Hugo Kraas

Hugo Kraas (born January 25, 1911 in Witten ; † February 20, 1980 in Selk ) was a German SS brigade leader and major general of the Waffen SS and, from November 15, 1944, the last commander of the 12th SS Panzer Division "Hitler Youth " .

Life

Hugo Kraas was the eldest of six sons of the main teacher Franz Albert Kraas († March 1932) and his wife Maria Christine, née Korte. After leaving school, he began studying to become a teacher until the death of his father forced him to drop out of training and work for the family.

On May 1, 1934, Kraas became a member of the NSDAP ( membership number 2,204,561) and shortly afterwards of the SA , of which he was a member until April 20, 1935. He then started studying at the College for Teacher Training in Kiel . On July 1, 1935, he was called up as an officer candidate by the army of the Wehrmacht and assigned to the 10th Company of the 6th Infantry Regiment. On September 30, 1935, he was released into the reserve. On October 15, 1935, Kraas joined the SS disposal force (membership number 289.633) and came as an SS Rottenführer in the "Germania" standard. Kraas attended the third cadet group of the SS Junker School Braunschweig in April 1937 and was promoted to SS Untersturmführer on March 12, 1938 . He finished school second in his class.

On October 25, 1939 Kraas married the teacher and BDM leader Ruth Sünne Godbersen (born February 18, 1912 in Hennstedt) in Kiel. Hitler sent him a letter with best wishes for the wedding through his adjutant Max Wünsche. He also received his book Mein Kampf with a personal dedication and 3000 RM for starting a household. His wife officially and officially changed her original name "Ruth" to "Sünne" when she wanted to marry the SS man.

As SS-Untersturmführer he belonged to the Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler (LSSAH) and was entrusted with the command of a platoon of the tank hunter company. He headed this department during the invasion of Poland in 1939 and was awarded the Iron Cross 2nd class on October 16, 1939.

In November of that year Kurt Meyer became head of a motorcycle rifle company and was allowed to take one of his subordinate officers with him: Hugo Kraas. The now promoted to SS-Obersturmführer took part with the company in the invasion of the Netherlands and was awarded the Iron Cross First Class for his services as first officer of the LSSAH. After the occupation of Holland and France, the LSSAH was enlarged and Kraas became the chief of this motorcycle rifle company - now the 2nd company of the reconnaissance department. He fought with Meyer in the Balkans and Russia . During the Russian campaign, he was awarded the German Cross in Gold at Christmas 1941 for excellent leadership of his association during the first battles for Rostov. In June 1942 Kraas took command of the 1st Battalion of the SS Panzer Grenadier Regiment 2, which he held during the entire operation around Kharkov . In the summer of the following year Kraas succeeded Theodor Wisch and took over the regimental command. A short time later he was promoted to SS-Obersturmbannführer .

Most recently, from November 19, 1944, Kraas was in command of the 12th SS Panzer Division “Hitler Youth”, with which he surrendered to the American forces near Linz on May 8, 1945 . He was then held as a prisoner of war and in detention until September 1948.

In the 1970s Kraas was the director of the “Seeschloß” children's sanatorium in Sankt Peter-Ording , where children were mistreated during his tenure. He was also a member of the mutual aid community of the members of the former Waffen SS (HIAG).

Awards

• Medal in memory of March 13, 1938
• Medal in memory of October 1, 1938 with Prague Castle clasp
• Iron Cross (1939) 2nd class on October 16, 1939
• Iron Cross (1939) 1st Class on May 25, 1940
• Infantry Assault Badge in bronze on October 3, 1940
• German cross in gold on December 26, 1941
• Medal Winter Battle in the East 1941/42 on August 25, 1942
• Mentioned in the Wehrmacht report on February 27, 1943
• Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with oak leaves
  • Knight's Cross on March 28, 1943
  • Oak leaves on January 24, 1944 (375th award)
• Wound Badge (1939) in silver on October 15, 1944
• Melee clasp in silver on October 15, 1943
• SS skull ring
• Honorary sword Reichsführer SS

See also

• List of generals of the Waffen SS

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, Bissendorf 2005, ISBN 3-7648-2592-8 , pp. 580-586.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ In the care of the Nazis at: tagesschau.de from August 10, 2020
2. ↑ ^{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. 468.