Matthias Kleinheisterkamp

Matthias Kleinheisterkamp
Born	22 June 1893 Elberfeld, Rhine Province, Germany
Died	29 April 1945(1945-04-29) (aged 51) Halbe, Germany
Allegiance	German Empire (to 1918) Weimar Republic (to 1933) Nazi Germany
Service/branch	Reichsheer Reichswehr Waffen-SS
Years of service	1914–1945
Rank	Obergruppenführer und General der Waffen-SS
Battles/wars	World War I World War II
Awards	Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves

Matthias Kleinheisterkamp (22 June 1893 – 29 April 1945^{[Notes 1]}) was an SS Obergruppenführer (General) and a Heer (Army) officer who served in both World War I and World War II. During World War II, Kleinheisterkamp commanded the 3. SS-Division Totenkopf, 6. SS-Gebirgs-Division Nord, 2. SS-Division Das Reich, III.(germanische) SS-Panzerkorps, VII. SS-Panzerkops, IV. SS-Panzerkops, XII. SS-Armeekorps and the XI. SS-Armeekorps. He was also a winner of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves.

Early Life – World War I Service

Matthias Kleinheisterkamp was born in Elberfeld (now Wuppertal), Rhine Province.^[2] He was a son of railway secretary Matthias Kleinheisterkamp and his wife Anna Rüpper. After passing his Abitur (final exams) in 1914, he decided to join the Army and was assigned first to the 1.Westfälische Pionier-Bataillon Nr. 7 and later to 1. Lothringische Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 130 and finally to Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 219. It was with this regiment Leutnant Kleinheisterkamp saw action in World War I, first from 1914 to 1915 on the Western Front, from 1915 to 1916 on the Eastern Front and from 1916 until 1918 back in the West. However, before the war's end, Kleinheisterkamp was seriously wounded in the head and spent the rest of 1918 recovering from his injuries. For his heroic achievements he was awarded both classes of the Iron Cross^[3] and a silver grade Wound Badge.

Inter-war Years

Following the Armistice in 1918, Kleinheisterkamp joined the Freikorps and also served in the Reichswehr with various infantry units until he joined the Allgemeine-SS on November 1, 1933, membership number 132,399.^[2] He transferred to the SS-Verfügungstruppe on April 1, 1935 and was assigned to the SS-Führerschule Braunschweig, future SS-Junkerschule Braunschweig, as an infantry instructor. He taught there for a year, after which he joined then Brigadeführer (Major General) Paul Hausser's Inspectorate of the SS-VT as a senior staff officer.^[3] On April 20, 1937 Kleinheisterkamp joined the NSDAP, membership number 4,158,838,^[2] but his career backtracked when in June 1938 he got into serious legal and disciplinary troubles, he was reprimanded by the SS Court Head Office and placed on leave until August 1938. Upon his return to active duty, he was assigned to the SS-Standarte Deutschland in Munich and from December 1, 1938 commanded the Deutschland's III.Sturmbann.^[3]

World War II Service

Kleinheisterkamp remained with the III.Sturmbann during the 1939 operation Fall Weiß (invasion of Poland) when he commanded the Gefechtsgruppe Kleinheisterkamp responsible in part for the evacuation of German citizens and diplomatic personnel from Warsaw. Following his promotion to SS-Standartenführer (Colonel) in May 1940, he was put in charge of Infanterie-Regiment 3 within the SS-Division Totenkopf,^[3] despite the fact that he did not get along with the division's commander, Theodor Eicke. After Eicke was injured in July 1941, Kleinheisterkamp was, for a short time, commander of the Totenkopf, before being replaced by Georg Keppler. He remained with the division for the next 3 months until the continuous friction with Eicke resulted in Kleinheisterkamp’s transfer first to SS-Führungshauptamt (the operational headquarters of the SS) and later to the 2. SS-Division Das Reich. For his exemplary leadership of Das Reich during the operations on Eastern Front, Kleinheisterkamp was finally awarded the Knight's Cross,^[3] after two previous nominations in 1940 and 1941. In January 1942, after 4 months as a commander of Das Reich, he was re-assigned to the SS-Division Nord, however he did not take over the division until June, succeeding SS-Obergruppenführer Karl-Maria Demelhuber. He proved himself to be an excellent divisional leader and was extremely popular with his men and fellow officers, including his superior Eduard Dietl. Kleinheisterkamp remained with Nord until December 1943, when he was transferred to the Waffen-SS reserves at the SS-Führungshauptamt. In January 1944, he was again assigned to the field and commanded the VII. SS-Panzerkorps, III.(germanische) SS-Panzerkorps, IV. SS-Panzerkops and the XI. SS-Armeekorps.^[3] Obergruppenführer (General) Kleinheisterkamp was captured by the Soviets on April 28, 1945 near the village of Halbe, south-east of Berlin and committed suicide a day later while in captivity. Other accounts state he died on May 2 in the Battle of Halbe.^[1] Posthumously, Kleinheisterkamp received Oak Leaves to his Knight's Cross.

