Artur Schmitt (20 July 1888 – 15 January 1972) was a highly decorated German soldier during

World War I 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 ...

and

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 ...

. While serving as a General with the ''

Afrikakorps The Afrika Korps or German Africa Corps (, }; DAK) was the German expeditionary force in Africa during the North African Campaign of World War II. First sent as a holding force to shore up the Italian defense of its African colonies, the ...

'' during World War II, Schmitt was awarded the ''Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes'' (Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross), which was usually awarded to recognise extreme bravery, or successful military leadership.

Early life

Schmitt was born at

Albersweiler Albersweiler is a municipality in the Südliche Weinstraße ("Southern Wine Road") district, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is part of the ''Verbandsgemeinde'' Annweiler am Trifels. History Middle Ages The village was first mentioned in ...

in what was then the Bavarian Rhine District. He was educated at the ''Humanistische Gymnasium'' at

Landau in der Pfalz Landau ( pfl, Landach), officially Landau in der Pfalz, is an autonomous (''kreisfrei'') town surrounded by the Südliche Weinstraße ("Southern Wine Route") district of southern Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is a university town (since 1990 ...

. In 1907 he joined the

Bavarian Army The Bavarian Army was the army of the Electorate (1682–1806) and then Kingdom (1806–1919) of Bavaria. It existed from 1682 as the standing army of Bavaria until the merger of the military sovereignty (''Wehrhoheit'') of Bavaria into that of t ...

, as an officer cadet with the '' Königlich Bayerisches 18. Infanterie-Regiment „Prinz Ludwig Ferdinand“'' (German Wikipedia; "18th Royal Bavarian Infantry Regiment "Prince Louis Ferdinand"), in Landau and attended the ''Bayerische Kriegsakademie'' (Bavarian War Academy) in Munich. In 1912, Schmitt joined the Imperial ''Schutztruppe'' and was posted to the colony of

German Southwest Africa German South West Africa (german: Deutsch-Südwestafrika) was a colony of the German Empire from 1884 until 1915, though Germany did not officially recognise its loss of this territory until the 1919 Treaty of Versailles. With a total area of ...

(later Namibia).

World War I

He took part in the

South-West Africa campaign The South West Africa campaign was the conquest and occupation of German South West Africa by forces from the Union of South Africa acting on behalf of the British imperial government at the beginning of the First World War. Background The ...

of World War I, during which he was captured. After being transferred to a prisoner of war (POW) camp in Britain, Schmitt attempted to escape, without success. He was repatriated to Germany before the end of the war, and then joined '' Königlich Bayerisches Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 1'' (German Wikipedia), stationed in Munich.

Inter-war years

In 1919 Schmitt joined a right-wing militia known as ''

Freikorps (, "Free Corps" or "Volunteer Corps") were irregular German and other European military volunteer units, or paramilitary, that existed from the 18th to the early 20th centuries. They effectively fought as mercenary or private armies, regar ...

Eulenburg'', which fought against Russian forces during the Soviet Baltic offensive of 1918–1919 and put down an uprising by ethnic Poles in

Upper Silesia Upper Silesia ( pl, Górny Śląsk; szl, Gůrny Ślůnsk, Gōrny Ślōnsk; cs, Horní Slezsko; german: Oberschlesien; Silesian German: ; la, Silesia Superior) is the southeastern part of the historical and geographical region of Silesia, located ...

. Schmitt was employed by the Bavarian police from 1920 in

Aschaffenburg Aschaffenburg (; South Franconian: ''Aschebersch'') is a town in northwest Bavaria, Germany. The town of Aschaffenburg is not part of the district of Aschaffenburg, but is its administrative seat. Aschaffenburg belonged to the Archbishopric ...

and Munich. Rejoining the army after the Nazis came to power, Schmitt served initially in the

ordnance Ordnance may refer to: Military and defense *Materiel in military logistics, including weapons, ammunition, vehicles, and maintenance tools and equipment. **The military branch responsible for supplying and developing these items, e.g., the Unit ...

corps.

World War II

By the outbreak of World War II, he was commander of ''Infanterie Regiment 626'', part of '' 555. Infanterie-Division'', on the

Upper Rhine The Upper Rhine (german: Oberrhein ; french: Rhin Supérieur) is the section of the Rhine between Basel in Switzerland and Bingen in Germany, surrounded by the Upper Rhine Plain. The river is marked by Rhine-kilometres 170 to 529 (the sc ...

. From 19 June 1940, Schmitt was promoted to command 555 Division, which captured

Strasbourg Strasbourg (, , ; german: Straßburg ; gsw, label=Bas Rhin Alsatian, Strossburi , gsw, label=Haut Rhin Alsatian, Strossburig ) is the prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est region of eastern France and the official seat of the Eu ...

