Adolf Raegener

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Adolf Raegener (born February 17, 1895 in Kleinleinungen ; † August 17, 1983 in Braunschweig ) was a German officer , most recently lieutenant general in World War II .

Life

In August 1914 he joined the Prussian army as a war volunteer and served in Infantry Regiment No. 79 . At the end of 1915 he was decommissioned with the rank of lieutenant in the reserve . In March 1916 he was reactivated in Infantry Regiment No. 31 .

With the formation of the Reichswehr he was transferred to the 5th (Prussian) Infantry Regiment and served there in various positions, from 1930 as a company commander. In 1935 he became battalion commander in the 67th Infantry Regiment and in this position took part in the invasion of Poland . This was followed in 1940 by the battalion command in Infantry Regiment No. 68 and the command of Infantry Regiment 309. The regiment took part in the campaign in the west under his leadership . In 1941 he was commander of the 9th Infantry Regiment . In December 1941 he was badly wounded and lost a leg on the Eastern Front . He was transferred to the Führerreserve and voluntarily reported back to the front in 1944. In 1944/1945 he was in command of Fahnenjunker-Schule IX , first in Hagenau then in Randers . He was also the commander of the Warthe defense area and, from January 25 to February 2, 1945, combat commander of the Küstrin fortress , which he handed over to SS-Gruppenführer and Lieutenant General of the Waffen-SS Heinz Reinefarth . From February 4, 1945 until the early dissolution he was commander of the Raegener Infantry Division . With Army Group Vistula he took part in the battle for the Seelow Heights on April 16 as the commander of the newly established Training Division 286 .

Subsequently, from March 13, 1945, he was in command of the Magdeburg defense area . In April 1945 Raegener refused to hand Magdeburg over to the advancing Allied troops. Kurt Dittmar (after the failure of the negotiations, Dittmar surrendered to the Americans and was taken prisoner of war) had already negotiated with the Americans without Raegener's knowledge. After the city was bombed, the American units advanced to the western bank of the Elbe. Raegener was awarded the oak leaves for the Knight's Cross for holding the position.

From May 1945 he was briefly in command of the Raegener corps group until his capture by the Allies .

Awards (selection)

plant

  • Final winter inspection - organization and implementation in an infantry battalion . Open words publisher, Berlin, 1938.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Helmuth Damerau: German Soldier Yearbook . Schild Verlag, 1984, p. 451 ( google.de [accessed October 8, 2018]).
  2. ↑ a b Gerhard Lubs: IR5, from the history of a Pomeranian regiment 1920-1945 . Berg-Verlag, 1965, p. 86 ( google.de [accessed on October 8, 2018]).
  3. ^ David McCormack: The Berlin1945 Battlefield Guide :: Part 1: The Battle of the Oder-Neisse . Fonthill Media, December 17, 2017 ( google.de [accessed October 8, 2018]).
  4. ^ Tony Le Tissier: The Siege of Küstrin: Gateway to Berlin, 1945 . Stackpole Books, 2011, ISBN 978-0-8117-0829-6 , pp. 31 ( google.de [accessed on October 8, 2018]).
  5. ^ Tony Le Tissier: The Siege of Küstrin: Gateway to Berlin, 1945 . Stackpole Books, 2011, ISBN 978-0-8117-0829-6 , pp. 92 ( google.de [accessed October 8, 2018]).
  6. ↑ Horst Hesse, Peter Böhm: "For eyes only": The true story of the agent Horst Hesse . edition ost, 2016, ISBN 978-3-360-51039-6 ( google.de [accessed on October 8, 2018]).
  7. ↑ a b c d e Ranking list of the German Reichsheeres , Ed .: Reichswehrministerium , Mittler & Sohn Verlag , Berlin 1930, p. 153
  8. ↑ Veit Scherzer : Knight's Cross bearers 1939-1945. The holders of the Iron Cross of the Army, Air Force, Navy, Waffen-SS, Volkssturm and armed forces allied with Germany according to the documents of the Federal Archives. 2nd Edition. Scherzers Militaer-Verlag, Ranis / Jena 2007, ISBN 978-3-938845-17-2 , p. 611.
personal data
SURNAME Raegener, Adolf
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German officer, most recently lieutenant general in World War II
DATE OF BIRTH February 17, 1895
PLACE OF BIRTH Small lines
DATE OF DEATH 17th August 1983
Place of death Braunschweig