Georg-Wilhelm Postel

Georg-Wilhelm Postel (born April 25, 1896 in Zittau , † September 20, 1953 in Schachty , Soviet Union ) was a German lieutenant general in World War II .

Life

Postel joined the Infantry Regiment "Graf Schwerin" (3rd Pomeranian) No. 14 on August 20, 1914 as a flagjunker , but was soon transferred to Infantry Regiment No. 134, with which he was a lieutenant (29th Pomeranian) September 1915) took part in the First World War . He was awarded both classes of the Iron Cross .

With the formation of the 100,000-man army of the Reichswehr, Postel was transferred to the 10th (Saxon) Infantry Regiment and used as a company officer. With effect from April 1, 1925 he was promoted to lieutenant. In October 1926, Postel served on the staff of the 4th Division and completed his assistant command training . Then he took over the 8th MG Company of the 11th (Saxon) Infantry Regiment in October 1928 and finally became a captain in November 1930 . He remained in this position for several years, most recently as a major from December 1935 . Postel was then employed as a teacher at the Munich War School from April 1936, where he was promoted to lieutenant colonel on January 1, 1939 .

At the beginning of the Second World War in 1939, Postel led the 2nd Battalion of the 109th Infantry Regiment of the 25th Infantry Division , was battalion commander in the 433 Infantry Regiment from January 11, 1940 and in the 364 Infantry Regiment of the 161st Infantry Division from April 30, 1940 , where he distinguished himself with his unit in the French campaign . On July 5, 1940, he was therefore given the command of the regiment, which he retained until August 24, 1942.

In the war against the Soviet Union , the division suffered heavy losses in the defensive battles around Rzhev and had to be relocated to France to refresh. Postel received the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on August 9, 1942 .

After a phase in the Army Reserve's Reserve, Postel was entrusted with the command of the 320th Infantry Division on December 2, 1942 , which was hit by a Soviet offensive north of Kupyansk at the turn of 1942/43 . On January 1, 1943, he was promoted to major general and appointed division commander. In January and February 1943 his division fought its way back to Krasnograd via Stary Oskol and carried out successful counter-attacks in the direction of Kharkov in March . On March 28, 1943, Postel received the 215th Oak Leaves for the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross for these services and became Lieutenant General at the beginning of September 1943. After the heavy fighting over the Dnieper from eastern Ukraine, the 320th Infantry Division was deployed in January and February 1944 in the Kirovohrad area and then south of Cherkassy . On March 28, 1944, Postel was awarded the 57th Swords for the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross for his repeated defensive successes and his leadership achievements.

In July 1944, Postel gave up his division and took over the management of the XXX. Army corps that stood in Bessarabia on the Dniester River in the Tiraspol area . His previous commanding general, General of the Artillery Maximilian Fretter-Pico, took over the leadership of the 6th Army that day. On August 20, 1944, Operation Jassy-Kishinew took place from the bridgehead near Tiraspol, the major attack of the Soviets under Army General Tolbuchin . When the German 6th Army was retreating southwest of Kishinew and Husi, a pincer attack got into a pocket and was almost completely wiped out, along with the 320th Infantry Division and XXX. Army Corps. General Postel came here on August 30, 1944 in Soviet captivity . Postel died in 1953 in the Shakhty POW camp.

literature

• Wolfgang Keilig : The generals of the army. Podzun-Pallas-Verlag, Friedberg 1983, p. 261.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} David A. Miller: Die Schwertertraeger der Wehrmacht: Recipients of the Knight's Cross with Oakleaves and Swords. Merriam Press, 1997, ISBN 1576380254 , p. 12.
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. 603.