Otto Lasch
| Otto Lasch | |
|---|---|
| Born | 25 June 1893 Pleß |
| Died | 29 April 1971 (aged 77) Bonn |
| Allegiance |  Nazi Germany |
| Years of service | 1914-1918 1935-1945 |
| Rank | General der Infanterie |
| Battles/wars | World War I World War II |
| Awards | Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves |
Otto Lasch (25 June 1893 - 29 April 1971) was a German general in the Wehrmacht.
Otto Lasch was born in Pleß (Pszczyna) as son of the high master forrester of the Prince of Pless in Silesia. Lasch after graduation took part in World War I in the Jäger-Battalion „Fürst Bismarck“ Nr. 2 in Kulm (Westprussia). After 1918 he joined the police and in 1935 the Wehrmacht. He advanced to the rank of Generalleutnant and functioned as Commandant of Königsberg in East Prussia from November 1944. Following heavy fighting and surrounding of the city during the Battle of Königsberg by the Soviet Forces of 36 divisions against Lasch's three badly damaged divisions, he decided to surrender his garrison to the Red Army on 9 April 1945. For this act, Hitler condemned him in absentia and his family to death. His wife and daughters were arrested in Berlin and Denmark. However at the end of the war they were released. Lasch was to remain until 1953 in Soviet labor camp captivity in Workuta, but was released late October 1955, when due to Adenauer's Moscow visit remaining German war prisoners were released. Lasch died in Bonn in 1971.
In 1958 he wrote the book: So fiel Königsberg. Kampf und Untergang von Ostpreußens Hauptstadt about the battle and fall of Königsberg, capital city of East Prussia. 1965 he wrote about the years of his time in Soviet war prison, titled Zuckerbrot und Peitsche.
[edit] References
- Fellgiebel, Walther-Peer. Die Träger des Ritterkreuzes des Eisernen Kreuzes 1939-1945. Friedburg, Germany: Podzun-Pallas, 2000. ISBN 3-7909-0284-5.
[edit] External links
- Otto Lasch in the German National Library catalogue (German)
- Museum “Dugout - bunker of Lasch”
| Military offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by none |
Commander of LXIV. Armeekorps August 5, 1944 - November 1, 1944 |
Succeeded by General der Infanterie Helmut Thumm |
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
