Walter Harzer

Walter Harzer
Born	29 September 1912 Stuttgart-Feuerbach
Died	Stuttgart
Allegiance	Weimar Republic (to 1933) Nazi Germany
Service/branch	Waffen-SS
Years of service	1931–45
Rank	Oberführer (Senior Colonel)
Unit	SS-Standarte Deutschland
Commands held	9.SS-Panzer-Division Hohenstaufen 4.SS-Polizei-Panzergrenadier-Division
Battles/wars	World War II
Awards	Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross

SS-Oberführer (Senior Colonel) Walter Harzer (September 29, 1912 – May 29, 1982) was a German Waffen-SS officer who served in the SS-Standarte Deutschland and later commanded the 9.SS-Panzer-Division Hohenstaufen and 4.SS-Polizei-Panzergrenadier-Division. He was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross, which was awarded to recognize extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership by Nazi Germany. After the war, he became active in the veteran's association HIAG.

Early Life - Pre-War SS Service

Walter Harzer was born in Stuttgart-Feuerbach on 29 September 1912. In spring 1933, Walter joined Politische Bereitschaft (SS Political Readiness Detachment) in Württemberg and in October 1933 also the German Army. He was assigned to the 13th Württemburgisches Infantry Regiment, eventually reaching the rank of Gefreiter (Private). In March 1934 the 23-year-old Harzer joined SS-Verfügungstruppe, graduating from the new SS-Junkerschule at Bad Tölz in 1936. After his graduation he was assigned to the SD-Hauptamt and later the SS-Standarte Deutschland.

Early World War II

With Deutschland, Harzer participated in the invasion of Poland and was awarded the Iron Cross II Class. On 1 November 1939 Harzer was transferred as a Tactics Instructor to the SS-Junkerschule Braunschweig and later to the SS-Unterführerschule Radolfzell. He remained instructor until 12 June 1941 when he was assigned as a commander to the II./SS-Infanterie-Regiment 4. It was with this unit Harzer received the Iron Cross I Class. From mid-1942 until April 1943 Walter served as a staff officer first with the LVII.Panzerkorps and later, after completing the General Staff Course, with the SS-Panzergrenadier-Division 10, later renamed the 10th SS Panzer Division Frundsberg.

Hohenstaufen

On 10 April 1943, Harzer was assigned to the SS-Panzergrenadier-Division 9 (from 23 October 1943 the 9.SS-Panzer-Division Hohenstaufen). He remained with the division for 19 months and saw it to become a fully equipped Panzer Division. Under his command, the division participated in relief attack on Tarnopol and later took part in the Allied attacks on Caen. On 19 August 1944, Harzer was decorated with the German Cross in Gold for his exemplary leadership during the operations in Normandy.

As Hohenstaufen was ordered for a refit in the Netherlands, Walter Harzer became its fifth commander, taking over for SS-Oberführer Friedrich-Wilhelm Bock. The division reached Arnhem on 9 September 1944, where it handed over most of its vehicles and heavy equipment to Frundsberg in preparation for a move to Germany for refitting. However, on Sunday 17 September 1944, the Allies launched Operation Market Garden. Harzer’s division was engaged in the Battle of Arnhem, and played a key role in preventing the main body of the British 1st Airborne Division from linking up with the small force under Lt-Colonel John Frost at Arnhem Road Bridge, thus preventing them from securing a bridgehead across the Rhine. Under Harzer's command the division then played a major part in the near destruction of the 1st Airborne at Oosterbeek, an achievement for which Harzer was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross.

End of war & postwar

On 10 October 1944 Harzer left Hohenstaufen and went on to become 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 near Wittenberge-Lenzen on 8 May 1945.

After the war Harzer worked as an official historian for HIAG, 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 after a heart failure in Stuttgart hospital on 29 May 1982.

Personal life

• Harzer got married on 21 December 1941 and had one child.
• His brother was NSKK-Oberführer Fritz Harzer.

Summary of SS career

Dates of rank

• SS-Anwärter: 1 November 1931
• SS-Mann: 22 February 1932
• SS-Rottenführer: 25 August 1933
• SS-Unterscharführer: 10 December 1933
• Gefreiter: 1933
• SS-Scharführer: 1 July 1934
• SS-Oberscharführer: 23 December 1934
• SS-Junker: 25 April 1935
• SS-Untersturmführer: 5 May 1936
• SS-Unterscharführer- demoted: 4 November 1936
• SS-Untersturmführer: 29 September 1937
• SS-Obersturmführer: 30 January 1939
• SS-Hauptsturmführer: 16 May 1940
• SS-Sturmbannführer: 20 April 1943
• SS-Obersturmbannführer: 30 January 1944
• SS-Standartenführer: 30 November 1944
• SS-Oberführer: 20 April 1945

Awards and decorations

• SS-Honour Ring (?)
• Sudetenland Medal (?) with Prague Castle bar (?)
• Anschluss Medal (?)
• Waffen-SS Long Service Award (?)
• NSDAP Long Service Award in Bronze(?)
• Iron Cross (1939)
  • 2nd Class (29 September 1939)
  • 1st Class (26 October 1941)
• Infantry Assault Badge (25 February 1942)
• Eastern Front Medal (15 August 1942)
• German Cross in Gold (19 August 1944)
• Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 21 September 1944 as SS-Obersturmbannführer and Ia (operations officer) of the 9. SS-Panzer-Division "Hohenstaufen"

Sources

• 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), ISBN 0-684-80330-5, ISBN 978-0-684-80330-2).
• The SS: Hitler's Instrument of Terror: The Full Story From Street Fighters to the Waffen-SS by Gordon Williamson (Motorbooks International, (March 1994), ISBN 0-87938-905-2, ISBN 978-0-87938-905-5).
• The Waffen-SS (2): 6. to 10. Divisions (Men-at-Arms) by Gordon Williamson (Osprey Publishing (25 March 2004), ISBN 1-84176-590-2, ISBN 978-1-84176-590-7).

Military offices
Preceded by SS-Oberführer Friedrich-Wilhelm Bock	Commander of 9th SS Panzer Division Hohenstaufen 29 August 1944 – 10 October 1944	Succeeded by SS-Brigadeführer Sylvester Stadler
Preceded by SS-Brigadeführer Fritz Schmedes	Commander of 4th SS Polizei Division 27 November 1944 – March 1945	Succeeded by SS-Standartenführer Fritz Göhler
Preceded by SS-Standartenführer Fritz Göhler	Commander of 4th SS Polizei Division March 1945 – 8 May 1945	Succeeded by none