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Helmuth von Pannwitz | |
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.jpg) Pannwitz in 1943 | |
| Born | (1898-10-14)14 October 1898 Botzanowitz,Province of Silesia,Kingdom of Prussia,German Empire |
| Died | 16 January 1947(1947-01-16) (aged 48) Lefortovo Prison,Moscow,Russian SFSR,Soviet Union |
| Cause of death | Execution by hanging |
| Allegiance |  Germany |
| Years of service | 1914–1945 |
| Rank | |
| Commands | XV SS Cossack Cavalry Corps |
| Battles / wars | |
| Awards |
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Helmuth von Pannwitz (14 October 1898 – 16 January 1947) was aGermangeneral who was acavalry officer during theFirst and theSecond World Wars. Later he became aLieutenant General of theWehrmacht, aSS-Gruppenführer of theWaffen-SS, andFeldataman of theXV SS Cossack Cavalry Corps. In 1947 he was tried forwar crimes underUkaz 43 by theMilitary Collegium of the Supreme Court of the Soviet Union, sentenced to death on 16 January 1947 and executed inLefortovo Prison the same day. He was rehabilitated by a military prosecutor in Moscow in April 1996. In June 2001, however, the reversal of the conviction of Pannwitz was overturned and his conviction was reinstated.
Pannwitz was born into a family ofPrussian nobility on his father's estate Botzanowitz (todayBodzanowice),Silesia, near Rosenberg (todayOlesno), now part of Poland but directly on the German-Russian border of that time. His family was originally from the village of Pannwitz inLusatia. From the 14th to 16th century the family held the office ofBurggraf ofGlatz.[1]
Aged twelve, he entered the Prussian cadet school inWahlstatt, near Liegnitz in Silesia, and later the main cadet school atLichterfelde. Even before outbreak of World War I he was attracted by exhibitions of Cossack units that were organized in the neighboring towns of the Russian Empire.[1]
As an officer cadet, Pannwitz upon the outbreak of theFirst World War joined theImperial German Army as a volunteer (1st Regiment of Lancers, based atMilitsch), in the course of which he was at the age of sixteen promoted to the rank ofLeutnant (second lieutenant/cornet) and decorated with theIron Cross Second Class in the same year (and, a year later, the First Class) for bravery in action. Immediately after the war he fought in the ranks of the Volunteer Corps (Freikorps) against Polish separatists in Silesia and participated in theKapp Putsch. Wanted as a suspect in the murder of a Social-Democrat,Bernhard Schottländer, in Breslau, he fled to Poland. Under an assumed name, Pannwitz became a leader in theBlack Reichswehr in 1923 where he was involved in a number ofFeme murders. In the aftermath of the failedKüstrin Putsch, Pannwitz fled again to Poland. After spending a year in Hungary[citation needed], Pannwitz went to Poland in 1926, where he lived and worked as an administrator of farms, at the last in charge of the estates of Princess Radziwill[which?] inMłochów, near Warsaw.[1]
When an amnesty was granted in 1931, Pannwitz returned to Germany. He became a Stabsführer of theSA inSilesia.[2] In 1934 he commanded an SA cavalry squadron. By cooperating with theGestapo he played a leading role during theRöhm purge in Silesia. For that he was admitted to join theNazi Party.[3] In 1935 he rejoined theGerman Army as aRittmeister (captain) and cavalry squadron commander in the 2nd Cavalry Regiment inAngerburg, East Prussia. In 1938, following theAnschluss when Austria became part of Germany, he was transferred to Austria and became detachment commander with the 11th Cavalry Regiment atStockerau near Vienna, being promoted to the rank ofMajor at the same time. World War II found him as the commander of the reconnaissance detachment of the45th Infantry Division in Poland and France.[1]
On active service again in World War II, Pannwitz was awarded "bars" to his previous decorations and in September 1941 was awarded theKnight's Cross of the Iron Cross. He received the Oak Leaves as anOberst (colonel) a year later for successful military leadership, when he was in command of a battle group covering the southern flank in thebattle of Stalingrad. In late November 1941, during the arrival of fresh troops of the6th Panzer Division by train atKotelnikovo, hidden Soviet artillery began shelling the railway station. Pannwitz happened to be at a tank repair workshop on the edge of the town. Realising the danger, he co-opted the maintenance crews as drivers and gunners, and with six battle-worthy panzers attacked the Soviet batteries from the rear. The Soviet guns were destroyed with many casualties, with no losses to the German makeshift tank platoon who all received decorations.[4]