. Schmitt commanded ''Oberfeldzeugstabs 2.'' in

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

and during the early stages of the

invasion of the Soviet Union 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 afte ...

. Promoted to ''

Generalmajor is the Germanic variant of major general, used in a number of Central and Northern European countries. Austria Belgium Denmark is the second lowest general officer rank in the Royal Danish Army and Royal Danish Air Force. As a two-star ...

'' in late 1941, Schmitt was posted to

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 ...

; under

Erwin Rommel Johannes Erwin Eugen Rommel () (15 November 1891 – 14 October 1944) was a German field marshal during World War II. Popularly known as the Desert Fox (, ), he served in the ''Wehrmacht'' (armed forces) of Nazi Germany, as well as servi ...

, Schmitt was initially in charge of ''Rückwärtiges Armeegebiet 556 '' (556th Rear Army Area) for ''Panzergruppe Afrika''. In November, he became the commander of the combined

Axis An axis (plural ''axes'') is an imaginary line around which an object rotates or is symmetrical. Axis may also refer to: Mathematics * Axis of rotation: see rotation around a fixed axis *Axis (mathematics), a designator for a Cartesian-coordinate ...

'' Division “Bardia”'', in the

Sollum Sallum ( ar, السلوم, translit=as-Sallūm various transliterations include ''El Salloum'', ''As Sallum'' or ''Sollum'') is a harbourside village or town in Egypt. It is along the Egypt/Libyan short north–south aligned coast of the Mediterra ...

Bardia Bardia, also El Burdi or Barydiyah ( ar, البردية, lit=, translit=al-Bardiyya or ) is a Mediterranean seaport in the Butnan District of eastern Libya, located near the border with Egypt. It is also occasionally called ''Bórdi Slemán''. ...

sector. In January 1942, following a prolonged offensive against Bardia by the

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

n 2nd Infantry Division and the New Zealand Divisional Cavalry Regiment, Schmitt was forced to surrender his forces to the South Africans, the first German general to do so in the Second World War. He became a prisoner of war. Following his capture, Schmitt was awarded 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' ...

(5 February 1942). He was held in Canada until 1946, when he was transferred to Britain, but was not released until 1948.

Later career

After the victory of Israeli forces in the war of 1948, the

Arab League The Arab League ( ar, الجامعة العربية, ' ), formally the League of Arab States ( ar, جامعة الدول العربية, '), is a regional organization in the Arab world, which is located in Northern Africa, Western Africa, E ...

recruited Schmitt to train a pan-Arab army. While living in Cairo, he used the pseudonym/codename "Mr. Goldstein". Schmitt became disaffected with what he saw as machinations against him by some Egyptian generals, which he denounced in 1950, resigned and returned to Germany. In 1966, Schmitt was a candidate for the far-right NPD in the Bavarian state parliament. His campaign material used controversial images of Schmitt in his Wehrmacht uniform (which featured swastikas on the cap badge and Knight's Cross). Schmitt criticised the use of the Knight's Cross in a of Gunther Grass's novel ''Katz und Maus'' ("Cat and Mouse"). The film had a high profile in Germany, due partly to it featuring acting performances by two sons of German Vice-Chancellor

Willy Brandt Willy Brandt (; born Herbert Ernst Karl Frahm; 18 December 1913 – 8 October 1992) was a German politician and statesman who was leader of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) from 1964 to 1987 and served as the chancellor of West Ge ...

In popular culture

Schmitt was one of the subjects of a 2014 French documentary film ''Exil Nazi: La Promesse De L'Orient'' ("Nazi Exiles: The Promise of the Orient"), by the French-German filmmaker Géraldine Schwarz.

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 est ...

(1914) ** 2nd Class ** 1st Class *

Honour Cross of the World War 1914/1918 The Honour Cross of the World War 1914/1918 (german: Das Ehrenkreuz des Weltkrieges 1914/1918), commonly, but incorrectly, known as the Hindenburg Cross or the German WWI Service Cross was established by Field Marshal Paul von Hindenburg, Presiden ...

(1939) ** 2nd Class ** 1st Class *

on 5 February 1942.Fellgiebel 2000, p. 311.

References

Citations

Bibliography

§ * *

External links

Lexikon der Wehrmacht
{{DEFAULTSORT:Schmitt, Artur 1888 births 1972 deaths People from Südliche Weinstraße Lieutenant generals of the German Army (Wehrmacht) Recipients of the clasp to the Iron Cross, 1st class Recipients of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross German prisoners of war in World War I World War I prisoners of war held by the United Kingdom German prisoners of war in World War II held by the United Kingdom People from the Palatinate (region) German police officers Military personnel of Bavaria 20th-century Freikorps personnel Schutztruppe personnel Military personnel from Rhineland-Palatinate National Democratic Party of Germany politicians