Erwin Mack

Erwin Mack (born July 15, 1893 in Hohenheim ; † August 26, 1942 near Nowo Poltawskoje, southern Russia) was a German officer , most recently major general of the Wehrmacht .

Life

He was the son of Karl Friedrich Mack, who worked as a physicist and meteorologist at the Hohenheim Agricultural University .

Mack joined the 1st Lorraine Pioneer Battalion No. 16 in Metz in 1911 as a flag junior , served in the First World War and was then taken over into the Reichswehr .

Before the outbreak of World War II , he served from November 10, 1938 for the commanding general of the West Air Defense Zone , Lieutenant General Karl Kitzinger . In the course of the mobilization on August 26, 1939, he was transferred to Oberbaustab 5, formed on that day, in the 7th Army formed in Wehrkreis V , which secured the German western border on the Upper Rhine after the start of the war and provided the garrison of the Western Wall . On March 15, 1940 Mack commander of the superstructure bar 5, which then with the beginning of was French campaign of Army Group C was assigned and under which as of June 14, 1940 in the attack on the Maginot Line took part.

After the Franco-German armistice on June 22, 1940, Baustab 5 was disbanded and Mack was appointed commander of the Pioneer Regimental Staff on July 23, 1940. b. V. 413 appointed to the XXIV Army Corps , the former general command of the Saar-Palatinate border troops.

On December 18, 1940 he became pioneer leader of Panzer Group 3 formed in November 1940 under Colonel General Hermann Hoth , with whom he participated in the attack on the Soviet Union from June 1941 and which was renamed the 3rd Panzer Army on January 1, 1942 . On February 23, 1942, he was appointed commander of the 20th Rifle Brigade in the 20th Panzer Division , which was newly established that day for the third time , which fought on the Ugra south-west of Moscow.

On June 8, 1942, he was transferred to the leadership reserve of the OKH and then appointed commander of the 23rd Panzer Division on July 20 . Their previous commander, Major General Hans von Boineburg-Lengsfeld , had been relieved of his command on Hitler's orders and had to answer to the Reich Court Martial for the loss of secret attack plans for the " Blau case ". Mack led the division on its advance towards the Caucasus via Manych , Proletarsk , Baschanta , Ipatowo , Voroshilovsk to the Terek, southeast of Prochladny and Nalchik , where the advance came to a standstill.

On August 26, 1942, Mack was killed near Novo Poltawskoje, together with three of his staff officers, by a direct hit by a mortar shell when he was visiting the front section of the 128th Panzer Grenadier Regiment. He was buried in Altud in the Caucasus. On the same day, his predecessor as commander of the division, Major General von Boineburg-Lengsfeld, took command again.

literature

Samuel W. Mitcham, Jr .: The Panzer Legions. A Guide to the German Army Tank Divisions of World War II and their Commanders. (Stackpole Military History Series). Stackpole Books. Mechanicsville, Pa. 2007. ISBN 978-0-8117-3353-3 . P. 171.

Remarks

↑ Reinhard Stumpf : The Wehrmacht Elite. Structure of rank and origin of the German generals and admirals 1933–1945. (Military history studies). Harald Boldt Verlag. Boppard am Rhein 1982. ISBN 3-7646-1815-9 . P. 262.
↑ The personnel then formed the Oberrhein Fortress Command (Commandant of the Upper Rhine Fortifications).
↑ On July 5, 1942, the brigade was renamed the 20th Panzer Grenadier Brigade.
↑ On June 19, 1942, shortly before the start of the German summer offensive, the First General Staff Officer of the 23rd Panzer Division, Major Reichel, had to make an emergency landing on a reconnaissance flight behind the Soviet lines, and maps and plans for the first phase of operations fell into Soviet hands . As a result, the code names for the offensive were later changed, and the Blau case became the Braunschweig company . The commander of the XXXX Panzer Corps , General of the Panzer Troop Georg Stumme , and his chief of staff , Colonel i. . G. Gerhard Franz Ber negotiation of Reichskriegsgericht in Berlin chaired by Reichsmarschall Hermann Goering was dumb to five years, Franz to two years imprisonment sentenced; However, both were dismissed after a few weeks after appeals by senior officers and transferred to the Africa Corps . Boineburg was acquitted.

personal data
SURNAME	Mack, Erwin
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	German officer, major general in World War II
DATE OF BIRTH	July 15, 1893
PLACE OF BIRTH	Hohenheim
DATE OF DEATH	August 26, 1942
Place of death	near Novo Poltawskoje, southern Russia

[1] Reinhard Stumpf : The Wehrmacht Elite. Structure of rank and origin of the German generals and admirals 1933–1945. (Military history studies). Harald Boldt Verlag. Boppard am Rhein 1982. ISBN 3-7646-1815-9 . P. 262.

[2] The personnel then formed the Oberrhein Fortress Command (Commandant of the Upper Rhine Fortifications).

[3] On July 5, 1942, the brigade was renamed the 20th Panzer Grenadier Brigade.

[4] On June 19, 1942, shortly before the start of the German summer offensive, the First General Staff Officer of the 23rd Panzer Division, Major Reichel, had to make an emergency landing on a reconnaissance flight behind the Soviet lines, and maps and plans for the first phase of operations fell into Soviet hands . As a result, the code names for the offensive were later changed, and the Blau case became the Braunschweig company . The commander of the XXXX Panzer Corps , General of the Panzer Troop Georg Stumme , and his chief of staff , Colonel i. . G. Gerhard Franz Ber negotiation of Reichskriegsgericht in Berlin chaired by Reichsmarschall Hermann Goering was dumb to five years, Franz to two years imprisonment sentenced; However, both were dismissed after a few weeks after appeals by senior officers and transferred to the Africa Corps . Boineburg was acquitted.