Personal life

Kleinheisterkamp married Ellen Heusing-Esch (July 4, 1900 - October 14, 1943) on March 27, 1921. They had three sons; Karl-Ernst, born on April 11, 1922; Hans-Joachim, born on April 12, 1928 and Heinrich, born on September 18, 1937. He also had two daughters; Waltraud, born on September 15, 1923 and Marliese, born on December 11, 1929.

Summary of his SS career

Dates of rank

• Fahnenjunker: August 2, 1914
• Leutnant: October, 1914
• Oberleutnant: February 1, 1928
• Hauptmann: October 1, 1929
• SS-Anwärter: January 8, 1934
• SS-Mann: January 24, 1934
• SS-Sturmmann: February 8, 1934
• SS-Scharführer: February 10, 1934
• SS-Oberscharführer: February 12, 1934
• SS-Truppführer: February 14, 1934
• SS-Obertruppführer: March 19, 1934
• SS-Sturmführer: April 12, 1934
• SS-Obersturmführer: June 17, 1934
• SS-Hauptsturmführer: April 20, 1935
• SS-Sturmbannführer: June 1, 1935
• SS-Obersturmbannführer: April 20, 1937
• SS-Standartenführer: May 18, 1940
• SS-Oberführer: July 19, 1940
• SS-Brigadeführer und Generalmajor der Waffen-SS: November 9, 1941
• SS-Gruppenführer und Generaleutnant der Waffen-SS: May 1, 1943
• SS-Obergruppenführer und General der Waffen-SS: August 1, 1944

Notable decorations

• Eastern Front Medal (1942)
• Iron Cross Second (?) and First (?) Classes
• Clasp to the Iron Cross Second (1939) and First (1939) Classes
• SS-Honour Ring (?)
• Anschluss Medal (1938)
• Sudetenland Medal (1939) with Prague Castle Bar (1939)
• Memel Medal (?)
• Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 31 March 1942 as SS-Brigadeführer, Generalmajor of the Waffen-SS and commander of the SS-Division "Das Reich"^[4]
• 871st Oak Leaves on 9 May 1945 (posthumously) as SS-Obergruppenführer, Generalleutnant of the Waffen-SS and commanding general of the XI. SS-Panzerkorps^{[5][Notes 2]}
• Wound Badge in Black (1918) and Silver (1918)
• Cross of Honor (1934)
• Silesian Eagle Second (?) and First (?) Classes
• War Merit Cross with Swords Second (1942) and First (1942) Classes
• Finnish Cross of Liberty First Class (1943)

^[2]

Notes

1. ^ According to Fellgiebel on 2 May 1945 in the Battle of Halbe.^[1]
2. ^ Historian Veit Scherzer expressed doubt about the veracity of the presentation of the Oak Leaves to Matthias Kleinheisterkamp. According to Scherzer, Fellgiebel claims that the nomination was received by the Heerespersonalamt (HPA) via teleprinter from the commander-in-chief of the 9. Armee, general Theodor Busse, on 21 April 1945. Busse had nominated SS-Obergruppenführer Kleinheisterkamp for the Oak Leaves. The claim is that the teleprinter message contained a note that the formal procedure for immediate approval should be waited for (Dienstwegvorschlag bzgl. Sofortverleihung abwarten). This teleprinter message cannot be found in the German Nation Archives (Bestand RH 7). Busse had also nominated by teleprinter message Generalmajor Joachim von Siegroth on the 21 April. This teleprinter message can be found in the Nation Archives (Bundesarchiv RH 7/300). According to Fellgiebel the same note can be found on von Siegroth's nomination. This means that a formal nomination, in this instance via the Army Group Vistula, followed. Both announced "formal nominations" never followed and were never received by the HPA. The teleprinter message nomination of von Siegroth is listed in the book of "awarded Knight Crosses" with an entry date of 21 April but Kleinheisterkamp's nomination isn't. The reason for this may be that the liaison officer of the Waffen-SS at the HPA/P5a may have forwarded the nomination to the Reichsführer-SS for approval. From here it should have been returned to the HPA which it wasn't. The distribution list of von Siegroth's nomination indicates that general Busse had informed the Army Group Vistula and the chief of the HPA general Wilhelm Burgdorf. It is very likely that Kleinheisterkamp's nomination had the same distribution list as von Siegroth's, because the same principles applied. Burgdorf therefore should have been informed of the formal procedure regarding Kleinheisterkamp's nomination. The question remains unanswered whether the Führer Headquarter or Adolf Hitler has approved the direct nomination of Kleinheisterkamp on 28 April or not. Scherzer claims that this is very unlikely because Burgdorf would not have done two things. First, submit a nomination to the Führer without having assessed the situation himself, which only would have been possible if he had studied the formal paperwork. Secondly he would not have bypassed the formal procedure which was already initiated. Additionally the radio connection to the Führerbunker was down since 5:00 on 28 April 1945. The sequential number "871" was assigned by the Association of Knight's Cross Recipients (AKCR) and the date is assumed.^[6]

