Eberhard Heder

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Eberhard Heder
Heder, Eberhard (Waffen SS) II.jpg
Birth name Eberhard Franz Heder
Nickname Teddy
Birth date 30 June 1918(1918-06-30)
Place of birth Groß Küdde, Kreis Neustettin, Regierungsbezirk Köslin, Province of Pomerania, Kingdom of Prussia, German Empire
Death date 18 November 2017 (aged 99)
Place of death Warburg near Kassel, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany
Allegiance  National Socialist Germany
 West Germany
Service/branch Flag Schutzstaffel.png Waffen-SS
Bundeswehr cross.png Bundeswehr
Rank SS-Sturmbannführer
Colonel
Service number SS #313,763
NSDAP #7,245,983
Unit 5th SS Panzer Division Wiking
Commands held SS-Panzer-Pionier-Bataillon 5 “Wiking”
Battles/wars World War II
Awards German Cross in Gold
Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross

Eberhard "Teddy" Franz Heder (sometimes wrongly Eberhardt; 30 June 1918 – 18 November 2017) was a German officer of the SS-Verfügungstruppe, the Waffen-SS and the Bundeswehr, finally Colonel as well as recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross in WWII.

Life

Heder as a new recruit of the SS-Verfügungstruppe with the special collar patch of the pioneers
SS-Untersturmführer Heder
SS-Obersturmführer Heder with wife in 1943
SS-Hauptsturmführer Heder
Heder, Eberhard (Soldbuch I).jpg
Heder, Eberhard (Soldbuch II).jpg
Eberhard Heder-Bundeswehr.jpg
Heder, Eberhard (Waffen SS).jpg
Eberhard Heder, 2017.jpg
Eberhard Heder, 2017 II.jpg
Eberhard Heder, BDPi, Nachruf.png
  • Elementary School, later Middle School in Soldin (Neumark)
  • 1929/30 Joined the Greater German Youth Association (Großdeutscher Jugendbund; GJB); Heder stated in a post-WWII interview:
On Saturdays we went to the lake, sang songs. I didn't play the guitar, but I admired those who could. We would meet on weekdays too: sing songs, read history to each other. Sometimes adults would read to us out loud: and not just any specialists, but our twenty-year-old camp counselor, who worked as an electrician's apprentice. We didn't talk about National Socialism, but about our native Germany. We were patriots! Do you understand? There, by the fire, in those years, regardless of the ideology of National Socialism, I laid the foundations of my life position. Then it all merged with the Hitler Youth.
  • 1 March 1932 to 1 April 1937 Member of the Hitler Youth
    • October 1932 Participated in the Reich Youth Day in Potsdam
  • Easter 1934 Transferred to the National Political Institute of Education in Berlin-Spandau (NPEA/Napola Berlin-Spandau)
    • It was a special honour to be accepted to a NPEA. The pupils attending these schools were meant to become the future leadership of Germany. Dominated by military discipline, no children with poor hearing or vision were accepted. Above average intelligence and strong character were also required, so that those looking to be admitted had to complete 8-day entrance exams. Heder stated in a post-WWII interview:
When I say today that propaganda was unobtrusive, no one believes me. But I must tell you that there was no persistent special propaganda back then. Only in biology and German was the National Socialist way of thinking emphasized. I even remember one student who wrote his university entrance exam on the topic of Karl Marx's "Das Kapital". This was not typical, but it was quite possible, and it was considered normal! Although we, of course, did not have a course in Marxism. He chose this topic himself, based on his personal interest. [Biology] was presented to us in the following way: the white race created the dominant culture in the modern world, and the Western, that is, the Aryan civilization – in the form of the Roman Empire, and then in the form of the Anglo-Saxon Empire – conquered the world, created science, and so on.
In the summer of 1936, three months before the opening of the Olympics in Berlin, preparations began. Volunteers for work at the Olympics were recruited, among other places, in Napola. I, of course, signed up. We were all gathered, each volunteer received a special white suit, and preparations began. During the opening, I greeted the Brazilian team. They handed me a large Brazilian flag, and I represented their team. From that time until now, I have a badge from the Brazilian Olympic Committee! And on the last day of the Olympics, I carried the flag of Peru. The Peruvian team had already left, but someone had to represent them [...] All those who carried the flags, along with 30 or 40 Olympic teams, lined up in front of the main stand, where Hitler and the members of the Olympic Committee were. I remember that the teams of Austria and the Philippines stood next to me. Very beautiful and beautifully dressed girls came forward and had to hang a golden wreath on each national flag. Each delegation could take it home. We, on command, lowered the banners, and the young beauties hung wreaths on them, which were fixed with a small hook. It was dark, we stood in the light of spotlights directed at us. On command, we raise the flags, and then the wreath from my flag falls to the ground! Only me! Right in