Karl Strecker (General)

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Karl Strecker (born September 20, 1884 in Radmannsdorf , West Prussia , † April 10, 1973 in Riezlern ) was a German infantry general in World War II .

Life

Strecker was born the son of a Prussian officer who was seriously wounded in the Franco-German War of 1870/71. Strecker's father committed suicide in 1893 because of the persistent severe pain caused by his injury. Strecker originally wanted to become a Protestant priest, like his grandfather. Since the widow with six children lacked money, Karl Strecker was instead sent to the cadet institute in Köslin at the age of 12 . When he graduated from the cadet school, he got good grades in history and Russian. On March 14, 1905, he was transferred as a lieutenant to the Teutonic Order Infantry Regiment No. 152 of the Prussian Army in Marienburg and his patent was dated June 14, 1905. He became a battalion adjutant in 1911 and regimental adjutant in June 1914. In the same month he was promoted to first lieutenant .

During the First World War , Strecker fought with his regiment on the Eastern Front against Russian troops from August 20, 1914 . From August 26 to 30, 1914, he took part in the Battle of Tannenberg and the subsequent attack on areas of the Russian Empire . In the further course of the war he served as a company and battalion commander and general staff officer. In July 1915 he was promoted to captain and in December 1915 transferred to the railway department of the German General Staff. At the end of 1916 Strecker worked in the invasion of Romania , from May to September 1917 in the 52nd Infantry Division and took part in the Battle of the Aisne . After brief service in two different associations, he was seriously injured in a car accident. After his recovery he returned to the front and was given a staff position in the 30th Infantry Division . For his work he received both classes of the Iron Cross .

After the armistice in November 1918, Strecker finally returned as a commander to his main regiment and led his association in the uprisings in Upper Silesia . In 1920 he was in the course of the reduction of the army under award of the character as Major discharged from the army.

Strecker then joined the security police. He later worked as an officer in the police in Münster, Potsdam and Berlin. He was finally appointed commander of the Münster Police School in 1931. Promotions for police lieutenant colonel and - Colonel took place in 1932 and 1933. Strecker was on 1 April 1934 as Major General appointed the police commander of the state police inspection North in Szczecin.

With the introduction of compulsory military service, he joined the Wehrmacht and on June 14, 1935 became the commander of Army Service I in Neustettin. This was followed by transfers as commander of the 4th Infantry Regiment to Kolberg and then to Idar-Oberstein .

When the Second World War broke out, he was in command of the 79th Infantry Division , with which he was deployed first in France and then in Yugoslavia and the Soviet Union. He was promoted to lieutenant general on June 1, 1940. In this capacity, he was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on October 26, 1941 . After his appointment as general of the infantry on April 1, 1942, he took over as commanding general of the XVII. Army Corps . On June 12, 1942 he was appointed Commanding General of the XI. Army Corps and took part in the Battle of Stalingrad . After he had received the German Cross in Gold on January 25, 1943 , the Wehrmacht report reported on February 1, 1943: “The northern group under the leadership of General der Infanterie Strecker is still holding its own. They fended off strong enemy attacks, partly in a counter-attack. ”In the northern basin of Stalingrad, Strecker capitulated on February 2, 1943 with the remaining troops, the southern basin under the orders of Field Marshal Friedrich Paulus and the central basin under Colonel General Walter Heitz had already surrendered on January 31st. Strecker is said to have been promoted to Colonel General by radio. There is no evidence of this promotion, but it is mentioned in the autobiography of the 1st Adjutant of the 6th Army, Colonel Wilhelm Adam .

Strecker was one of the anti-communist officers in captivity. However, he signed the appeal of the 50 generals of December 8, 1944, issued by the National Committee for Free Germany , to the German population and the Wehrmacht to renounce Hitler and end the war. He did not return from the Soviet prisoner-of-war camp in 5110/48 Woikowo until October 9, 1955 and initially lived in Idar-Oberstein . He later lived in Riezlern in Austria, where he wrote his memoirs. According to these memoirs, he was now accepting democracy and was concerned about his failure not to actively fight Hitler. His memoir Lieutenant General Karl Strecker - the life and thought of a German military man was only published in English in 1994 by his grandson Uli Haller and never in German.

marriage

Strecker married Hedwig Born in 1920, the daughter of the then mayor of Marienburg. A son was born in 1921 and a daughter in 1924.

Works

  • From Hannibal to Hindenburg: Studies on Hindenburg's strategy a. their forerunners m. Sketches d. Battles near Cannä, Kunersdorf, Sedan, Tannenberg, an d. Masurian lakes. Curtius, Berlin 1915.
  • The German Order Infantry Regiment No. 152 in the World War: After d. official u. private war diaries, reports, field post letters, etc. Letters. Bernard & Graefe, Berlin-Charlottenburg 1933.

literature

  • Lieutenant General Karl Strecker: the life and thought of a German military man. ed. by Uli Haller. Westport, Conn. and London 1994.
  • Samuel W. Mitcham , Gene Mueller: Hitler's Commanders. Scarborough House, London 1992, ISBN 0-8128-4014-3 .

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Andreas Schulz, Günter Wegmann, Dieter Zinke: The generals of the Waffen SS and the police. Volume 5: Schlake-Turner. Biblio-Verlag, Bissendorf 2011, ISBN 978-3-7648-3209-9 , p. 535.
  2. ↑ a b c 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. 730.
  3. ↑ a b c d e f Samuel W. Mitcham, Gene Mueller: Hitler's Commanders. Scarborough House, London 1992, p. 78 f.
  4. ↑ Wolfgang Keilig: The Generals of the Army 1939-1945. Podzun-Pallas-Verlag, Friedberg 1983, p. 337.
  5. ↑ The reports of the High Command of the Wehrmacht. Volume IV, Verlag für Wehrwissenschaften, Munich 2004. ISBN 3-89340-063-X , p. 37
  6. ↑ Reinhard Stumpf : The Wehrmacht Elite Structure of rank and origin of the German generals and admirals 1933-1945. (Military history studies), Harald Boldt Verlag, Boppard am Rhein 1982, ISBN 3-7646-1815-9 , pp. 125–126.
  7. ↑ In the ranking of the German Army in 1944/45 he is listed as a general of the infantry.
  8. ↑ Wilhelm Adam: The difficult decision. Verlag der Nation, Berlin 1974, pp. 310, 451.
  9. ↑ Text online at pkgodzik.de (PDF file; 52 kB)
  10. ↑ "General Strecker: We have been through a lot!" In: Rhein-Zeitung of October 10, 1955
personal data
SURNAME Strecker, Karl
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German infantry general in World War II
DATE OF BIRTH September 20, 1884
PLACE OF BIRTH Radmannsdorf , West Prussia
DATE OF DEATH April 10, 1973
Place of death Idar-Oberstein