Heinz Harmel

Heinz Harmel as SS brigade leader, December 1944

Heinrich Heinz Arthur Harmel (born June 29, 1906 in Metz ; † September 2, 2000 in Krefeld ) was SS-Brigadführer and Major General of the Waffen-SS and in World War II commander of the 10th SS Panzer Division "Frundsberg" .

Life

origin

Harmel was the oldest son of the staff doctor in the 2nd Battalion of the 4th Magdeburg Infantry Regiment No. 67 and later General Staff Doctor Dr. Harmel and his wife, a née Kollbrecht.

Military career

Harmel joined the 15th Company of the 6th Infantry Regiment of the Reichswehr in Ratzeburg on May 1, 1926 with the intention of becoming a career officer . However, due to an eye condition that was later resolved, he was dismissed as unfit for service on November 5, 1926. Harmel then completed an agricultural training with the landowner Nolte in Görslow by the end of September 1928. On March 10, 1928, Harmel became a member of the Stahlhelm , of which he was a member until the end of 1933. In the years to come he had changing jobs as an agricultural officer on various estates. From January to August 1934 Harmel was a brief member of the SA.

On October 2, 1935, he joined the 1st company of the SS standard “Germania” as an active SS-Oberscharführer . In 1939 he became company commander in the newly established SS standard "Der Führer".

Heinz Harmel (right) with Wilhelm Bittrich (center) and Walter Model (left), briefing during the fighting for Arnhem, September 1944

As commander of the SS Panzer Grenadier Regiment "Germany" he received the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on March 31, 1943 and on September 7, 1943 he was awarded the 296th Oak Leaves Knight's Cross. On April 27, 1944, he took over command of the 10th SS Panzer Division "Frundsberg" . On December 15, 1944, he received the 116th Swords for the Knight's Cross for the defense of the Allied Airborne Operation Market Garden . Harmel later fought with his division in Alsace and from February 1945 in Pomerania, cheering on his subordinates as follows:

“We caused the Bolsheviks tremendous losses of people and materials (sic!). Even if we have lost land, we can be certain that the Bolsheviks had to buy it at high blood and material tariffs ... Frundsberg is a magnet. We are proud of that. Let the Bolshevik grit his teeth to us. "

- Heinz Harmel, March 9, 1945

In April, the division was finally involved in violent defensive battles in the Lausitz , where it was encircled as part of the "Corps Group Jollasse" near Spremberg . On April 22, 1945, the corps group broke out with heavy losses; a few days later, at the instigation of Field Marshal Ferdinand Schörner , Harmel was relieved of his post and entrusted with the management of the SS Junk School in Klagenfurt . There he formed a combat group on his own, with which he successfully kept the nearby alpine passes open for retreating German troops.

post war period

On May 8, 1945 Harmel surrendered with his troops in Rosenthal near Villach and was a prisoner of war until 1947. After his return home he did not receive a general pension from the Federal Republic of Germany and later worked as a sales representative for domestic and foreign furniture companies.

In 1950 Harmel became the first state spokesman for the North Rhine-Westphalia regional association of HIAG , to which he was still a member in 1980. He was also the first honorary chairman and honorary member of the regional association. In 1984 - 40 years after the fighting in Normandy  - Harmel received a commemorative medal from the French coastal town of Bayeux as a sign of Franco-German reconciliation , presented by the Deputy Mayor. The background to this is unclear. The city's mayor, Bernard Roquet, later said he did not know the identity of the "honoree". "That was a big mistake. I'm not proud of it! " , Quoted the New York Times on June 3, 1984. " For us there is no reconciliation with these old Nazis, " said Yves Jouffa, a veteran of the Resistance .

See also

• List of SS brigade leaders

literature

• Dermot Bradley (ed.), Andreas Schulz , Günter Wegmann: The generals of the Waffen-SS and the police. The military careers of the generals, as well as the doctors, veterinarians, intendants, judges and ministerial officials with the rank of general. Volume 2: Hachtel – Kutschera. Biblio Verlag, Bissendorf 2005, ISBN 3-7648-2592-8 , pp. 50-58.

Web links

Commons : Heinz Harmel  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{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. 366.
2. ↑ After: Kurbjuweit, Dirk; Bönisch, Georg; Festenberg, Nikolaus von; Frohn, Axel; Hage, Volker; Helsper, Stefanie; Kloth, Hans Michael; Matussek, Matthias; Nelles, Roland; Neukirch, Ralf; Repke, rina; Schmitter, Elke; Schreiber, Mathias; Wiegrefe, Klaus: fallible and entangled. In: Der Spiegel from August 21, 2006.
3. ^ Andreas Schulz, Dieter Zinke: Germany's Generals and Admirals. Part V / Volume II: The Generals of the Waffen SS and the Police 1933–1945 H – K. Biblio, 2005, ISBN 3-7648-2592-8 .