front of Hitler and everyone else! Only me! Here is Hitler, here is the fallen wreath and me…! My comrade from Napola, standing behind, whispered that I should lower the flag, and he would jump out and put on the wreath. But I decided that it was not worth lowering the flag and messing around with the wreath. My comrade simply picked it up and gave it to me after the ceremony. It was kept in my house, which is now in Poland. Too bad, the wreath was very beautiful, with a spectacular gold ribbon. I saw the Olympics from the first to the last hour. I must tell you, it was an absolutely wonderful event. Of course, there were swastikas and other Nazi paraphernalia everywhere. There were a lot of foreigners in the stadium, but I didn’t notice that they were irritated by it. When Hitler appeared, everyone stood up. On their own! Nobody forced them!
  • 16 March 1937 Abitur
    • I graduated from school and was eligible to enter university. Instead, he wanted to go to a military school to become an officer in the infantry of the Wehrmacht. But they attributed problems with my eyes, which he did not have at the time, and did not accept him. He was indignant, saying that this could not be, that it was a mistake. In response, they suggested that he apply again in six months.
  • 3 April to 23 October 1937 Reich Labour Service (Reichsarbeitsdienst; RAD)
  • 1 November 1937 Joined the SS-Verfügungstruppe (SS-Nr.: 313 763)
    • Heder saw an advertisement for the Verfügungstruppe and found out that the training was conducted under the same conditions as in the army, and was counted as military service, that is, as fulfilling his two-year compulsory military service. If something had not worked out for him, then after two years he would have been discharged, and he would have been able to enroll in university. At that time, such conditions were very acceptable. And so it happened that he volunteered for the SS.
    • He served with the SS-Pionier-Sturmbann in Leisnig, as of 1938 in Dresden. The Sturmbann (battalion) under SS-Obersturmbannführer (later SS-Standartenführer) Carl Blumberg (1889–1948) took part in the Anschluss and in the liberation of the Sudetenland in 1938.
  • 5 July 1939 Application for NSDAP membership
  • 12 April to 31 December 1939 SS-Junkerschule Braunschweig (1. Kriegs-Junker-Lehrgang 1939 an der SS-Junkerschule Braunschweig); Heder stated in a post-WWII interview:
We were trained in the same way as ordinary army officers. As I learned after the war, there was an order from Hitler or the Supreme Command, which stated that the Wehrmacht should have control over the training in the SS cadet schools. Specifically, the Wehrmacht! The training should be conducted in such a way that in the event of war, the students could perform the duties of an officer, such as tactics, weapons, logistics, and so on. [...] Yes, the Wehrmacht schools had dance hours [...] we didn't have dance hours, but we were taught how to move correctly. For example, in Braunschweig there were only two dance clubs. There were tea dances after dinner. Our teachers also appeared there, but in civilian clothes. We thought it was to control whether we were behaving well.
  • 1 November 1939 Accepted as NSDAP member (NSDAP-Nr.: 7 245 983)
    • his membership card was issued on 1 December 1939 by the Ortsgruppe Braunschweig (Gau Hannover-Süd); after the war, Heder stated he "had nothing to do with the party", but this is not completely true. Although membership was not mandatory, it was welcome when young officer candidates of the SS or SS-Verfügungstruppe became members. There was also a certain group pressure, especially for the cadets of the SS-Junkerschule. One can assume that Heder did not become a member for political reasons.
  • January to March 1940 Platoon leader course (Zugführerlehrgang) at a Pionier school as SS-Standartenoberjunker
    • Heder at first refused, he had no interest in technology and wanted to serve with the infantry, but was told, the SS-Verfügungsdivision (VT-Division) urgently needed pioneer officers, and Heder obeyed.
  • 20 April 1940 Transferred to the Totenkopfdivision, but was shortly later transferred to the SS-Pionier-Ersatz-Bataillon (renamed SS-Pionier-Ausbildungs- und Ersatz-Bataillon 1 in April 1941) in Dresden where he became an instructor for recruits.
  • June 1940 Transferred to Braunschweig (Marschbataillon/VT-Division) where he was to take over a large group of officer candidates
  • 3 July 1940 Transferred to the SS-Regiment "Germania" at the Western Front
    • Arrived in France, but there was no contact with the VT-Division, it had already advanced to the Spanish border. And a few days later – the capitulation of France. When Heder and the young men arrived at the “Germania” regiment, the capitulation was just announced, and after that there was no more fighting.
  • 20/21 December 1940 SS-Regiment "Germania" became the first regiment of the SS-Division (mot.) "Wiking", Heder served as a platoon leader with the Pionier-Bataillon "Wiking"; Heder stated in a post-WWII interview:
