Harald Riipalu (born as Harald Reibach) (13 February 1912 – 4 April 1961) was an

Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...

n commander in the German

Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmacht''" replaced the previous ...

and the

Waffen-SS The (, "Armed SS") was the combat branch of the Nazi Party's ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) organisation. Its formations included men from Nazi Germany, along with Waffen-SS foreign volunteers and conscripts, volunteers and conscripts from both occup ...

during

World War II 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 opposin ...

. He was a recipient of the

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' ...

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

Career

After the

Soviet occupation of Estonia The Estonian SSR,, russian: Эстонская ССР officially the Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic,, russian: Эстонская Советская Социалистическая Республика was an ethnically based adminis ...

in 1940, Riipalu was forcibly mobilized into the

Soviet Army uk, Радянська армія , image = File:Communist star with golden border and red rims.svg , alt = , caption = Emblem of the Soviet Army , start_date ...

22nd Territorial Corps, serving until 1941, at which time he defected to the German side. From 1942 to 1943 Riipalu was a platoon leader and company commander of the 36th Estonian Police Battalion, and became commander of the battalion in November 1942. From 1943 to 1945, he served in the 3rd SS-Brigade and the 20th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS. He was the Commander of the 45th SS-Grenadier Regiment from April 1944. On 23 August 1944 he was decorated with the

for his actions in the

Battle of Tannenberg Line The Battle of Tannenberg Line (german: Die Schlacht um die Tannenbergstellung; russian: Битва за линию «Танненберг») or the Battle of the Blue Hills ( et, Sinimägede lahing) was a military engagement between the Germ ...

and in the

Battle of Auvere Battle of Auvere was a battle in Estonia, starting on July 20, 1944 and ending on July 25. It was a part of the World War II campaign in Narva. The Soviet 8th Army started attacking the Auvere Station on July 20 with artillery fire. The de ...

where Riipalu and his regiment drove back the assault of the Soviet Army, which prevented the encirclement of Army Detachment Narwa. The award was presented to him by

Felix Steiner Felix Martin Julius Steiner (23 May 1896 – 12 May 1966) was a German SS commander during the Nazi era. During World War II, he served in the Waffen-SS, the combat branch of the SS, and commanded several SS divisions and corps. He was awarded t ...

, the commander of

III SS Panzer Corps The III (Germanic) SS Panzer Corps (''III. (germanisches) SS-Panzerkorps'') was a German Waffen-SS armoured corps which saw action on the Eastern Front during World War II. The ''(germanische)'' (lit. Germanic) part of its designation was granted ...

. After the end of the war, Riipalu evaded Soviet captivity by fleeing to Denmark. He died in

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

in 1961.

Awards

on 23 August 1944 as Waffen-''

Obersturmbannführer __NOTOC__ ''Obersturmbannführer'' (Senior Assault-unit Leader; ; short: ''Ostubaf'') was a paramilitary rank in the German Nazi Party (NSDAP) which was used by the SA (''Sturmabteilung'') and the SS (''Schutzstaffel''). The rank of ''Obersturm ...

'' and commander of Waffen-Grenadier-Regiment der SS 45 (estnische Nr. 1).Scherzer 2007, p. 630.

References

Citations

Bibliography

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Riipalu, Harald 1912 births 1961 deaths Hugo Treffner Gymnasium alumni SS-Obersturmbannführer Recipients of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross Estonian expatriates in the United Kingdom Estonian Waffen-SS personnel People from Volosovsky District