Artur Schmitt (20 July 1888 – 15 January 1972) was a highly decorated German soldier during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

and

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. While serving as a General with the ''

Afrikakorps The German Africa Corps (, ; DAK), commonly known as Afrika Korps, was the German expeditionary force in Africa during the North African campaign of World War II. First sent as a holding force to shore up the Italian defense of its African ...

'' during World War II, Schmitt was awarded the ''Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes'' (Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross), which was usually awarded to recognise extreme bravery, or successful military leadership.

Early life

Schmitt was born at Albersweiler in what was then the Bavarian Rhine District. He was educated at the ''Humanistische Gymnasium'' at Landau in der Pfalz. In 1907 he joined the

Bavarian Army The Bavarian Army () was the army of the Electorate of Bavaria, Electorate (1682–1806) and then Kingdom of Bavaria, Kingdom (1806–1918) of Bavaria. It existed from 1682 as the standing army of Bavaria until the merger of the military sovereig ...

, as an officer cadet with the '' Königlich Bayerisches 18. Infanterie-Regiment „Prinz Ludwig Ferdinand“'' (German Wikipedia; "18th Royal Bavarian Infantry Regiment "Prince Louis Ferdinand"), in Landau and attended the ''Bayerische Kriegsakademie'' (Bavarian War Academy) in Munich. In 1912, Schmitt joined the Imperial ''Schutztruppe'' and was posted to the colony of

German Southwest Africa German South West Africa () was a colony of the German Empire from 1884 until 1915, though Germany did not officially recognise its loss of this territory until the 1919 Treaty of Versailles. German rule over this territory was punctuated by ...

(later Namibia).

World War I

He took part in the South-West Africa campaign of World War I, during which he was captured. After being transferred to a prisoner of war (POW) camp in Britain, Schmitt attempted to escape, without success. He was repatriated to Germany before the end of the war, and then joined '' Königlich Bayerisches Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 1'' (German Wikipedia), stationed in Munich.

Inter-war years

In 1919 Schmitt joined a right-wing militia known as ''

Freikorps (, "Free Corps" or "Volunteer Corps") were irregular German and other European paramilitary volunteer units that existed from the 18th to the early 20th centuries. They effectively fought as mercenaries or private military companies, rega ...

Eulenburg'', which fought against Russian forces during the Soviet Baltic offensive of 1918–1919 and put down an uprising by ethnic Poles in

Upper Silesia Upper Silesia ( ; ; ; ; Silesian German: ; ) is the southeastern part of the historical and geographical region of Silesia, located today mostly in Poland, with small parts in the Czech Republic. The area is predominantly known for its heav ...

. Schmitt was employed by the Bavarian police from 1920 in

Aschaffenburg Aschaffenburg (; Hessian: ''Aschebersch'', ) is a town in northwest Bavaria, Germany. The town of Aschaffenburg, despite being its administrative seat, is not part of the district of Aschaffenburg. Aschaffenburg belonged to the Archbishopric ...

and Munich. Rejoining the army after the Nazis came to power, Schmitt served initially in the ordnance corps.

World War II

By the outbreak of World War II, he was commander of ''Infanterie Regiment 626'', part of '' 555. Infanterie-Division'', on the

Upper Rhine Upper Rhine ( ; ; kilometres 167 to 529 of the Rhine) is the section of the Rhine between the Middle Bridge, Basel, Middle Bridge in Basel, Switzerland, and the Rhine knee in Bingen am Rhein, Bingen, Germany. It is surrounded by the Upper Rhine P ...

. From 19 June 1940, Schmitt was promoted to command 555 Division, which captured

Strasbourg Strasbourg ( , ; ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est Regions of France, region of Geography of France, eastern France, in the historic region of Alsace. It is the prefecture of the Bas-Rhin Departmen ...

. Schmitt commanded ''Oberfeldzeugstabs 2.'' in

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

and during the early stages of the

invasion of the Soviet Union Operation Barbarossa was the invasion of the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany and several of its European Axis allies starting on Sunday, 22 June 1941, during World War II. More than 3.8 million Axis troops invaded the western Soviet Union along a ...

. Promoted to ''

Generalmajor is the Germanic languages, Germanic variant of major general, used in a number of Central Europe, Central and Northern European countries. Austria Belgium Denmark is the second lowest general officer rank in the Royal Danish Army and R ...

'' in late 1941, Schmitt was posted to

North Africa North Africa (sometimes Northern Africa) is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region. However, it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of t ...

; under

Erwin Rommel Johannes Erwin Eugen Rommel (; 15 November 1891 – 14 October 1944), popularly known as The Desert Fox (, ), was a German '' Generalfeldmarschall'' (field marshal) during World War II. He served in the ''Wehrmacht'' (armed forces) of ...

