Otto Remer

Otto Ernst Remer
Otto Ernst Remer in 1945
Born	(1912-08-18)18 August 1912
Died	4 October 1997(1997-10-04) (aged 85)
Allegiance	Nazi Germany
Service/branch	Wehrmacht
Years of service	1932–45
Rank	Generalmajor
Unit	4th Panzer Division
Commands held	Infantry Regiment Grossdeutschland 1st Battalion
Battles/wars	World War II
Awards	Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves

Otto-Ernst Remer (18 August 1912 – 4 October 1997) was a German Wehrmacht officer who played a decisive role in stopping the 20 July plot of 1944 against Adolf Hitler. During the war he was wounded nine times in combat. After the war he co-founded the Sozialistische Reichspartei (SRP) and advanced Holocaust denial. He is considered the "Godfather" of the post-war Nazi underground.

Born in 1912, Remer attended a military academy and was commissioned as an officer in 1932 at the age of 20. He took part in the invasion of Poland in 1939, the Balkans Campaign and Operation Barbarossa, the invasion of the Soviet Union. By April 1942, he was a battalion commander, and he joined the Infantry Regiment Großdeutschland. In February 1943, he commanded a battalion in the Großdeutschland Division (GD), after the Infantry Regiment GD was reformed into a division. His troops covered the withdrawal of an Waffen-SS tank corps during the Third Battle of Kharkov. He was awarded the Knight's Cross for his service as battalion commander, and in November 1943, he was awarded the Oak leaves to the Knight's Cross, which was presented by Adolf Hitler personally.

In March 1944, Remer was appointed commander of the Infantry Regiment Großdeutschland. On 20 July 1944, an explosion took place at Adolf Hitler's army headquarters, "Wolf's Lair", in East Prussia. Otto Ernst Remer first heard of it through members of the Nazi Party and waited for official word of Hitler's fate. Remer and his unit successfully stopped the 20 July plot to seize control of the German government, following an assassination attempt on Hitler.