Walter Krüger (SS general)

For other people named Walter Krüger, see Walter Krüger (disambiguation).

Walter Krüger (27 February 1890 – 22 May 1945) was a German SS official during the Nazi era. In World War II, he commanded the SS Division Polizei, the SS Division Das Reich, and the VI SS Army Corps (Latvian). At the end of the war, Krüger committed suicide.

Walter Krüger
Krüger (left) with Erich Hoepner in October 1941
Born	(1890-02-27)27 February 1890 Strasbourg, German Empire
Died	22 May 1945(1945-05-22) (aged 55) Liepāja, Ostland
Allegiance	German Empire Weimar Republic Nazi Germany
Service / branch	Waffen-SS
Years of service	1908–20, 1935–45
Rank	Obergruppenführer
Service number	SS #266,184
Commands	SS Division Das Reich VI SS Army Corps (Latvian)
Battles / wars	World War I World War II
Awards	Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords

Career

Born in Strasbourg, Alsace-Lorraine, German Empire (today France), Krüger was the son of an army officer and attended cadet school. As a young officer, he joined an artillery regiment during World War I. After World War I, he joined the paramilitary Freikorps and fought in the Baltic region during 1919.

From 1933, Krüger worked in the Reichswehr and Wehrmacht training department. In 1935, he joined the SS-Verfügungstruppe and served as an instructor at the SS Officer's school at the SS-Junker School Bad Tölz. He earned the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross, after taking command of the SS Division Polizei, which fought on the Leningrad front.

Krüger became commander of the SS Division Das Reich in March 1943. After that, he went on to become the inspector general of infantry troops of the Waffen-SS. He was then posted to the VI SS Army Corps (Latvian), a paper command. On 22 May 1945^[a], Krüger committed suicide in the Courland Pocket fourteen days after the surrender of Nazi Germany.

Awards

• Iron Cross (1939) 2nd Class (13 June 1940) & 1st Class (22 June 1940)
• Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords
  • Knight's Cross on 13 December 1941 as commander of the SS Polizei Division
  • Oak Leaves on 31 August 1943 as commander of SS Division Das Reich
  • Swords on 11 January 1945 as commanding general of the VI SS Army Corps

References

Bibliography

• Scherzer, Veit (2007). Die Ritterkreuzträger 1939–1945 [The Knight's Cross Bearers 1939–1945] (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.