for repeated acts of bravery in combat, or of military leadership, with 6–8 acts as a rule of thumb. The silver version was awarded for multiple distinguished services in the war effort an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Iron Cross
The Iron Cross (german: link=no, Eisernes Kreuz, , abbreviated EK) was a military decoration in the Kingdom of Prussia, and later in the German Empire (1871–1918) and Nazi Germany (1933–1945). King Frederick William III of Prussia established it on 17 March 1813 during the Napoleonic Wars (EK 1813). The award was backdated to the birthday (10 March) of his late wife, Queen Louise. Louise was the first person to receive this decoration (posthumously). Recommissioned Iron Cross was also awarded during the Franco-Prussian War (EK 1870), World War I (EK 1914), and World War II (EK 1939). During the 1930s and World War II, the Nazi regime superimposed a swastika on the traditional medal. The Iron Cross was usually a military decoration only, though there were instances awarded to civilians for performing military functions, including Hanna Reitsch, who received the Iron Cross, 2nd class, and Iron Cross, 1st Class, and Melitta Schenk Gräfin von Stauffenberg, who received ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Oberfeldwebel
(OFw or OF) is the fourth-lowest non-commissioned officer (NCO) rank in German Army and German Air Force. History The rank was introduced first by the German Reichswehr in 1920. Preferable most experienced Protégée-NCO of the old army have been promoted. Within the Reichswehr, was taken over as second-highest Protégée-NCO rank by the German Wehrmacht in 1935. In the military branch cavalry, artillery and anti-aircraft artillery it was called Oberwachtmeister. The equivalent rank to the Oberfeldwebel in the Waffen-SS was the SS-Hauptscharführer from 1938 until 1945. The rank has been used in the GDR National People's Army from 1956 until 1990 as well. Rank information It is grouped as OR6 in NATO, equivalent in the US Army to Staff Sergeant, or in British Army / RAF to Sergeant Sergeant (abbreviated to Sgt. and capitalized when used as a named person's title) is a rank in many uniformed organizations, principally military and policing forces. The alternati ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wilhelm Mohnke
Wilhelm Mohnke (15 March 1911 – 6 August 2001) was one of the original members of the SS-Staff Guard (''Stabswache'') "Berlin" formed in March 1933. From those ranks, Mohnke rose to become one of Adolf Hitler's last remaining generals. He joined the Nazi Party in September 1931. With the SS Division Leibstandarte, Mohnke participated in the fighting in France, Poland and the Balkans. He was appointed to command a regiment in the SS Division Hitlerjugend in 1943. He led the unit in the Battle for Caen, receiving the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 11 July 1944. Mohnke was given command of his original division, the Leibstandarte, during the Battle of the Bulge in December 1944. During the Battle of Berlin, Mohnke commanded the ''Kampfgruppe Mohnke'' and was charged with defending the Berlin government district, including the Reich Chancellery and the Reichstag. He was investigated after the war for war crimes, including allegations that he was responsible for the murder ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sturmbannführer
__NOTOC__ ''Sturmbannführer'' (; ) was a Nazi Party paramilitary rank equivalent to major that was used in several Nazi organizations, such as the SA, SS, and the NSFK. The rank originated from German shock troop units of the First World War. The SA title of ''Sturmbannführer'' was first established in 1921. In 1928, the title became an actual rank and was also one of the first established SS ranks. The insignia of a ''Sturmbannführer'' was four silver pips centered on a collar patch. The rank rated below '' Standartenführer'' until 1932, when ''Sturmbannführer'' became subordinate to the new rank of ''Obersturmbannführer''. In the Waffen-SS, ''Sturmbannführer'' was considered equivalent to a major in the German ''Wehrmacht''. Various Waffen-SS units composed of foreign recruits were considered distinct from the German SS, and thus they were not permitted to wear SS runes on their collar tabs but had their divisional insignia instead. Their ranks were also prepende ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alfred-Ingemar Berndt
Alfred-Ingemar Berndt (22 April 1905 – 28 March 1945) was a German Nazi journalist, writer and close collaborator of Reich Minister of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda Joseph Goebbels. Berndt joined the Nazi Party at the age of 18 and became a brownshirt at 20. A freelance journalist, he was deputy editor of Goebbels’s party newspaper before joining the staff of the Nazi Propaganda Ministry in 1936. Berndt wrote an eyewitness account of the 1940 German invasion of the Low Countries and France filled with distortions and falsehoods, he is also considered the propagandistic creator of the Rommel myth attached to German field marshal Erwin Rommel. A fervent Nazi, Berndt murdered a captured Allied pilot in cold blood in front of numerous witnesses. In early 1945, he was given command of a battalion of the 5th SS Panzer Regiment and was killed in action on 28 March 1945 at Veszprém, Hungary. Youth and first political activities Alfred-Ingemar Berndt was the son of Gustav B ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bodo Zimmermann
