Fritz Knoechlein

Infobox Military Person
name= Fritz Knöchlein
lived=birth date|1911|5|27|df=y — death date and age|1949|1|21|1911|5|27|df=y


caption=
placeofbirth=München
placeofdeath=Hamburg (Executed)
nickname=
allegiance=flagicon|Nazi Germany Nazi Germany
branch=
serviceyears=1934-1945
rank=SS-Obersturmbannführer
commands=3rd SS Division Totenkopf
16th SS Panzergrenadier Division Reichsführer-SS
unit=
battles=World War II
awards=Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross
German Cross in Gold
EK I
EK II
laterwork=

Fritz Knöchlein (May 27, 1911 in Munich - January 21, 1949) was a SS Obersturmbannführer during the Second World War who was subsequently convicted and executed for war crimes.

Biography

Fritz Knöchlein joined the SS in 1934. Upon the formation of the 3rd SS Division ("Totenkopf") (then organized as a motorized infantry division) at the SS training area near Dachau [Mitcham, Samuel W., Jr. "Hitler's Legions: The German Army Order of Battle, World War II."] he was promoted to the rank of "Hauptsturmführer" and appointed to the command of No. 3 "Kompanie", I. "Abteilung" (of which he was also the deputy commander), 2. Regiment ("Brandenberg") of the "Totenkopf" Division and fought as part of the division during the Battle of France in May-June 1940. ["Ritterkreuzträger Fritz Knöchlein," http://www.ritterkreuztraeger-1939-45.de/Waffen-SS/K/Knoechlein-Fritz.htm]

Massacre

It was in his capacity as a company commander that he gained notoriety, being responsible for the 27 May 1940 of British prisoners-of-war at Le Paradis in the Pas-de-Calais. Ninety-nine members of the 2nd Battalion of the Royal Norfolk Regiment who had surrendered to his unit in a cattle shed were stood in front of the barn wall, and Knöchlein ordered two machine-guns turned on them, followed by bayoneting and shooting any apparent survivors. Two of the prisoners, privates Albert Pooley and William O'Callaghan, managed to escape the , but the remaining 97 were hastily buried along the barn wall.

In 1942, the bodies were exhumed by the French authorities and reburied in a local cemetery which eventually became the [http://www.cwgc.org/search/cemetery_details.aspx?cemetery=2027400&mode=1 Le Paradis War Cemetery] . During this time, Albert Pooley made it a personal mission to hunt down Knöchlein and bring him up on charges of war crimes after the war.

Eastern Front

After the French campaign Knöchlein was appointed commander of 5. "Kompanie", and to command of an antiaircraft artillery battery in the "Totenkopf" Division flak battalion. He served in this capacity on the Russian Front until the summer of 1942, when he was promoted to "Sturmbannführer", and appointed commander of the I. "Abteilung" of the 3. Regiment, "Totenkopf" Division. In October 1943 he became commander of I. "Abteilung", No. 36 Regiment, of the newly formed 16th SS Panzer Grenadier Division ("Reichsführer-SS"). He was promoted to "Obersturmbannführer" and appointed commander of a Norwegian SS volunteer unit, the No. 23 Panzergrenadier Regiment ("Norge") of the 11th SS Volunteer Panzergrenadier Division ("Nordland") from March 14, 1944 to January 1, 1945. ["SS-Panzergrenadier-Regiment 23 'Norge'," http://www.lexikon-der-wehrmacht.de/Gliederungen/PanzergrenadierregimenterSS/PGRSS23.htm] Knöchlein received the following decorations during the war: the Iron Cross First and Second Class; the German Cross in Gold (15 November 1942) [Patzwall] , and the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross (November 1944). ["Ritterkreuzträger Fritz Knöchlein," http://www.ritterkreuztraeger-1939-45.de/Waffen-SS/K/Knoechlein-Fritz.htm]

Trial

In August of 1948, he was formally arraigned on charges of war crimes, to which he pleaded not guilty.

:"The accused Fritz Knochlein, a German national, in the charge of the Hamburg Garrison Unit, pursuant to Regulation 4 of the Regulations for the Trial of War Criminals, is charged with committing a war crime in that he in the vicinity of Paradis, Pas-de-Calais, France, on or about 27 May 1940, in violation of the laws and usages of war, was concerned in the killing of about ninety prisoners-of-war, members of The Royal Norfolk Regiment and other British Units."

His trial began in No. 5 Court of the Curiohaus, Rotherbaum, on Monday 11 October 1948 - and both Albert Pooley and William O'Callaghan were called to testify against him. Knöchlein's defence attorney, Dr. Uhde, claimed that Knöchlein had not been present on the day of the battle, and challenged that the British forces had used illegal dumdum bullets during the battle. Upon being found guilty, Knöchlein applied for clemency, arguing that he had a wife and four children that depended on him, but was sentenced to be hanged, a verdict that was carried out on January 28, 1949.

ummary of his military career

Dates of rank

*SS-Obersturmführer - 1940
*SS-Hauptsturmführer - ?
*SS-Sturmbannführer - 1942
*SS-Obersturmbannführer - March 14, 1944

Notable decorations

*Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross - November 16, 1944
*German Cross in Gold - November 15, 1942
*Iron Cross of First Class
*Iron Cross of Second Class

References

* Patzwall, Klaus D. and Scherzer, Veit. "Das Deutsche Kreuz 1941 - 1945 Geschichte und Inhaber Band II". Norderstedt, Germany: Verlag Klaus D. Patzwall, 2001. ISBN 3-931533-45-X.

External links

* [http://www.stephen-stratford.co.uk/pooleys_revenge.htm "Private Pooley's Revenge", an article about the trial, with a photograph of Albert Pooley and William O'Callaghan]