Paul Klatt

Paul Klatt (late 1944)

Paul Klatt (born December 6, 1896 in Kroppen , † June 6, 1973 in Olching ) was a German lieutenant general in World War II and commander of the 3rd Mountain Division .

Life

At the outbreak of World War I, Klatt joined the 2nd Upper Silesian Field Artillery Regiment No. 57 as an officer candidate . After successfully completing his officer training course at the Döberitz War School , Klatt was assigned to the 4th Lower Silesian Infantry Regiment No. 51 in February 1915 and came to the Western Front in mid-March . There he was made an ensign on April 18 and seriously wounded on May 18. During his stay in the hospital, he was promoted to lieutenant on September 1, 1915 and after his recovery on October 5th he joined the 1st Replacement Battalion of his regiment. From December he was back at the front and at the same time completed a company commanding course from the end of December 1915 to mid-January 1916. On August 10, 1916, he was appointed battalion adjutant and in this position he fell on 9 April 1917 in British captivity , from which he was released on October 26, 1919th During the war, Klatt was awarded both classes of the Iron Cross and the Wound Badge in black.

After his return to Germany, Klatt was accepted into the Reichswehr and until October 1921 a. a. Used in the 3rd (Prussian) Infantry Regiment in Marienwerder . On October 1, 1921, he was transferred to the 2nd (Prussian) Infantry Regiment in Rastenburg . From January 1922 to the end of September 1924 he worked there as a sports training officer and was then assigned to Military District Command I in Königsberg until March 31, 1926 . On April 1, 1925, he was promoted to first lieutenant .

From April 1, 1926 to the end of September 1927, he was with the 1st (Prussian) Pioneer Battalion and then with the Insterburg headquarters . From there, Klatt was transferred back in March 1929 and appointed chief of the 2nd Company on October 1, 1930. As a captain (since February 1, 1931), he moved briefly to the Opole headquarters in March 1933 , where he was deployed as a pioneer leader. From April 1933 to the end of September 1934 he was a member of the 13th (Prussian) cavalry regiment in Hanover . He was then transferred to the Reichswehr Ministry as Inspector of Pioneers and Fortresses (In 5) and after the authority was renamed Reich War Ministry, he was promoted to Major on January 1, 1936. On November 10, 1938, Klatt was appointed commander of the mountain pioneer stationed in Graz -Batallons 83 of the 3rd Mountain Division and promoted him on February 1, 1939 to lieutenant colonel .

With his battalion he took part in the attack on Poland at the beginning of the Second World War in 1939 and in 1940 in the Weser Exercise Company , the occupation of Norway. After the attack on the Soviet Union in June 1941, the battalion was deployed on the Eastern Front. In August Klatt was entrusted with the command of the Mountain Infantry Regiment 138 and on October 1, while being promoted to colonel, was appointed its commander. In mid-December, Klatt was seriously wounded in a land mine and, after his recovery, was transferred to the Führer Reserve . He received the German Cross in Gold on April 14, 1942 and the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on January 4, 1943 . On February 20, 1944 he was promoted to major general and as such he became commander of the 3rd Mountain Division on July 3, 1944, which fought on the Eastern Front . On December 26, 1944, he was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross (686th award) for his leadership. On January 15, 1945 he was promoted to lieutenant general.

With the total German surrender on May 8, 1945, Klatt and the rest of his division ended up in Soviet captivity , from which he was only released in October 1955 .

Fonts

• The 3rd Mountain Division 1939–1945. Podzun Verlag, Bad Nauheim 1958.

literature

• Dermot Bradley (ed.), Karl-Friedrich Hildebrand: Die Generale des Heeres 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 6: Hochbaum-Klutmann. Biblio Verlag, Bissendorf 2002, ISBN 3-7648-2538-3 , pp. 511-512.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Reichswehr Ministry (Ed.): Ranking list of the German Reichsheeres. ES Mittler & Sohn , Berlin 1930, p. 155.
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. 444.

Web links

Commons : Paul Klatt  - Collection of images, videos and audio files