Max wishes
Max Wünsche (born April 20, 1914 in Kittlitz , † April 17, 1995 in Munich ) was a German SS-Standartenführer , commander of a tank regiment of the Waffen-SS and bearer of the oak leaves for the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross .
Life
Wish was the son of a gardener . After attending secondary school in Bautzen , which he left after passing the lower secondary school , he learned agricultural accounting and tax advice at the Reichslandbund in Löbau and attended the commercial school. In 1931 he took up a position in the administration of a manor . In 1933 he was head of department in the accounting and tax advice center of the Reichslandbund in Königsberg .
On August 10, 1933, he joined the Königsberg 18th SS standard . From June 1, 1934 he was an off-road sports teacher at the SS sports school in Wolfenbüttel . After completing the leader candidate course of the Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler (LAH) in Jüterbog and the SS Junker School Tölz , he joined the Leibstandarte in April 1936 as an SS-Standartenoberjunker . On April 20, 1936 he was promoted to SS-Untersturmführer . Initially he was employed as a platoon leader in the 9th Company of the Leibstandarte and from March 1937 in the armored reconnaissance platoon . After his promotion to SS-Obersturmführer , he was transferred to Adolf Hitler on October 1, 1938, as an orderly officer . He was a member of the NSDAP (membership number 5.508.247).
During the Second World War , in January 1940, Wünsche was transferred to the 15th motorcycling company of the LAH, with whom he took part in the campaign in the west under the then SS-Hauptsturmführer Kurt Meyer , received both Iron Crosses and was promoted to SS-Hauptsturmführer. After he had returned to the Führer Headquarters for a short time , Sepp Dietrich brought him to the Leibstandarte as an adjutant in December 1940 . In this position wishes took part in the Balkans and Russian campaigns in 1941 .
When the tank department of the LAH was established, in February 1942, Wünsche took over its assault gun department . Then he took part in the 6th General Staff course at the Berlin War School. In autumn 1942 he returned to the LAH as SS-Sturmbannführer and took over the new I. Division of the Panzer Regiment. In the fighting for Kharkov in February 1943, he and his troops proved themselves in the defeat of the Soviet VI. Guard Cavalry Corps. On February 14, 1943, Wünsche made the breakthrough to Alexejewka , where Kurt Meyer was surrounded. On February 25, 1943, Wünsche received the German Cross in Gold for this , led a tank advance north on the same day and destroyed a strong Soviet combat group that was threatening the southern wing of his division. For this he received the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on February 28, 1943, just three days after his last award. Also in the other battles that led to the retaking of Kharkov on March 14, 1943, also participated.
On June 24, 1943, Wünsche was charged with setting up the tank regiment of the new 12th SS Panzer Division "Hitler Youth" and appointed regimental commander. In the summer of 1943 he completed a regimental leader course at the armored forces school in Wünsdorf . Initially in Mailly-le-Camp (France), then near Hasselt (Belgium) and later again in France, the regiment was set up and trained, which consisted in its mass of young volunteers from the Hitler Youth . On January 30, 1944, Wünsche was promoted to SS-Obersturmbannführer . His regiment was first used at Authie . On June 28 and 29, 1944, it prevented the formation of an enemy bridgehead over the Orne at Amayé-sur-Seulles and Saint-André-sur-Orne . For the achievements of his regiment, wishes received the oak leaves for the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on August 11, 1944.
Wish, meanwhile SS-Standartenführer, fell into British captivity with a calf wound on August 25, 1944, when he tried to escape from the Falaise pocket with two other SS officers . Since he and his association were not involved in any war crimes, he was released from prisoner-of-war in 1948 without charge.
Wish married Ingeborg Piwitz and had five sons with her. As managing director of an industrial company in Wuppertal , he came to prosperity. He died on April 17, 1995 in Munich, where he is buried in the Nordfriedhof .
literature
- Peter Stockert: Die Eichenlaubträger 1940–1945 , 4 volumes, Bad Friedrichshall, 1996/1997.
- Norbert Számvéber: Waffen-SS Armor in Normandy: The Combat History of SS Panzer Regiment 12 and SS Panzerjäger Department 12, Normandy 1944. Helion and Company 2012, ISBN 1-907677-24-0 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ 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. 799.
- ↑ Jens Westemeier: Himmler's warriors: Joachim Peiper and the Waffen-SS in war and the post-war period, Volume 71 of War in History. Verlag Ferd.Schäningh GmbH & Co KG 2013, ISBN 3-506-77241-4 , p. 299.
Web links
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Wishes, Max |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German SS standard leader |
| DATE OF BIRTH | April 20, 1914 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Kittlitz |
| DATE OF DEATH | April 17, 1995 |
| Place of death | Munich |