Alfons Hitter

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Lieutenant General Alfons Hitter during his capture after the Battle of Vitebsk in front of the Soviet Generals Ivan Chernyachovsky and Alexander Vasilevsky (June 28, 1944)

Alfons Hitter (born June 4, 1892 in Hochstatt ; † March 11, 1968 in Thomasberg ) was a German officer , most recently Lieutenant General in World War II .

Life

Hitter joined on 1 October 1911 as Einjährigfreiwilliger in the Badische Foot Artillery Regiment. 14 one, was there on 1 April 1912 corporal and appointed on 1 August 1912. Sergeant promoted. From October 1 to November 25, 1912, he completed a reserve exercise. After his release, Hitter began studying history , economics and philosophy at the universities of Strasbourg and later Munich .

With the outbreak of the First World War he interrupted his studies, was called up for military service and called up to the 6th battery of the Reserve Foot Artillery Regiment No. 10. There he was promoted to Vice Sergeant on January 27, 1915 and shortly thereafter on March 16, 1915 to Lieutenant of the Reserve . From July 5, 1915, Hitter was sent to Jüterbog for a month to attend a shooting school course . After his return to the front, he was employed as deputy battery chief from August 5 to October 14, 1916 . He came from November 5, 1916 as an orderly officer to the staff of the III. Department and was used at the same time as leader of the 8th battery. From June 16 to July 3, 1917, Hitter completed a staff officer course at the Austro-Hungarian Army Front High Command East. He was then transferred to the foot artillery replacement battalion on November 1, 1917, as leader of the 1st Recruits Depot. On January 12, 1918, Hitter was first assigned as an assistant teacher, then as a teacher for the communications course in Lyck . From there he was transferred to the Longuyon firing range , where he was appointed leader of the 819 field artillery battery on February 15, 1918. Hitter was then transferred to Field Artillery Replacement Division 4 on May 5, 1918, and on June 22, 1918 he became leader of the 1st Battery of the Foot Artillery Regiment No. 23. A month later he was assigned to the 1st Battery of the Foot Artillery Regiment. Battalion 80, where he was to remain after the end of the war. Hitter was then released from army service on December 27, 1918 in the course of demobilization.

On June 1, 1922, he was accepted into the Reichswehr and Hitter was assigned to the 6th (Prussian) Artillery Regiment . With his promotion to first lieutenant on October 1, 1923 he was commanded to the artillery school for a year and then transferred to the III. Division of the 3rd (Prussian) Artillery Regiment . In the period up to his transfer to the 4th battery of the regiment on October 1, 1928, Hitter was in command of the headquarters of the Jüterbog military training area. On this date he became a captain and, as such, was assigned to the staff of the 3rd Division in Berlin . This was followed by commands to the 2nd Battalion of the 4th (Prussian) Infantry Regiment in Kolberg and to the 4th (Saxon) News Department in Dresden . Then on October 1, 1930, Hitter was transferred to the staff of the 1st Division of the 5th Artillery Regiment . One year later he took over as chief of the 1st battery and was promoted to major on September 1, 1934 . On October 1, 1934, he was appointed commander of the 4th Division of the Munster Artillery Regiment. A year later he was commander of the 1st division of the artillery regiment 52 and again a year later commander of the 1st division of the artillery regiment 62. In this function, on March 1, 1937, he was promoted to lieutenant colonel .

Before the start of the Second World War, Hitter was appointed commander of the artillery regimental staff on August 26, 1939. b. V. 613 and on March 1, 1940 to colonel . He was used with the regiment during the western campaign . On December 1, 1940, he took over the 178 Artillery Regiment in the 206th Infantry Division , which he led until February 1, 1942 during the attack on the Soviet Union . After relinquishing command, he briefly served as artillery commander 112 and was transferred to the Führerreserve on February 14, 1942 . He was commissioned on May 3, 1942 with the leadership of the 206th Infantry Division with representation in July 1943 by Carl André and appointed Hitter on August 1, 1942 with simultaneous promotion to major general as its commander. On March 1, 1943, he was promoted to lieutenant general. During the Soviet summer offensive Operation Bagration , which led to the collapse of Army Group Center , Hitter was appointed commander of the "Festes Platz" Vitebsk on June 25th , which he had evacuated immediately due to the critical situation at the front. On June 28, 1944 he was after the defeat of the LIII. Army corps southwest of Vitebsk together with the commanding general general of the infantry Friedrich Gollwitzer captured by soldiers of the Soviet 3rd Belarusian Front .

During his imprisonment he was one of the German generals who had to march through Moscow on July 17, 1944, together with around 57,000 other German prisoners. A little later he joined the National Committee for Free Germany and was one of the signatories of the “Call of 50 Generals” of December 8, 1944 to the people and the Wehrmacht .

Hitter was released from Soviet captivity on October 9, 1955 .

Awards

literature

Web links

Commons : Alfons Hitter  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Bodo Scheurig : Free Germany: the National Committee and the Federation of German Officers in the Soviet Union 1943-45. Kiepenheuer & Witsch, 1984, p. 195. ( Text of the call online at pkgodzik.de ; PDF; 53 kB).
  2. ↑ a b Ranking list of the German Reichsheeres , Ed .: Reichswehrministerium , Mittler & Sohn Verlag , Berlin 1930, p. 144.
  3. ↑ a b Veit Scherzer : Knight's Cross bearer 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. 393.
personal data
SURNAME Hitter, Alfons
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German officer, most recently lieutenant general in World War II
DATE OF BIRTH June 4, 1892
PLACE OF BIRTH Hochstatt
DATE OF DEATH March 11, 1968
Place of death Thomasberg