Walter Harzer

Walter Harzer (29 September 1912 – 29 May 1982) was a German SS commander during the Nazi era. He commanded the SS Division Hohenstaufen and SS Polizei Division.

Walter Harzer
Born	29 September 1912
Died	29 May 1982(1982-05-29) (aged 69) Stuttgart
Allegiance	Nazi Germany
Service / branch	Waffen-SS
Rank	SS-Oberführer[1]
Commands	SS Division Hohenstaufen SS Polizei Division
Battles / wars	World War II
Awards	Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross

After the war, Harzer became active in HIAG, a lobby group established by senior Waffen-SS men in 1951 in West Germany. 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 and was assigned to the Sicherheitsdienst and later the SS Division Das Reich. He participated in the invasion of Poland. 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.^[2] As Hohenstaufen was ordered for a refit in the Netherlands, Harzer became its fifth commander, taking over for Friedrich-Wilhelm Bock. On Sunday 17 September 1944, the Allies launched Operation Market Garden and Harzer’s division was engaged in the Battle of Arnhem.^[3][4] Harzer was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross for his actions during these battles.^[5]

In October 1944 Harzer became the Chief of Staff of V SS Mountain Corps^{[citation needed]} 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.^{[citation needed]}

Post-war activities

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.^[6] Harzer died in 1982.

Awards

• 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"^[5]

References

Citations

1. Harzer, Walter (Waffen SS)
2. English: Interviews by Cornelius Ryan with Walter Harzer regarding Operation Market Garden
3. http://stonebooks.com/archives/100404.shtml Review of Bob Gerritsen's and Scott Revell's Retake Arnhem Bridge: An Illustrated History of Kampfgruppe Knaust, September–October 1944. Renkum, Netherlands: R.N. Sigmond, 2010 ISBN 978-90-812703-3-5
4. Himmlers Krieger: Joachim Peiper und die Waffen-SS in Krieg und Nachkriegszeit, von Jens Westermeier, Page 572, Verlag Ferdinand Schöningh GmbH; (11. Dezember 2013), ISBN 978-3506772411
5. Scherzer 2007, p. 369.
6. MacKenzie 2013, pp. 136–137.

Bibliography

• MacKenzie, S.P. (2013). Revolutionary Armies in the Modern Era: A Revisionist Approach. Routledge. ISBN 978-0415867771.
• 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).
• Scherzer, Veit (2007). Die Ritterkreuzträger 1939–1945 Die Inhaber des Ritterkreuzes des Eisernen Kreuzes 1939 von Heer, Luftwaffe, Kriegsmarine, Waffen-SS, Volkssturm sowie mit Deutschland verbündeter Streitkräfte nach den Unterlagen des Bundesarchives [The Knight's Cross Bearers 1939–1945 The Holders of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross 1939 by Army, Air Force, Navy, Waffen-SS, Volkssturm and Allied Forces with Germany According to the Documents of the Federal Archives] (in German). Jena, Germany: Scherzers Militaer-Verlag. ISBN 978-3-938845-17-2.

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