[...] in May 1941, we were still in southern Germany, in Tübingen. And at the beginning of June we were already in Poland. I remember how we, in a company of young officers, discussed what would happen next. We calculated and made predictions. We would have had only one possibility of prediction, if not for the non-aggression pact! Some of us even assumed that we would receive the right of passage through the Soviet Union to Persia. But these were just rumors and speculation. Not a word was said about this until the attack on the Soviet Union! I myself often thought about this, with what plans we were going to the east. A third reason for concentrating troops on the border was discussed: in case of an attack by the Soviet Union on us. This question was also raised. The idea of ​​attacking the Soviet Union was not at all obvious then. [...] I think it was in the evening or at night that Hitler's general order was read to us. For us, it didn't sound like a signal for a morning attack, "Wiking" was in the second echelon, we simply took note – the war had begun! It was a very exciting moment. [...] Yes, the regiment commander died. He probably came across surrounded Soviet troops. There were some Russians there who did not surrender. It is unlikely that they were partisans, they did not exist then.
Usually we removed mines, but that summer we didn't have to do that. And if we talk about bridges, I built one near the town of Smela in the Cherkassy-Kremenchuk region. When advancing towards the Dnieper, we had to cross one of its many tributaries. There was a very high bridge there that was partially blown up. Several spans had collapsed, but they decided to use it. One battalion crossed the river, took a bridgehead, and I, not really understanding what I was doing, since I was not well trained, was busy fortifying the crossing. It was good that I had a couple of smart non-commissioned officers – they improvised right on the go. As a result, we fortified everything there pretty well. We had to do this all day under artillery fire - the Russians were harassing fire. On the first night, the most important units of the division crossed the bridge: the vanguard with an artillery battalion, an infantry battalion, and others. Then counterattacks began near Cherkassy, ​​and then we were surrounded. Then we were unblocked, and another regiment came to replace us – "Nordland" At that time, the Red Army was not in a position to carry out such operations to their logical conclusion. During our offensive, they carried out the expected counterattack on the flank, from the east across the Dnieper. We were moving forward, and they were trying to break through behind our backs. However, it must be admitted that the situation was critical at that time.
I remember being part of an assault group with my platoon. Our task was to blow up anything that was preventing us from moving forward. For example, once we had to storm a barracks complex. We attacked it with the entire regiment, and during this attack I personally planted an anti-tank mine under the house and then blew it up. I was still doing this myself back then! It turned out to be quite a difficult task because they were shooting at us from the upper floors. My platoon and I walked around the barracks, and then a large crowd of people appeared with their hands up. A crowd of Soviet soldiers stood in front of me. Several people separated from the crowd and, waving something white over their heads, they began to approach us. When this group came close enough, one of them threw himself at my feet, hugged them and began to beg for mercy. I didn’t know what to do and ordered him to stand up. He was very nervous and afraid. Do you understand the situation? He thought I was going to shoot him! This Russian said, "Please don't shoot me." I reached out to him and lifted him up. Then all the prisoners went to our rear on their own, and we did not guard them at all. I remember this event, the meeting with that man, very often. Later I saw prisoners in the Oryol prison. When we interrogated the prisoners, they told us: "We have run out of fuel and ammunition. We were given the order to cover our artillery, and if our guns are lost, we will be shot." I know that such strict orders were given by the Soviet leadership. What madness.
  • 6 October 1942 Tthe SS Wiking Division captured Malgobek, but the goal of capturing Grozny and opening the road to the Caspian Sea was not achieved. The closest point to the city of Grozny, Height 701, was captured by the Finnish SS Volunteer Battalion Nordost. During these battles, the Wiking Division lost more than 1,500 men.
  • Christmas 1942 Caucasus battles as commander of the 3rd Company/SS-Pionier-Battailon 5; Heder stated in a post-WWII interview:
