Eberhard Zahn

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Eberhard Detloff Zahn (born January 2, 1910 in Barmen ; † February 7, 2010 in St. Wolfgang im Salzkammergut ) was a German officer in the Wehrmacht , most recently Lieutenant Colonel of the Army Reserve and Knight's Cross , and manager .

Life

Eberhard Zahn was born on January 2, 1910 in Barmen . The Korporierte studied for his high school economics in Frankfurt am Main , since 1930 was a member of the Corps Austria Frankfurt and received his doctorate in 1933 for Dr. rer. pole. He then worked at IG Farben AG until he switched to the Thuringian Gas Company in Leipzig in 1936 .

Second World War

During the mobilization he was called up as a reservist for anti-tank department 33. On June 1, 1940, he was promoted to lieutenant in the reserve for bravery in the face of the enemy . At the end of April he and his department were transferred to Africa under the command of Erwin Rommel . On June 15, 1941, he was able to repel a tank advance on Bardia with his anti-tank gun and destroy six tanks. In these battles, he was by the British prisoner taken. However, he managed to escape, so that on June 30, 1941 he was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross . On September 1, 1941, he was promoted to first lieutenant in the reserve and on August 17, 1942, he was awarded the Italian silver medal for bravery .

Promoted to Captain of the Reserve on October 1, 1942 , he distinguished himself again in the autumn of 1942 in the fighting for El-Alamein . On March 6, 1943, he was then awarded the Oak Leaves for the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross (204th award). On April 1, 1943, he was promoted to major . After the end of the fighting in Africa, Zahn was transferred to the staff of Commander Sicily and on January 28, 1943, he was in command of the heavy tank destroyer detachment 88, with which he fought on the Eastern Front . On September 23, 1944, he was appointed commander of the 101st Panzer Brigade. On November 1, 1944, he was appointed commander of the 21st Panzer Regiment for two weeks. Then he took over on November 15, 1944 as commander of the 9th Panzer Regiment. He remained in this position until the end of the war.

post war period

At the end of the war, during the Prague operation in Czechoslovakia , he was taken prisoner by the Soviets , from which he managed to escape after a few weeks. He made his way west and surrendered to the Americans , where he was again taken prisoner of war .

After working in industry for the first time , Zahn became a board member of the Waldhof pulp mill in Wiesbaden . From 1957 until his retirement he was chairman of the board of the Ruhr-nitrogen stock corporation in Bochum .

Eberhard D. Zahn died on February 7, 2010 in St. Wolfgang in the Salzkammergut, Austria.

literature

  • DIE ZEIT, February 21, 1957 No. 08

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Website of the community of St. Gilgen
  2. ↑ 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. 801.
personal data
SURNAME Zahn, Eberhard
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Zahn, Eberhard Detloff (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German officer in World War II and manager
DATE OF BIRTH January 2, 1910
PLACE OF BIRTH Barmen
DATE OF DEATH February 7, 2010
Place of death St. Wolfgang