Max Schachner

Max Schachner
Born	1 May 1914 Haag, Austria
Died	19 October 1944(1944-10-19) (aged 30) Eastern Front
Allegiance	Nazi Germany
Service/branch	Waffen-SS
Years of service	1938–44
Rank	Obersturmführer (First Lieutenant)
Unit	SS-VT 8th SS Cavalry Division Florian Geyer
Battles/wars	World War II
Awards	Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross Iron Cross 1st Class Iron Cross 2nd Class Anschluss Medal Sudetenland Medal with Prague castle bar

Max Schachner (1 May 1914 – 19 October 1944) was an Obersturmführer (First Lieutenant) in the Waffen-SS during World War II. He was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross, which was awarded to recognize extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership by Nazi Germany during World War II.

Max Schachner was born on the 1 May 1914, in Haag, Austria.

He volunteered to join the SS-VT and took part in the Anschluss of Austria and the occupation of the Sudetenland in 1938. He also took part in the annexation of Bohemia and Moravia in March 1939.

He was awarded the Iron Cross 2nd class during the Battle of France in June 1940, the Iron Cross 1st class was awarded in September 1941, during Operation Barbarossa, the invasion of the Soviet Union.

He was awarded the Knight's Cross while in command of the 2nd Battery, 8th SS Panzerjäger (Tank Hunter) Battalion, 8th SS Cavalry Division Florian Geyer on 15 May 1944. It was for his actions in October 1943 while the Division was under attack by about 150 T-34 tanks. Schachner with his two remaining guns engaged and destroyed twenty four of them.

He did not survive the war but was killed in action serving on the Eastern Front on 19 October 1944.

Further reading

• 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)
• Mitcham, Samuel W (2007). Retreat to the Reich : the German defeat in France, 1944. Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole Books. ISBN 978-0-8117-3384-7.
• Mitcham, Samuel W (2007). The German Defeat in the East, 1944–45. Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole Books. ISBN 978-0-8117-3371-7.
• 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)