Pannwitz was instrumental in establishing aCossack force, the Cossack Cavalry Brigade, which was formed on 21 April 1943 and soon merged into1st Cossack Cavalry Division under his command. The unit conducted anti-partisan operations inUkraine andBelarus, and was then moved to fight againstYugoslav partisans. During punitive operations in Serbia and Croatia, the Cossack regiments under Pannwitz's command committed a number of atrocities against the civilian population including several mass rapes and routinesummary executions.[5] Even for von Pannwitz these atrocities exceeded what he perceived as normal. Moreover, in his eyes they threatened discipline and military success. Therefore he issued an order dated 20 October 1943, according to which crimes of that kind would result in the death penalty.[6]
At the award ceremony in Berlin, when Pannwitz received the "Oak Leaves" for his Knight's Cross on 15 January 1943, he told Hitler that the official Nazi policies which caused Slavs to be regarded as subhumans (Untermenschen) for strategic reasons were totally wrong.[7]
During the summer of 1944 the two brigades were upgraded to become the1st Cossack Division and 2nd Cossack Cavalry Division. On 25 February 1945 these divisions were combined to becomeXV SS Cossack Cavalry Corps.[8]
Because of the respect he showed for his troops and his tendency to attendRussian Orthodox services with them, Pannwitz was very popular with his Cossack troops. Before the end of the war, he was electedFeldataman (German rendering of SupremeAtaman, the highest rank in the Cossack hierarchy and one that was traditionally reserved for theTsar alone).[9]
By the end of the war, the SS took control of all foreign units within the German forces. The Himmler file in the Imperial War Museum contains a record of a conversation which occurred on 26 August 1944 between Himmler, General von Pannwitz, and his Chief of Staff, Colonel H.-J. von Schultz. An agreement was reached that the Cossack division, soon to be the Cossack Corps, was placed under SS administration in terms of replacements and supplies. Both the German cadre and the Cossack troops were to retain their uniforms and theirWehrmacht or Cossack ranks.[10] For the moment Pannwitz refused to enter the SS, arguing: “I have been in the army since I was fifteen. To leave it now would seem to me like desertion.”[11] Himmler sought to place all Cossack fighting units under von Pannwitz's command.[10] Thus in November 1944 most units were transferred to the Waffen-SS and integrated into the newly formedXV SS Cossack Cavalry Corps.[12] By his own request von Pannwitz was discharged from the army on 10 February 1945 and entered the SS in the rank of SS-Gruppenführer and lieutenant-general of the Waffen-SS the following day.[13]
Pannwitz surrendered on 11 May 1945 to British forces (Eighth Army'sV Corps) nearVölkermarkt inCarinthia,Austria, and tried to ensure that his men would remain in the custody of the Western Allies. By mid-May, however, it was obvious that the Cossacks would be handed over to theSoviet Union. So Pannwitz went with his Men willing to share their fate.
Pannwitz was a German national, and under the provisions of theYalta Conference not subject to repatriation to the Soviet Union. But on 26 May he was deprived of his command and placed under arrest by the British Army while the forcible loading of the Cossacks into trucks began, and continued through the following days. Although many escaped from their camps following these actions, General v. Pannwitz and many of his German officers shared the uncertain fate of the Cossacks, so these Germans surrendered with the Cossacks to Soviet authorities atJudenburg.
At the time still under British authority Helmuth von Pannwitz was informed that he would not be turned over to the Soviets. He is said to have replied " I have been with them (the cossacks) since the beginning, the good and the bad, I will not abandon them now and will share their fate."
To the complete dismay of the British officers, he then made his way towards the Soviet officer in charge and surrendered, knowing full well what would befall him.
Thus, due to his honor and loyalty, the Cossacks anointed Helmuth von Pannwitz "the last knight of Europe"
Pannwitz was executed inMoscow on 16 January 1947, having been convicted by a military tribunal ofwar crimes in theSoviet Union.[1]
Almost fifty years later, on 23 April 1996, during the Russian presidency ofBoris Yeltsin, members of the Pannwitz family petitioned for a posthumous reversal of the 1946 conviction. The Military High Prosecutor in Moscow subsequently determined that Pannwitz was eligible for rehabilitation as a victim of Stalin-era repression. On 28 June 2001, however, rehabilitation was reversed in a ruling that disputed jurisdiction of the 1996 proceedings, and Pannwitz's conviction for military crimes was reinstated.[14]
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