Franz Juschkat
| Franz Juschkat | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Birth date | 13 February 1917 |
| Place of birth | Groß-Warkau, Landkreis Insterburg, Province of East Prussia, Kingdom of Prussia, German Empire |
| Death date | 3 December 1967 (aged 50) |
| Place of death | Harlingerode near Bad Harzburg, Lower Saxony, West Germany |
| Allegiance |  National Socialist Germany
|
| Service/branch |  Heer
|
| Years of service | 1937–1945 |
| Rank | Oberfeldwebel (sergeant major) |
| Battles/wars | World War II
|
| Awards | Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross |
Franz Juschkat (13 February 1917 – 3 December 1967) was a German NCO of the Wehrmacht, finally Sergeant Major and recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross. He was one of only 98 recipients of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with the Close Combat Clasp in Gold in World War II.[1]
Life
On 3 November 1937, Franz Juschkat voluntarily joined the Infantry Regiment 43 of the 1st Infantry Division. His basic training was tough; nothing was given to the young peacetime recruits. But his superiors soon realized that this man was made of the stuff that soldiers are made of. As planned, Juschkat became a Gefreiter (corporal) and on 1 August 1939, a Obergefreiter (lance corporal).
WWII
When World War II began with the Polish campaign, Lance Corporal Juschkat in Sergeant Matuzat's combat squad stormed a railway embankment defended by the Poles with seven machine-gun nests on 2 September 1939, and eliminated one after the other in close combat and with hand grenades. On this evening, he received the Iron Cross 2nd Class from the hands of First Lieutenant Neumann-Corrina.
On 15 May 1940, five days after the start of the Western campaign, Juschkat was promoted to Unteroffizier (non-commissioned officer). In July 1941, Sergeant Juschkat managed to get himself transferred back to his “old” group. The 1st Infantry Division was located on the east bank of the Neva and Juschkat became head of the “Wasp’s Nest” base. Juschkat demonstrated his skill and bravery in daily raids against the Russian positions. For six weeks, the Red Army ran against the nest in vain. During this time, Juschkat took out two T34s with concentrated loads in close combat.
At the beginning of January 1942, Stalin ordered the formation of a new large defense group, which was called the “Volshov Front”. The Russian armed forces repeatedly tried to break the ring around Leningrad. But the German front held. Franz Juschkat was one of the bravest here. Again and again the East Prussian soldier pulled his platoon and sometimes the staff company with him forward in order to stop and destroy the enemy who had broken in.
On 20 April 1942, Juschkat was promoted to Feldwebel (staff sergeant) for bravery in front of the enemy and was simultaneously awarded the Iron Cross 1st Class. Franz Juschkat spent the rest of 1942 in the green hell of Wolschow. When the second battle of Lake Ladoga began on 12 January 1943, Juschkat had his assault platoon prepared. The Russian attack wave was stopped before it reached its own main battle line (HKL). And again, it was Franz Juschkat who jumped on a T34 and brought it to a halt with a concentrated load. The fight continued. Three days of continuous hand-to-hand fighting followed. When the Russians penetrated their own trench on the evening of the third day, they were shot out after dramatic fighting. The fighting lasted until 16 February 1943. After that, the Juschkat assault platoon was replaced. On the same day, Juschkat was ordered to the division command post. There, Franz Juschkat received the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross.
As a mounted long-range strike force, sometimes up to 100 km behind enemy lines, Juschkat gave its own Luftwaffe and artillery the opportunity to hit the enemy in the most sensitive places. The most incredible thing was that Juschkat returned with his men at the end of 1943 without a single loss of his own. In 1944, Franz Juschkat, now promoted to Oberfeldwebel (sergeant major), briefly experienced a quiet period as a courier between Munich and Rome. But he didn't like this and reported back to his old unit. There he fought the last months of the war in his East Prussian homeland. On 12 December 1944, he received the close combat clasp in gold. In the last days of the war, as the leader of a tank hunting (Panzerjäger) commando near Friesack (Brandenburg) in the Havelland, he managed to stop a Soviet advance again and shot down two T34/85s with a Panzerfaust within an hour.
Awards and decorations
- Iron Cross (1939), 2nd and 1st Class
- 2nd Class on 23 October 1939
- 1st Class on 20 April 1942
- Infantry Assault Badge (Infanterie-Sturmabzeichen) in Silver
- Wound Badge (1939) in Black and Silver[2]
- Winter Battle in the East 1941–42 Medal
- Close Combat Clasp in Bronze, Silver and Gold
- Bronze on 10 June 1942
- Silver on 1 November 1942
- Gold on 12 December 1944
- Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 17 February 1943 as Feldwebel and Platoon Leader in the Staff Company/Grenadier-Regiment 43/1. Infanterie-Division/18. Armee/Heeresgruppe Nord[3]
Gallery
References
- ↑ Florian Berger: The Face of Courage. The 98 Men Who Received the Knight's Cross and the Close-Combat Clasp in Gold, Stackpole Books edition, 2011 (Archive)
- ↑ Juschkat, Franz
- ↑ Juschkat, Franz
