List of Knight's Cross recipients 15th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS (1st Latvian)

The 15th Waffen-Grenadierdivision der SS (lett. Nr. 1) was formed in the Waffen SS's drive for manpower in the wake of Operation Barbarossa, the invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941. After a successful recruitment drive in the Reichskommissariat Ostland (Baltic states) for the [...] anti-partisan brigades, Heinrich Himmler formed Baltic legions by late August 1942, including the Lettische SS-Freiwilligen-Legion, the nucleus of the later 15th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS. The Division fought on the Pomeranian Wall defences. At Podgaje, 2 February 1945.

The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross and its higher grades were based on four separate enactments. The first enactment Reichsgesetzblatt I S. 1573 of September 1, 1939 instituted the Iron Cross and the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross. As the war progressed some of the recipients distinguished themselves further and a higher grade, the Oak Leaves to Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross was instituted. The Oak Leaves, as they were commonly referred to, were based on the enactment Reichsgesetzblatt I S. 849 of June 3, 1940. In 1941 two higher grades of the Knight's Cross were instituted. The enactment Reichsgesetzblatt I S. 613 of September 28, 1941 introduced the Knight’s Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords and the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves, Swords and Diamonds. At the end of 1944 the last and final grade, the Knight's Cross with Golden Oak Leaves, Swords, and Diamonds, based on the enactment Reichsgesetzblatt 1945 I S. 11 of December 29, 1944 concluded the variants of the Knight's Cross.

Prerequisites

To qualify for the Knight's Cross, a soldier had to already hold the 1939 Iron Cross First Class, though the Iron Cross I Class was awarded concurrently with the Knight's Cross in rare cases. Unit commanders could also be awarded the medal for exemplary conduct by the unit as a whole.

Grades

The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross was divided into five grades, excluding the Grand Cross of the Iron Cross:

• Knights Cross
• Knights Cross with Oak Leaves
• Knights Cross with Oak Leaves and swords
• Knights Cross with Oak Leaves, Swords and Diamonds
• Knights Cross with Golden Oak Leaves, Swords and Diamonds

Knight's Cross

Division staff

• Adolf Ax, SS-Oberführer, 15th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS (1st Latvian), 9 May 1945
• Nicolaus Heilmann, SS-Oberführer, 15th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS (1st Latvian), 23 August 1944
• Erich Wulff, SS-Sturmbannführer, 15th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS (1st Latvian) 9 May 1945

Waffen Panzergrenadier Regiment 32

• Karlis Aperats, Waffen Obersturmbannführer, 32nd Waffen Panzergrenadier Regiment der SS, 21 September 1944

See also

• 15th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS (1st Latvian)
• Waffen SS

Footnotes

References

• SEEMEN, Gerhard von: Die Ritterkreuzträger 1939-1945. Podzun-Pallas, 1976.
• SCHERZER, Veit: Knight's Cross Recipients 1939 - 1945 (Paperback) by Enid Blyton, 1999

de:Liste der Träger des Eichenlaubs mit Schwertern zum Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes fr:Liste des titulaires de la croix de chevalier de la croix de fer avec feuilles de chêne et glaives