WW2: A Super Kickass Austrian SUPERMAN Generaloberst (Colonel General) Erhard Raus
[I have been reading some of the things that Erhard Raus got up to and this is one hell of a White man I must tell you. Interestingly, he is also, like Hitler, an Austrian, and he is one of 3 Austrians who reach the rank of Generaloberst in the Wehrmacht. But I'll tell you, this man was seriously amazing. We will take a look at him in one of my videos. There was nothing that could scare this man. He is one hell of a warrior I must tell you. This short wikipedia article on him doesn't even do him 1% justice. He's awesome. Made of the same stuff as Balck. Another superman. He commanded 6th Panzer division for much of the time in WW2, and 6th Panzer division, under his command, could do almost ANYTHING! Jan]
Erhard Raus (8 January 1889 – 3 April 1956) was a general in the Wehrmacht of Nazi Germany during World War II. He commanded the 6th Panzer Division during the early years of the war on the Eastern Front before taking army and army group commands. Raus was one of three former Austrians who rose to the rank of Generaloberst (Colonel General) within the German Wehrmacht. The other two were Alexander Löhr and Lothar Rendulic.
Contents
1 Biography
2 Awards
3 Works
4 References
4.1 Citations
4.2 Bibliography
Biography
At the age of 18, Raus enrolled in the Austro-Hungarian officer school in Brno, later being stationed in Cormòns. During the First World War he experienced combat on the Eastern Front, in southern Poland, where he commanded a company of Bicycle infantry.
At the end of First World War, he was included in the newly formed Austrian army, first as the commander of the Vienna bicycle infantry battalion, later as a tactician at the military academy.
After the annexation of Austria to Germany in 1938, he transferred allegiance to the German military, becoming the military attaché of the German embassy in Rome.
At the outbreak of the Second World War, he was recalled to active duty.
On 7 September 1941, during Operation Barbarossa, Raus was appointed the acting commander of the 6th Panzer Division. On 15 September, the 6th Panzer Division, minus its artillery, was transferred to Army Group Centre to take part in Operation Typhoon, the advance onto Moscow.[1] On 11 October he was awarded the Knights Cross.[2] Raus’s unit was transferred to the LVI Panzer Corps.[3]
In early April, the 6th Panzer Division was transferred to France to refit and rest; Raus was appointed the commander of the division on 29 April.[4] In mid-November 1942, the division left France for the Soviet Union.[5] Following the failure of Operation Citadel (the Kursk offensive), he organized the withdrawal of Axis units across the Dnieper river.[6] On 10 December 1943 he was appointed acting commander of the Fourth Panzer Army. Several days later he moved the divisions across the river as well as thousands of plundered cattle and horses.[7] Raus commanded the 1st Panzer Army, then the 3rd Panzer Army (August 1944 – March 1945) which included the III SS Panzer Corps, XI SS Army Corps and Corps Group Tettau (early March 1945).
After the war, Raus wrote and co-wrote a number of books and publications focusing on strategic analysis of the tank tactics used by his forces on the Eastern Front.
Raus died on 3 April 1956. He was buried in Vienna with full military honors on 6 April.[8]