, Schmitt was initially the 556th Army Rear Area Commander for ''Panzergruppe Afrika''. In November, he became the commander of the combined

Axis An axis (: axes) may refer to: Mathematics *A specific line (often a directed line) that plays an important role in some contexts. In particular: ** Coordinate axis of a coordinate system *** ''x''-axis, ''y''-axis, ''z''-axis, common names ...

'' Division “Bardia”'', in the

Sollum Sallum ( various transliterations include ''El Salloum'', ''As Sallum'' or ''Sollum'') is a harbourside village or town in Egypt. It is along the Egypt/Libyan short north–south aligned coast of the Mediterranean Sea in the far northwest corner o ...

Bardia Bardia, also El Burdi or Bardiyah ( or ) is a Mediterranean seaport in the Butnan District of eastern Libya, located near the border with Egypt. It is also occasionally called ''Bórdi Slemán''. The name Bardia is deeply rooted in the ancient ...

sector. In January 1942, following a prolonged offensive against Bardia by the

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

n 2nd Infantry Division and the New Zealand Divisional Cavalry Regiment, Schmitt was forced to surrender his forces to the South Africans, the first German general to do so in the Second World War. He became a prisoner of war. Following his capture, Schmitt was awarded the

Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross (), or simply the Knight's Cross (), and its variants, were the highest awards in the military and paramilitary forces of Nazi Germany during World War II. While it was order of precedence, lower in preceden ...

(5 February 1942). He was held in Canada until 1946, when he was transferred to Britain, but was not released until 1948.

Later career

After the victory of Israeli forces in the war of 1948, the

Arab League The Arab League (, ' ), officially the League of Arab States (, '), is a regional organization in the Arab world. The Arab League was formed in Cairo on 22 March 1945, initially with seven members: Kingdom of Egypt, Egypt, Kingdom of Iraq, ...

recruited Schmitt to train a pan-Arab army. While living in Cairo, he used the pseudonym/codename "Mr. Goldstein". Schmitt became disaffected with what he saw as machinations against him by some Egyptian generals, which he denounced in 1950, resigned and returned to Germany. In 1966, Schmitt was a candidate for the far-right NPD in the Bavarian state parliament. His campaign material used controversial images of Schmitt in his Wehrmacht uniform (which featured swastikas on the cap badge and Knight's Cross). Schmitt criticised the use of the Knight's Cross in a 1967 film adaption of Gunther Grass's novel ''Katz und Maus'' ("Cat and Mouse"). The film had a high profile in Germany, due partly to it featuring acting performances by two sons of German Vice-Chancellor

Willy Brandt Willy Brandt (; born Herbert Ernst Karl Frahm; 18 December 1913 – 8 October 1992) was a German politician and statesman who was leader of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) from 1964 to 1987 and concurrently served as the Chancellor ...

In popular culture

Schmitt was one of the subjects of a 2014 French documentary film ''Exil Nazi: La Promesse De L'Orient'' ("Nazi Exiles: The Promise of the Orient"), by the French-German filmmaker Géraldine Schwarz.

Awards and decorations

Iron Cross The Iron Cross (, , abbreviated EK) was a military decoration in the Kingdom of Prussia, the German Empire (1871–1918), and Nazi Germany (1933–1945). The design, a black cross pattée with a white or silver outline, was derived from the in ...

(1914) ** 2nd Class ** 1st Class *

Honour Cross of the World War 1914/1918 The Honour Cross of the World War 1914/1918 (), commonly referred to as the Hindenburg Cross or the German WWI Service Cross, was established by Field Marshal Paul von Hindenburg, President of the German Weimar Republic, by an order dated 13 July ...

(1939) ** 2nd Class ** 1st Class *

on 5 February 1942.Fellgiebel 2000, p. 311.

References

Citations

Bibliography

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External links

Lexikon der Wehrmacht
{{DEFAULTSORT:Schmitt, Artur 1888 births 1972 deaths People from Südliche Weinstraße Lieutenant generals of the German Army (Wehrmacht) Recipients of the clasp to the Iron Cross, 1st class Recipients of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross German prisoners of war in World War I World War I prisoners of war held by the United Kingdom German prisoners of war in World War II held by the United Kingdom Foreign nationals imprisoned in Canada Prisoners and detainees of South Africa People from the Palatinate (region) German police officers Military personnel of Bavaria 20th-century Freikorps personnel Schutztruppe personnel Military personnel from Rhineland-Palatinate National Democratic Party of Germany politicians