Helmuth von Pannwitz
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Helmuth von Pannwitz | |
---|---|
Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
| |
Cause of death | Execution by hanging |
Allegiance | Germany |
Years of service | 1914–45 |
Rank |
|
Commands held | XV SS Cossack Cavalry Corps |
Battles/wars | |
Awards |
|
Helmuth von Pannwitz (14 October 1898 – 16 January 1947) was a
Early life
Pannwitz was born into a family of
Aged twelve, he entered the Prussian cadet school in Wahlstatt, near Liegnitz in Silesia, and later the main cadet school at Lichterfelde. Even before outbreak of World War I he was attracted by exhibitions of Cossack units that were organized in the neighboring towns of the Russian Empire.[1]
As an officer cadet, Pannwitz upon the outbreak of the
When an amnesty was granted in 1931, Pannwitz returned to Germany. He became a Stabsführer of the
World War II
On active service again in World War II, Pannwitz was awarded "bars" to his previous decorations and in September 1941 was awarded the
Pannwitz was instrumental in establishing a
At the award ceremony in Berlin, when Pannwitz received the "Oak Leaves" for his Knight's Cross on 15 January 1943, he told Hitler that the official Nazi policies which caused Slavs to be regarded as subhumans (Untermenschen) for strategical reasons were totally wrong.[7]
During the summer of 1944 the two brigades were upgraded to become the
Because of the respect he showed for his troops and his tendency to attend
By the end of the war, the SS took control of all foreign units within the German forces. The Himmler file in the Imperial War Museum contains a record of a conversation which occurred on 26 August 1944 between Himmler, General von Pannwitz, and his Chief of Staff, Colonel H.-J. von Schultz. An agreement was reached that the Cossack division, soon to be the Cossack Corps, was placed under SS administration in terms of replacements and supplies. Both the German cadre and the Cossack troops were to retain their uniforms and their Wehrmacht or Cossack ranks.[10] For the moment Pannwitz refused to enter the SS, arguing: “I have been in the army since I was fifteen. To leave it now would seem to me like desertion.”[11] Himmler sought to place all Cossack fighting units under von Pannwitz's command.[10] Thus in November 1944 most units were transferred to the Waffen-SS and integrated into the newly formed XV SS Cossack Cavalry Corps.[12] By his own request von Pannwitz was discharged from the army on 10 February 1945 and entered the SS in the rank of SS-Gruppenführer and lieutenant-general of the Waffen-SS the following day.[13]
Aftermath
Pannwitz surrendered on 11 May 1945 to British forces (
Pannwitz was a German national, and under the provisions of the Yalta Conference not subject to repatriation to the Soviet Union. But on 26 May he was deprived of his command and placed under arrest while the forcible loading of the Cossacks into trucks began and continued through the following days. Although many escaped from their camps following these actions, General v. Pannwitz and many of his German officers shared the uncertain fate of the Cossacks, so these Germans surrendered with the Cossacks to Soviet authorities at Judenburg.
Execution
Pannwitz was executed in
Attempted rehabilitation
Almost fifty years later, on 23 April 1996, during the Russian presidency of Boris Yeltsin, members of the Pannwitz family petitioned for a posthumous reversal of the 1946 conviction. The Military High Prosecutor in Moscow subsequently determined that Pannwitz was eligible for rehabilitation as a victim of Stalin-era repression. On 28 June 2001, however, rehabilitation was reversed in a ruling that disputed jurisdiction of the 1996 proceedings, and Pannwitz's conviction for military crimes was reinstated.[14]
Awards and decorations
- Iron Cross (1914)
- Wound Badge (1914)
- in Black
- Cross of Honor(20 December 1934)
- Wehrmacht-Dienstauszeichnung
- Clasp to the Iron Cross (1939)
- General Assault Badge (18 July 1941)
- Eastern Front Medal
- Order of Michael the Brave
- 3rd Class (7 May 1943)
- Order of the Crown of King Zvonimir with Stars and Swords
- Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves
See also
References
Citations
- ^ a b c d e Menges, Franz (2001). "Hellmuth von Pannwitz". Neue Deutsche Biographie (in German). pp. 34–35.
