Erich Walther (General)

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Friedrich Erich Walther (born August 5, 1903 in Gorden ; † December 26, 1948 in special camp No. 2 Buchenwald ) was a German officer , most recently Major General of the Air Force in World War II .

Life

After graduating from high school on April 1, 1924, Walther joined the Berlin police force as a police candidate , where he completed his training by mid-May 1928. He then worked from June 16, 1928 to February 24, 1933 in the police administration in Opole , later back in Berlin. On February 25, 1933, he came as a platoon leader zbV the police department Wake and was promoted on March 21, 1933. Police Lieutenant.

On October 1, 1935, Walther transferred to the Luftwaffe with the rank of captain and served there until September 30, 1937 as a company commander in the 1st Jäger Battalion of the Air Force Regiment "General Göring". He then worked in the same position in the 4th Parachute Rifle Battalion of the regiment until the end of March 1938 and then headed the 1st Battalion for a year. From April through the beginning of the Second World War, Walther was deployed to inspect the parachute troops in the Reich Ministry of Aviation . On November 10th, he returned as commander of the 1st Battalion to Parachute Regiment 1, was promoted to Major on June 19, 1940 and to Lieutenant Colonel on January 1, 1942 . Walther led the battalion on the Eastern Front until April 22, 1942 . Then briefly in the Führerreserve the OKL offset Walther was commissioned on September 17, 1942, the leadership of the Parachute Regiment 4, whose commander he was appointed on April 1, 1943rd From September 24, 1944 to January 29, 1945, Walther was initially charged with the command of the 2nd Parachute Panzer Grenadier Division "Hermann Göring" . With his promotion to major general on January 30th, he was appointed commander. He kept this command until the unconditional surrender of the Wehrmacht on May 8, 1945.

On November 5, 1945, Walther was arrested by the NKVD and sentenced a week later to 25 years in prison for participating in the war against the Soviet Union . Via various Soviet camps he ended up in the special camp No. 2 Buchenwald, where he died on December 26, 1948 of starvation and pulmonary tuberculosis.

On January 23, 1996, Walther was rehabilitated by the Prosecutor General of the Russian Federation.

Awards

literature

  • Karl-Friedrich Hildebrand: The Generals of the German Air Force 1935-1945. The military careers of the aviator, anti-aircraft cartillery, paratrooper, air intelligence and engineer officers, including doctors, judges, intendants and ministerial officials with the rank of general. Volume 3: Odebrecht – Zoch. Biblio Verlag, Osnabrück 1992, ISBN 3-7648-2209-0 , p. 468f.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Helmut Damerau (Ed.): German Soldier Yearbook . Volume 37, Schild Verlag, 1989, ISBN 978-3-88014-093-6 . S. 360.
    Heinrich Bassenge: Bassenge. In: German gender book. CA Starke, Limburg (Lahn) 1970, Volume 154, p. 53.
  2. ↑ Jan von Flocken: Prisoners of War: acquittals for the German armed forces. Focus Magazin, No. 49 of December 2, 1996.
  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. 767.
personal data
SURNAME Walther, Erich
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German officer, most recently Major General of the Air Force in World War II
DATE OF BIRTH 5th August 1903
PLACE OF BIRTH Gorden
DATE OF DEATH December 26, 1948
Place of death Special camp No. 2 Buchenwald