Hermann Hoth
| Hermann Hoth | |
|---|---|
Hermann Hoth in June 1941
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| Nickname(s) | "Papa Hoth" |
| Born | 12 April 1885 |
| Died | 25 January 1971 (aged 85) |
| Allegiance | |
| Years of service | 1903–45 |
| Rank | Generaloberst |
| Commands held | |
| Battles/wars | |
| Awards | Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords |
Hermann Hoth (12 April 1885 – 25 January 1971) was a German army commander and war criminal during World War II. He fought in the Battle of France and as a panzer commander on the Eastern Front. Hoth commanded the 3rd Panzer Group during Operation Barbarossa in 1941, and the 4th Panzer Army during the Wehrmacht's 1942 summer offensive.
Following the encirclement of the 6th Army in the Battle of Stalingrad in November 1942, Hoth's panzer army unsuccessfully attempted to relieve it during Operation Winter Storm. After Stalingrad, Hoth was involved in the Third Battle of Kharkov, the Battle of Kursk in the summer of 1943 and the Battle of Kiev.
Hoth implemented the criminal Commissar Order during the invasion of the Soviet Union. After the war, Hoth was convicted of war crimes and crimes against humanity in the High Command trial and sentenced to 15 years. He was released on parole in 1954.
Born in 1885, Hoth joined the army in 1903 and was awarded both classes of the Iron Cross during World War I. He remained in the Reichswehr (the armed forces of the Weimar Republic) in the interwar period. Following the reorganization of the German military into the Wehrmacht in 1935, he was appointed to command the 18th Infantry Division.
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