Oskar Blümm

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Oskar Blümm

Oskar Blümm (born June 26, 1884 in Zwiesel , † December 12, 1951 in Ursberg ) was a German officer , most recently lieutenant general in World War II .

Life

Blümm joined the 21st Infantry Regiment of the Bavarian Army as an officer candidate on September 22, 1905 . On September 11, 1906, he was transferred to the 5th Infantry Regiment and, after successfully attending military school , promoted to lieutenant in early March 1907 . At the outbreak of the First World War , Blümm came to the Reserve Infantry Regiment 4 as adjutant of the 1st Battalion and rose to regimental adjutant at the beginning of September 1914 after being promoted to first lieutenant . On September 27, 1916, he was promoted to captain with effect from November 8, 1916 . From December 31, 1917, he served as an adjutant of the 22nd Infantry Brigade . For his achievements during the war, Blümm was awarded both classes of the Iron Cross , the Military Merit Order IV. Class with swords and a crown, and the Hessian Medal of Bravery .

After the end of the war and demobilization , Blümm was a company commander in the Bamberg Freikorps and when he was taken over into the Provisional Reichswehr, he joined the Reichswehr Infantry Regiment 46. With the formation of the Reichswehr , Blümm became company commander in the 21st Infantry Regiment . From October 1927 he worked in the Army Organization Department T2 in the Reichswehr Ministry and was promoted to major on April 1, 1928 . He remained in this position until November 1933 and, after being promoted to lieutenant colonel on February 1 of the same year , took command of the III. Battalion of the 21st (Bavarian) Infantry Regiment. He then took over command of the Bayreuth Infantry Regiment, later the 42nd Infantry Regiment, in October 1934. There he was promoted to colonel on February 1, 1935, and to major general on April 1, 1938 .

Second World War

As part of the general mobilization on August 26, 1939, he took over command of the 57th Infantry Division , with her he took part in the attack on Poland from September 1939 to October 1939 .

From May 1940 he moved with the 57th Infantry Division in the French campaign to Abbeville . From December 1941 he took part with his division in Operation Barbarossa , took the important and hard-defended city of Poltava and occupied the strategically important Worsla Bridge on the Poltava- Kharkov road . This enabled the division to form a bridgehead and prevent the Red Army from moving strong forces via Poltava towards Kharkov. As a commander of the 57th Infantry Division, Blümm received the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on November 23, 1941 . From October 1941 to April 1942 he was in the Führerreserve , from April he took over command of the 57th Infantry Division again until October 1942, after which he was again transferred to the reserve. From November 1942 he became commander of Division 407.

In 1944, Blümm happened to be in Ursberg , where many hundreds of disabled people still lived. The SS wanted to occupy Ursberg. He protected the interests of the Wehrmacht, confiscated the place and in this way prevented the expulsion of the civilian population.

While exercising his command, he fell ill on April 1, 1945 and was taken prisoner of war on April 26, 1945 , from which he was released in 1947.

post war period

After the war, Blümm lived in Ursberg, where he died on December 12, 1951. His wife Henriette Blümm died on April 29, 1991 at the age of 97 in Washington and was buried on June 7, 1991 in Ursberg.

In a debate by the German Bundestag on March 13, 1997 on the Wehrmacht exhibition , Theodor Waigel praised Blümm's measures to protect the disabled in Ursberg:

“This General of the Reichswehr had the courage to confiscate Ursberg for the Wehrmacht and to throw the SS out. I don't know the man's previous life. For me, however, he is a hero because at that moment, as a representative of the Wehrmacht, he bravely, unprotected, and at risk of his life saved hundreds of people, especially the disabled. "

- Theodor Waigel

literature

  • Dermot Bradley (ed.), Karl-Friedrich Hildebrand, Markus Rövekamp: The Generals of the Army 1921–1945. The military careers of the generals, as well as the doctors, veterinarians, intendants, judges and ministerial officials with the rank of general. Volume 2: v. Blanckensee-v. Czettritz and Neuhauß. Biblio Publishing House. Osnabrück 1993. ISBN 3-7648-2424-7 . Pp. 34-35.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Ranking list of the German Imperial Army. Mittler & Sohn publishing house. Berlin 1930. p. 125.
  2. ↑ 57th Infantry Division (accessed June 12, 2008)
  3. ↑ 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. 226.
  4. ↑ plenary 13/163 of 13 March 1997, p 14727; http://dipbt.bundestag.de/dip21/btp/13/13163.asc
personal data
SURNAME Blümm, Oskar
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German officer, lieutenant general in World War II
DATE OF BIRTH June 26, 1884
PLACE OF BIRTH Zwiesel
DATE OF DEATH December 12, 1951
Place of death Ursberg