The X SS Corps (German: ''Generalkommando X. SS-Armeekorps'' or ''Gruppe Krappe'') was a short-lived SS

corps Corps (; plural ''corps'' ; from French , from the Latin "body") is a term used for several different kinds of organization. A military innovation by Napoleon I, the formation was first named as such in 1805. The size of a corps varies great ...

-level headquarters employed on the Eastern Front in 1945 during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

History

The X SS Corps headquarters was formed in January 1945 with the use of men and equipment provided by the disbanded XIV SS Corps headquarters (a temporary HQ unit employed during

Operation Nordwind Operation Northwind (german: Unternehmen Nordwind) was the last major German offensive of World War II on the Western Front. Northwind was launched to support the German Ardennes offensive campaign in the Battle of the Bulge, which by December o ...

). The Corps was subordinated to the

11th SS Panzer Army __NOTOC__ The 11th SS Panzer Army (''SS-Panzer-Armeeoberkommando 11'') was not much more than a paper army formed in February 1945 by Heinrich Himmler while he was commander of Army Group Vistula. The military historian Antony Beevor wrote that whe ...

in February 1945, and then to the

3rd Panzer Army The 3rd Panzer Army (german: 3. Panzerarmee) was a German armoured formation during World War II, formed from the 3rd Panzer Group on 1 January 1942. 3rd Panzer Group The 3rd Panzer Group (german: Panzergruppe 3) was formed on 16 November ...

in March. They were deployed in the vicinity of

Dramburg Drawsko Pomorskie (until 1948 pl, Drawsko; formerly german: Dramburg) is a town in Drawsko County in West Pomeranian Voivodeship in northwestern Poland, the administrative seat of Drawsko County and the urban-rural commune of Gmina Drawsko P ...

Pomerania Pomerania ( pl, Pomorze; german: Pommern; Kashubian: ''Pòmòrskô''; sv, Pommern) is a historical region on the southern shore of the Baltic Sea in Central Europe, split between Poland and Germany. The western part of Pomerania belongs to t ...

. In February 1945, the X SS Corps controlled the

5th Jäger Division Fifth is the ordinal form of the number five. Fifth or The Fifth may refer to: * Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution, as in the expression "pleading the Fifth" * Fifth column, a political term * Fifth disease, a contagious rash tha ...

and the 402nd Division.

Generalleutnant is the Germanic variant of lieutenant general, used in some German speaking countries. Austria Generalleutnant is the second highest general officer rank in the Austrian Armed Forces (''Bundesheer''), roughly equivalent to the NATO rank of ...

Günther Krappe took command of the corps on 10 February 1945. In March 1945, the corps also had the 163rd Infantry Division under its control. In March 1945, the X SS Corps (and Korpsgruppe Tettau) were encircled by elements of the

1st Guards Tank Army The 1st Guards Tank Army () is a tank army of the Russian Ground Forces. The army traces its heritage back to the 1st Tank Army, formed twice in July 1942 and in January 1943 and converted into the 1st Guards Tank Army in January 1944. The arm ...

3rd Shock Army The 3rd Shock Army (russian: Третья ударная армия) was a field army of the Red Army formed during the Second World War. The "Shock" armies were created with the specific structure to engage and destroy significant enemy force ...

, and the

Polish 1st Army Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken *Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin screenwr ...

in an area approximately north of

. The two Soviet armies pushed against the pocket from the west and northwest while the Polish 1st Army drove from the south, east, and northeast, resulting in the destruction of the encircled German troops by 7 March 1945. On 8 March 1945, the Soviets announced the capture of General Krappe and 8,000 men of the X SS Corps.

Commanders

* SS-Obergruppenführer

Erich von dem Bach-Zelewski Erich Julius Eberhard von dem Bach-Zelewski (born Erich Julius Eberhard von Zelewski; 1 March 1899 – 8 March 1972) was a high-ranking SS commander of Nazi Germany. During World War II, he was in charge of the Nazi security warfare against tho ...

: 26 January - 10 February 1945 * Lieutenant-general Günther Krappe : 10 February - 7 March 1945 * SS-Standartenführer Herbert Golz : 7 March - 11 March 1945

Footnotes

References

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:10 Waffen-SS corps Military units and formations established in 1945 Military units and formations disestablished in 1945