I can tell you about Christmas in the Caucasus in the winter of 1942–1943. We were holding the front somewhere near Ordzhonikidze. Suddenly, just before Christmas, we were loaded onto a train and sent to reinforce another section of the front, which was located south of Rostov. I was retreating with my company and tanks as the last rearguard. We were moving through Dyakovo, it was a populated area on our retreat route. At that time, our army sappers were mining the passage through the city. We also had orders to blow up the bridges before the Red Army approached them. My company was supposed to send all the motor transport to the rear to the west, leaving a few Panzer with us. Despite the fact that the tanks' engines did not stop for a second, this could in no way save us from the terrible Russian frost. It was very calm and quiet in this small Caucasian town. We passed through it in literally a couple of hours. Just on Christmas Eve, I ordered the company cook to have a fried sausage for every soldier that evening. The cook tried very hard, and he did a very good job of this treat. Then midnight came. First, our combat outposts pulled up to the tanks. And after a while, all the bridges that were there blew up. We calmly prepared them for the explosion, and then blew them up. Finally we waited for the sappers, climbed onto the tanks and moved west. Towards morning, in this barbaric cold, we arrived at a ruined kolkhoz [a form of collective farm], next to which stood large stacks of hay. We had nothing with us – so the hay became the only thing we could use to protect ourselves from this damned cold. However, despite the difficulties, it was necessary to stop the Russians for a while, and I organized some semblance of defense on the hill. At dawn on the morning of 25 December, several Soviet tanks emerged from the village where we had blown up the bridges. We could see them perfectly well from our position on the top of the hill. To move in broad daylight, right up to the heights where the enemy tanks were stationed, was sheer stupidity. The battle did not last long. Thus, on Christmas Day, we knocked out all the Russian tanks. Not a single one of them escaped! Our company, having no further orders from the command, moved to the strong point, where our supply train and kitchen were waiting for us. It was assumed that everything was ready for our arrival there, since I had given them the appropriate order before leaving. Fresh mail from home, cigarettes, a camp-shop, and 5 or 7 bottles of schnapps, which each company received once a month, awaited us. The schnapps was traditionally distributed by the company commander, but this time I ordered that these goods not be distributed until Christmas, but stored until our arrival. On the second day of Christmas, 26 December, we had a wonderful celebration. We settled in very well in the new place. I want to say that we were very well received by those people who lived in the Caucasus – they were all very happy to see us. Finally I had a chance to take a bath, shave properly, and look through the latest mail. All my soldiers were able to wash and tidy themselves up, too. After that, the camp supplies were distributed, and the real celebration of good old Christmas began. I went from one platoon to another. Everywhere I was greeted loudly, they poured schnapps into my mug, and when the party was over, I fell asleep right away. I remember that day very well. It was a real Christmas, and it was celebrated LIKE THIS only once in the war.
  • May 1943 The Wiking Division was withdrawn from the front for rest and recovery. Some units of the division took part in minor skirmishes with partisans during this period; Heder stated in a post-WWII interview:
Around 1943, I had Dutchmen, but I don't remember how many. [...] I speak a little Dutch myself. Also, my first wife is from Holland. Secondly, they knew German commands very well.
  • June/July 1943 Commander of the 2nd company of the Estonian SS Volunteer Battalion "Narva" subordinated to the "Germania" Panzer-Grenadier-Regiment; Heder stated in a post-WWII interview:
I was dismissed and punished, and that's how I ended up with the Estonians. It happened shortly before the Battle of Kursk. We had a new commander, I became his deputy. We didn't understand each other. I wouldn't like to talk about it too much. I had a few drinks, and he called me a fool – just to make himself look more important in comparison. To which I said: "Order a painting of you kissing my ass." I was lucky that I was punished administratively and not brought to trial! That didn't happen because I already had the German Cross. I was simply sent to command an Estonian company. Today, I think that commanding them was an interesting task for me, but at the time it was not easy for me. I didn't know if I would be able to do it at all, but the Estonians, surprisingly, began to listen to me very quickly. The Estonians did not speak German, but they knew some commands. When I gave them orders, they understood. But despite this, sometimes bad situations occurred. When I took command of the 2nd company of the Estonian SS Volunteer Battalion "Narva", I was given a task that no officer would have taken on voluntarily under normal conditions. And in today's NATO, by the way, too. It was necessary to introduce foreign soldiers into the toughest battles, without any habituation and adaptation to peaceful conditions. We had to learn from our own experience. But at the front there was neither time nor opportunity for theoretical reflection nor even for any training. For this, intensive practice was necessary. We