Dietrich Kraiß

Dietrich Kraiss
Kraiss during World War II
Born	16 November 1889 Stuttgart, Germany
Died	6 August 1944 (1944-08-07) (aged 54) near Saint-Lô, France
Allegiance	German Empire (to 1918) Weimar Republic (to 1933) Nazi Germany
Service/branch	Heer
Years of service	1909–1944
Rank	Generalleutnant
Battles/wars	World War I World War II
Awards	Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves

Dietrich Kraiss (16 November 1889 – 6 August 1944) was a German Generalleutnant during World War II, awarded the German Cross in Gold and the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves.

Kraiss was born in Stuttgart. He was a commander of the 90th Infantry Regiment (from September 1939 to March 1941), 168th Infantry Division (from July 1941 to March 1943) and 355th Infantry Division until May 1943. In November 1943 he took command of the 352nd Infantry Division which was in 1944, with six other divisions, located in Normandy in front of the Allied invasion. His 352nd Infantry Division had 7,400 soldiers and kept defensive positions around St. Lô. He eventually died on August 6, 1944 of injuries sustained 2 days earlier.

Awards and decorations

• Iron Cross (1914)
  • 2nd Class (18 September 1914)
  • 1st Class (7 June 1915)
• Wound Badge (1914)
  • in Black
• Knight's Cross of the Royal House Order of Hohenzollern with Swords (9 October 1918)
• Knight's Cross of the Militärverdienstorden (21 June 1915)
• Knight's Cross Second Class of the Order of the Zähringer Lion with Swords (15 September 1914)
• Sudetenland Medal
• Iron Cross (1939)
  • 2nd Class (18 September 1939)
  • 1st Class (3 October 1939)
• Eastern Front Medal
• German Cross
• Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves
  • Knight's Cross on 23 July 1942 as Generalmajor and commander of 168. Infanterie-Division
  • 549th Oak Leaves on 11 August 1944 as Generalleutnant and commander of 352. Infanterie-Division
• Mentioned in the Wehrmachtbericht (11 June 1944)

References

• Fellgiebel, Walther-Peer (2000). Die Träger des Ritterkreuzes des Eisernen Kreuzes 1939-1945. Friedburg, Germany: Podzun-Pallas. ISBN 3-7909-0284-5.
• Patzwall, Klaus D. and Scherzer, Veit (2001). Das Deutsche Kreuz 1941 - 1945 Geschichte und Inhaber Band II. Norderstedt, Germany: Verlag Klaus D. Patzwall. ISBN 3-931533-45-X.
• Scherzer, Veit (2007). Ritterkreuzträger 1939–1945 Die Inhaber des Ritterkreuzes des Eisernen Kreuzes 1939 von Heer, Luftwaffe, Kriegsmarine, Waffen-SS, Volkssturm sowie mit Deutschland verbündeter Streitkräfte nach den Unterlagen des Bundesarchives (in German). Jena, Germany: Scherzers Miltaer-Verlag. ISBN 978-3-938845-17-2.

External links

Media related to Dietrich Kraiss at Wikimedia Commons