Dietrich von Saucken

Dietrich von Saucken
Dietrich von Saucken
Born	(1892-05-16)16 May 1892 Fischhausen, East Prussia
Died	27 September 1980(1980-09-27) (aged 88) Pullach
Buried at	Waldfriedhof Solln, grave Nr. 17-1-125
Allegiance	German Empire (to 1918) Weimar Republic (to 1933) Nazi Germany
Years of service	1910 – 1945
Rank	General der Panzertruppe
Commands held	4th Panzer Division Second Army AOK Ostpreußen
Battles/wars	World War I World War II
Awards	House Order of Hohenzollern Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes mit dem Eichenlaub mit Schwertern und Brillanten

Friedrich Wilhelm Eduard Kasimir Dietrich von Saucken (16 May 1892 – 27 September 1980) was a general in the German army, the Wehrmacht Heer, during World War II. He was the last of just 27 men to be awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves, Swords and Diamonds (German: Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes mit Eichenlaub, Schwertern und Brillanten; Germany awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross and its higher grade, that with Oak Leaves, Swords and Diamonds, during World War II to recognise extreme bravery or successful leadership on the battlefield).

Biography

Born in Fischhausen, East Prussia, Saucken joined the German Army as a Fahnenjunker (ensign) in 1910 and was commissioned a second lieutenant on June 19, 1912. After the First World War, he served as a colonel in the pre-war Wehrmacht and was promoted to major general on January 1, 1942. Appointed to command the 4th Panzer Division at the end of 1941, he later served as commandant of the German School for Mobile Troops (Schule für Schnelle Truppen).

In late June, 1944, as deputy commander of the III Panzer Corps on the Eastern Front, Saucken formed an ad hoc unit known as "Group von Saucken" from the remnants of several units that had been smashed in the Soviet assault on Army Group Centre. This grouping (later designated the XXXIX Panzer Corps) attempted to defend the occupied city of Minsk and temporarily maintained an escape route across the Berezina River for retreating German soldiers in the face of overwhelmingly superior Soviet forces.

Tsentral-prison in Oryol

In the last months of the war, Saucken led the Second Army in its defence of East and West Prussia, ordering the surrender of his army one day after the unconditional surrender of all German forces on May 8, 1945. After surrendering on the Hel Peninsula, Saucken went into Soviet captivity. Initially he was imprisoned in the Lubyanka Building before he was transferred to the Tsentral-prison in Oryol. His captors sentenced him to 25 years' hard labour, later commuted to 30 months.^{[citation needed]}

Saucken was the last German officer to receive the Knight's Cross with Oakleaves, Swords, and Diamonds during the Second World War. His oldest son, Leutnant Hans-Erich von Saucken (born on May 29, 1924), was killed in action on May 30, 1944, in Romania. Saucken was released from Soviet captivity in 1955. He died near Munich, Germany, in 1980.

Character traits

A cavalry officer who regularly wore both a sword and a monocle, Saucken personified the archetypal aristocratic Prussian conservative who despised the braune Bande ("brown mob") of Nazis. When he was ordered to take command of the Second Army on March 12, 1945, he came to Hitler's headquarters with

his left hand resting casually on his cavalry sabre, his monocle in his eye, . . . [and then] saluted and gave a slight bow. This was three 'outrages' at once. He had not given the Nazi salute with raised arm and the words 'Heil Hitler', as had been regulation since 20 July 1944, he had not surrendered his weapon on entering....and had kept his monocle in his eye when saluting Hitler.

When Hitler told him that he must take his orders from Albert Forster, the Gauleiter (Nazi governor, or "District Leader") of Danzig, Saucken

returned Hitler's gaze....and striking the marble slab of the map table with the flat of his hand, he replied 'I have no intention, Herr Hitler, of placing myself under the orders of a Gauleiter'. In doing this he had bluntly contradicted Hitler and not addressed him as Mein Führer.

To the surprise of everyone who was present, Hitler capitulated and replied "All right, Saucken, keep the command yourself." Hitler dismissed the General without shaking his hand and Saucken left the room with only the merest hint of a bow.

Awards

• Iron Cross (1914)
  • 2nd Class (19 October 1914)
  • 1st Class (23 May 1916)
• House Order of Hohenzollern
• Austrian Military Merit Cross (3rd Class)
• Bavarian Military Merit Cross (3rd Class)
• Panzer Badge in Silver (3rd Class)
• War Merit Cross with Swords
• Wound Badge in Gold (1914 and 1939)
• Clasp to the Iron Cross (1939)
  • 2nd Class (13 September 1939)
  • 1st Class (3 October 1939)
• Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves, Swords and Diamonds
  • Knight's Cross on 6 January 1942 as Generalmajor and leader of the 4. Panzer-Division
  • 281st Oak Leaves on 22 August 1943 as Generalleutnant and commander of the 4. Panzer-Division
  • 46th Swords on 31 January 1944 as Generalleutnant and commander of the 4. Panzer-Division
  • 27th Diamonds on 8 May 1945 as General der Panzertruppe and commander in chief of AOK Ostpreußen
• Mentioned three times in the Wehrmachtbericht (3 December 1943; 5 July 1944; 9 May 1945)