were mercilessly thrown into battle because the situation at the front demanded it. Such a situation could only be dealt with if there were unshakable mutual trust between the leadership and the subordinates. And between people of such different nations as the Germans and the Estonians, this did indeed arise and exist. This was due to the sympathetic open-heartedness of the people of the Baltic, for which they often had no rational basis, and to our general anti-Bolshevik sentiments, which also played a large part. They often delighted me with their singing. One of them was especially good, a milkman by trade, who played the mandolin masterfully. If alcohol was available, the Estonians willingly quenched their thirst with it. Sometimes they would rock me wildly and throw me into the air to express their affection for me in this way. It may have been rude, but it was quite sincere. The platoon and squad leaders and radio operators were mostly Germans, which was necessary to maintain the company's combat capability. Among them, the commander of the 1st platoon, Untersturmführer Hando Ruus, stood out: as far as I knew, he had previously been a lieutenant in the Estonian army reserves. But the majority of the company consisted of Estonians, very few of whom spoke German. One of those who spoke German was my messenger: an intelligent, educated young man who, unfortunately, died a few weeks later. And I wanted to send him to study to become an officer. And anyway, there were always one or two Estonians who knew German. [...] In July 1943, on the Donets south of Izyum, the Estonian battalion "Narva" showed itself excellently both in defense and in the attack. What they showed in close combat – against tanks and without panzerfausts! – had hardly been seen in our division before, and this earned them respect. The respected and beloved commander, Sturmbannführer Eberhardt, was seriously wounded. He did not believe that he would be able to live a full life with such a wound, and therefore committed suicide, having written in his report: "I hope the Narwa will hold out!" Knowing their achievements, I looked with great skepticism at the Estonians of the 2nd company, lined up on some Ukrainian field. Then I took command as the successor of Obersturmführer Burgdorf and addressed them with a short speech. It seemed to me that they were satisfied with the sight of my combat decorations, which proved that I was an experienced front-line soldier.
  • Summer 1943 Hilfswilliger (auxiliary volunteer; Hiwi) Nikolai; Heder stated in a post-WWII interview:
I had a personal experience with a certain Nikolai: it makes sense to tell about him. In the summer of 1943, when I commanded the Estonians, they took many prisoners, who were taken back to the division during the retreat, and some were used to help us. One day an order came - all those used for work were to be sent to prisoner of war camps. I went to my supply train and field kitchen to check and supervise everything. About 20 prisoners were working there. I ordered them to gather and told them what was happening. And then I asked if anyone wanted to stay with us as a "hee-wee", with such and such tasks, without being used in combat. Not a single one refused! Because our life was better than in a prisoner of war camp! They understood it, and I understood it. There was a young man named Nikolai standing there. I don’t know why I liked him. From that moment on, he was always with me as a "hee-wee". Wherever I was: in positions, in defense, on the road, he was always next to me and helped me. And when I didn’t need help, he returned to the field kitchen. This went on for a long time. In November, we were lying in the mud together when we crossed the Dnieper near Cherkassy. There, near Cherkassy, ​​there was a partisan nest that was interfering with our supplies, and we could not destroy it. Nikolai was always near me there. Some personal relations arose between us then, especially in the cauldron. Comrades and commanders often came to see me. Nikolai became well known to them all. In the evening before the breakout from the cauldron, I thought, what should I do with Nikolai? I had to turn to him: “Listen, Nikolai, we are breaking through, this is our last chance. And you stay here. When they take you prisoner, tell them that you are a German, give them a German name, maybe you will have a better chance of surviving.” But he refused and said that he was going with us. I had a small bag with me then with bread and personal belongings. I gave it to him and said: “Nikolai, I don’t know if we will both get out of here. If it gets hard, you can throw my bag. And if you don't throw it away, that's fine." We both broke through in the first wave, on the 16th, he was always next to me during the breakthrough, we ran together under machine gun fire… But then Nikolai disappeared, and we didn’t see each other for a while. After the breakthrough, I ended up in a field reserve battalion. Such battalions were assembled in different places from the remnants of the units that had left the cauldron. When I got there, a doctor came – “Oh! Congratulations, you’re lucky!” They