August Schmidthuber
Encyclopedia
August Schmidthuber was an SS-Brigadeführer
of the 7th SS Volunteer Mountain Division Prinz Eugen
from 20 January 1944 to 8 May 1945, and the 21st Waffen Mountain Division of the SS Skanderbeg (1st Albanian)
from May 1944 onwards.
, Bavaria
, the son of a minor government official. After finishing basic military training in the Reichswehr
in Ulm
in 1919, he signed up for 12 years military service on 5 May. He was initially assigned to the Schützen Regiment (rifle regiment) Number 42. From 16 June 1919 until the beginning of October, Schmidthuber served with the 9th Company of his regiment and then spent nearly a year in 3 company.
At the same time, beginning in May 1919 to mid-June, he also entered the ranks of the Freikorps
, Major Franz Ritter von Epp. Schmidthuber then transferred to Gebirgs-Jäger-Regiment (mountain hunters) Number 19 and on 1 October 1922 was appointed to the rank of Gefreiter (private). He remained in the regular German army until 4 May 1931, when he left as an Oberfeldwebel (sergeant major).
After leaving the army Schmidthuber worked as a brewer and became active in politics in Bavaria
, joining the Bayerische Volkspartei (Bavarian People's Party). During the presidential elections, he stood for the district of Lindau
but did not win. He then joined the NSDAP and on 16 July 1933 entered into the SA
. In the SA
he was part of the SA Gruppe Hochland and served first as the deputy director of SA schools in the region, and then later also as a director.
In parallel with the educational work in these posts, Schmidthuber was a member of the training command of the SA
. However, on the 17 May 1935 he joined the SS where he was appointed SS Obersturmführer
and immediately attached to the SS-Verfügungstruppe
. Initially he commanded the 7th platoon of SS-1 Standarte and commanded troops there until early February 1936, when he was transferred to the SS Germania Regiment. Here he led the 1st Company until 1 May 1936. On 13 September 1936 Schmidthuber was promoted to SS Hauptsturmführer
and transferred to the regimental staff of SS Germania. He remained there until mid-November 1937, where the company is responsible for training noncommissioned officers, until the end of February 1938.
On 30 January 1939 Schmidthuber was promoted to the rank of SS Sturmbannführer
and put in command of the 1st SS battalion regiment Germania. On 21 June 1941 he was promoted to SS Obersturmbannführer
and a year later he became the commander of the SS-Freiwilligen-Gebirgsjäger-Regiment 14 "Skanderberg" of 7th SS Volunteer Mountain Division Prinz Eugen
.
On 20 April 1943 Schmidthuber was promoted to SS Standartenführer
(Colonel) and from 17 April 1944 until 20 January 1945, served as a commander of the 21st Waffen Mountain Division of the SS Skanderbeg (1st Albanian)
. On 21 June 1944 he was promoted to SS Oberführer
.
With regard to his peace keeping / anti-partisan activities in Kosovo
during the war, the scholar Bernd Fischer noted :
"Schmidthuber of the SS "Skanderbeg" issued orders to increase the burning of villages and killing of people. In keeping with these orders, between 19 September and 23 October 131 NLM prisoners....were shot or hanged in Kosovo."
Following the German evacuation of Albania
Schmidthuber was promoted to SS-Brigadeführer und Generalmajor der Waffen-SS on 20 January 1945 and replaced SS Brigadefuhrer
Otto Kumm
as commander of the remnants of the 7th SS Volunteer Mountain Division Prinz Eugen
to 8 May 1945.
He was executed on February 27, 1947 in Belgrade
by the Communist Yugoslav
government for his role in killing civilians of that country.
Brigadeführer
SS-Brigadeführer was an SS rank that was used in Nazi Germany between the years of 1932 and 1945. Brigadeführer was also an SA rank....
of the 7th SS Volunteer Mountain Division Prinz Eugen
7th SS Volunteer Mountain Division Prinz Eugen
The 7th SS Volunteer Mountain Division Prinz Eugen. was formed on March 1942 from Volksdeutsche volunteers from Vojvodina, Croatia, Hungary and Romania, it was initially called the SS-Freiwilligen-Division Prinz Eugen....
from 20 January 1944 to 8 May 1945, and the 21st Waffen Mountain Division of the SS Skanderbeg (1st Albanian)
21st Waffen Mountain Division of the SS Skanderbeg (1st Albanian)
The 21st Division of the SS Skanderbeg was a Mountain division of the SS set up by Heinrich Himmler in March 1944, officially under the title of the 21. Waffen-Gebirgs Division der SS Skanderbeg...
from May 1944 onwards.
