Karl-Gustav Sauberzweig

Karl-Gustav Sauberzweig
Karl-Gustav Sauberzweig as a SS-Oberführer
Nickname(s)	Schnellchen (Speedy)
Born	1 September 1899 Wissek, Province of Posen, Kingdom of Prussia, German Empire now Wysoka, Greater Poland Voivodeship, Poland
Died	20 October 1946(1946-10-20) (aged 47) Neuengamme concentration camp near Hamburg, Allied-occupied Germany
Allegiance	German Empire (to 1918)  Weimar Republic (to 1933)  Nazi Germany
Service/branch	Waffen-SS
Years of service	1917–1945
Rank	Gruppenführer and Generalleutnant of the Waffen SS
Unit	13th Waffen Mountain Division of the SS Handschar (1st Croatian)
Battles/wars	World War I World War II
Awards	Iron Cross I Class

Karl-Gustav Sauberzweig (1 September 1899 – 20 October 1946) was a German Army Oberst (Colonel) who transferred to the Waffen-SS during World War II and commanded the 13th Waffen Mountain Division of the SS Handschar (1st Croatian) in 1943–1944, and the IX Waffen Mountain Corps of the SS (Croatian) in 1944–1945, reaching the rank of Gruppenführer and Generalleutnant of the Waffen SS. He returned to the Wehrmacht in January 1945 and was appointed as a Generalleutnant to command a corps within Army Group H in northern Germany. Sauberzweig was a bespectacled Prussian career army officer who had earned an Iron Cross I Class and commanded an infantry company in his late teens during World War I. He was fluent in Spanish and worked in signals in the Wehrmacht during the interwar period.

Born in Wissek (Wysoka), Province of Posen, to Dr. Joachim Sauberzweig and educated in Bromberg, Karl-Gustav Sauberzweig entered the army on 28 September 1916 as an officer-cadet (Fahnenjunker). He was assigned to the second branch Brandenburg Grenadier Regiment Prinz Karl von Preußen (Prince Charles of Prussia) No. 12. On 17 May 1917 he was promoted to ensign and again on 25 August he was promoted to Leutnant ohne Patent (lieutenant without Commission). By November 1918 he was serving in the 2nd Brandenburg Grenadier Regiment Prinz Karl von Preußen (Prince Charles of Prussia) No. 12. as a company commander. In 1918 he was wounded and was awarded the wound badge in black (Verwundetenabzeichen in Schwarz) and subsequently the Iron Cross. In May 1919 he was accepted as a Leutnant (lieutenant) in the Reichsheer. His Commission was dated 1 October 1917 to 1 July 1922. He was then appointed as aide-de-camp to the Army 54th Infantry Regiment In early February 1920 Sauberzweig was transferred to the Army 10th Infantry Regiment.