Bodo Zimmermann (26 November 1886 – 16 April 1963) was a Nazi Germany, German general during the Second World War. He also was one of the few recipients of both German crosses (in Gold and in Silver). Biography Bodo Zimmermann was born in Metz on November 1886. He began his cadet training in 1906, joining the Prussian Army, Royal Army of Prussia. Zimmermann served in an infantry regiment of the 34th Division (German Empire), 34th Division. From 1907 to 1914 he served in the regiment with the rank of ''Oberleutnant'' (first lieutenant). In 1915, shortly after the start of the First World War, he was promoted to the rank of Captain (land), captain. During the war he received the Iron Cross for his exemplary actions. Zimmermann was promoted to Major (Germany), major in 1920 shortly before leaving the army. After the war he ran a publishing house which specialised in military literature and instructional manuals. Shortly before the Second World War began in 1939, Zimmermann was rei ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Felix Schwalbe
__NOTOC__ Eugen-Felix Schwalbe (25 March 1892 – 12 June 1974) was a general in the Wehrmacht of Nazi Germany during World War II. He was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross. Awards and decorations * German Cross in Silver on 30 October 1943 and in Gold on 7 December 1944 * Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 13 July 1940 as ''Oberst ''Oberst'' () is a senior field officer rank in several German-speaking and Scandinavian countries, equivalent to colonel. It is currently used by both the ground and air forces of Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Denmark, and Norway. The Swedish ...'' and commander of Infanterie-Regiment 461Fellgiebel 2000, p. 320. References Citations Bibliography * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Schwalbe, Felix 1892 births 1974 deaths German Army generals of World War II Generals of Infantry (Wehrmacht) German Army personnel of World War I Recipients of the clasp to the Iron Cross, 1st class Recipients of the Gold German Cross Recipi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Walther Rauff
Walter (Walther) Rauff (19 June 1906 – 14 May 1984) was a mid-ranking SS commander in Nazi Germany. From January 1938, he was an aide of Reinhard Heydrich firstly in the Security Service (''Sicherheitsdienst'' or ''SD''), later in the Reich Security Main Office. He worked for the Federal Intelligence Service of West Germany (''Bundesnachrichtendienst'') between 1958 and 1962, and was subsequently employed by the Mossad, the Israeli secret service. His funeral in Santiago, Chile, was attended by several former Nazis. Rauff is thought to have been responsible for nearly 100,000 deaths during World War II. He was instrumental in the implementation of the Nazis' genocide by mobile gas chamber. His victims included Communists, Jews, Roma and people with disabilities. He was arrested in 1945, but subsequently escaped and was never brought to trial. In the late 1970s and the 1980s, he was arguably the most wanted Nazi fugitive still alive. From the Navy to the SS According to the MI5 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Standartenführer
__NOTOC__ ''Standartenführer'' (short: ''Staf'', , ) was a Nazi Party (NSDAP) paramilitary rank that was used in several NSDAP organizations, such as the SA, SS, NSKK and the NSFK. First founded as a title in 1925, in 1928 it became one of the first commissioned NSDAP ranks and was bestowed upon those SA and SS officers who commanded a unit known as a '' Standarte'' (plural ''Standarten''), a unit equivalent to an army battalion and comprising 300–500 personnel. In 1929 the rank of ''Standartenführer'' was divided into two separate ranks known as ''Standartenführer'' (I) and ''Standartenführer'' (II). This concept was abandoned in 1930 when both the SA and SS expanded their rank systems to allow for more officer positions and thus the need for only a single ''Standartenführer'' rank. In 1933, when Adolf Hitler came to national power in Germany, the rank of ''Standartenführer'' had been established as the highest field officer rank, lower than that of ''Oberführer'' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ernst Merk
__NOTOC__ Ernst Merk (27 September 1903 – 12 June 1975) was a general in the Army of Nazi Germany during World War II. He was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross. Awards * Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross (german: Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes), or simply the Knight's Cross (), and its variants, were the highest awards in the military and paramilitary forces of Nazi Germany during World War II. The Knight' ... on 15 July 1944 as '' Oberst im Generalstab'' and chief of the general staff of the III. PanzerkorpsFellgiebel 2000, p. 252. References Citations Bibliography * {{DEFAULTSORT:Merk, Ernst 1903 births 1975 deaths Military personnel from Fürth People from the Kingdom of Bavaria Recipients of the Gold German Cross Recipients of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross Major generals of the German Army (Wehrmacht) Military personnel from Bavaria ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bruno Streckenbach
Bruno Streckenbach (7 February 1902 – 28 October 1977) was a German SS functionary during the Nazi era. He was the head of Administration and Personnel Department of the Reich Security Main Office (RSHA). Streckenbach was responsible for many thousands of murders committed by Nazi mobile killing squads known as ''Einsatzgruppen''. Early Years Bruno Streckenbach was born in Hamburg, Germany on 7 February 1902. His highest education was Gymnasium, which he left in April 1918 to voluntarily report to the German Army during World War I. Just like his close colleagues Erwin Schulz and Heinrich Himmler, he never served on the front lines of the battlefield due to the ceasefire that took place in November 1918. After the end of the First World War, he was an active member of the Freikorps Bahrenfeld, which took part in the 1920 Kapp-Putsch. He was employed as a wholesale merchant, tried his hand at advertising, being a radio editor and also trying to establish himself as the dir ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
