Heinrich Kling (10 September 1913 – 30 September 1951) was a German

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 ...

commander during the

Nazi era 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 ...

, who served with the

Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler The 1st SS Panzer Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler or SS Division Leibstandarte, abbreviated as LSSAH, (german: 1. SS-Panzerdivision "Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler") began as Adolf Hitler's personal bodyguard unit, responsible for guarding ...

(LSSAH).

Biography

Kling graduated from the

SS-Junkerschule Bad Tölz SS-Junker Schools (German ''SS-Junkerschulen'') were leadership training facilities for officer candidates of the ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS). The term ''Junkerschulen'' was introduced by Nazi Germany in 1937, although the first facilities were establi ...

in 1938. On November 14, 1939 he joined the 12th SS Totenkopf Standarte in

Łódź Łódź, also rendered in English as Lodz, is a city in central Poland and a former industrial centre. It is the capital of Łódź Voivodeship, and is located approximately south-west of Warsaw. The city's coat of arms is an example of canti ...

, which shot a thousand residents of the psychiatric hospital in Owinsk near

Poznań Poznań () is a city on the River Warta in west-central Poland, within the Greater Poland region. The city is an important cultural and business centre, and one of Poland's most populous regions with many regional customs such as Saint John ...

. He participated in so called operations against "partisans", which meant the execution of Polish intellectuals and Jews. For his service he was awarded with the

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 est ...

2nd Class and the

War Merit Cross The War Merit Cross (german: Kriegsverdienstkreuz) was a state decoration of Nazi Germany during World War II. By the end of the conflict it was issued in four degrees and had an equivalent civil award. A " de-Nazified" version of the War Merit ...

with swords. Prior to

Operation Barbarossa Operation Barbarossa (german: link=no, Unternehmen Barbarossa; ) was the invasion of the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany and many of its Axis allies, starting on Sunday, 22 June 1941, during the Second World War. The operation, code-named after ...

he came to the Leibstandarte, and commanded its 13th (heavy) company of

Tiger I The Tiger I () was a German heavy tank of World War II that operated beginning in 1942 in Africa and in the Soviet Union, usually in independent heavy tank battalions. It gave the German Army its first armoured fighting vehicle that mounted ...

tanks. As an ardent Nazi, Kling was popular among his fellow Waffen-SS soldiers. Since late November 1943 the SS Panzer Regiment 1 was commanded by

Joachim Peiper Joachim Peiper (30 January 1915 – 14 July 1976) was a German ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) officer and a Nazi war criminal convicted for the Malmedy massacre of U.S. Army prisoners of war (POWs). During the Second World War in Europe, Peiper serve ...

, of whom Kling was a personal favorite. Peiper consequently made Kling leader of the 2nd Battalion, and nominated him for 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' ...

. Kling received the award on 23 February 1944.@ALEX Österreichische Nationalbibliothe
Reichsgesetzblatt Teil I S. 613; 28 September 1941
/ref> Kling was heavily wounded during

Operation Overlord Operation Overlord was the codename for the Battle of Normandy, the Allies of World War II, Allied operation that launched the successful invasion of German-occupied Western Front (World War II), Western Europe during World War II. The operat ...

. On 19 March 1945, he was appointed commander of the 501st Heavy SS Panzer Battalion.

References

Bibliography

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kling, Heinrich 1913 births 1951 deaths SS-Sturmbannführer Recipients of the Gold German Cross Recipients of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross Waffen-SS personnel Deaths by drowning Military personnel from Kassel