Otto Paetsch

Otto Paetsch
Born	3 August 1909 Rheinhausen, Germany
Died	16 March 1945 (aged 35) Altdamm, Stettin
Allegiance	Nazi Germany
Service/branch	Waffen SS
Years of service	1931–45
Rank	Standartenführer
Unit	5th SS Panzer Division Wiking 10th SS Panzer Division Frundsberg
Battles/wars	World War II
Awards	Knight's Cross with Oakleaves Iron Cross 1st Class Iron Cross 2nd Class German Cross in Gold Wound badge in Silver

Otto Paetsch (3 August 1909 – 16 March 1945) was a Standartenführer (Colonel) in the Waffen SS who was awarded the Knight's Cross with Oakleaves during World War II.^[1][2]

Career

Paetsch was born on the 3 August 1909, at Rheinhausen. In his early life he studied Theology at Tübingen Evangelical college.^[1]

In 1931 he volunteered for the SS and was posted to the Germania Regiment, promoted on 20 April 1936 to Untersturmführer (Second Lieutenant) and made a Zugführer (platoon leader) in the 15th Company, Germania Regiment, and promoted again in April 1940 to Hauptsturmführer (Captain) and given command of the 15th Company.^[1]

Heinz Harmel with Karl-Heinz Euling (on right) and Paetsch in February 1945.

After the Battle of France the Germania Regiment was used as the basis of a new SS division 5th SS Panzer Division Wiking, which from June 1941 fought in Operation Barbarossa the invasion of the Soviet Union, when he was given command of the Reconnaissance Battalion in December 1941.^[1]

On 20 April 1942, he was promoted to Sturmbannführer (Major) and awarded the German Cross in Gold for bravery. He was made the commander of the 10th SS Panzer Regiment and promoted to Obersturmbannführer (Lieutenant Colonel), 3 November 1943. From June 1944 he led his regiment in Normandy, and distinguished himself in the fighting in the Avranches area and the breakout from Falaise (Falaise Pocket) for which he was awarded the Knight's Cross.^[1]

In the autumn of 1944 he fought at Arnhem (Operation Market Garden) against the British 1st Airborne Division, then in early 1945 in Lower Alsace and in early 1945 was involved in the fighting in Pomerania, where on 16 March 1945 at Altdamm, he was fatally wounded.^[1]

For the successful fighting at the Hagenau bridgehead and at Stettin he was awarded a posthumous award of the Oakleaves to the Knight's Cross in May 1945 and promoted to Standartenführer (Colonel).^[1][2]

Awards

• Iron Cross (1939)
  • 2nd Class (3 August 1941)^[3]
  • 1st Class (15 September 1942)^[3]
• German Cross in Gold on 24 April 1943 as SS-Sturmbannführer in SS-Aufklärungs-Abteilung 5^[4]
• Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves
  • Knight's Cross on 23 August 1944 as SS-Obersturmbannführer and commander of SS-Panzer-Regiment 10 "Frundsberg"^{[5][Note 1]}
  • 820th Oak Leaves on 5 April 1945 as SS-Obersturmbannführer and commander of SS-Panzer-Regiment 10 "Frundsberg"^[6][7]

Notes

1. According to Scherzer as commander of SS-Panzer-Regiment 10.^[6]

References

Citations

1. "personregister".
2. "frontkjemper".
3. Thomas 1998, p. 139.
4. Patzwall & Scherzer 2001, p. 342.
5. Fellgiebel 2000, p. 332.
6. Scherzer 2007, p. 581.
7. Fellgiebel 2000, p. 101.

Bibliography

• 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.
• Thomas, Franz (1998). Die Eichenlaubträger 1939–1945 Band 2: L–Z [The Oak Leaves Bearers 1939–1945 Volume 2: L–Z] (in German). Osnabrück, Germany: Biblio-Verlag. ISBN 978-3-7648-2300-9.