Karl Nicolussi-Leck

Karl Nicolussi-Leck
File:Lecht 5ss.jpg
Nickname(s)	Nico
Born	14 March 1917 Vadena, Tyrol
Died	31 August 2008 (2008-09-01) (aged 91) Bolzano, South Tyrol
Allegiance	Nazi Germany
Service/branch	Waffen-SS
Years of service	1940–45
Rank	Hauptsturmführer
Unit	SS Division Das Reich 5th SS Panzer Division Wiking
Battles/wars	World War II
Awards	Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross German Cross in Gold Iron Cross 1st Class Iron Cross 2nd Class Panzer Badge in Silver Wound Badge in Silver Tank Destruction Badge x 2
Other work	Honorary President of the South Tyrolean Center for Education

Karl Nicolussi-Leck (14 March 1917 – 31 August 2008) was a Hauptsturmführer (Captain) in the Waffen-SS during World War II who was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross.

Early life

Karl Nicolussi-Leck was born on the 14 March 1917, in Vadena in South Tyrol (Italy).

World War II

Nicolussi-Leck volunteered to join the Waffen SS (SS number 423.876) on April 10, 1940. He was posted to the SS Standarte Deutschland in the SS-VT. He took part in Operation Marita, the invasion of the Balkans.

Nicolussi-Leck was transferred to the SS Der Führer Regiment, SS Division Das Reich for Operation Barbarossa, the invasion of the Soviet Union. He graduated from an officer training course in April 1942 and was placed in command of a platoon in the SS Panzer Division Wiking. He was awarded the Iron Cross 2nd class during the Battle of Rostov and shortly after the 1st class award in the advance north of the Kuban River.

Nicolussi-Leck was awarded the Knight's Cross during the Battle of Kovel, in the Pripet Marshes while in command of a Kampfgruppe, newly equipped with Panther tanks, along with the III. Battalion, SS Panzer Grenadier Regiment Germania, newly equipped and up to strength, which had just arrived at the front from Germany.

Post war

After the war Karl Nicolussi-Leck helped many SS personnel leave Europe for South America. In 1948 he immigrated to Argentina, but he returned in the early 50's to the South Tyrol, where he worked as an entrepreneur for Mannesmann. He was the founder of the South Tyrolean Center for Education, the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Bolzano and the University Claudiana.

Karl Nicolussi-Leck died on the August 31st, 2008 in Bozen, South Tyrol.

Further reading

• Hamilton Charles Leaders and Personalities of the Third Reich, R James Bender Pub 1997, ISBN 0-912138-27-0
• Kurowski Franz Panzer Aces II Stackpole Books, 2004, ISBN 0-8117-3175-8
• Gerald Steinacher, Nazis on the run. How Hitler's Henchmen Fled Justice. Oxford University Press 2011. ISBN 0-19-957686-6
• Guerra, N (2012) I volontari italiani nelle Waffen-SS. Il pensiero politico, la formazione culturale e le motivazioni al volontariato. Una storia orale. Annales Universitatis Turkuensis, Turku. ISBN 978-951-29-5221-2 (http://www.academia.edu/2099177/I_volontari_italiani_nelle_Waffen-SS._Il_pensiero_politico_la_formazione_culturale_e_le_motivazioni_al_volontariato._Una_storia_orale).