Biography
August Schmidthuber was born in AugsburgAugsburg
Augsburg is a city in the south-west of Bavaria, Germany. It is a university town and home of the Regierungsbezirk Schwaben and the Bezirk Schwaben. Augsburg is an urban district and home to the institutions of the Landkreis Augsburg. It is, as of 2008, the third-largest city in Bavaria with a...
, Bavaria
Bavaria
Bavaria, formally the Free State of Bavaria is a state of Germany, located in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the largest state by area, forming almost 20% of the total land area of Germany...
, the son of a minor government official. After finishing basic military training in the Reichswehr
Reichswehr
The Reichswehr formed the military organisation of Germany from 1919 until 1935, when it was renamed the Wehrmacht ....
in Ulm
Ulm
Ulm is a city in the federal German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the River Danube. The city, whose population is estimated at 120,000 , forms an urban district of its own and is the administrative seat of the Alb-Donau district. Ulm, founded around 850, is rich in history and...
in 1919, he signed up for 12 years military service on 5 May. He was initially assigned to the Schützen Regiment (rifle regiment) Number 42. From 16 June 1919 until the beginning of October, Schmidthuber served with the 9th Company of his regiment and then spent nearly a year in 3 company.
At the same time, beginning in May 1919 to mid-June, he also entered the ranks of the Freikorps
Freikorps
Freikorps are German volunteer military or paramilitary units. The term was originally applied to voluntary armies formed in German lands from the middle of the 18th century onwards. Between World War I and World War II the term was also used for the paramilitary organizations that arose during...
, Major Franz Ritter von Epp. Schmidthuber then transferred to Gebirgs-Jäger-Regiment (mountain hunters) Number 19 and on 1 October 1922 was appointed to the rank of Gefreiter (private). He remained in the regular German army until 4 May 1931, when he left as an Oberfeldwebel (sergeant major).
After leaving the army Schmidthuber worked as a brewer and became active in politics in Bavaria
Bavaria
Bavaria, formally the Free State of Bavaria is a state of Germany, located in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the largest state by area, forming almost 20% of the total land area of Germany...
, joining the Bayerische Volkspartei (Bavarian People's Party). During the presidential elections, he stood for the district of Lindau
Lindau
Lindau is a Bavarian town and an island on the eastern side of Lake Constance, the Bodensee. It is the capital of the Landkreis or rural district of Lindau. The historic city of Lindau is located on an island which is connected with the mainland by bridge and railway.- History :The name Lindau was...
but did not win. He then joined the NSDAP and on 16 July 1933 entered into the SA
SA
-Organizations:* S.A. , a type of corporation in various countries* Salvation Army, a Christian denomination founded by William Booth* Sewickley Academy, a private school in the United States...
. In the SA
SA
-Organizations:* S.A. , a type of corporation in various countries* Salvation Army, a Christian denomination founded by William Booth* Sewickley Academy, a private school in the United States...
he was part of the SA Gruppe Hochland and served first as the deputy director of SA schools in the region, and then later also as a director.
In parallel with the educational work in these posts, Schmidthuber was a member of the training command of the SA
SA
-Organizations:* S.A. , a type of corporation in various countries* Salvation Army, a Christian denomination founded by William Booth* Sewickley Academy, a private school in the United States...
. However, on the 17 May 1935 he joined the SS where he was appointed SS Obersturmführer
Obersturmführer
Obersturmführer was a paramilitary rank of the Nazi party that was used by the SS and also as a rank of the SA. Translated as “Senior Assault Leader”, the rank of Obersturmführer was first created in 1932 as the result of an expansion of the Sturmabteilung and the need for an additional rank in...
and immediately attached to the SS-Verfügungstruppe
SS-Verfügungstruppe
The SS-Verfügungstruppe was formed in 1934 as combat troops for the NSDAP. By 1940 these military SS units had become the nucleus of the Waffen-SS....
. Initially he commanded the 7th platoon of SS-1 Standarte and commanded troops there until early February 1936, when he was transferred to the SS Germania Regiment. Here he led the 1st Company until 1 May 1936. On 13 September 1936 Schmidthuber was promoted to SS Hauptsturmführer
Hauptsturmführer
Hauptsturmführer was a Nazi rank of the SS which was used between the years of 1934 and 1945. The rank of Hauptsturmführer was a mid-grade company level officer and was the equivalent of a Captain in the German Army and also the equivalent of captain in foreign armies...
and transferred to the regimental staff of SS Germania. He remained there until mid-November 1937, where the company is responsible for training noncommissioned officers, until the end of February 1938.
