Rudolf Hofmann

Rudolf Hofmann
Born	4 September 1895 Würzburg
Died	13 April 1970 (aged 74) Kainsbach
Allegiance	German Empire (to 1918)  Weimar Republic (to 1933)  Nazi Germany
Service/branch	Heer
Years of service	1914–45
Rank	General der Infanterie
Unit	Heeresgruppe Nord
Battles/wars	World War I World War II Invasion of Poland Battle of France Eastern Front
Awards	Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross

Rudolf Hofmann (4 September 1895 – 13 April 1970) was a General of the Infantry in the Wehrmacht during World War II and a recipient of Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross. The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross was awarded to recognise extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership.

War Crimes

The book German Army and Genocide (ISBN 1565845250) mentions the following incident, from the invasion of Yugoslavia: When one German soldier was shot and one seriously wounded in Pančevo, Wehrmacht soldiers and the Waffen SS rounded up about 100 civilians at random... the town commander, Lt. Col. Fritz Bandelow conducted the courts martial... The presiding judge, SS-Sturmbannführer Rudolf Hoffmann, sentenced 36 of those arrested to death. On April 21, 1941, four of the civilians were the first to be shot... On the following day eighteen victims were hanged in a cemetery and fourteen more were shot at the cemetery wall by an execution squad of the Wehrmacht's Grossdeutschland regiment. (p. 42)

Awards and decorations

• Iron Cross (1914)
  • 2nd Class
  • 1st Class
• Wound Badge (1914)
  • in Black
  • in Silver
• Honour Cross of the World War 1914/1918
• Iron Cross (1939)
  • 2nd Class
  • 1st Class
• German Cross in Gold (9 November 1944)
• Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 7 May 1945 as General der Infanterie and Chief of the Generalstab Heeresgruppe Nord ^[1]

References

Citations

1. Fellgiebel 2000, p. 116.

Bibliography

• Fellgiebel, Walther-Peer (2000) [1986]. Die Träger des Ritterkreuzes des Eisernen Kreuzes 1939–1945 — Die Inhaber der höchsten Auszeichnung des Zweiten Weltkrieges aller Wehrmachtteile [The Bearers of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross 1939–1945 — The Owners of the Highest Award of the Second World War of all Wehrmacht Branches] (in German). Friedberg, Germany: Podzun-Pallas. ISBN 978-3-7909-0284-6.
• 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 Miltaer-Verlag. ISBN 978-3-938845-17-2.