HERMES Othmar Leutnant HERMES, Othmar * 25.11.1924 Flape, Krs. Olpe/Westfalen Awarded Knights Cross: 11.06.1944 as: Gefreiter Kompaniemelder 6./GrenRgt 464 signed 4" x 5 ¾” Postwar photo Hermes joined the Wehrmacht on October 1, 1942 as a war volunteer. He took part in the reserve officer training of the 253rd Infantry Division and came in the connection on April 1, 1943 in the middle section of the Eastern Front for use. After serving the Knight's Cross as a strike troop leader (he led 10 men in April / May 1944 to kill several machine gun nests of the Red Army on a hill outside Kovel, Ukraine with submachine guns and hand grenades, because only then could the offensive continue and the staff of the German military hospital in Kowel) in the 6th Company (Lieutenant Heinz Jost, regimental commander Colonel Siegfried Grotheer erhielt ) and had suffered a renewed wound during his valiant act (his right elbow was almost completely destroyed by artillery fire after a successful bludgeon operation separated, many comrades fell , he could be salvaged by order of the company commander and recovered late in the evening in a field hospital ), he came to the war school and was promoted to lieutenant on 1 December 1944. He was then Ordonnanzoffizier in the staff of Army Group A or (by renaming on January 17, 1945) Army Group Center under Colonel-General / Field Marshal Ferdinand Schörner in Einsatzraum Slovakia (with the 1st Panzer Army ) and Adjutant of Major General Oldwig Otto von Natzmer ✠ . On May 3, 1945, he flew with Lieutenant General (promoted on March 15, 1945) of Natzmer on the orders of Field Marshal Schörner to President and Grand Admiral Karl Dönitz Flensburg-Murwick. Schörner asked Dönitz to relocate Army Group Center (600,000 men in three groups) from the security front on the Pilsen - Eger - Weiden line to the west in order to defend a corridor through which more than 2 million civilians were forced to leave "Cauldron of Czechoslovakia" could escape into the sphere of influence of the VS-Americans. Hermes reported after the war, what horror he had seen in those days, thousands of German civilians tortured by the Bolsheviks, but also partisans , raped and murdered. Doenitz agreed to the plan and the two officers flew back to headquarters. With three tanks with white flags they then went to negotiations with the 3rd US Army under George S. Patton . The Americans treated the Germans politely, but they rejected the proposal to supply the 2 million displaced people , and they rejected the vehement German request to move to Prague before the Russians to protect the civilian population from the war crimes of the Red Army . Stalin had warned Eisenhower not to invade conquered Soviet territory that same day. Disappointed, the Germans returned to field marshal Schörner. From a distance they could observe the devastating artillery and aerial bombardment of the proud German imperial city of Prague . In the following days, the bloodiest operations of the partisans were to begin, Germans had to endure unimaginable suffering. captivity On 7 May 1945, the relocation of Army Group from Josefstadt to Leitmeritz began, now was the first large-scale attack of a Soviet tank army and the first losses were counted. Chief of the General Staff Lieutenant-General von Natzmer now ordered to fight in small groups to the west. In a renewed attack of the enemy, Adjutant Hermes, with his driver in his own vehicle, lost contact with his supervisor. At Königgrätz , he was taken prisoner of war when his driver and he drove to a small village. Here they were attacked by partisans, the driver could barely destroy the vehicle with a hand grenade, then they were already overwhelmed. Hermes were torn off epaulets and medals, both men severely beaten, and they put a rope around their necks and dragged them through the village. Then they had to face two very young officers of the Elite , who had apparently been tortured before, to be shot at a wall. Shortly thereafter, Hermes driver was then dragged away. The partisans now discussed whether the officers should be shot. This delay saved their lives, because shortly after Soviet tanks drove into the village. The population cheered and the Czech bloodsuckers were distracted. The three Germans grabbed the moment and jumped over a small wall in a large stream and escaped in a nearby forest. On the morning of May 8, 1945 , all three were picked up again, and the henchmen were furious. The Germans were kept in a prison cell, where another group of German soldiers were already. For days there was no food or water, the emergency had to be done locally. Every morning everyone was put up against a wall and had to undergo sham shooting. Then one morning only the two young Elite officers were set up, they had to face the wall, suddenly the partisans began to beat them with clubs, a crowd hooted and clapped, the rest of the Germans had to watch hiflos, how the two men were killed before their eyes. The long way home Hermes had already ended his life when one day the Russians took over and fed the prisoners of war. At the end of May, a Russian lieutenant entered the cell and summoned Lieutenant Hermes, who looked even younger than his 20-year-old boy. The Russian accompanied Hermes to the outer gate, handed him bread and meat, and then indicated to him with a "dawai, dawai" that he could leave. Hermes never knew why he was released. Since the partisans had robbed him Pauldrons, medals, pay book and dog tag, the Russians possibly speculated that it was just a very young, simple soldier. Hermes knew he was in enemy territory and is still in danger. He was also captured again, but escaped the same day. His luck was that he had met a group of German soldiers and female Wehrmacht helpers. The group marched at night and hid in the woods during the day. At the beginning of June 1945 they reached Carlsbad . At the "Green Border" they tried to get from the Russian to the US-American. This finally succeeded with the help of a local. Then the group said goodbye and separated. Hermes adventurously reached his southern Sauerland home at the end of July 1945. time after war In 1949, Hermes's parents , who now live in Berlin, received a letter from the German Red Cross. One regretted the death of the son, who fell in May 1945. The notification can only be made now, as the driver of the son had recently returned from the captivity in Siberia to Germany. The parents were happy that he was son in truth and Hermes was happy to know that his faithful driver was still alive. After the war and Soviet captivity Hermes became from 11 May 1956 officer of the Bundeswehr , where he retired on September 30, 1982 as a lieutenant colonel from active Service Price: $18.00 Please contact us before ordering to confirm availability and shipping costs. Buy now with your credit card other ways to buy