thought I was dead. And then someone shouted: “Nikolai!” – and then he comes out of the room. Even now I think – how great it was that we saw each other again. He was so loyal. I remember another episode with him. After we had gathered there, everyone was put into freight cars. There were a lot of officers. Nikolai went with us. The train stopped at stations, and there you could get coffee. All the officers asked Nikolai: "Nikolai, do this, do that." I should probably have said: "Stop it"... In Zhmerynka, the train stopped at a large station, Nikolai was told to bring something, he jumped out of the car. The train started moving, and then I noticed that Nikolai was gone. I panicked, but at the next station the train stopped, and Nikolai was standing on the platform. He got on another train that was going in the same direction. Then all summer, and until I was appointed commander of the sapper battalion, he was by my side. It was already approaching Christmas 1944, when he suddenly fell ill. He was coughing all the time. I resolutely sent him to the doctor. He did not want it, but in the end I ordered him to do it and called the doctor myself so that he would take care of him. The doctor diagnosed diphtheria. He was immediately sent to the hospital. At this time, I received additional leave from Gille, because my wife also fell ill. And when I returned back, the doctor told me that Nikolai had died. This happened because he got to the hospital too late. In Hungary, I had already fought without him.
  • Summer 1944 Heder was sent to Lublin to form an auxiliary company.
The company consisted of three platoons, a company section, a repair section, a trench section and a supply section. The company section was its commander (usually a sergeant major, but mine was a non-commissioned officer) plus three company messengers on BMW motorcycles. The platoon consisted of three sections. Each section had one truck. I remember that anti-tank mines, called "plate [Teller] mines" or "T-mines", were placed on the sides of these trucks. [...] The company also had rubber boats, which could be used to build a platform and install a pile-driving mechanism on it. But even when I took over the battalion, there was no such equipment. And when I took over the company, even less so. We did not use them, and besides, I did not understand them. Such equipment is not easy to operate. This requires a special training course: "Building Bridges on Piles".
  • Hungary 1944; Heder stated in a post-WWII interview:
I always carried a pistol with me, and during battle I took a submachine gun or a carbine - depending on the circumstances. True, I was supposed to lead, not shoot. A company commander usually shouldn't shoot at all. But when there was no one left around me, I had to shoot. And that happened to me more than once! I had to shoot from a submachine gun right from an armored car. And I remember that in Hungary I was left alone against forty Russians. I found myself at a meeting not far from Bergont. Imagine, a meeting is going on in the basement of the station, the regiment commander and others are present. Suddenly, artillery shelling begins, Russians appear on the square - and, as is their custom, the spearhead of the Soviet offensive is aimed at the station building. There is complete chaos all around. I have no contact with my company. I am standing alone near a burning tank and trying to understand how events are developing around me. Something must be done! I need to find a way to establish contact with my company. In this situation, I had to shoot myself. I used up all the bullets in my submachine gun, but I still managed to break through to my own people and establish contact with one unit. And we took back the train station!
“On the 13 October 1944, Heder was deployed to close a frontline gap with a hastily assembled group of supply troops numbering 400 men. The blocking position was located in the Letniska forest, and the defense was hampered by the absence of heavy infantry weapons and the small number of MGs available. Over the course of three days and nights it was attacked 21 times, 6 of these being preceded by multi-hour drumfire barrages. Two enemy divisions, including 24 AFVs, attacked without pause. After being encircled, Heder formed a hedgehog position in the forest and was cut off from regular resupply for two days. During this time, Heder personally led 15 counterthrusts at the head of the approximately 80 men in the hedgehog position, repeatedly thrusting on his own initiative up to the old blocking position and bringing the enemy heavy losses in the process. The Letniska forest was held successfully, and after reinforcements had been brought up the old defensive line was once again restored. This success was possible solely on account of the decisiveness, steadfastness and exemplary bravery of Heder himself. By this action the intended Russian breakthrough towards Jablonna, which would have in turn served as a jump-off point for a further thrust to Modlin, was halted in its tracks.”[1]
  • 10 May 1945 The "Wiking" division surrendered to the advancing American forces in Austria (Steiermark).

