Otto Kumm

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Otto Kumm
Bundesarchiv Bild 101III-Zschaeckel-195-21, Otto Kumm.jpg
Kumm as a SS-Obersturmbahnführer
Born (1909-11-01)1 November 1909
Hamburg
Died 23 March 2004(2004-03-23) (aged 94)
Offenburg
Allegiance Nazi Germany Nazi Germany
Service/branch Flag Schutzstaffel.svg Waffen SS
Rank SS-Brigadeführer Collar Rank.svg SS-Brigadeführer und Generalmajor der Waffen-SS
Commands held 7th SS Volunteer Mountain Division Prinz Eugen
1. SS-Panzer-Division Leibstandarte-SS Adolf Hitler.svg 1st SS Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler (LSSAH)
Battles/wars World War II
Awards Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords

Otto Kumm, (1 October 1909 in Hamburg – 23 March 2004) was an SS-Brigadeführer and Generalmajor of the Waffen-SS, and a signed up member of the Nazi Party of Nazi Germany.[citation needed] He was also a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords. After the war, he became one of the founders and the first head of the veteran organization HIAG.

Contents

Division Commander [edit]

SS-Brigadeführer Otto Kumm was officially appointed the new Division Commander of the 1st SS Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler (LSSAH) as of 15 February 1945.[1] This after the LSSAH had been transferred to Hungary to bolster the crumbling situation and the prior LSSAH Division Commander, SS-Brigadeführer Mohnke was injured in an air raid.[1]

Eastern Front 1945 [edit]

Main article: Operation Frühlingserwachen

As the division commander, Otto Kumm and the LSSAH took part in Operation Spring Awakening (Frühlingserwachen) (6 March 1945 – 16 March 1945). It was the last major German offensive launched during World War II on 6 March 1945. The Germans launched attacks in Hungary near the Lake Balaton area on the Eastern Front. This area included some of the last oil reserves still available to the Germans. Almost inevitably, Operation Spring Awakening was a failure. Despite early gains the offensive was far too ambitious in scope. After the failure of Operation Spring Awakening, Sepp Dietrich's 6th SS Panzer Army and the LSSAH retreated to the Vienna area.[2] The Germans desperately prepared defensive positions in an attempt to guard the city against the fast arriving Soviets, in what become known as the Vienna Offensive.

Final days [edit]

After Vienna fell, the bulk of the LSSAH division surrendered to U.S. forces in the Steyr area on 8 May 1945. The demarcation line between the Soviets and U.S. troops was Enns. Therefore, the roads to Enns were jammed with civilians and soldiers as they hurried to get to the west before 0100 hours on 9 May when the bridges over the river would be blocked. For the men of the LSSAH who made it west, they were marched off to different Prisoner of War camps. Most of the men went to the Ebensee camps for captivity.[3]

The rest of the LSSAH (made up of the Leibstandarte SS Guard Battalion assigned to guard the Führer) ended its fighting days in Berlin.[4]

Post-war [edit]

Otto Kumm survived the war and went on to become a successful businessman. Kumm was a founder and the first head of the Waffen SS veteran organization, HIAG. He died on the 23 March 2004. At the time of his death, Kumm was the last surviving SS-Brigadeführer and Generalmajor of the Waffen-SS. He was also the last surviving Waffen-SS holder of Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords.

Awards [edit]

References [edit]

Citations
  1. ^ a b Fischer, Thomas. Soldiers of the Leibstandarte, J.J. Fedorowicz Publishing, Inc. 2008, p 41.
  2. ^ Dollinger, Hans. The Decline and Fall of Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan, Crown, 1968, p 199.
  3. ^ Tiemann 1998, pp. 351–361.
  4. ^ Fischer, Thomas. Soldiers of the Leibstandarte, J.J. Fedorowicz Publishing, Inc. 2008, pp 42–43.
  5. ^ a b Thomas 1997, p. 428.
  6. ^ Patzwall and Scherzer 2001, p. 262.
  7. ^ Fellgiebel 2000, p. 279.
  8. ^ Fellgiebel 2000, p. 67.
  9. ^ Fellgiebel 2000, p. 48.
Bibliography
  • Berger, Florian (2000). Mit Eichenlaub und Schwertern. Die höchstdekorierten Soldaten des Zweiten Weltkrieges (With oak leaves and swords: the highest decorated soldiers of World War II). Selbstverlag Florian Berger. ISBN 3-9501307-0-5. (German)
  • Dollinger, Hans. The Decline and Fall of Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan, Library of Congress Catalogue Card Number 67-27047
  • Fellgiebel, Walther-Peer (2000). Die Träger des Ritterkreuzes des Eisernen Kreuzes 1939–1945 (The holders of the Knight’s Cross of the Iron Cross, 1939–1945). Friedburg, Germany: Podzun-Pallas. ISBN 3-7909-0284-5. (German)
  • Fischer, Thomas (2008). Soldiers Of the Leibstandarte. J.J. Fedorowicz Publishing, Inc. ISBN 978-0-921991-91-5.
  • Patzwall, Klaus D. and Scherzer, Veit (2001). Das Deutsche Kreuz 1941–1945 Geschichte und Inhaber Band II (The German Cross 1930–1945: History and holders, vol. 2). Norderstedt, Germany: Verlag Klaus D. Patzwall. ISBN 3-931533-45-X. (German)
  • Schaulen, Fritjof (2004). Eichenlaubträger 1940 – 1945 Zeitgeschichte in Farbe II Ihlefeld -Primozic (in German). Selent, Germany: Pour le Mérite. ISBN 3-932381-21-1.
  • Thomas, Franz (1997). Die Eichenlaubträger 1939–1945 Band 1: A–K (in German). Osnabrück, Germany: Biblio-Verlag. ISBN 3-7648-2299-6.
  • Tiemann, Ralf (1998). The Leibstandarte – IV/2. Winnipeg: J.J. Fedorowicz. ISBN 0-921991-40-1. 

External links [edit]

Portal icon Military of Germany portal
Military offices
Preceded by
SS-Brigadeführer Karl Reichsritter von Oberkamp		 Commander of 7. SS-Freiw.GebirgsDiv "Prinz Eugen"
January 30, 1944 – January 20, 1945		 Succeeded by
SS-Brigadeführer August Schmidthuber
Preceded by
SS-Brigadeführer Wilhelm Mohnke		 Commander of 1st SS Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler
February 15, 1945 – May 8, 1945		 Succeeded by
none
Authority control
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