Walter Warzecha

Walter Wilhelm Julius Warzecha (born May 23, 1891 in Schwiebus ; † August 30, 1956 in Hamburg ) was a German naval officer , most recently Admiral General , and from May 23 to July 22, 1945 the last commander in chief of the German Navy .

Life

Warzecha grew up in Neuruppin , where his father Max was mayor. The family originally came from Silesia . Warzecha joined the Imperial Navy in April 1909 as a midshipman . The basic training took place u. a. on the great cruiser Victoria Louise . From 1911 to 1916 Warzecha was on the battleship Nassau used and was there in 1912 to lieutenant and in 1915 for Lieutenant promoted. From August 1916 until the end of the First World War , he served as a commander on various submarines, including the U-Flotilla Flanders ( UC 1 , UC 71 , UB 148 ) .

After the end of the war, Warzecha was taken over into the Reichsmarine and worked primarily as a trainer and in staff assignments, but also as an officer on various ships of the line .

Warzecha married in Wilhelmshaven in 1928 and, after moving to Kiel, had four children between 1929 and 1936.

In the then naval port of Kiel, Warzecha worked on the staff of the naval station of the Baltic Sea and then became commander of the armored ship Admiral Graf Spee for one year in 1937 . On November 1, 1938, he was promoted to Rear Admiral Chief of the Naval Military Office and moved with his family to Berlin .

In Berlin, when the Second World War broke out , he was head of the Navy High Command (OKM). One year later he was appointed head of the General Marine Main Office (renamed Chief of the Navy in 1944). In this position there were further promotions to Vice Admiral , Admiral and finally on March 1, 1944 to General Admiral .

Warzecha was used on May 23, 1945 due to his rank (senior naval officer) by the Allies as acting commander of the navy. He got this post after Hans-Georg von Friedeburg committed suicide. Until the OKM was dissolved in July 1945, he was responsible for demobilizing the naval troops. Then Warzecha was a prisoner of war until 1947.

From November 1947 Warzecha worked at Allianz insurance company . He died of a heart attack on August 30, 1956 and was buried in Kiel's North Cemetery.

Awards

• Iron Cross (1914) 2nd and 1st class
• Knight's Cross of the Royal House Order of Hohenzollern with swords
• Submarine War Badge (1918)
• Hanseatic Cross Hamburg
• Friedrich-August-Kreuz II. And I. Class
• Knight's Cross 2nd class of the Duke of Saxony-Ernestine House Order with swords
• Wehrmacht service award IV. To I class
• Clasp for the Iron Cross, 2nd and 1st class
• German cross in silver
• Fleet war badge
• War Merit Cross (1939) 2nd and 1st class
• Knight's Cross of the War Merit Cross with Swords

literature

• Hans H. Hildebrand, Ernest Henriot: Germany's Admirals 1849-1945, Volume 3: PZ , Biblio-Verlag, Osnabrück
• Jörg Echternkamp : The German Reich and the Second World War, Volume 9/1, The German War Society 1939 to 1945 , dva