Trial

The Americans first transported us back and forth. In the end, they took us to the English zone, where all the prisoners were placed in Dachau and Hammelburg. I ended up in Hammelburg. Now there are army barracks there. I first visited this camp as a prisoner of war, and then, as a lieutenant colonel in the Bundeswehr, I came for an inspection. And so it turned out that way for me – both a prisoner of war and an inspector. All the prisoners of war with home addresses from northern Germany were handed over to the English. In March 1948, I was released from there. But then I was sentenced again to six months in prison – because I knew, you see, about four concentration camps. In my opinion, this trial was complete madness. I was asked what I knew about concentration camps. And then everyone knew about Dachau, Rannenburg and Buchenwald – they were well-known even in peacetime. Auschwitz appeared during the war, so not everyone knew about it. Here I should have kept quiet about Auschwitz, but in my naivety I named all four. The court wrote it down... Then came the "witness". My parents lived in a small village in Mecklenburg, where I spent two years at school. But I had to travel there by train, so after a while I moved east to live with my uncle, a teacher. There, from 1929 to 1934, I attended high school. And during the holidays I returned to Mecklenburg, to a village where everyone knew me. It was a very simple village, inhabited by very simple people who went to work in the port of Hamburg. At first there were no National Socialists in the village, mostly Social Democrats – not exactly communists, but also left-wing. And when everything changed in 1932, the majority immediately became National Socialists. There was no talk of communists at all! And at the trial, suddenly they read me the testimony of the current mayor, and it turns out he was a communist. It becomes clear that there was a communist living in the village, and this was the man no one had ever respected! He started saying that Heder had come to the village, was engaged in propaganda against the Jews, and so on. In short, it was terrible. I tried to say that I couldn't have been there, I was at war. A new witness was called. It turned out to be one of the village peasants, who stated that he knew nothing about this. I tried not to talk much because I didn't know what they were getting at. "Did you join the criminal SS organization?" – "I was at the front"... In the name of the people, they sentenced me with the following wording: "He knows about the existence of four concentration camps, and it is also assumed that since he is a bearer of the Knight's Cross and a battalion commander, he is a Nazi." That was my entire crime. The sentence was 6 months in prison! However, they added below: "He served his term when he was interned." Then I joined the Bundeswehr, and during my first conversation with the head of the personnel department, they asked me if I had been convicted. I answered honestly that I had. It turned out that with a criminal record I couldn’t become an officer in the Bundeswehr – I had six months of prison behind me. But they said, “Well, that’s not a disqualification…”

