Harry Paletta was a 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...

 (Captain) in the Waffen SS during World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

. He was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross

Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross

The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross was a grade of the 1939 version of the 1813 created Iron Cross . The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross was the highest award of Germany to recognize extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership during World War II...

, which was awarded to recognize extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership by Nazi Germany

Nazi Germany

Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...

 during World War II.

Harry Paletta was born on the 29 August 1922, in Scholastikowo East Prussia

East Prussia

East Prussia is the main part of the region of Prussia along the southeastern Baltic Coast from the 13th century to the end of World War II in May 1945. From 1772–1829 and 1878–1945, the Province of East Prussia was part of the German state of Prussia. The capital city was Königsberg.East Prussia...

.
He volunteered to join the Waffen SS and was posted to the newly formed SS Division Wiking. He took part in Operation Barbarossa

Operation Barbarossa

Operation Barbarossa was the code name for Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union during World War II that began on 22 June 1941. Over 4.5 million troops of the Axis powers invaded the USSR along a front., the largest invasion in the history of warfare...

, the invasion of the Soviet Union

Soviet Union

The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....

 where he was awarded the Iron Cross

Iron Cross

The 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....

. He was also awarded the Wound Badge

Wound Badge

Wound 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...

 when wounded in August 1941 and the Infantry Assault Badge

Infantry Assault Badge

The 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 February 1942.

Harry Paletta was posted to the 105th Sturmgeschütz

Sturmgeschütz

Sturmgeschütz is a German word for "assault gun", usually abbreviated StuG. The vehicle was a leading weapon of the Sturmartillerie, a branch of the German artillery tasked with close fire support of infantry in infantry, panzer, and panzergrenadier units...

 (Assault Gun) Battalion, V SS Mountain Corps

V SS Mountain Corps

V SS Mountain Corps was a Waffen SS, formation at the end of World War II.The Corps fought on the Oder line as part of the 9th Army, in the Frankfurt am Oder area and in the Battle of Berlin that followed...

 in Banat

Banat

The Banat is a geographical and historical region in Central Europe currently divided between three countries: the eastern part lies in western Romania , the western part in northeastern Serbia , and a small...

. It was never more than a battery but maintained the battalion designation. After service in Bosnia, with the 92nd Grenadier Regiment, and a security mission with the corps command post near Mostar

Mostar

Mostar is a city and municipality in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the largest and one of the most important cities in the Herzegovina region and the center of the Herzegovina-Neretva Canton of the Federation. Mostar is situated on the Neretva river and is the fifth-largest city in the country...

, the battalion was assigned to the 7th SS Panzerjäger

Panzerjäger

Panzerjäger was a branch of service of the Wehrmacht during the Second World War which were the anti-tank arm-of-service who operated anti-tank artillery, and made exclusive use of the tank destroyers which were also named Panzerjäger...

 Battalion in September 1944.

Paletta was awarded the Knight's Cross posthumously after being killed in action on the 14 November 1944, during fighting at the Batina

Batina

Batina is a village and port on the right bank of the Danube in the region of Baranja, Croatia, 25 km northeast of Osijek. Its elevation is 105 m. The chief occupation is farming. Administratively, it is located in the Draž municipality within the Osijek-Baranja County.-Geography:Batina is...

 bridgehead in Yugoslavia

Yugoslavia

Yugoslavia refers to three political entities that existed successively on the western part of the Balkans during most of the 20th century....

.

Further reading