1. Heinz Harmel was a German SS commander during the Nazi era.
11 Facts About Heinz Harmel
1. 2.
Heinz Harmel commanded the 10th SS Panzer Division Frundsberg during World War II.
3.
In 1941, Heinz Harmel took part in the Balkans Campaign and Operation Barbarossa.
4.
Heinz Harmel participated in the capture of Kharkov on 15 March 1943.
5.
Heinz Harmel received the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 31 March 1943.
6.
In early 1944 after completing a divisional commanders' training course, Heinz Harmel took command of the SS Division Frundsberg.
7.
Heinz Harmel had been ordered to break the enemy's lines, to free the German units encircled in Falaise Pocket numbering approximately 125,000 troops of the 7th Army.
8.
Heinz Harmel fought against the Allied offensive.
9.
Heinz Harmel refused and was dismissed from command by Field Marshal Schorner.
10.
Heinz Harmel subsequently commanded an ad hoc battle group formed around the 24th Waffen Mountain Division of the SS, the SS Officer's School at Graz and other smaller units.
11.
Heinz Harmel surrendered to the Allied forces in Austria and ended up in British captivity.