Emil Wawrzinek

Emil Wawrzinek
Born (1917-09-09)9 September 1917
Schneidenburg, Upper-Silesia
Died 1 April 1945(1945-04-01) (aged 28)
Steinabrückl, Austria
Allegiance  Nazi Germany
Service/branch Waffen SS
Years of service 1936–1945
Rank SS-Hauptsturmführer
Unit 1st SS Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler
Commands held 1st SS Reconnaissance Battalion LSSAH
Battles/wars World War II
Awards Iron Cross 1st Class
Iron Cross 2nd Class
German Cross in Gold
Winter War Medal 1941/42
Infantry Assault Badge
Close Combat Clasp in Silver
Wound Badge in Gold

Emil Wawrzinek (9 September 1917 – 1 April 1945) was an SS-Hauptsturmführer (Captain) in the 1st SS Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler who was awarded the German Cross in Gold. He was killed in action in Austria, on April 1, 1945.

Early life

Emil Wawrzinek was born in Schneidenburg, in Upper Silesia, on 9 September 1917. He was the youngest son of Emil Wawrzinek senior, a bricklayer who was killed in action as a German soldier in France on 16 May 1917. His pregnant 23-year-old widow Benedikta stayed behind with their 3 year old son Georg. Wawrzinek was raised as a Catholic. He attended the Volksschule in Schneidenburg and the Oberschule in Oberglogau. Upper-Silesia was politically turbulent since the Allied Forces had allocated the region to Poland after the First World War, much against the wish of its German inhabitants which made up 40 percent of the population. This triggered strong nationalistic German sentiments. Likewise with the Wawrzinek brothers and Emil joined the Hitlerjugend in March 1933. He served in the Reichsarbeitsdienst from October 1935 to October 1936.[1]

Wartime career

Wawrzinek volunteered for the Leibstandarte and joined the NSDAP on 1 October 1936, and took part in the annexation of Austria and the German invasion of Poland. On 30 January 1940, he was promoted to SS-Unterscharführer and at the same time he was sent to an officers course at the SS Junkerschule Braunschweig. He finished the three-month course on 8 May 1940 as an SS-Standartenoberjunker. An apprenticeship with an SS unit was part of the course and Wawrzinek was sent to the SS Ersatzbataillon (SS replacement battalion) in Ellwangen where he was trained as a Kradschütze (motorcycle soldier). In September he returned to the Leibstandarte to lead a motorcycle platoon in the second company of the Aufklärungsabteilung LSSAH that was formed by SS-Sturmbannführer Kurt Meyer. His promotion to SS-Untersturmführer followed on 9 November 1940. The battalion participated in the German invasion of the Balkans and because of his actions during the attack on Greece Wawrzinek was awarded the Iron cross 2nd class and the bronze Infantry Assault Badge. He also led a platoon in the second company during Operation Barbarossa, the German attack on the Soviet Union. On 10 August 1941, Wawrzinek was wounded. In the SS hospital in Bobry doctors removed seventeen grenade splinters from his upper torso. He was awarded the Iron Cross first class on 14 September. He was wounded again on November 19 was treated in a hospital in Nikolayev.

After he had recovered from his injuries, he went to Germany on leave; he was then ordered to report at the Sennelager training grounds in March 1942, where the 3rd (light half-track) company for the reconnaissance battalion was formed under SS-Hauptsturmführer Gustav Knittel. W Wawrzinek was to lead the 1st platoon; he was promoted to SS-Obersturmführer on 20 April 1942. After extensive training in Germany and France, the reconnaissance battalion was sent to the Eastern Front in January 1943 where it saw action during the battle for Kharkov. On February 15, Knittel was wounded in action and then transported to the SS hospital in Poltava. Wawrzinek was awarded the silver wound badge on 20 February and the German Cross in Gold on 21 March.

In April 1943, Meyer left for the new Hitlerjugend Division and Knittel took over the reconnaissance battalion. Wawrzinek became the new commander of the armoured halftrack company. He led them into battle at Kursk but was wounded again on 10 July. He returned to his company when it was in Yugoslavia to fight partisans. The rest of the reconnaissance battalion was in Italy at that time. In November, the company returned to the Leibstandarte in the Ukraine. On November 9, Wawrzinek was promoted to SS-Hauptsturmführer; in December, he was awarded the gold Infantry Assault Badge.

On 6 December, Wawrzinek was wounded during the battle for Andrejeff, this time grenade splitters in his left hand, and taken to the SS hospital in Kraków. His wounds were not serious and he was allowed a short leave after he left the hospital.

The Leibstandarte was shipped to Normandy a week after D-Day and was almost decimated in the Falaise Pocket. After the breakout from Normandy, Wawrzinek took over as battalion commander and was in charge of rebuilding the battalion. Shortly before the start of the Ardennes Offensive, Wawrzinek was transferred to the division staff. But when Knittel was out of action with a serious concussion, Wawrzinek took command of the Aufklärungsabteilung; was wounded on 2 January 1945 and he did not return to the battalion until the Leibstandarte was in Hungary. Wawrzinek once again led the reconnaissance battalion during Operation Frühlingserwachen. When the operation failed, the Leibstandarte retreated into Austria to defensive positions around Vienna. On 1 April 1945, a rocket hit the battalion command post in Steinabrückl; Wawrzinek and the battalion staff were killed.

SS-Hauptsturmführer Emil Wawrzinek is buried among the other members of his staff at the Blumau-Neurißhof war cemetery, grave 393.[2]

Personal life

Wawrzinek married Hannelote Bügelsack on 2 March 1944.[1]

Summary of SS career

Dates of rank

Notable decorations

See also

References

  1. 1 2 SS Personalakten - Record Group 242, Publication A3343-RS-G0604 (NARA)
  2. ↑ http://www.volksbund.de/
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