Walter Harzer

Walter Harzer
Born	29 September 1912 Stuttgart-Feuerbach
Died	29 May 1982 (aged 69) Stuttgart
Buried at	Stuttgart-Feuerbach cemetery
Allegiance	Weimar Republic (to 1933)  Nazi Germany
Service/branch	Waffen-SS
Years of service	1931–45
Rank	Oberführer (Senior Colonel)
Unit	SS-Standarte Deutschland
Commands held	9.SS-Panzer-Division Hohenstaufen 4.SS-Polizei-Panzergrenadier-Division
Battles/wars	World War II
Awards	Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross

SS-Oberführer (Senior Colonel) Walter Harzer (September 29, 1912 – May 29, 1982) was a German Waffen-SS officer who served in the SS-Standarte Deutschland and later commanded the 9.SS-Panzer-Division Hohenstaufen and 4.SS-Polizei-Panzergrenadier-Division. He was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross, which was awarded to recognize extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership by Nazi Germany. After the war, he became active in the veteran's association HIAG.

Early life and career

Walter Harzer was born in Stuttgart-Feuerbach on 29 September 1912. In 1933, Harzer joined Politische Bereitschaft (SS Political Readiness Detachment) in Württemberg and later the Reichswehr. In March 1934 Harzer joined SS-Verfügungstruppe, graduating from the new SS-Junkerschule Bad Tölz in 1936. He was assigned to the Sicherheitsdienst and later the SS-Standarte Deutschland.

World War II

With Deutschland, Harzer participated in the invasion of Poland and was awarded the Iron Cross II Class. In June 1941 he was appointed regimental commander; he received the Iron Cross I Class. From mid-1942 until April 1943 Walter served as a staff officer first with the LVII.Panzer Corps and later, after completing the General Staff Course, with the 10th SS Panzer Division Frundsberg, later renamed the 10th SS Panzer Division Frundsberg.

In April 1943, Harzer was assigned to the 9th SS Panzer Division Hohenstaufen. The division participated in relief attack on Tarnopol and later took part in the Battle for Caen. On 19 August 1944, Harzer was decorated with the German Cross in Gold for his leadership during the operations in Normandy.

As Hohenstaufen was ordered for a refit in the Netherlands, Walter Harzer became its fifth commander, taking over for SS-Oberführer Friedrich-Wilhelm Bock. However, on Sunday 17 September 1944, the Allies launched Operation Market Garden and Harzer’s division was engaged in the Battle of Arnhem. Harzer was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross for his actions during these battles.

End of war & postwar

On 10 October 1944 Harzer left Hohenstaufen and went on to become the Chief of Staff of V SS Mountain Corps before receiving the command of the 4th SS Polizei Division at the end of November 1944. Together with the rest of this division Harzer surrendered to the American Army near Wittenberge-Lenzen on 8 May 1945.

After the war Harzer worked as an official historian for HIAG, an organization of former Waffen-SS members. He helped coordinate the writing of numerous tendentious unit histories and memoirs by former Waffen-SS officers.^[1]

Harzer died after a heart failure in Stuttgart hospital on 29 May 1982.

Personal life

• Harzer got married on 21 December 1941 and had one child.
• His brother was NSKK-Oberführer Fritz Harzer.

Summary of SS career

Dates of rank

• SS-Anwärter: 1 November 1931
• SS-Mann: 22 February 1932
• SS-Rottenführer: 25 August 1933
• SS-Unterscharführer: 10 December 1933
• Gefreiter: 1933
• SS-Scharführer: 1 July 1934
• SS-Oberscharführer: 23 December 1934
• SS-Junker: 25 April 1935
• SS-Untersturmführer: 5 May 1936
• SS-Unterscharführer- demoted: 4 November 1936
• SS-Untersturmführer: 29 September 1937
• SS-Obersturmführer: 30 January 1939
• SS-Hauptsturmführer: 16 May 1940
• SS-Sturmbannführer: 20 April 1943
• SS-Obersturmbannführer: 30 January 1944
• SS-Standartenführer: 30 November 1944
• SS-Oberführer: 20 April 1945

Awards and decorations

• SS-Honour Ring (?)
• Sudetenland Medal (?) with Prague Castle bar (?)
• Anschluss Medal (?)
• Waffen-SS Long Service Award (?)
• NSDAP Long Service Award in Bronze(?)
• Iron Cross (1939)
  • 2nd Class (29 September 1939)
  • 1st Class (26 October 1941)
• Infantry Assault Badge (25 February 1942)
• Eastern Front Medal (15 August 1942)
• German Cross in Gold (19 August 1944)
• Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 21 September 1944 as SS-Obersturmbannführer and Ia (operations officer) of the 9. SS-Panzer-Division "Hohenstaufen"^[2][3]

References

Citations

1. MacKenzie 2013, pp. 136-137.
2. Scherzer 2007, p. 369.
3. Fellgiebel 2000, p. 215.

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.
• MacKenzie, S.P. (2013). Revolutionary Armies in the Modern Era: A Revisionist Approach. Routledge. ISBN 978-0415867771.
• A Bridge Too Far: The Classic History of the Greatest Battle of World War II by Cornelius Ryan (Simon & Schuster; Reprint edition (1 May 1995), ISBN 0-684-80330-5, ISBN 978-0-684-80330-2).
• 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.
• Williamson, Gordon (2004) [1994]. The SS: Hitler's Instrument of Terror. St. Paul, Minnesota: Zenith Press. ISBN 978-0-7603-1933-8.
• Williamson, Gordon; Andrew, Stephen (2004). The Waffen-SS (2): 6. to 10. Divisions (Men-at-Arms). Oxford, UK: Osprey Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84176-590-7.