Arthur Kullmer

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Arthur Kullmer , (born August 27, 1896 in Großbockenheim , † March 28, 1953 in Asbestos ) was a German infantry general in World War II .

Life

Empire and First World War

Kullmer attended the Latin school in Grünstadt and joined the Prussian Army as a volunteer on August 17, 1914, during the First World War . He did not do this in his Bavarian homeland, but in the neighboring Grand Duchy of Hesse - presumably because he was still a minor - and came to the infantry regiment "Prinz Carl" (4th Grand Ducal Hessian) No. 118 in nearby Worms . From October 1914 he went to the front, was sick in the hospital at the end of the year and was deployed again from February 1915. Wounded in autumn 1915, he finally transferred to the Bavarian Army . First, Kullmer came to the replacement battalion of the 7th Infantry Regiment "Prince Leopold" . Here he was promoted to officer candidate and on January 17, 1916 to NCO ; then he went back to the front. In the 7th Infantry Regiment he was promoted to lieutenant on July 10, 1916 . In the late summer of 1916, he was now awarded the Iron Cross II. Class, wounded again, returned to the front in 1917 and received the Iron Cross I Class in 1918. In the course of the war he had also received the Wound Badge in Black, the Bavarian Military Merit Order IV. Class with Swords and the Hessian Medal for Bravery .

Weimar Republic

After the end of the war, Kullmer was accepted into the Reichswehr . First he served in the transitional army with the Reichswehr Infantry Regiment 47; When the 100,000-man army was formed, he joined the 20th (Bavarian) Infantry Regiment , where he was employed as a platoon leader in Regensburg from spring 1924 . On October 1, 1924, he became adjutant of the 1st Battalion of this regiment and on April 1, 1925, he was promoted to first lieutenant . He held this position for the next few years before he was transferred to the 13th ( mine thrower ) company of the unit in 1929 . On April 1, 1930 he was appointed chief of the 16th Company of the 20th (Bavarian) Infantry Regiment, which was based in Amberg . As such, he was promoted to captain on February 1, 1931 . He stayed in this position for several years.

time of the nationalsocialism

On April 1, 1934, he became regimental adjutant of the 20th (Bavarian) Infantry Regiment - on October 1, he was transformed into Regensburg Infantry Regiment. With the transition to the Wehrmacht (since March 16, 1935) his professional advancement continued. On January 1, 1936, Kullmer was promoted to major and as such was commander of the III on October 6, 1936. Battalion in the 91st Infantry Regiment in Lindau (Bodensee) , on November 10, 1938 adjutant in the General Command of the VII Army Corps . In this function he was promoted to lieutenant colonel on February 1, 1939, and after the beginning of World War II he took part in the Polish and western campaigns. Kullmer received the repeat clasps of both levels of the Iron Cross . On August 1, 1940, he moved to France as an adjutant to the General Command of the XXVII. Army Corps and was eventually appointed commander of the 331 Infantry Regiment. He commanded this unit from June 1941 during the attack on Central Russia, where he was promoted to colonel on October 1, 1941 . For his services in the leadership of his regiment in the heavy defensive battles in the winter of 1941/42, Kullmer received the German Cross in Gold on January 14, 1942 . On November 1, 1942, the officer was assigned to command the 106th Infantry Division . His promotion to major general took place on January 1, 1943; at the same time he took over the leadership of the 296th Infantry Division and became lieutenant general on September 1, 1943 . For exemplary leadership in the fighting in the Orel and Brjansk area , Kullmer was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on October 27, 1944 . He commanded the 296th Infantry Division in the Bobruisk pocket until shortly before its end . On June 20, 1944, he was transferred to the Führerreserve ; from August 1, 1944 appointed commander of the 558th Volksgrenadier Division , which he led in the defensive battles in East Prussia . When the unit was renamed the 558th Volksgrenadier Division, he remained in command. For the service of the division at Suwałki , Kullmer was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on February 28, 1945. In March 1945, the bulk of the 558th Volksgrenadier Division went down in the Heiligenbeil pocket. Kullmer took over the leadership of the XXXXIII. Army Corps and was promoted to General of the Infantry on April 20, 1945.

Captivity and death

At the end of the war, Kullmer was taken prisoner by the United States near Vienna , but was extradited to the Soviets on May 13, 1945 and deported to the Soviet Union. On October 17, 1947, the Public Prosecutor's Office of the USSR issued a communique on the completion of war crimes investigations, including a. Arthur Kullmer, against whom, along with a few others, negotiations would soon begin in various military courts. The trial, by today's standards a political show trial , took place in Gomeľ from 15. – 22. December 1947. 16 members of the Wehrmacht were charged, among them the generals of Eberhard von Kurowski , Günther Klammt and Arthur Kullmer. Due to a decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of May 26, 1947, the death penalty had previously been abolished and Arthur Kullmer was sentenced to a maximum sentence of 25 years in a reformatory camp.

He died as a result of the conditions of detention on March 28, 1953, in Camp No. 476 in Asbestos near Sverdlovsk .

Commemoration

To commemorate the only general from Bockenheim an der Weinstrasse, the “Obere Bahnhofstrasse” in his place of birth was renamed “General-Kullmer-Strasse” in 1953.

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Ranking list of the German Imperial Army. Ed .: Reichswehr Ministry . ES Mittler & Sohn . Berlin 1930. p. 155.
  2. ^ Manfred Zeidler: Stalin justice versus Nazi crimes . In: Hanna-Ahrendt-Institute for Totalitarismusforschung eV (Hrsg.): Reports and studies . No. 9 . TU Dresden, Dresden 1996, ISBN 3-931648-08-7 , p. 32-34 .
personal data
SURNAME Kullmer, Arthur
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German infantry general in World War II
DATE OF BIRTH August 27, 1896
PLACE OF BIRTH Großbockenheim
DATE OF DEATH March 28, 1953
Place of death Asbestos (city) , Siberia