Arthur Kobus (9 February 1879 – April 1945) was a German general during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

Biography

Arthur Kobus was born on 9 February 1879, in

Metz Metz ( , , lat, Divodurum Mediomatricorum, then ) is a city in northeast France located at the confluence of the Moselle and the Seille rivers. Metz is the prefecture of the Moselle department and the seat of the parliament of the Grand ...

, Alsace-Lorraine. Kobus fought during the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, with the rank of Officer. He followed his career in the

Reichswehr ''Reichswehr'' () was the official name of the German armed forces during the Weimar Republic and the first years of the Third Reich. After Germany was defeated in World War I, the Imperial German Army () was dissolved in order to be reshape ...

, then in the Heer, the German army. During the

, Arthur Kobus served in many significant military assignments, and participated in a few military operations. He eventually attained the rank of

Generalleutnant is the Germanic variant of lieutenant general, used in some German speaking countries. Austria Generalleutnant is the second highest general officer rank in the Austrian Armed Forces (''Bundesheer''), roughly equivalent to the NATO rank of ...

on 1 July 1942. In April 1945, General Kobus committed suicide in Berlin, rather than surrender to the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army ( Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, afte ...

Decorations

Eisernes Kreuz 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 es ...

Sources

* ''Generale der Reichswehr und Wehrmacht mit K'' o
lexikon-der-wehrmacht.de
1879 births 1945 deaths German military personnel who committed suicide Military personnel from Metz Lieutenant generals of the German Army (Wehrmacht) People from Alsace-Lorraine Reichswehr personnel Recipients of the Iron Cross (1914), 1st class Suicides in Germany {{Germany-mil-bio-stub