On 30 January 1939 Schmidthuber was promoted to the rank of SS Sturmbannführer
Sturmbannführer
Sturmbannführer was a paramilitary rank of the Nazi Party equivalent to major, used both in the Sturmabteilung and the Schutzstaffel...
and put in command of the 1st SS battalion regiment Germania. On 21 June 1941 he was promoted to SS Obersturmbannführer
Obersturmbannführer
Obersturmbannführer was a paramilitary Nazi Party rank used by both the SA and the SS. It was created in May 1933 to fill the need for an additional field grade officer rank above Sturmbannführer as the SA expanded. It became an SS rank at the same time...
and a year later he became the commander of the SS-Freiwilligen-Gebirgsjäger-Regiment 14 "Skanderberg" of 7th SS Volunteer Mountain Division Prinz Eugen
7th SS Volunteer Mountain Division Prinz Eugen
The 7th SS Volunteer Mountain Division Prinz Eugen. was formed on March 1942 from Volksdeutsche volunteers from Vojvodina, Croatia, Hungary and Romania, it was initially called the SS-Freiwilligen-Division Prinz Eugen....
.
On 20 April 1943 Schmidthuber was promoted to SS Standartenführer
Standartenführer
Standartenführer was a Nazi Party paramilitary rank that was used in the so-called Nazi combat-organisations: SA, SS, NSKK and the NSFK...
(Colonel) and from 17 April 1944 until 20 January 1945, served as a commander of the 21st Waffen Mountain Division of the SS Skanderbeg (1st Albanian)
21st Waffen Mountain Division of the SS Skanderbeg (1st Albanian)
The 21st Division of the SS Skanderbeg was a Mountain division of the SS set up by Heinrich Himmler in March 1944, officially under the title of the 21. Waffen-Gebirgs Division der SS Skanderbeg...
. On 21 June 1944 he was promoted to SS Oberführer
Oberführer
Oberführer was an early paramilitary rank of the Nazi Party dating back to 1921. Translated as “Senior Leader”, an Oberführer was typically a Nazi Party member in charge of a group of paramilitary units in a particular geographical region...
.
With regard to his peace keeping / anti-partisan activities in Kosovo
Kosovo
Kosovo is a region in southeastern Europe. Part of the Ottoman Empire for more than five centuries, later the Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija within Serbia...
during the war, the scholar Bernd Fischer noted :
"Schmidthuber of the SS "Skanderbeg" issued orders to increase the burning of villages and killing of people. In keeping with these orders, between 19 September and 23 October 131 NLM prisoners....were shot or hanged in Kosovo."
Following the German evacuation of Albania
Albania
Albania , officially known as the Republic of Albania , is a country in Southeastern Europe, in the Balkans region. It is bordered by Montenegro to the northwest, Kosovo to the northeast, the Republic of Macedonia to the east and Greece to the south and southeast. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea...
Schmidthuber was promoted to SS-Brigadeführer und Generalmajor der Waffen-SS on 20 January 1945 and replaced SS Brigadefuhrer
Brigadeführer
SS-Brigadeführer was an SS rank that was used in Nazi Germany between the years of 1932 and 1945. Brigadeführer was also an SA rank....
Otto Kumm
Otto Kumm
Otto Kumm, was an SS-Brigadeführer and Generalmajor of the Waffen-SS. He was also a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords...
as commander of the remnants of the 7th SS Volunteer Mountain Division Prinz Eugen
7th SS Volunteer Mountain Division Prinz Eugen
The 7th SS Volunteer Mountain Division Prinz Eugen. was formed on March 1942 from Volksdeutsche volunteers from Vojvodina, Croatia, Hungary and Romania, it was initially called the SS-Freiwilligen-Division Prinz Eugen....
to 8 May 1945.
He was executed on February 27, 1947 in Belgrade
Belgrade
Belgrade is the capital and largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers, where the Pannonian Plain meets the Balkans. According to official results of Census 2011, the city has a population of 1,639,121. It is one of the 15 largest cities in Europe...
by the Communist Yugoslav
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was the Yugoslav state that existed from the abolition of the Yugoslav monarchy until it was dissolved in 1992 amid the Yugoslav Wars. It was a socialist state and a federation made up of six socialist republics: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia,...
government for his role in killing civilians of that country.
Nuremberg Trial
Friday, 30 August 1946:
I will remind you as well of the deposition given by the SS Major General August Schmidthuber, describing how, on the order of the commander of the 1st SS Battalion, SS-HauptsturmführerHauptsturmführerHauptsturmführer was a Nazi rank of the SS which was used between the years of 1934 and 1945. The rank of Hauptsturmführer was a mid-grade company level officer and was the equivalent of a Captain in the German Army and also the equivalent of captain in foreign armies...
Richard Kaaserer, peaceful citizens were locked up in a church in Krivaya Reka, and then the church building was blown up.
