Henri Joseph Fenet
| Henri Joseph Fenet | |
|---|---|
| Born |
11July 1919 Ceyzériat, France |
| Died |
14 September 2002 (aged 83) Paris, France |
| Allegiance |
 France.svg.png){kind=small} Nazi Germany |
| Service/branch |
French Army Waffen-SS |
| Years of service | 1939–40, 1943–45 |
| Rank |
 Hauptsturmführer |
| Unit | 33rd Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS Charlemagne (1st French) |
| Battles/wars | World War II |
| Awards |
Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross Iron Cross 1st Class Iron Cross 2nd Class Wound Badge in Black Croix de Guerre |
Henri Joseph Fenet (11 July 1919 – 14 September 2002) was a French volunteer during World War II who was awarded both the Croix de Guerre by France, and the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross by Nazi Germany.
French service
Fenet was born on 11 July 1919 in Ceyzériat, Department of Ain, France. Prior to World War II he studied literature at the Sorbonne University in Paris. At the outbreak of war he volunteered for the French Army and was commissioned as an officer with the rank of lieutenant. He fought in numerous battles and was awarded the Croix de Guerre after being wounded twice. Upon his release from prisoner of war camp in November 1942, he joined the Milice, a collaborationist paramilitary force tasked with rounding up Jews for deportation and suppressing the resistance in Vichy France.
Waffen-SS
In July 1943 Paul Marion, the Vichy Propaganda Minister, began a nationwide recruitment for the Waffen-SS in France. The Comité des Amis de la Waffen S.S. (Committee of the Friends of the Waffen-SS) was established by the minister and proceeded to actively recruit men who were between the ages of 20–25, "free of Jewish blood," and physically fit. Roughly 3000 applied to the assorted offices in the first few months, many of them college students. The organization also spent much time trying to recruit experienced French officers, like Fenet, to the organization. In October 1943, Fenet volunteered for the Waffen-SS and was sent to the SS officer school at Bad Tölz.
In March 1944 he received the rank of Obersturmführer (first lieutenant) in the Waffen-SS and was given command of the 3rd Company of the newly formed 8th SS Assault Brigade Frankreich, and was again wounded during fighting in the Carpathian Mountains and awarded the Iron Cross 2nd class.
In September 1944, Fenet and his company were sent to Konitz, West Prussia, where they joined other French recruits to form a new unit, the Waffen-Grenadier-Brigade der SS "Charlemagne".[1] Joining them were French collaborators fleeing the Allied advance in the west, as well as Frenchmen from the German Navy, the National Socialist Motor Corps (NSKK), the Organisation Todt and the detested Milice security police.[1] In February 1945, the unit was officially upgraded to a division and renamed 33. Waffen-Grenadier-Division der SS "Charlemagne" (französische Nr.1). At this time it had a strength of 7,340 men.[2] Fenet was named the commander of the 1st Battalion.
The Charlemagne Division was sent to fight the Red Army in Poland, but on 25 February it was attacked at Hammerstein (present day Czarne) in Pomerania, by troops of the Soviet 1st Belorussian Front. The Soviet forces split the French force into three pockets.[3] Fenet's battalion was one of the groups which was able to break out and return to the German lines; for which he was promoted to Hauptsturmführer (captain) and awarded the Iron Cross, 1st Class.
Berlin, 1945
On 23 April 1945, the Reich Chancellery in Berlin ordered SS-Brigadeführer Gustav Krukenberg to proceed to the capital. About 350 men from the remains of the Charlemagne division chose to go to Berlin.[4] The men had been reorganized as Sturmbataillon ("assault battalion") "Charlemagne" and was attached to the 11th SS Volunteer Panzergrenadier Division Nordland.[4]
In the days which followed, fighting was very heavy and by 28 April, one-hundred eight Soviet tanks had been destroyed in the southeast of Berlin within the S-Bahn. The French squads under the command of Fenet accounted for "about half" of the tanks.[5] Fenet, who was now wounded in the foot, withdrew with the battalion to the vicinity of the Reich Aviation Ministry in the central government district under the command of SS-Brigadeführer Wilhelm Mohnke.[5] For the success of the battalion during the Battle of Berlin Fenet was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 29 April 1945 by Mohnke.[6] On 2 May 1945, the surviving Frenchmen were captured by the Soviet Red Army. Fenet was first sent to a hospital due to being wounded before being imprisoned. He was then handed over to the French government.
Later life
On the 10 December 1949, Fenet was convicted of being a collaborator and sentenced to 20 years imprisonment with hard labour. He was freed at the end of 1959.
After Fenet was released, he appeared in several documentary films and television programmes. He also ran a small independent auto business.[7] Henri Joseph Fenet died in Paris on 14 September 2002.
Awards
- Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 29 April 1945 as Waffen-Hauptsturmführer and commander of the assault battalion in the 33. SS-Freiwilligen-Grenadier-Division "Charlemagne"[8][Note 1]
Notes
References
Citations
- 1 2 Littlejohn 1987, p. 169.
- ↑ Littlejohn 1987, pp. 170, 172.
- ↑ Littlejohn 1987, p. 172.
- 1 2 Forbes 2010, p. 394.
- 1 2 Beevor 2002, p. 352.
- ↑ Forbes 2010, p. 439.
- ↑ Van Geirt, Jean-Pierre. "Que sont-ils devenus ?" (in French). Division-Charlemagne.net. Archived from the original on 2009-04-16. Retrieved 10 November 2008.
- ↑ Fellgiebel 2000, pp. 179, 490.
- ↑ Scherzer 2007, p. 305.
Bibliography
- Beevor, Antony (2002). Berlin: The Downfall 1945. London: Viking-Penguin Books. ISBN 978-0-670-03041-5.
- 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.
- Forbes, Robert (2010) [2006]. For Europe: The French Volunteers of the Waffen-SS. Stackpole Books. ISBN 978-0-8117-3581-0.
- Littlejohn, David (1987). Foreign Legions of the Third Reich Vol. 1 Norway, Denmark, France. Bender Publishing. ISBN 978-0912138176.
- 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.