Georg Preuß

Georg Preuss
Born 24 April 1920
Free City of Danzig
Died 3 February 1991(1991-02-03) (aged 70)
Clenze
Allegiance  Nazi Germany
Service/branch Waffen-SS
Years of service 1939–45
Rank Hauptsturmführer
Unit 1st SS Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler
Battles/wars World War II
Awards Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross
German Cross in Gold
Iron Cross 1st Class
Iron Cross 2nd Class
Close Combat Clasp in Gold
Eastern Front Medal
Wound Badge in Gold

Georg Preuß (24 April 1920 — 3 February 1991) was a Hauptsturmführer (captain) in the Waffen-SS who was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on the 5 February 1945, for his part in the Ardennes Offensive,[1] he was also one of only 631 members of the German armed forces to receive the Close Combat Clasp in Gold. Preuß was a convicted war criminal.

World War II

He commanded the 12th and then the 10th Companies of the III./2nd Panzer Grenadier Regiment, Leibstandarte (LSSAH).

LSSAH, including Preuß's unit, was encircled by the Americans and the British in the Falaise pocket. By then the unit was reduced to several small Kampfgruppen. Hausser, commander of the Seventh Army, was told by von Kluge (commander in chief West, as successor to von Rundstedt) to withdraw II. SS-Panzerkorps (Hohenstauffen and Frundsberg), his motors and his administrative personnel from the pocket. Adolf Hitler had still not given orders to withdraw at this point, so it was up to the units themselves to get out. The LSSAH withdrew from the pocket in small Kampfgruppe and made it through the ring, on 22 August, after which no combat ready tanks or artillery pieces were reported. The whole campaign caused some 5000 casualties to the LSSAH.[2]

War crimes

At the end of the war Preuß was captured by the Americans and put on trial for war crimes committed during the Battle of the Bulge (Malmedy Massacre). He was found guilty and sentenced to death which was later changed to life imprisonment, he was released in 1956 together with Joachim Peiper and Josef Diefenthal the last members of the LSSAH to be released from captivity.[3]

Awards

References

Citations

  1. ↑ The 1st SS Panzer Division in the Battle of the Bulge By Steve Kane p. 148
  2. ↑ "waffenss".
  3. ↑ The 1st SS Panzer Division in the Battle of the Bulge By Steve Kane p. 149
  4. 1 2 3 Berger 2004, p. 370.
  5. ↑ Patzwall & Scherzer 2001, p. 359.
  6. ↑ Scherzer 2007, p. 604.

Bibliography

  • Berger, Florian (2004). Ritterkreuzträger mit Nahkampfspange in Gold [Knight's Cross Bearers with the Close Combat Clasp in Gold] (in German). Vienna, Austria: Selbstverlag Florian Berger. ISBN 978-3-9501307-3-7. 
  • Fellgiebel, Walther-Peer (2000) [1986]. Die Träger des Ritterkreuzes des Eisernen Kreuzes 1939–1945 — Die Inhaber der höchsten Auszeichnung des Zweiten Weltkrieges aller Wehrmachtteile [The Bearers of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross 1939–1945 — The Owners of the Highest Award of the Second World War of all Wehrmacht Branches] (in German). Friedberg, Germany: Podzun-Pallas. ISBN 978-3-7909-0284-6. 
  • Patzwall, Klaus D.; Scherzer, Veit (2001). Das Deutsche Kreuz 1941 – 1945 Geschichte und Inhaber Band II [The German Cross 1941 – 1945 History and Recipients Volume 2] (in German). Norderstedt, Germany: Verlag Klaus D. Patzwall. ISBN 978-3-931533-45-8. 
  • Scherzer, Veit (2007). Die Ritterkreuzträger 1939–1945 Die Inhaber des Ritterkreuzes des Eisernen Kreuzes 1939 von Heer, Luftwaffe, Kriegsmarine, Waffen-SS, Volkssturm sowie mit Deutschland verbündeter Streitkräfte nach den Unterlagen des Bundesarchives [The Knight's Cross Bearers 1939–1945 The Holders of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross 1939 by Army, Air Force, Navy, Waffen-SS, Volkssturm and Allied Forces with Germany According to the Documents of the Federal Archives] (in German). Jena, Germany: Scherzers Miltaer-Verlag. ISBN 978-3-938845-17-2. 
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