Rudolf Lüters (May 10, 1883 – December 24, 1945) was a German general who served in the Wehrmacht, during the Second World War.

Biography

He joined the army on November 2, 1902 as

Fahnenjunker ''Fahnenjunker'' (short Fhj or FJ, en, officer cadet; ) is a military rank of the Bundeswehr and of some former German armed forces. In earlier German armed forces it was also the collective name for many officer aspirant ranks. It was establis ...

and participated in the First World War where he was wounded twice, in September 1914 and in October 1915. During the Second World War, he was appointed commander of the 223rd infantry division on May 6, 1941, participating with this unit in the invasion of the Soviet Union until October 19. On November 1, 1942, he was appointed commander of German troops in Croatia. He was promoted to

General der Infanterie General of the Infantry is a military rank of a General officer in the infantry and refers to: * General of the Infantry (Austria) * General of the Infantry (Bulgaria) * General of the Infantry (Germany) ('), a rank of a general in the German Imper ...

on February 1, 1943. He received the

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 repe ...

in Gold on April 30, 1943 and became the first commander of the newly created XV Mountain Corps on August 25. He participated in numerous anti-partisan operations in Croatia, notably in the

Case White Case White (german: Fall Weiss), also known as the Fourth Enemy Offensive ( sh, Četvrta neprijateljska ofenziva/ofanziva), was a combined Axis strategic offensive launched against the Yugoslav Partisans throughout occupied Yugoslavia during W ...

operation led by

Alexander Löhr Alexander Löhr (20 May 1885 – 26 February 1947) was an Austrian Air Force commander during the 1930s and, after the annexation of Austria, he was a Luftwaffe commander. Löhr served in the Luftwaffe during World War II, rising to commander of ...

. On July 31, 1944, Lüters left the army and retired. Captured by the Soviets at the end of the war, he died in detention in Russia on Christmas Eve 1945.

Sources

* Dermot Bradley: ''Die Generale des Heeres 1921–1945 Band 7 Knabe-Luz'', Biblio Verlag, Bissendorf 2004, , S. 651–652. {{DEFAULTSORT:Lüters, Rudolf 1883 births 1945 deaths Generals of Infantry (Wehrmacht) German people who died in Soviet detention German prisoners of war in World War II held by the Soviet Union Military personnel from Darmstadt Recipients of the Gold German Cross Recipients of the Pour le Mérite (military class) German Army personnel of World War I German Army generals of World War II