Waldemar Henrici

Waldemar Henrici (born February 3, 1878 in Bensberg , † February 15, 1950 in Marktbreit ) was a German officer , most recently lieutenant general in World War II and senior general labor leader in the Reich Labor Service .

First World War and the interwar period

Henrici joined the Prussian Army in 1896 . In 1906 he was promoted to first lieutenant and in 1911 to captain . From 1914 he was an adjutant in the Central Department of the Prussian War Ministry in Berlin . During the First World War , Henrici served as a frontline and staff officer and was promoted to major in 1916 .

After the war he was assigned to the Reichswehr Ministry in 1919 , where he worked as a consultant until 1922 and then as a department head. On April 1, 1921, he was promoted to lieutenant colonel. At the same time, he studied political science , and in 1923 received his doctorate he became Dr. rer. pole. with his dissertation “The coal industry in Russia during and after the war”. From 1923 he held troop commandos in the Reichswehr , where he was promoted to colonel in 1925 and completed his career from January 1, 1928 to January 31, 1929 as commander of the 2nd (Prussian) infantry regiment in Allenstein in military district I ( East Prussia ) . On January 31, 1929, he was discharged from the Reichswehr with the character of a major general . Then he worked in the Reichswehr Ministry.

After the beginning of the Nazi regime , Henrici took over the position of general labor leader in Arbeitsgau XXVIII (Franconia) in the Reich Labor Service (RAD) in 1934 . Henrici was probably known to Konstantin Hierl , State Secretary in the Reich Ministry of Labor and later Reich Commissioner for Voluntary Labor Service and " Reich Labor Leader ", from his work in the Reich Ministry of Defense.

Second World War

On July 1, 1939, meanwhile promoted to chief general labor leader, he was given leave of absence from the RAD and returned to the Wehrmacht . On February 12, 1940, as Major General of the Reserve, he became the first (and only) commander of the newly established 555th Infantry Division, which, together with the 557th Infantry Division, was a position division on the Upper Rhine in the Association of XXV. Army Corps and the 7th Army (General der Artillerie Friedrich Dollmann ) in Baden-Wuerttemberg opposite the Maginot Line and finally went to attack France on the Rhine on June 15, 1940 ("Operation Little Bear"). The division was placed under the command of the replacement army in July and dissolved by order of July 31, 1940 to September 1, 1940 in Bielefeld.

As early as August 15, 1940, Henrici, as the successor to Lieutenant General Walter Wollmann , took command of the since July 1940 as part of the XXX. Army Corps stationed in Poland 258th Infantry Division . This he led the attack on the Soviet Union in June 1941 in the unit of the VII Army Corps of the 4th Army ( Army Group Center ) via Brest and Białystok , then in August as part of the XIII. Army Corps of the 2nd Army to Babrujsk , then in September as part of the XII. Army corps of the 4th Army to Jelnja . At the beginning of October, the division took part in the double battle near Vyazma and Bryansk . Henrici, who was promoted to Lieutenant General zV on October 1, 1941, was wounded on October 2 when the German attack on the Vyazma pocket began and replaced by Major General Karl Pflaum .

After hospital stay and recovery, he was transferred to the Führerreserve on December 5, 1941 . He then served as Wehrmacht Commander in Ukraine until October 1942 . He was retired on December 31, 1943.

Awards

• Iron Cross (1914) 2nd and 1st class
• Cross of Merit for War Aid
• Prussian service award cross
• Bavarian Order of Military Merit IV class with swords
• Knight's Cross 1st Class of the Order of Albrecht with Swords
• Knight's Cross 1st Class of the Order of Frederick with Swords
• Princely Schaumburg-Lippisches Kreuz for loyal service
• Austrian Military Merit Cross III. Class with the war decoration
• Silver Liakat medal with saber
• Iron crescent
• Cross of honor for front fighters

Web links

• Literature by and about Waldemar Henrici in the catalog of the German National Library
• Waldemar Henrici in the online version of the Reich Chancellery Edition Files. Weimar Republic

Individual evidence

1. ^ Waldemar Henrici: "The coal industry of Russia during and after the war", J. Springer, Berlin, 1924.
2. ↑ Michael Hansen: "Idealists" and "Failed Existences". The leadership corps of the Reich Labor Service. Dissertation, University of Trier, 2004, p. 259. (PDF; 2.4 MB)
3. ^ Samuel W. Mitcham, Jr .: German Order of Battle: Volume One: 1st-290th Infantry Divisions in WWII. Stackpole Books, Mechanicsville, Pa. 2007, ISBN 978-0-8117-3416-5 , p. 308.
4. ↑ "Wehrmacht Commander Ukraine was General Henrici until October 1942 and then General der Flieger Kitzinger." According to Justice and Nazi Crimes, No. 683 (excerpt), judgment of the Hanover Regional Court of June 27, 1968, Ks 1 / 68 ( Memento of the original from August 31, 2006 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
5. ^ Dermot Bradley, Karl-Friedrich Hildebrand, Markus Brockmann: Die Generale des Heeres, 1921–1945. Volume 5 (Haack-Hitzfeld). Biblio Verlag, Osnabrück 1999.
6. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g h i j} Ranking list of the German Reichsheeres , Ed .: Reichswehrministerium , Mittler & Sohn Verlag , Berlin 1924, p. 118