Henri Fenet: Difference between revisions
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'''Henri Joseph Fenet''' (11 July 1919 – 14 September 2002) was a French |
'''Henri Joseph Fenet''' (11 July 1919 – 14 September 2002) was a French collaborator during [[World War II]] who served in the [[Waffen-SS]] of [[Nazi Germany]]. |
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==French service== |
==French service== |
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Revision as of 16:47, 12 November 2016
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (December 2015) |
Henri Joseph Fenet | |
|---|---|
| Born | 11July 1919 |
| Died | 14 September 2002 (aged 83) Paris, France |
| Allegiance |  France Nazi Germany |
| Service/ | French Army Waffen-SS |
| Rank | Hauptsturmführer |
| Unit | 33rd Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS Charlemagne (1st French) |
| Battles/wars | World War II |
| Awards | Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross |
Henri Joseph Fenet (11 July 1919 – 14 September 2002) was a French collaborator during World War II who served in the Waffen-SS of Nazi Germany.
French service
Fenet was born on 11 July 1919 in France. Prior to World War II he studied literature at the University of Paris. At the outbreak of war he volunteered for the French Army and was taken prisoner. Upon his release in November 1942, he joined the Milice, a collaborationist paramilitary force tasked with rounding up Jews for deportation and suppressing the resistance in Vichy France.
Waffen-SS
In July 1943 Paul Marion, the Vichy Propaganda Minister, began a nationwide recruitment for the Waffen-SS in France. The Comité des Amis de la Waffen S.S. (Committee of the Friends of the Waffen-SS) was established by the minister and proceeded to actively recruit men who were between the ages of 20–25, "free of Jewish blood," and physically fit. Roughly 3000 applied to the assorted offices in the first few months, many of them college students. The organization also spent much time trying to recruit experienced French officers, like Fenet, to the organization. In October 1943, Fenet volunteered for the Waffen-SS and was sent to the SS officer school at Bad Tölz.
In March 1944 he received the rank of Obersturmführer (first lieutenant) in the Waffen-SS and was given command of the 3rd Company of the newly formed 8th SS Assault Brigade Frankreich, and was again wounded during fighting in the Carpathian Mountains and awarded the Iron Cross 2nd class.
In September 1944, Fenet and his company were sent to Konitz, West Prussia, where they joined other French recruits to form a new unit, the Waffen-Grenadier-Brigade der SS "Charlemagne".[1] Joining them were French collaborators fleeing the Allied advance in the west, as well as Frenchmen from the German Navy, the National Socialist Motor Corps (NSKK), the Organisation Todt and the detested Milice security police.[1] In February 1945, the unit was officially upgraded to a division and renamed 33. Waffen-Grenadier-Division der SS "Charlemagne" (französische Nr.1). At this time it had a strength of 7,340 men.[2] Fenet was named the commander of the 1st Battalion, which he led until April 1945.[3]
The Charlemagne Division was sent to fight the Red Army in Poland, but on 25 February it was attacked at Hammerstein (present day Czarne) in Pomerania, by troops of the Soviet 1st Belorussian Front. The Soviet forces split the French force into three pockets.[4] Fenet's battalion was one of the groups which was able to break out and return to the German lines; for which he was promoted to Hauptsturmführer (captain) and awarded the Iron Cross, 1st Class.
Berlin, 1945
On 23 April 1945, the Reich Chancellery in Berlin ordered SS-Brigadeführer Gustav Krukenberg to proceed to the capital. About 350 men from the remains of the Charlemagne division chose to go to Berlin.[5] The men had been reorganized as Sturmbataillon ("assault battalion") "Charlemagne" and was attached to the 11th SS Volunteer Panzergrenadier Division Nordland.[5]
In the days which followed, fighting was very heavy and by 28 April, one-hundred eight Soviet tanks had been destroyed in the southeast of Berlin within the S-Bahn. The French squads under the command of Fenet accounted for "about half" of the tanks.[6] Fenet, who was now wounded in the foot, withdrew with the battalion to the vicinity of the Reich Aviation Ministry in the central government district under the command of SS-Brigadeführer Wilhelm Mohnke.[6] For the success of the battalion during the Battle of Berlin Fenet was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 29 April 1945 by Mohnke.[7] On 2 May 1945, the surviving Frenchmen were captured by the Soviet Red Army. Fenet was first sent to a hospital due to being wounded before being imprisoned. He was then handed over to the French government.
Later life
On the 10 December 1949, Fenet was convicted of being a collaborator and sentenced to 20 years imprisonment with hard labour. He was released in 1959.
After Fenet was released, he appeared in several documentary films and television programmes. He also ran a small independent auto business.[8] Henri Joseph Fenet died in Paris on 14 September 2002.
Awards
- Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 29 April 1945 as Waffen-Hauptsturmführer and commander of the assault battalion/33. Waffen-Grenadier-Division der SS "Charlemagne".[9]
References
Citations
- ^ a b Littlejohn 1987, p. 169.
- ^ Littlejohn 1987, pp. 170, 172.
- ^ McNab 2013, p. 328.
- ^ Littlejohn 1987, p. 172.
- ^ a b Forbes 2010, p. 394.
- ^ a b Beevor 2002, p. 352.
- ^ Forbes 2010, p. 439.
- ^ Van Geirt, Jean-Pierre. "Que sont-ils devenus ?" (in French). Division-Charlemagne.net. Archived from the original on 2009-04-16. Retrieved 10 November 2008.
- ^ Scherzer 2007, p. 305.
Bibliography
- Beevor, Antony (2002). Berlin: The Downfall 1945. London: Viking-Penguin Books. ISBN 978-0-670-03041-5.
{{cite book}}: Invalid|ref=harv(help) - Forbes, Robert (2010) [2006]. For Europe: The French Volunteers of the Waffen-SS. Stackpole Books. ISBN 978-0-8117-3581-0.
{{cite book}}: Invalid|ref=harv(help) - Littlejohn, David (1987). Foreign Legions of the Third Reich Vol. 1 Norway, Denmark, France. Bender Publishing. ISBN 978-0912138176.
{{cite book}}: Invalid|ref=harv(help) - McNab, Chris (2013). Hitler's Elite: The SS 1939–45. Osprey. ISBN 978-1-78200-088-4.
{{cite book}}: Invalid|ref=harv(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}}: Invalid|ref=harv(help); Unknown parameter|trans_title=ignored (|trans-title=suggested) (help)
- 1919 births
- 2002 deaths
- People from Ain
- SS-Hauptsturmführer
- French collaborators with Nazi Germany
- French military personnel of World War II
- French prisoners of war in World War II
- French Army officers
- University of Paris alumni
- Recipients of the Croix de guerre 1939–1945 (France)
- Recipients of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross
- Waffen-SS foreign volunteers and conscripts
- World War II prisoners of war held by the Soviet Union