1. An Austro-Hungarian Army officer before and during World War I, Phleps specialised in mountain warfare and logistics, and had been promoted to by the end of the war.
36 Facts About Artur Phleps
1. 2.
Artur Phleps was born in what was then called Birthalm, near Hermannstadt in Siebenburgen, then a part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
3.
Artur Phleps was the third son of a surgeon, Dr Gustav Phleps, and Sophie, the daughter of a peasant.
4.
In 1903, Artur Phleps was transferred to the 11th Battalion in Guns, and in 1905 was accepted into the Theresian Military Academy in Wiener Neustadt.
5.
Artur Phleps completed his studies in two years, and was endorsed as suitable for service in the General Staff.
6.
At the outbreak of World War I, Artur Phleps was serving with the staff of the 32nd Infantry Division in Budapest.
7.
Artur Phleps's division was involved in the early stages of the Serbian campaign, during which Phleps was transferred to the operations staff of the Second Army.
8.
Artur Phleps subsequently became the deputy quartermaster of the 10th Army, responsible for organising the supply of the troops fighting the Italians in the mountains.
9.
Artur Phleps remained in this theatre of operations for the next two years, ultimately serving as the chief quartermaster of the German 9th Army, and was awarded the Iron Cross 2nd Class, on 27 January 1917.
10.
Artur Phleps was appointed as commander of the Saxon National Guard, a militia which was serving with the Romanian Army and formed of the German-speaking people of Siebenburgen, in 1918.
11.
Artur Phleps participated in the Carei-Debrecen offensive, and in the crossing of the Tisza, distinguishing himself in the battles for the bridgehead at Tokaj and at Miskolc.
12.
Artur Phleps was promoted to the rank of in June 1920.
13.
Ironically, after the book was published, Artur Phleps failed his first general's examination on the topic of logistics.
14.
Artur Phleps commanded various Romanian units, including the 1st Brigade of the, while serving as a military advisor to King Carol II in the 1930s.
15.
Artur Phleps was promoted to in 1933, and reached the rank of in 1938, despite his reported disdain for the corruption, intrigue and hypocrisy of the royal court.
16.
In November 1940, with the support of the leader of the, Andreas Schmidt, Artur Phleps had written to the key Waffen-SS recruiting officer Gottlob Berger offering his services to the Third Reich.
17.
Artur Phleps subsequently asked for permission to leave Romania to join the, and this was approved by the recently installed Romanian, the dictator General Ion Antonescu.
18.
Artur Phleps volunteered for the Waffen-SS instead, enlisting under his mother's maiden name of Stolz.
19.
Artur Phleps was appointed an by Heinrich Himmler and joined the SS Motorised Division Wiking, where he commanded Dutch, Flemish, Danish, Norwegian, Swedish and Finnish volunteers.
20.
When Hilmar Wackerle, the commander of SS-Regiment Westland, was killed in action near Lvov in late June 1941, Artur Phleps took over command of that regiment.
21.
Artur Phleps distinguished himself in fighting at Kremenchuk and Dnipropetrovsk in Ukraine, commanded his own, became a confidant of Hans-Valentin Hube, commander of the 16th Panzer Division, and was promoted to.
22.
Two weeks later, Artur Phleps was selected to organise the new division.
23.
Artur Phleps was awarded the Knight's Cross in July 1943, and was promoted to, and placed in command of the V SS Mountain Corps.
24.
In May 1943, Artur Phleps became frustrated by the failure of his Italian allies to cooperate with German operations, which was demonstrated in his reputation for forthright speech.
25.
Artur Phleps scolded his interpreter, Kurt Waldheim for toning down his language, saying "Listen Waldheim, I know some Italian and you are not translating what I am telling this so-and-so".
26.
On 15 May 1943, Artur Phleps handed over command of the division to Karl von Oberkamp.
27.
Himmler ordered Artur Phleps to intervene, and he reported on 7 September 1943 that he could not discover anything wrong with the shootings in Kosutica and that Kammerhofer and Oberkamp had resolved their dispute.
28.
Artur Phleps had met personally with Hitler to discuss the planning for Operation.
29.
Artur Phleps was criticised by both NDH and German authorities for the harshness with which the evacuation was carried out.
30.
On 20 June 1944, Artur Phleps was awarded the German Cross in gold.
31.
Artur Phleps made a detour to reconnoitre the situation near Arad, Romania, after receiving reports of Soviet advances in that area.
32.
Bergel suspects that Artur Phleps had been set up by Hungarian army officers who had found out that he knew of plans for Hungary to switch sides as Romania had done shortly before.
33.
Artur Phleps had been listed as missing in action since 22 September 1944 when he did not show up for his meeting with Himmler, who issued a warrant for his arrest on suspicion of treason.
34.
Artur Phleps was posthumously awarded the Oak Leaves to his Knight's Cross on 24 November 1944, which was presented to his son, Dr med.
35.
Artur Phleps was accused by the Yugoslav authorities of war crimes in association with the atrocities committed by 7th SS Division in the area of Niksic in Montenegro during Case Black, while under his command.
36.
One of Artur Phleps's brothers became a doctor, and the other was a professor at the Danzig technical university, now Gdansk University of Technology.