Josef Harpe

Josef Harpe, propaganda postcard by Heinrich Hoffmann (1943)

Josef Harpe (born September 21, 1887 in Buer , † March 14, 1968 in Nuremberg ) was a German army officer, most recently a colonel general in World War II and commander of large army units in various theaters of war.

Life

Empire and First World War

Harpe occurred on 28 September 1909 as a cadet in the Infantry Regiment "Vogel von Falkenstein" (7th Westphalian) no. 56 in Wesel a. There he was appointed lieutenant on March 20, 1911 . As such, Harpe was on October 1, 1913 adjutant of the III. Battalion and was used with this at the beginning of the First World War on the Western Front . From November 15, 1914, he was the leader of the 5th Company, and from November 21, 1914 until the turn of the year he was deputy regimental adjutant. Subsequently, Harpe was reinstated as leader of the 5th Company, on January 27, 1915 again deputy regimental adjutant and finally on April 1, 1915 appointed as regimental adjutant. In this position he was promoted to lieutenant on April 18, 1915 . Harpe fell ill on August 20, 1916, so that he was no longer fit for duty and had to be relieved. He was then transferred to the field hospital V of the XVI. Army Corps . After his recovery, Harpe was reinstated in his previous position on September 15, 1916. From November 15 to 21, 1917, he was commanded to the news school of the Army Group Duke Albrecht von Württemberg . Subsequently he took over the 9th Company and from December 15, 1917 was also deputy leader of the III. Battalions. At the beginning of 1918, various commandments followed until April 6, 1918. First to the Kleve Field Artillery Regiment No. 43 , then to the General Command of XXXVIII. Reserve Corps , again to Field Artillery Regiment No. 43 and finally to the staff of the 14th Division . Shortly afterwards on April 18, he was promoted to captain . During the Battle of Soissons and Reims , Harpe was wounded on June 2, 1918 and was sent to the hospital . On June 19 he was fit for duty again and was assigned to the replacement battalion of his regular regiment. Five days later, Harpe was transferred to the General Staff of the 2nd Marine Division as Second General Staff Officer . In the course of the war he was awarded the Iron Cross II. And I. Class and the Wound Badge in black.

Weimar Republic

After the war, Harpe was transferred back to the 56th Infantry Regiment on December 20, 1918, and on January 18, 1919, he was the leader of the 6th Company. As a general staff officer, he was with the General Command of the VII Army Corps , and was then employed in the staff of Reichswehr Brigade 3 from October 1, 1919 to May 15, 1920. Until he was assigned to the Reichswehr Ministry on February 15, 1928 , he held various positions within the Reichswehr . From April 1, 1928 to April 30, 1931, Harpe acted as a consultant in the inspection of the transport troops and as adjutant to Major General Otto von Stülpnagel . As a major (since April 1, 1931) he was released from active duty pro forma and was station manager of the secret German tank school Kama in the Soviet Union from May 1, 1931 to October 1, 1933 under the pseudonym Director Hacker .

time of the nationalsocialism

Pre-war period

On August 1, 1934, he was promoted to lieutenant colonel and on October 15, 1935 commander of the 3rd Panzer Regiment. Effective January 1, 1937, he was promoted to colonel . He then became the commander of Tank Brigade 1 .

Second World War

Harpe also led this brigade during the attack on Poland . On March 1, 1940, he became the commander of the armored forces school in Wünsdorf , and on August 30, he was appointed major general . From October 1940 to January 1941 he commanded the 2nd Infantry Division (motorized) . On January 10, 1941, this was converted into the 12th Panzer Division , which Harpe led during the Battle of Minsk and the further advance, for which he was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on August 13, 1941 . At the beginning of November he advanced with the division as far as Tikhvin , which earned him the oak leaves for the Knight's Cross on December 31 (55th award).

Promoted to Lieutenant General on January 15, 1942 , he became Commanding General of the XXXXI. Panzer Corps , at the head of which he was until October 16, 1943 and for whose leadership he was decorated with the swords of the Knight's Cross on November 15, 1943 (36th award). On February 19, 1943, he had already been awarded the German Cross in Gold. On June 1, 1942, he was promoted to General of the Panzer Force . On November 4, 1943, he was appointed Commander-in-Chief of the 9th Army .

War Crimes Involvement

As Commander-in-Chief of the 9th Army, when he withdrew in March 1944, Harpe ordered the forced recruitment and removal of working civilians and, at the same time, the deportation of family members who were unable to work and who could no longer support themselves to a camp near the Belarusian town of Osaritschi, south of the city of Bobruisk , on. The aim of the campaign was to get rid of "epidemic patients, cripples, old people and women with more than two children under ten years as well as other incapable of working" in all areas of the corps. 9,000 civilians died in this Osarichi death camp between March 12 and 19 . Belarusian sources give the total number of victims as 20,000.

Withdrawal and end of the war

Harpe was promoted to Colonel General on May 20, 1944. From May 1, 1944 to June 28, he commanded the 4th Panzer Army before taking over command of the Army Group Northern Ukraine , which he led in the retreat fighting in the summer of 1944 to the Vistula . On September 24, it was renamed Army Group A . After the Russian breakthrough at the Baranow bridgehead, Harpe was made a scapegoat by Hitler and replaced on January 17, 1945. Most recently he commanded the 5th Panzer Army from March 9, 1945, with the remnants of which he was taken prisoner of war in the Ruhr Basin in the United States . From this he was released on April 14, 1948.

literature

• Dermot Bradley: The Generals of the Army 1921-1945 Volume 5 v. Haack-Hitzfeld. Biblio Verlag, Osnabrück 1999, ISBN 3-7648-2538-3 , pp. 114-116.

Web links

• Personnel file Federal Archives

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Reichswehr Ministry (Ed.): Ranking list of the German Reichsheeres. Mittler & Sohn Verlag, Berlin 1930, p. 131.
2. ↑ ^{a b c d} 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. 367.
3. ↑ Christoph Rass: "Menschenmaterial": German soldiers on the Eastern Front. Interior views of an infantry division 1939–1945. Ferdinand Schöningh Verlag, Paderborn 2003, chapter anatomy of a war crime. Pp. 386-402, cited at p. 390; see. also Christian Gerlach : Calculated murders. The German economic and annihilation policy in Belarus 1941 to 1944. Hamburger Edition, Hamburg 1998, pp. 1097 ff. And Hans-Heinrich Nolte : Osarici 1944. In: Gerd R. Ueberschär (Ed.): Places of horror. Crimes in World War II. Primus, Darmstadt 2003, pp. 186-194.
4. ↑ Article ( Memento of the original from December 13, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. at Belorusskaja Voennaja Gazeta, March 15, 2013.