Dates of rank
- Gefreiter - October 1, 1922
- Unteroffizier - November 1, 1923
- Unterfeldwebel - April 1, 1926
- Oberfeldwebel - November 1, 1926
- SS-ObersturmführerObersturmführerObersturmführer was a paramilitary rank of the Nazi party that was used by the SS and also as a rank of the SA. Translated as “Senior Assault Leader”, the rank of Obersturmführer was first created in 1932 as the result of an expansion of the Sturmabteilung and the need for an additional rank in...
- May 17, 1935 - SS-HauptsturmführerHauptsturmführerHauptsturmführer was a Nazi rank of the SS which was used between the years of 1934 and 1945. The rank of Hauptsturmführer was a mid-grade company level officer and was the equivalent of a Captain in the German Army and also the equivalent of captain in foreign armies...
- September 3, 1936 - SS-SturmbannführerSturmbannführerSturmbannführer was a paramilitary rank of the Nazi Party equivalent to major, used both in the Sturmabteilung and the Schutzstaffel...
- January 30, 1939 - SS-ObersturmbannführerObersturmbannführerObersturmbannführer was a paramilitary Nazi Party rank used by both the SA and the SS. It was created in May 1933 to fill the need for an additional field grade officer rank above Sturmbannführer as the SA expanded. It became an SS rank at the same time...
- June 21, 1941 - SS-StandartenführerStandartenführerStandartenführer was a Nazi Party paramilitary rank that was used in the so-called Nazi combat-organisations: SA, SS, NSKK and the NSFK...
- April 20, 1943 - SS-OberführerOberführerOberführer was an early paramilitary rank of the Nazi Party dating back to 1921. Translated as “Senior Leader”, an Oberführer was typically a Nazi Party member in charge of a group of paramilitary units in a particular geographical region...
- June 21, 1944 - SS-BrigadeführerBrigadeführerSS-Brigadeführer was an SS rank that was used in Nazi Germany between the years of 1932 and 1945. Brigadeführer was also an SA rank....
und Generalmajor der Waffen-SS - January 30, 1945
Notable decorations
- German CrossGerman CrossThe German Cross was instituted by Adolf Hitler on 17 November 1941 as an award ranking higher than the Iron Cross First Class but below the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross respectively ranking higher than the War Merit Cross First Class with Swords but below the Knight's Cross of the War Merit...
in Gold - August 3, 1943 - Eastern Front MedalEastern Front MedalThe Eastern Front Medal, , more commonly known as the Ostmedaille was instituted on May 26, 1942 to mark service on the German Eastern Front during the period November 15, 1941 to April 15, 1942...
- ? - Iron CrossIron CrossThe Iron Cross is a cross symbol typically in black with a white or silver outline that originated after 1219 when the Kingdom of Jerusalem granted the Teutonic Order the right to combine the Teutonic Black Cross placed above a silver Cross of Jerusalem....
Second Class - October 4, 1939 - Iron CrossIron CrossThe Iron Cross is a cross symbol typically in black with a white or silver outline that originated after 1219 when the Kingdom of Jerusalem granted the Teutonic Order the right to combine the Teutonic Black Cross placed above a silver Cross of Jerusalem....
First Class - November 11, 1939 - Sport Badge of SA in Gold (?)
- Wound BadgeWound BadgeWound Badge was a German military award for wounded or frost-bitten soldiers of Imperial German Army in World War I, the Reichswehr between the wars, and the Wehrmacht, SS and the auxiliary service organizations during the Second World War. After March 1943, due to the increasing number of Allied...
in Black (?) - Infantry Assault BadgeInfantry Assault BadgeThe Infantry Assault Badge was a German war badge awarded to Waffen SS and Wehrmacht Heer soldiers during WWII. This decoration was instituted on December 20th 1939 by the Oberstbefehlshaber des Heeres, Generalfeldmarschall von Brauchitsch...
in silver(?)
Literature
- History of the United Nations War Crimes Commission and the Development of the Laws of War p. 528, United Nations War Crimes Commission, London: HMSO, 1948
- Bernd Jürgen FischerBernd Jürgen FischerBernd Jürgen Fischer is historian and professor of history at Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne. He received his Ph.D. in 1982 from the University of California, Santa Barbara. He was elected to the Albanian Academy of Science in 2006 and in 2007, he was appointed to position of...
, Albania at War, 1939-1945 (Purdue University Press, West Lafayette 1999), ISBN 1-55753-141-2. - Bernhard Kühmel, "Deutschland und Albanien, 1943-1944: Die Auswirkungen der Besetzung und innenpolitsiche Entwicklung des Landes." PhD. diss., University of Bochum, 1981.
- Georg H. Stein, The Waffen-SS. Hitler's Elite Guard at War (Cornell University Press, Ithaca 1966). ISBN 0-8014-9275-0
- Axishistory.com
- Sweb.cz