Walter Harzer (29 September 1912 – 29 May 1982) was a German SS commander during the

Nazi era Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a totalitarian dictat ...

. He commanded the SS Division Hohenstaufen and SS Polizei Division. After the war, Harzer became active in

HIAG HIAG () was a Advocacy group, lobby group and a denialist veterans' organisation founded by former high-ranking Waffen-SS personnel in West Germany in 1951. Its main objective was to achieve legal, economic, and historical rehabilitation of the ...

, a lobby group established by senior

Waffen-SS The (; ) was the military branch, combat branch of the Nazi Party's paramilitary ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) organisation. Its formations included men from Nazi Germany, along with Waffen-SS foreign volunteers and conscripts, volunteers and conscr ...

men in 1951 in

West Germany West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...

. He acted as the organisation's official historian, coordinating the writing and publications of revisionist unit histories, which appears in German via the Munin Verlag imprint.

World War II

Born in 1912, Harzer joined the SS in 1931. In March 1934 Harzer joined ''

SS-Verfügungstruppe (SS-VT, ) was formed in 1934 as combat troops for the Nazi Party (NSDAP). On 17 August 1938 Adolf Hitler decreed that the SS-VT was neither a part of the (order police) nor the , but military-trained men at the disposal of the . In time of wa ...

'' (SS-VT) and was assigned to the ''

Sicherheitsdienst ' (, "Security Service"), full title ' ("Security Service of the ''Reichsführer-SS''"), or SD, was the intelligence agency of the Schutzstaffel, SS and the Nazi Party in Nazi Germany. Established in 1931, the SD was the first Nazi intelligence ...

'' (SD) and later the

SS Division Das Reich The 2nd SS Panzer Division ''Das Reich'' () or SS Division ''Das Reich'' was an armored division of the of Nazi Germany during World War II. Initially formed from regiments of the ''SS-Verfügungstruppe'' (SS-VT), ''Das Reich'' initially served ...

. He participated in the

invasion of Poland The invasion of Poland, also known as the September Campaign, Polish Campaign, and Polish Defensive War of 1939 (1 September – 6 October 1939), was a joint attack on the Second Polish Republic, Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany, the Slovak R ...

. 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 SS Division Frundsberg. In April 1943, Harzer was assigned to the SS Division Hohenstaufen. As ''Hohenstaufen'' was ordered for a refit in the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

, Harzer became its fifth commander, taking over for Friedrich-Wilhelm Bock. On Sunday 17 September 1944, the

Allies An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not an explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are calle ...

launched Operation Market Garden and Harzer’s division was engaged in the

Battle of Arnhem The Battle of Arnhem was fought during the Second World War, as part of the Allies of World War II, Allied Operation Market Garden. It took place around the Netherlands, Dutch city of Arnhem and vicinity from 17 to 26 September 1944. The Alli ...

.Himmlers Krieger: Joachim Peiper und die Waffen-SS in Krieg und Nachkriegszeit, von Jens Westermeier, Page 572, Verlag Ferdinand Schöningh GmbH; (11. Dezember 2013), Harzer 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 ...

for his actions during these battles. In October 1944 Harzer became 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 on 8 May 1945.

Post-war activities

After the war Harzer worked as an official historian for

, an organization of former Waffen-SS members. He helped coordinate the writing of numerous tendentious unit histories and memoirs by former Waffen-SS officers. Harzer died in 1982.

Awards

on 21 September 1944 as SS-''

Obersturmbannführer __NOTOC__ ''Obersturmbannführer'' (Senior Assault-unit Leader; ; short: ''Ostubaf'') was a paramilitary rank in the German Nazi Party ( NSDAP) which was used by the SA (''Sturmabteilung'') and the SS (''Schutzstaffel''). The rank of ' was juni ...

'' and Ia (operations officer) of the 9. SS-Panzer-Division "Hohenstaufen"

References

Citations

Bibliography

* *''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), , ). * {{DEFAULTSORT:Harzer, Walter 1912 births 1982 deaths Writers from Stuttgart SS-Standartenführer Recipients of the Gold German Cross Recipients of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross People from the Kingdom of Württemberg Waffen-SS personnel Military personnel from Stuttgart German military writers Members of HIAG