Josef Harpe
Born(1887-09-21)21 September 1887
Buer, German Empire
Died14 March 1968(1968-03-14) (aged 80)
Nuremberg, Bavaria, West Germany
Allegiance German Empire
 Weimar Republic
 Nazi Germany
Service/branchArmy (Wehrmacht)
Years of service1909–45
Rank Generaloberst
Commands held12th Panzer Division
XXXXI Panzer Corps
9th Army
Army Group North Ukraine
Army Group A
4th Panzer Army
5th Panzer Army
Battles/warsWorld War I

World War II

Vistula–Oder Offensive
AwardsKnight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords

Josef Harpe (21 September 1887 – 14 March 1968) was a German general during World War II who commanded the 9th Army. He was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords of Nazi Germany.

Harpe served on the Eastern Front, where he commanded XXXXI Panzer Corps and the 9th Army. From September 1944 to January 1945 Army Group A, when he was relieved of his command due to the inability of German forces to stop the Soviet Vistula–Oder Offensive. He ended the war commanding the 5th Panzer Army on Western Front.

Harpe was also responsible for establishing the Ozarichi death camps, which is considered by historians to be one of the worst atrocities committed by the Wehrmacht.

Military career and war crimes

Harpe joined the Prussian Army on 28 September 1909 and fought in World War I. After the war, Harpe remained in the Reichswehr military service. In 1931, under the pseudonym Direktor Hacker, he held a position in the secret German-Russian Tank-School (Kama tank school) in Kazan, Soviet Union. He was promoted to Oberstleutnant on 1 August 1934 and became commander of Panzer-Regiment 3 on 15 October 1935. He was again promoted on 1 January 1937, and commanded the German 1st Panzer Brigade holding the rank of Oberst. In 1940 he took over as Commandant of the Armoured Troops School No.2 in Wünsdorf.

He served on the Eastern Front, where he commanded, from July 1942 until October 1943 the XXXXI Panzerkorps and from September 1944 to January 1945 Army Group A. On 12 March 1944, Harpe established the makeshift Ozarichi death camps in Belarus. There were no buildings or sanitary facilities; it was just a massive closed-off area with barbed wire. Soldiers of the 35th Infantry Division, led by Johann-Georg Richert, reinforced by additional troops from Sonderkommando 7b of Einsatzgruppe B, forced at least 40,000 civilians into the camp, shooting at least 400 of them along the way after they became too weak to continue walking. The prisoners were mostly family members of slave laborers, children under 13, the sick, mothers with infants, and the elderly. These people were viewed by the Germans as "useless mouths".[1]

The prisoners, many of whom had contracted typhus, had to survive in the open in the marshlands without shelter medical aid, food, or water. "There was a gate with barbed wire, small watch towers with soldiers and German shepherds, but nothing else," recalled one survivor, Larisa Stashkevich. She said that anyone who even attempted to light a campfire was immediately gunned down. The only way to keep warm was to use the corpses of murdered prisoners.[1][2]

Dieter Pohl has called the establishment of the camp "one of the worst crimes the Wehrmacht ever committed against civilians". By the time troops of the 65th Army of the First Belorussian Front liberated those in the camps on 19 March 1944, at least 9000 people had died. The German high command celebrated the thousands of deaths as a success, calling the civilians "useless mouths". The troops freed 33,480 people, including 15,960 children under the age of 13, from the Ozarichi concentration camps.[1][3][4]

He was relieved of his command due to the inability of German forces to stop the Soviet Vistula–Oder Offensive, which resulted in the Soviet capture of most of Poland. He ended the war as the commander of the 5th Panzer Army on the Western Front. Harpe was taken prisoner by the United States Army on 17 April 1945. Although Harpe was held as a prisoner of war by the United States, he was never charged with any crimes. He was released from custody on 14 April 1948, and died a free man in 1968.[5]

Although Harpe never faced prosecution for the Ozarichi camps, Johann-Georg Richert did. He was prosecuted by a Soviet military court in the Minsk Trial for his role in the deportations and other atrocities against Soviet civilians. Richert was sentenced to death, and hanged in 1946.[4]

Awards

References

Citations

  1. ^ a b c "Useless Mouths". german-foreign-policy.com. Retrieved 16 September 2022.
  2. ^ "Erweiterung". TROSTENETS. Retrieved 16 September 2022.
  3. ^ "Holocaust in Belorussia [Pages 67-86]". jewishgen.org. Retrieved 16 September 2022.
  4. ^ a b Rass & Rohrkam, Christoph & René. "The Concentration Camps near Ozarichi" (PDF).
  5. ^ "Generaloberst Josef Harpe – Lexikon der Wehrmacht". lexikon-der-wehrmacht.de. Retrieved 16 September 2022.
  6. ^ Thomas 1997, p. 248.
  7. ^ a b c Wegmann 2009, p. 238.
  8. ^ a b c Scherzer 2007, p. 367.
  9. ^ Patzwall & Scherzer 2001, p. 165.

Bibliography

  • Patzwall, Klaus D.; Scherzer, Veit (2001). Das Deutsche Kreuz 1941 – 1945 Geschichte und Inhaber Band II [The German Cross 1941 – 1945 History and Recipients Volume 2] (in German). Norderstedt, Germany: Verlag Klaus D. Patzwall. ISBN 978-3-931533-45-8.
  • 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 [The Knight's Cross Bearers 1939–1945 The Holders of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross 1939 by Army, Air Force, Navy, Waffen-SS, Volkssturm and Allied Forces with Germany According to the Documents of the Federal Archives] (in German). Jena, Germany: Scherzers Militaer-Verlag. ISBN 978-3-938845-17-2.
  • Thomas, Franz (1997). Die Eichenlaubträger 1939–1945 Band 1: A–K [The Oak Leaves Bearers 1939–1945 Volume 1: A–K] (in German). Osnabrück, Germany: Biblio-Verlag. ISBN 978-3-7648-2299-6.
  • Wegmann, Günter (2009). Die Ritterkreuzträger der Deutschen Wehrmacht 1939–1945 Teil VIIIa: Panzertruppe Band 2: F–H [The Knight's Cross Bearers of the German Wehrmacht 1939–1945 Part VIIIa: Panzer Force Volume 2: F–H] (in German). Bissendorf, Germany: Biblio-Verlag. ISBN 978-3-7648-2389-4.
Military offices Preceded byPaul Bader Commander of 2. Infanterie-Division 5 October 1940 – 10 January 1941 Succeeded by12. Panzerdivision Preceded by2. Infanterie-Division Commander of 12. Panzerdivision 10 January 1941 – 15 January 1942 Succeeded byGeneralleutnant Walter Wessel Preceded byGeneral of Panzer Troops Walter Model Commander of XXXXI Army Corpsrenamed July 1942 XXXXI Panzerkorps 15 January 1942 – 15 October 1943 Succeeded byGeneral of Artillery Helmuth Weidling Preceded byGeneralfeldmarschall Walter Model Commander of 9. Armee 4 November 1943 – 19 May 1944 Succeeded byGeneral Hans Jordan Preceded byGeneraloberst Erhard Raus Commander of 4. Panzer-Armee 18 May 1944 – 28 June 1944 Succeeded byGeneral der Panzertruppe Walther Nehring Preceded byGeneralfeldmarschall Walter Model Commander of Army Group North Ukrainerenamed September 1944 Army Group A 16 August 1944 – 17 January 1945 Succeeded byGeneraloberst Ferdinand Schörner Preceded byGeneral der Panzertruppe Hasso von Manteuffel Commander of 5. Panzer-Armee 8 March 1945 – 17 April 1945 Succeeded bynone
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