Fritz von Scholz

Fritz von Scholz
SS-Brigadeführer Fritz von Scholz, as commander of 11.SS-Freiwilligen-Panzergrenadier-Division "Nordland", 1944.
Born	(1896-12-09)9 December 1896 Pilsen, Kingdom of Bohemia, Austria-Hungary now Plzeň, Plzeň Region, Czech Republic
Died	28 July 1944(1944-07-28) (aged 47) Narva, Reichskommissariat Ostland, Generalbezirk Estland now Narva, Ida-Viru County, Estonia
Allegiance	Austria-Hungary (to 1918) (to 1934) Nazi Germany
Service/branch	Austro-Hungarian Army Waffen-SS
Years of service	1914–19, 1934–44
Rank	SS-Gruppenführer und Generalleutnant der Waffen-SS
Service number	NSDAP #1,304,071 SS #135,638
Commands held	11. SS-Freiwilligen-Panzergrenadier-Division "Nordland"
Battles/wars	World War I World War II Battle of Tannenberg Line †
Awards	Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords

Fritz von Scholz, Edler von Rerancze, (9 December 1896 – 28 July 1944) known as Fritz von Scholz, was an Austrian Austro-Hungarian Army Oberleutnant and later German Waffen SS officer who served in both the First and Second World Wars.

First World War - Freikorps

Born Fritz Scholz in Pilsen, Bohemia, Scholz was called up for service in the Austro-Hungarian Army during the mobilisation of July 1914. He served as an artillery officer, first with k.u.k. Feld-Artillerie Regiment 22 (Imperial and Royal Field Artillery Regiment 22), seeing action on the Eastern Front. In May 1915 Scholz was promoted to the rank of Leutnant. In 1917, Scholz was transferred to the Italian front.

Scholz's father, Generalmajor Ferdinand Scholz, had also been serving in the East. His actions on the battlefield had drawn the attention of Kaiser Franz Josef I; he was ennobled and granted the title Knight of Rerancze (Edler von Rerancze) on 25 August 1917.

In November 1917, Scholz was promoted to Oberleutnant. During the course of the war Scholz had received several decorations, including the Austro-Hungarian Bravery Medal in gold, and the Austro-Hungarian Military Merit Cross in silver and bronze.

Between the wars

Scholz was discharged from the army in 1919. In 1921, he joined the Freikorps Oberland. In the early 1920s, von Scholz was first exposed to the ideology of the NSDAP, and soon became a supporter, joining the Austrian branch of the party on 9 October 1932 (Nr. 1304071). He soon joined the Austrian SA as a Zugführer (platoon leader), and was involved in street fights with communists at Lützow and Munich. His formation was merged into a part of SA Gruppe Nordwest in June 1933. His actions soon landed him in trouble with the Austrian authorities and forced him to flee to Nazi Germany in late 1933 to avoid arrest.

He joined the Schutzstaffel in 1937 (Nr. 135638) serving with the Austrian SS Legion based at Linz soon after arriving in Germany. By 1934 he had been was promoted to SS-Untersturmführer and placed in command of the fifth company of II./SS-Standarte 1. By the outbreak of World War II, von Scholz was an SS-Sturmbannführer in command of II./Battalion, SS-Regiment Der Führer, part of the SS-VT Division.

Second World War - SS-VT - Regiment Nordland

As Commander of Der Führer's II./Battalion, von Scholz saw action in the Western campaign of 1940. During this time he was awarded the Iron Cross first and second class. He was also awarded the Wiederholungsspange 1939, due to having earned the Iron Cross 2nd class in World War I. After the campaign, von Scholz was ordered to take command of the volunteer formation SS-Infanterie-Regiment Nordland, now forming in Klagenfurt in Austria. On 30 January 1941, von Scholz was promoted to SS-Standartenführer. It was decided that the regiment would form a part of a new volunteer division, based on the SS Division (mot) Das Reich Germania Regiment. The new division was to be called the SS-Division (mot) Wiking.

The division was not ready for the launch of Operation Barbarossa, and first saw combat as a part of Army Group South fighting for Tarnopol in Galicia in late June, 1941. Throughout the next months, von Scholz led the Nordland regiment in fighting along the Dnieper river, Dnepropetrovsk. In October 1941, von Scholz received a promotion to SS-Oberführer, and continued leading the Nordland, which finished the year in heavy fighting for Rostov-on-Don. In December, the division was ordered to abandon Rostov and fall back to the Mius River line. For his actions in commanding the Nordland, von Scholz was awarded the German Cross in Gold in November, a newly instated award for bravery which ranked between the Iron Cross first class and the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross. Less than a month after receiving this award, von Scholz received the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross for his actions near Rostov.