Post-WWII

Eberhard Heder survived the war as well as the fate as a POW of the Americans and later joined the West German Bundeswehr in 1955 (another source states he joined in 1960), taught tactics at the Bundeswehr Pioneer School, among other things, reached the rank of Oberst (Colonel) and had lastly served as inspector of pioneer troops (Inspektor der Pioniertruppen). His duties included control and inspections. He retired on 30 September 1976. In later years, he would live in Daseburg and later in Warburg.

He took part in many veterans meetings, also the annual Tscherkassy-Treffen (Cherkasy meeting) and was an active member of the Association of Knight's Cross Recipients (AKCR). For many years until his death, he was a member and (until 23 November 1984) board member of the Waffenring Deutscher Pioniere e.V. (WDPi e.V.), founded 1925, which was renamed Bund Deutscher Pioniere e.V. (BDPi e.V.) on 28 September 2002 in Hilden.[2]

Heder held a lecture at a comradeship meeting (Kameradschaftstreffen) in 1994 entitled “On the performance of the Waffen-SS” (Über die Leistung der Waffen-SS). In it he explained that the SS soldiers' sense of duty stemed from “a deep-rooted love of Vaterland and unconditional loyalty to Adolf Hitler”. “We trusted him uncritically, as it is no longer understandable today. We were welcomed by the faithful, almost supported by the childlike devotion of the mass of the German people. This, today almost incomprehensible, bond with Adolf Hitler had a strong impact on strengthening the internal structure of the Waffen-SS and strengthening its fighting spirit".

Family

Eberhard was the son of the district forester and hunter (Revierjäger) Hubert Heder from Zepernick (Kreis Niederbarnim) and his wife Gertrud, née Fitting. Father Hubert was a veteran of WWI, where he was wounded in July 1915 with the Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment 46. His left arm would become crippled, nevertheless he taught himself to load and shoot his rifle with one arm and was considered quite a marksman. Eberhard's mother died of childbed fever (Kindbettfieber) in 1920, only 29 years of age, after giving birth to Eberhard's sister. In 1924, his father married again (at least one more daughter). Hubert Heder had contact to old comrades that had emigrated to Brazil after the war. These new German Brazilians also advised him to come to Brazil to the German colony of Santa Catarina (German: Sankt Katharina). Hubert sold everything and left for South America with his family.

However, his professional projects failed and, as Eberhard reported in a post-WWII interview, he lost every penny. 1925, after c. one year, Hubert returned to Germany with Eberhard, looking for work and a new home for the family. Eberhard's stepmother, who he adored, stayed for another nine months with his sisters with friends in Brazil before returning to Germany with Eberhard's sisters. The family moved to Polz in Mecklenburg, later to Lenzen an der Elbe. Hubert Heder ws an early National Socialist and a member of the Sturmabteilung. In 1934, father Hubert fought with government agencies, demanding that they investigate the murders in connection with the Night of the Long Knives. For this he spent six weeks in Gestapo custody. Then he was released, no charges were brought. Eberhard was, at the time, frightened, that this episode would cause his expulsion from the NPEA, but there were no adverse consequences for him or his father.

Marriage

On 24 May 1941, SS-Untersturmführer Heder married his dutch fiancée (née Abeling; b. 21 December 1920) from Landsberg an der Warthe. They had two children: Eberhard and Ingrid. After the war, possibly after his wifes death, he would remarry.

Promotions

Awards and decorations

Sources

References

  1. ↑ Heder, Eberhard (Waffen SS)
  2. ↑ Bund Deutscher Pioniere (BDPi)
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