Wehrmachtbericht references

Date	Original German Wehrmachtbericht wording	Direct English translation
3 December 1943	Im Mittelabschnitt war der Druck des Feindes gegen unsere Stellungen im Raum von Gomel schwächer. In den zähen und erbitterten Abwehrkämpfen der vergangenen Tage haben hier die main-frankische 4. Panzerdivision unter Generalleutnant von Saucken und die bayerische 296. Infanteriedivision unter Generalleutnant Kullmer bei schwierigen Kampfverhältnissen alle Durchbruchsversuche der Sowjets vereitelt.	In the middle sector, the pressure of the enemy against our positions in area of Gomel was weaker. In the tough and fierce defensive battles of the past few days here have the Main-Frankish 4th Panzer Division under Lieutenant-General Von Saucken and the Bavarian 296th Infantry Division under Lieutenant General Kullmer, thwarted all Soviet break through attempts in difficult combat circumstances.
5 July 1944	Südlich Minsk kämpfen sich unsere Verbände weiter zurück. Nordwestlich der Stadt wurden heftige Angriffe der Bolschewisten abgewiesen. Hier schoß eine Panzerkampfgruppe unter Führung des Generalleutnants von Saucken in beweglicher Kampfführung in der Zeit vom 27. Juni bis 3. Juli 232 feindliche Panzer ab.	In retreat, our units keep fighting back south of Minsk. Northwest of the city the violent attacks of the Bolsheviks were repulsed. Here is an armoured battle group, under the leadership of Lieutenant General Von Saucken, destroyed in mobile warfare in the period from 27 June to 3 July 232 enemy tanks.
9 May 1945	Dem Oberbefehlshaber, General der Panzertruppe von Saucken, wurden als Anerkennung für die vorbildliche Haltung seiner Soldaten die Brillanten zum Eichenlaub mit Schwertern zum Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes verliehen.	The commander-in-chief, General of Panzer Troops Von Saucken was awarded the Diamonds to the Oak Leaves with Swords to the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross in recognition of the exemplary attitude of his soldiers.

References

Citations

Bibliography

• Beevor, Antony (2002). Berlin the Downfall 1945. London ; New York: Viking. ISBN 0-670-88695-5.
• Berger, Florian (1999). Mit Eichenlaub und Schwertern. Die höchstdekorierten Soldaten des Zweiten Weltkrieges. Selbstverlag Florian Berger. ISBN 3-9501307-0-5.
• Fellgiebel, Walther-Peer (2000). Die Träger des Ritterkreuzes des Eisernen Kreuzes 1939-1945. Friedburg, Germany: Podzun-Pallas. ISBN 3-7909-0284-5.
• Fraschka, Günther (1994). Knights of the Reich. Atglen, Pennsylvania: Schiffer Military/Aviation History. ISBN 0-88740-580-0.
• Samuel W. Mitcham, Jr (2001). Crumbling Empire, the German Defeat in the East, 1944. Westport, Praeger. ISBN 0-275-96856-1.
• Schaulen, Fritjof (2005). Eichenlaubträger 1940 - 1945 Zeitgeschichte in Farbe III Radusch - Zwernemann (in German). Selent, Germany: Pour le Mérite. ISBN 3-932381-22-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.
• Thomas, Franz (1998). Die Eichenlaubträger 1939–1945 Band 2: L–Z (in German). Osnabrück, Germany: Biblio-Verlag. ISBN 3-7648-2300-3.
• Williamson, Gordon (2006). Knight's Cross with Diamonds Recipients 1941-45. Osprey Publishing Ltd. ISBN 1-84176-644-5.
• Die Wehrmachtberichte 1939–1945 Band 2, 1. Januar 1942 bis 31. Dezember 1943 (in German). München: Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag GmbH & Co. KG, 1985. ISBN 3-423-05944-3.
• Die Wehrmachtberichte 1939–1945 Band 3, 1. Januar 1944 bis 9. Mai 1945 (in German). München: Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag GmbH & Co. KG, 1985. ISBN 3-423-05944-3.

External links

• Dietrich von Saucken in the German National Library catalogue
• "Dietrich von Saucken". Ritterkreuzträger 1939–45. Retrieved 16 November 2010. 
• "Dietrich von Saucken". Lexikon der Wehrmacht. Retrieved 16 November 2010. 
• "Dietrich von Saucken". Geocities. Archived from the original on 2009-10-29. Retrieved 16 November 2010. 

Military offices
Preceded by General der Panzertruppen Willibald Freiherr von Langermann und Erlencamp	Commander of 4. Panzer-Division 27 December 1941 – 2 January 1942	Succeeded by General der Panzertruppen Willibald Freiherr von Langermann und Erlencamp
Preceded by Generalleutnant Erich Schneider	Commander of 4. Panzer-Division 31 May 1943 – January 1944	Succeeded by Generalleutnant Hans Junck
Preceded by Generalleutnant Hans Junck	Commander of 4. Panzer-Division February 1944 – 1 May 1944	Succeeded by Generalleutnant Clemens Betzel
Preceded by General der Panzertruppen Hermann Breith	Commander of III. Armeekorps 31 May 1944 – 29 June 1944	Succeeded by General der Panzertruppen Hermann Breith
Preceded by Generalleutnant Otto Schünemann	Commander of XXXIX.Panzerkorps 29 June 1944 – 15 October 1944	Succeeded by General der Panzertruppen Karl Decker
Preceded by General Walter Weiß	Commander of 2. Armee 10 March 1945 – 7 April 1945	Succeeded by AOK Ostpreußen
Preceded by 2. Armee	Commander of AOK Ostpreußen 7 April 1945 – 9 May 1945	Succeeded by German surrender