Heinrich Kittel
| Heinrich Kittel | |
|---|---|
Heinrich Kittel
|
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| Born | 31 October 1892 Gerolzhofen |
| Died | 5 March 1969 (aged 76) Ansbach |
| Allegiance |
 German Empire (to 1918) Weimar Republic (to 1933) Nazi Germany
|
| Service/branch | Army |
| Years of service | 1911–45 |
| Rank | Generalleutnant |
| Commands held | 462nd Volksgrenadier Division |
| Battles/wars |
|
| Awards | Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross |
Heinrich Kittel (31 October 1892 – 5 March 1969) was a highly decorated Generalleutnant in the Wehrmacht during World War II. He was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross, awarded to recognise extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership.
Appointed commander of the 462nd Volksgrenadier Division on 8 November 1944, he led it during the Battle of Metz until his wounding in action on 22 November 1944. Made a prisoner of war when the field hospital he was in was overrun by American forces, he was held in captivity until 1947.
According to one review of Soldaten: Secret WWII Transcripts of German POWs by Sönke Neitzel & Harald Welzer, Heinrich Kittel's transcripts (in conversation with another P.O.W.) illustrate his culpable passivity while observing mass executions without intervening at all despite his rank: "Kittel (very excited): 'They seized three-year old children by the hair, held them up and shot them with a pistol and then threw them in. I saw that for myself. One could watch it; the SD [Sicherheitsdienst, the Security Service of the SS] had roped the area off and the people were standing watching from about 300 m. off. The Latvians and the German soldiers were just standing there, looking on'." Kittel, according to the reviewer, ignobly, perhaps criminally, failed to act, despite the [reviewer's] presumption that his high rank could have enabled him to do so.
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