References

Citations

1. ^ ^{a b} Fellgiebel 2000, p. 104.
2. ^ ^{a b c d} "SS-OBERGRUPPENFÜHRER & GENERAL DER WAFFEN-SS - KLEINHEISTERKAMP, Matthias". Axis Biographical Research. 2007. Archived from the original on 2009-10-27. http://web.archive.org/web/20091027101123/http://geocities.com/~orion47/SS-POLIZEI/SS-Ogruf_H-L.html. 
3. ^ ^{a b c d e f} "Matthias Kleinheisterkamp". Das Reich 2nd SS Panzer Division. 2001. http://www.dasreich.ca/klein.html. 
4. ^ Scherzer 2007, p. 447.
5. ^ Fellgiebel 2000, pp. 104, 482.
6. ^ Scherzer 2007, p. 148.

Bibliography

• Fellgiebel, Walther-Peer (2000). Die Träger des Ritterkreuzes des Eisernen Kreuzes 1939-1945. Friedburg, Germany: Podzun-Pallas. ISBN 3-7909-0284-5.
• 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 (in German). Jena, Germany: Scherzers Miltaer-Verlag. ISBN 978-3-938845-17-2.
• Williamson, Gordon (March 1994). The SS: Hitler's Instrument of Terror: The Full Story From Street Fighters to the Waffen-SS. Motorbooks International. ISBN 0-87938-905-2, ISBN 978-0-87938-905-5.
• Yerger, Mark C. (October 1997). Waffen-Ss Commanders: The Army, Corps and Divisiional Leaders of a Legend : Augsberger to Kreutz. Atglen, PA: Schiffer Publishing. ISBN 0-7643-0356-2, ISBN 978-0-7643-0356-2.

Military offices
Preceded by SS-Obergruppenführer Theodor Eicke	Commander of 3. SS-Panzer Division Totenkopf July 07, 1941 - July 15, 1941	Succeeded by SS-Obergruppenführer Georg Keppler
Preceded by SS-Obergruppenführer Wilhelm Bittrich	Commander of 2. SS-Division Das Reich January 01, 1942 - April 19, 1942	Succeeded by SS-Obergruppenführer Georg Keppler
Preceded by SS-Obergruppenführer Karl-Maria Demelhuber	Commander of 6. SS-Gebirgs-Division Nord April 01, 1942 - April 20, 1942	Succeeded by SS-Oberführer Hans Scheider
Preceded by SS-Obergruppenführer Hans Scheider	Commander of 6. SS-Gebirgs-Division Nord June 01, 1942 - December 15, 1943	Succeeded by SS-Gruppenführer Lothar Debes
Preceded by none	Commander of VII. SS-Armeekorps May 01, 1943 - June 01, 1943	Succeeded by absorbed into IV. SS-Panzerkorps
Preceded by SS-Obergruppenführer Walter Krüger	Commander of IV. SS-Panzerkorps June 01, 1944 - June 20, 1944	Succeeded by SS-Brigadeführer Nikolaus Heilmann
Preceded by none	Commander of XI. SS-Armeekorps August 01, 1944 - April 30, 1945	Succeeded by none
Preceded by SS-Obergruppenführer Georg Keppler	Commander of III.(germanische) SS-Panzerkorps February 04, 1945 - February 11, 1945	Succeeded by Generalleutnant Martin Unrein

Persondata
Name	Kleinheisterkamp, Matthias
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	June 22, 1893
Place of birth	Elberfeld, Rhine Province, Germany
Date of death	April 29, 1945
Place of death	Halbe, Germany