With the launch of Case Blue and Army Group South's advance towards Stalingrad, the Wiking was to once more capture Rostov and then to advance into the Caucasus. The division spent the year fighting its way into the Caucasus mountains. Despite heavy resistance, the Wiking managed to advance almost to the Turkish border and was involved in the southernmost advance of the Wehrmacht in the USSR. Von Scholz received a promotion to SS-Brigadeführer in December 1942 for his actions in leading the Nordland during this advance. On 10 January 1943, von Scholz was ordered back to Germany to take command of a volunteer division now under formation at Grafenwöhr.

Nordland Division - Narva

Fritz von Scholz congratulating Gerardus Mooyman, February 1943

As the division was still nowhere near formed, von Scholz was sent back to the front to take command of first 1 SS Infantry Brigade, attached to Army Group Centre then 2 SS Infantry Brigade composed of mostly Estonian volunteers and in action under Army Group North. On 20 April, von Scholz was ordered back to Grafenwöhr to take command of the Division, now titled 11th SS Panzergrenadier Division Nordland. Fritz's old command, the Nordland regiment had been dissolved and used to form the basis for the new division.

The division was soon moved to Croatia where it saw action fighting against Tito's communist partisans. In January 1944, orders were received to move the division to the Oranienbaum front near Leningrad, under the command of Generalfeldmarschall Walter Model's Army Group North.

Von Scholz commanded the division during the ensuing retreat to Narva and during the battles for the Narva bridgehead. During this campaign served under SS-Obergruppenführer Felix Steiner, now in command of the III (Germanic) SS Panzer Corps, the Nordland's parent formation.

The Nordland together with the rest of Steiner's corps, held the line for nearly five months. For his actions, von Scholz was awarded the Oakleaves to the Knight's Cross on 12 March 1944, as well as the Finnish Order of the Cross of Liberty (2nd class) with Swords. On 20 April 1944, von Scholz was promoted to Generalleutnant der Waffen-SS.

In late July, the launch of the Soviet Operation Bagration and the collapse of Army Group Centre meant that Steiner's corps had to fall back to secondary positions behind the Narva river. On 27 July, while visiting the front line on Lastekodumägi (Orphanage Hill), von Scholz was caught in an artillery barrage and struck in the head by a shell splinter. Von Scholz died on 28 July 1944. He was posthumously awarded the Swords to the Knight's Cross on 8 August 1944.

Awards

• Sword of honour of the Reichsführer-SS
• SS Honour Ring
• Iron Cross (1939)
  • 2nd Class (17 May 1940)
  • 1st Class (29 May 1940)
• Eastern Front Medal
• Infantry Assault Badge
• German Cross in Gold on 22 November 1941 as SS-Standartenführer in SS-Regiment "Nordland"
• Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords
  • Knight's Cross on 18 January 1942 as SS-Oberführer and commander of SS-Regiment "Nordland"
  • 423rd Oak Leaves on 12 March as SS-Brigadeführer and Generalmajor of the Waffen-SS and commander of the 11. SS-Freiwilligen-Panzergrenadier-Division "Nordland"
  • 85th Swords on 8 August 1944 (posthumously) as SS-Gruppenführer and Generalleutnant of the Waffen-SS and commander of the 11. SS-Panzergrenadier-Division "Nordland"

See also

• 11th SS Volunteer Panzergrenadier Division Nordland
• Waffen SS,
• Battle of Narva (1944)
• SS Division (mot) Wiking
• List of SS Personnel

References

Bibliography

• Berger, Florian (1999). Mit Eichenlaub und Schwertern. Die höchstdekorierten Soldaten des Zweiten Weltkrieges (in German). Vienna, Austria: Selbstverlag Florian Berger. ISBN 978-3-9501307-0-6. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |trans_title= ignored (|trans-title= suggested) (help)
• Fellgiebel, Walther-Peer (2000) [1986]. Die Träger des Ritterkreuzes des Eisernen Kreuzes 1939–1945 — Die Inhaber der höchsten Auszeichnung des Zweiten Weltkrieges aller Wehrmachtteile (in German). Friedberg, Germany: Podzun-Pallas. ISBN 978-3-7909-0284-6. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |trans_title= ignored (|trans-title= suggested) (help)
• Krätschmer, Ernst-Günther (1999). Die Ritterkreuzträger der Waffen-SS. Coburg, Germany: Nation Europa Verlag. ISBN 978-3-920677-43-9. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |trans_title= ignored (|trans-title= suggested) (help)
• Patzwall, Klaus D.; Scherzer, Veit (2001). Das Deutsche Kreuz 1941 – 1945 Geschichte und Inhaber Band II (in German). Norderstedt, Germany: Verlag Klaus D. Patzwall. ISBN 978-3-931533-45-8. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |trans_title= ignored (|trans-title= suggested) (help)
• Scherzer, Veit (2007). Die 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. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |trans_title= ignored (|trans-title= suggested) (help)
• Thomas, Franz (1998). Die Eichenlaubträger 1939–1945 Band 2: L–Z (in German). Osnabrück, Germany: Biblio-Verlag. ISBN 978-3-7648-2300-9. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |trans_title= ignored (|trans-title= suggested) (help)