Otto Schury

Otto Schury
Born	22 October 1903 Munich
Died	11 December 1979 (aged 76) Brannenburg
Buried at	Munich Waldfriedhof Plot 199—Row 1—Grave 6
Allegiance	Nazi Germany
Service/branch	Heer
Years of service	1935–45
Rank	Generalmajor
Commands held	100. Jäger Division
Battles/wars	World War II Invasion of Poland Battle of France Invasion of Yugoslavia Battle of Crete Operation Barbarossa Battle of Uman Battle of the Caucasus Dnieper–Carpathian Offensive Hube's Pocket Battle of the Dukla Pass Lower Silesian Offensive
Awards	Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves
Other work	Police officer

Otto Schury (22 October 1903 – 11 December 1979) was a highly decorated Generalmajor in the Wehrmacht during World War II. He was also a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves. The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross and its higher grade Oak Leaves was awarded to recognise extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership. Otto Schury was captured by Soviet forces in May 1945 and was held until October 1955.

Awards and decorations

• Iron Cross (1939)
  • 2nd Class (20 September 1939)^[1]
  • 1st Class (23 February 1940)^[1]
• Wound Badge (1939)
  • in Black
  • in Silver
• Eastern Front Medal
• Infantry Assault Badge in Silver
• German Cross in Gold on 10 May 1943 as Oberstleutnant in Jäger-Regiment 229^[2]
• Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves
  • Knight's Cross on 17 July 1941 as Major and commander of the II./Gebirgsjäger-Regiment 100^[3]
  • 592nd Oak Leaves on 21 September 1944 as Oberst and commander of Jäger-Regiment 229^[4]
• Mentioned in the Wehrmachtbericht (11 August 1944)

Otto Schury was tasked with the leadership of the 100. Jäger-Division on 1 November before he officially became its commander on 7 February 1945. His personnel file contains a handwritten comment that he had been nominated for the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords.^[5]

Wehrmachtbericht reference

Date	Original German Wehrmachtbericht wording	Direct English translation
11 August 1944	In den Kämpfen an der Ostfront haben sich die westfälische 371. Infanteriedivision unter Führung von Generalleutnant Niehoff und das Jägerregiment 229 unter Oberst Schury hervorragend bewährt.[6]	In the battles on the Eastern Front, the Westphalian 371 Infantry Division under the command of Lieutenant-General Niehoff and the 229 Infantry Regiment under Colonel Schury have proved themselves to be excellent.

References

Citations

1. Thomas 1998, p. 306.
2. Patzwall & Scherzer 2001, p. 432.
3. Fellgiebel 2000, p. 320.
4. Fellgiebel 2000, p. 75.
5. Berger 1999, p. 394.
6. Die Wehrmachtberichte 1939–1945 Band 3, p. 199.

Bibliography

• Berger, Florian (1999). Mit Eichenlaub und Schwertern. Die höchstdekorierten Soldaten des Zweiten Weltkrieges [With Oak Leaves and Swords. The Highest Decorated Soldiers of the Second World War] (in German). Vienna, Austria: Selbstverlag Florian Berger. ISBN 978-3-9501307-0-6.
• 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.
• Die Wehrmachtberichte 1939–1945 Band 3, 1. Januar 1944 bis 9. Mai 1945 [The Wehrmacht Reports 1939–1945 Volume 3, 1 January 1944 to 9 May 1945] (in German). München, Germany: Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag GmbH & Co. KG. 1985. ISBN 978-3-423-05944-2.

External links

• World War 2 Awards.com
• Lexikon der Wehrmacht