Dixoin, Jeremy Hitler's Heroes During the Advance to Stalingrad. Knight’s Cross Generals on the Eastern Front, 6 December 1941-2 February 1943

This second book on the subject by Jeremy Dixon is a study of those German officers who were promoted to the rank of general and awarded the Knight's Cross during the fighting in Russia between Hitler's attack on the Soviet Union, Operation Barbarossa, and the complete annihilation of the German 6th Army at Stalingrad. The Germans lost 500,000 soldiers during the Battle of Stalingrad, of whom around 91,000 were taken prisoner - including 2,000 officers, 23 generals and one field marshal, Friedrich Paulus. 149 officers, who later held the rank of general, were awarded the Knight's Cross for their actions on the Eastern Front between 6 December 1941 and 2 February 1943. One of these recipients was Maximilian Fretter-Pico, who was awarded the Knight's Cross on 26 December 1941 as a major general and commander of the 97th Infantry Division. He was later promoted to lieutenant general and in June 1942 was commander of the Fretter-Pico Army Division with the rank of general of artillery. On 16 January 1944, he was awarded the Knight's Cross for his actions in the Don and Donets regions as commanding general of the XXX. Army Corps, he was awarded the Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves. The honour was presented to him personally by Hitler at Obersalzburg Castle. Dietrich von Saucken was awarded the Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords for his bravery and leadership qualities as commander of the 4th Armoured Division on the Russian front. On 8 May 1945, he was awarded the Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves, Swords and Diamonds as General of the Armoured Forces and Commander-in-Chief of the East Prussian Army Headquarters, presented by Hitler's successor, Grand Admiral Karl Dönitz. Saucken was later captured by the Soviets, who flew him to Moscow for interrogation and later sentenced to 25 years in prison. The youngest general in the German army to be awarded the Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords on 23 January 1944 was Erich Bärenfänger, who was only 29 years old at the time. His award was presented to him personally by Hitler at his headquarters, the Wolf's Lair in Rastenburg. At this point, he held the rank of major and was promoted to lieutenant colonel in February 1944 and to major general on 28 April 1945 and appointed combat commander of Sectors A and B of the Berlin Defence District. He committed suicide together with his wife in Berlin as the Soviet troops were closing in just four days later. For each entry there is a detailed description of how and where the Knight's Cross was awarded and, in the case of the higher honours such as oak leaves, swords and diamonds, who presented the award, when and where. This study includes details of their rank and command at the time of the award as well as details of their careers during the war and afterwards, with research into their fate and life after the war. The book is completed by a substantial number of photographs of many of these officers.