Fritz Schmedes

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Fritz Schmedes (born October 7, 1894 in Schwarme ; † February 7, 1952 in Springe ) was a German officer in World War II , most recently an SS brigade leader and major general of the Waffen SS and police.

Life

Schmedes was the son of a Verden pastor. After finishing school he joined the East Frisian Field Artillery Regiment No. 62 on February 20, 1913, and was promoted to lieutenant on June 23, 1914 . During the First World War he served, among other things, as a battery chief in the field artillery regiment No. 84 and was awarded both classes of the Iron Cross . After the end of the war, between December 1918 and October 1919, he also served as battery chief in the Hasse Free Corps in Berlin and Upper Silesia . He then returned to Field Artillery Regiment No. 62 and finally retired from the army in June 1920.

After joining the security police , Schmedes served at the police school in Brieg and until April 1935 as deputy district leader in Naumburg, Wildenfels and Berlin. In the meantime he was promoted to captain on July 13, 1931 and to major in the police force on January 1, 1934 . From April 1935 to September 1936 he served as a staff officer at Schupo Erfurt before becoming its commander. Promoted to lieutenant colonel of the protection police on December 1, 1938 , he then served as an Ia with the inspector of the police in Kassel . He became a member of the NSDAP ( membership number 5.240.168) and SS (SS number 420.790).

From June 4 to June 22, 1941, Schmedes served as the battery chief in the I. Department of the Artillery Regiment of the SS Police Division and then took over the department until mid-September of the same year. He then served as deputy regimental commander of the artillery regiment until December 1, 1941 and took over on the same day. In exercising this command, he transferred to the Waffen-SS on April 1, 1942 with the rank of SS-Obersturmbannführer and was promoted to SS-Standartenführer and Colonel of the Protection Police on April 20, 1942 . In February 1943 he served for a short time as deputy division commander for Alfred Wünnenberg and was promoted to SS-Oberführer on April 20, 1943 , before he was assigned to lead the SS police division on June 10. Schmedes held this post until July 5, 1943, when the division was split up and partly relocated to an armored infantry division in Yugoslavia .

On November 9, 1943, promoted to SS-Brigadführer and Major General of the Waffen-SS and Police, he took over the leadership of the division again from August 22 to November 27, 1944 as successor to Helmut Dörner . After some time in the Führerreserve, Schmedes briefly led the deployment staff of the 35th SS and Police Grenadier Division before falling out of favor with Reichsführer SS Heinrich Himmler and on February 17, 1945 as "tactical leader" for the notorious SS storm brigade Dirlewanger was transferred. With the wounding of the commander, SS-Oberführer Oskar Dirlewanger , and the increase in the unit to the 36th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS , Schmedes took over the leadership of the division, which, however, even after the addition of units of the army, reached at most brigade strength and due to Deserted found in a desolate state.

With the start of the major Russian offensive in April 1945, the unit got into the Halbe pocket , where it was destroyed. Schmedes managed to make his way west, where he surrendered to the Americans in May 1945.

After his release from captivity , Schmedes lived in Springe / Deister and died there after a brief illness on February 7, 1952.

See also

literature

  • Mark C. Yerger : Waffen-SS Commanders: The Army, Corps and Divisional Leaders of a Legend: Krüger to Zimmermann (v. 2). Schiffer Military History, Atglen, PA 1999, ISBN 0-7643-0769-X .
  • Andreas Schulz, Günter Wegmann, Dieter Zinke: The generals of the Waffen SS and the police. Volume 5: Schlake-Turner . Biblio-Verlag, 2011, ISBN 978-3-7648-3209-9

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Bernhard Kiekenap : SS Junker School. SA and SS in Braunschweig. Appelhans, Braunschweig 2008, ISBN 978-3-937664-94-1 , p. 190.
  2. ↑ Mark C. Yerger: Waffen-SS Commanders: The Army, Corps and Divisional Leaders of a Legend: Krüger to Zimmermann (v. 2) , Schiffer Military History, Atglen, PA 1999, ISBN 0-7643-0769-X , p 194-199.
personal data
SURNAME Schmedes, Fritz
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German officer, SS brigade leader and major general of the Waffen SS and police
DATE OF BIRTH October 7, 1894
PLACE OF BIRTH Swarms
DATE OF DEATH 7th February 1952
Place of death Jump