Hubert Strauß
| Hubert Strauß | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Birth date | 3 November 1918 |
| Place of birth | Lasberg, Freistadt District, Austria-Hungary |
| Death date | ⚔ 20 October 1944 (aged 25) |
| Place of death | Monte Grande (Castel San Pietro Terme), Region Emilia-Romagna, Italy |
| Allegiance |  National Socialist Germany
|
| Service/branch |  Reich Labour Service (RAD) Heer
|
| Rank | Oberstfeldmeister (RAD) Captain of the Reserves (Wehrmacht) |
| Unit | 90. Panzergrenadier-Division |
| Battles/wars | World War II |
| Awards | Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross |
Hubert Strauß (sometimes also Strauss; 3 November 1918 – 20 October 1944) was a German officer of the Wehrmacht and recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross in World War II.
Life
Hubert Strauß was born as the son of Dr. Leopold Strauß and his wife Maria, née Rauscher in Lasberg (later the parents lived in Linz). From the 1929/30 semester, he attended the Benedictine Gymnasium in Kremsmünster (Stiftsgymnasium), where he achieved his Abitur (Matura).
He was an early member of the Hitler Youth in Austria, a member of the NSDAP and an officer (Feldmeister = 2nd Lieutenant) of the Reich Labour Service (RAD). His younger brothers Bruno and Edmund also served in the war.
WWII
In the second half of WWII, he served in the Panzer-Grenadier-Regiment 361, which was established on 6 July 1943 in Corsica. The regiment was subordinated to the new 90th Panzer Grenadier Division under Carl Hans Lungershausen, as of December 1943 under Ernst-Günther Baade. In 1944, the regiment under Colonel Herbert Ziegler (⚔ 25 June 1944 in Massa Marittima, Italy) was temporarily referred to as Grenadier Regiment (motorized) 361. From 1 December 1944, the regiment was again called the 361th Panzer Grenadier Regiment.
Death
First Lieutenant of the Reserves Hubert Strauß was killed in action on the southern Italian front near Castel San Pietro Terme on 20 October 1944 (although the family believed and stated 21 October) during the bitter fighting for the Gothic Line (only two or three days later, Generalfeldmarschall Albert Kesselring was wounded there), which, however – despite numerous incursions by the US-American invaders – was able to be held until April 1945.
Strauß was posthumously promoted to Hauptmann d. R. (Captain of the Reserves) and RAD-Oberstfeldmeister (equivalent to a captain). He was originally buried at the front, was reinterred at the German Cemetery of Honor Cervia in 1945 and, at the end of the 1960s, he was reinterred at the new German war cemetery in Futa Pass; Final burial location: Block 57, Grave 157.[1]
Awards und decorations (excerpt)
- Anschluss Medal
- Iron Cross (1939), 2nd and 1st Class
- Infantry Assault Badge (Infanterie-Sturmabzeichen)
- Winter Battle in the East 1941–42 Medal
- Golden HJ Honour Badge
- Silver Rider's Pin (House Order of General Baade)
- Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 4 October 1944 as 1st Lieutenant of Reserves and leader of the 9th Company/III. Battalion/Grenadier-Regiment (motorisiert) 361/90. Panzergrenadier-Division
References
- ↑ Many German soldiers killed on the Italian front, as well as the dead in the Rimini enclave, found their final resting place in the "German Cemetery of Honor Cervia" (in the Rimini-Miramare camp), which was inaugurated on 4 October 1945. The cemetery of honor in Cervia was considered a special, sacred resting place because it was lovingly created by German prisoners of war for their comrades. Relatives from occupied Germany were only allowed to visit the German war cemetery between Christmas 1950 and New Year 1951; the Italians had previously forbidden this. After "German-Italian disagreements" – the Italians wanted the foreigners' war graves to be far away from the future tourist paradise – the cemetery of honor was "moved" completely to Futa Pass (the fallen were buried together). In memory of the German military cemetery in Cervia, which was shamefully leveled by the Italians, the German War Graves Commission has placed the memorial stones of the troops that were preserved during the transfer of the fallen in the "Cervia Room" of the crypt of the Futa Pass war cemetery (inaugurated on 28 June 1969 with 30,653 fallen soldiers).
