Ulrich Kleemann (23 March 1892 – 1 January 1963) was a German general 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 opposing ...

and a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross of

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 ...

. He commanded the 90th Light Africa Division in

North Africa North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in ...

from 10 April 1942 to 13 July 1942 and from 10 August 1942 to 1 November 1942. During the Dodecanese Campaign, Kleemann commanded the 7,500-strong Sturm-Division "Rhodos" during the attack on the Italian garrison of

Rhodes Rhodes (; el, Ρόδος , translit=Ródos ) is the largest and the historical capital of the Dodecanese islands of Greece. Administratively, the island forms a separate municipality within the Rhodes regional unit, which is part of the S ...

. Kleeman defeated the Italians within two days, before British reinforcements could arrive in Rhodes. In September 1943, barely two weeks after the Italian surrender, British forces landed on

Samos Samos (, also ; el, Σάμος ) is a Greece, Greek island in the eastern Aegean Sea, south of Chios, north of Patmos and the Dodecanese, and off the coast of western Turkey, from which it is separated by the -wide Mycale Strait. It is also a se ...

Leros Leros ( el, Λέρος) is a Greek island and municipality in the Dodecanese in the southern Aegean Sea. It lies (171 nautical miles) from Athens's port of Piraeus, from which it can be reached by an 9-hour ferry ride or by a 45-minute flig ...

, and

Kos Kos or Cos (; el, Κως ) is a Greek island, part of the Dodecanese island chain in the southeastern Aegean Sea. Kos is the third largest island of the Dodecanese by area, after Rhodes and Karpathos; it has a population of 36,986 (2021 census), ...

. Kleemann counterattacked and within two months overran the three British garrisons. In June 1944, two SS officers arrived by plane in Rhodes to hold discussions with Kleemann about the ( Ladino speaking) Jews of Rhodes. On 13 July Kleemann issued an order ordering the Jewish population of Rhodes to gather in the city of Rhodes and the towns of Trianda, Cremasto and Villanova by noon on 17 July. On 16 July Kleemann was forced to issue another order stating that the Jewish question on Rhodes had apparently given rise to "doubts" and barring further questioning of orders by the troops. Of the approximately 2,000 members of the ancient Jewish community of

, 1,700 were rounded up and transported to mainland Europe. Only about 160 of them survived the camps. Out of 6,000 Ladino-speaking Jews in the Dodecanese Islands, some 1,200 survived by escaping to the nearby coast of

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...

. From 27 November 1944 to 8 May 1945, Kleeman commanded Panzer Corps ''Feldherrnhalle'' on the Eastern Front. Kleeman's tank corps fought in

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the ...

and was destroyed in the

Battle of Budapest The Siege of Budapest or Battle of Budapest was the 50-day-long encirclement by Soviet and Romanian forces of the Hungarian capital of Budapest, near the end of World War II. Part of the broader Budapest Offensive, the siege began when Budap ...

Command history

* 1942 to 1943 General Officer Commanding,

90th Light Infantry Division (Wehrmacht) The 90th Light Infantry Division was a light infantry division of the German Army during World War II that served in North Africa as well as Sardinia and Italy. The division played a major role in most of the actions against the British Eight ...

* 1943 to 1944 General Officer Commanding, Assault Division "Rhodes" * 1944 to 1945 General Officer Commanding, Panzer Corps Feldherrnhalle

Awards and decorations

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 es ...

(1914) 2nd Class (26 October 1914) &1st Class (8 July 1918)Thomas 1997, p. 372. *

Clasp to the Iron Cross The Clasp to the Iron Cross (Spange zum Eisernen Kreuz) was a white metal medal clasp displayed on the uniforms of German Wehrmacht personnel who had been awarded the Iron Cross in World War I, and who again qualified for the decoration in World W ...

(1939) 2nd Class (19 September 1939) & 1st Class (25 October 1939) *

Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves 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' ...

** Knight's Cross on 13 October 1941 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 3. Schützen-BrigadeFellgiebel 2000, p. 258. ** Oak Leaves on 16 September 1943 as

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 ...

and commander of Sturm-Division Rhodos

References

Citations

Bibliography

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kleemann, Ulrich 1892 births 1963 deaths Generals of Panzer Troops Recipients of the clasp to the Iron Cross, 1st class Recipients of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves 20th-century Freikorps personnel People from Bad Langensalza Military personnel from Thuringia

Command history

Awards and decorations

See also

References

Citations

Bibliography