- ^ Hartmann 2010, p. 158.
- ^ Mulligan 1988, p. 151.
- ^ Raus, pp. 142–4
- ^ Tomasevich 2001, p. 306.
- ^ War diary 1st Cossack Division, National Archives Microcopy No T-315, Roll 2281, Washington 1965
- ^ Newland 1991, p. 108.
- ^ Tomasevich 2001, p. 305.
- ^ Newland 1991, p. 164.
- ^ a b Newland 1991, p. 145.
- ^ Newland 1991, p. 144.
- ^ Tessin 1977, p. 400.
- ^ Weigelt 2015, p. 505.
- ISBN 9783525369685.
- ^ a b c d Thomas 1998, p. 141.
- ^ a b Scherzer 2007, p. 582.
- ^ Fellgiebel 2000, p. 333.
- ^ Fellgiebel 2000, p. 64.
Bibliography
- Fellgiebel, Walther-Peer (2000) [1986]. Die Träger des Ritterkreuzes des Eisernen Kreuzes 1939–1945 — Die Inhaber der höchsten Auszeichnung des Zweiten Weltkrieges aller Wehrmachtteile [The Bearers of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross 1939–1945 — The Owners of the Highest Award of the Second World War of all Wehrmacht Branches] (in German). Friedberg, Germany: Podzun-Pallas. ISBN 978-3-7909-0284-6.
- ISBN 978-3-486-70226-2.
- Mulligan, Timothy (1988). The Politics of Illusion and Empire: German Occupation Policy in the Soviet Union, 1942-1943. New York: Praeger. ISBN 978-0-275-92837-7.
- Newland, Samuel J. (1991). Cossacks in the German Wehrmacht, 1941-1945. London, England: Frank Cass. ISBN 0-7146-3351-8.
- ISBN 0-306-81247-9.
- Scherzer, Veit (2007). Die Ritterkreuzträger 1939–1945 Die Inhaber des Ritterkreuzes des Eisernen Kreuzes 1939 von Heer, Luftwaffe, Kriegsmarine, Waffen-SS, Volkssturm sowie mit Deutschland verbündeter Streitkräfte nach den Unterlagen des Bundesarchives [The Knight's Cross Bearers 1939–1945 The Holders of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross 1939 by Army, Air Force, Navy, Waffen-SS, Volkssturm and Allied Forces with Germany According to the Documents of the Federal Archives] (in German). Jena, Germany: Scherzers Militaer-Verlag. ISBN 978-3-938845-17-2.
- Thomas, Franz (1998). Die Eichenlaubträger 1939–1945 Band 2: L–Z [The Oak Leaves Bearers 1939–1945 Volume 2: L–Z] (in German). Osnabrück, Germany: Biblio-Verlag. ISBN 978-3-7648-2300-9.
- Tessin, Georg (1977). Die Waffengattungen – Gesamtübersicht. Verbände und Truppen der deutschen Wehrmacht und Waffen SS im Zweiten Weltkrieg 1939-1945 (in German). Vol. 1. Osnabrück: Biblio.
- Tomasevich, Jozo (2001). War and Revolution in Yugoslavia: 1941 – 1945, Occupation and Collaboration. Stanford, California: Stanford University Press. ISBN 978-0-8047-3615-2.
- Weigelt, Andreas (2015). "Kurzbiographien". In Andreas Weigelt (ed.). Todesurteile sowjetischer Militärtribunale gegen Deutsche (1944–1947): Eine historisch-biographische Studie. Klaus-Dieter Müller, Thomas Saarschmidt, Mike Schmeitzner. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht. ISBN 978-3-647-36968-6.
Further reading
- Mitchell, Ian (1997). The cost of a reputation : Aldington versus Tolstoy : the causes, course and consequences of the notorious libel case. Lagavulin, Isle of Islay: Tropical Books. ISBN 0953158101.
- ISBN 9781453249369.