Erich Göstl
Encyclopedia
Dr. jur. Erich Göstl was a member of the Waffen SS who was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross
Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross
The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross was a grade of the 1939 version of the 1813 created Iron Cross . The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross was the highest award of Germany to recognize extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership during World War II...

, which was awarded to recognise extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership.

Göstl was born in Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...

 on April 17, 1925. In World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

, he was a member of the 1st SS Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler
1st SS Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler
The Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler was Adolf Hitler's personal bodyguard. Initially the size of a regiment, the LSSAH eventually grew into a divisional-sized unit...

 during the Normandy Campaign where he was in the 6th Company, 1st SS Panzergrenadier Regiment, deployed near the French town of Tilly
Tilly
Tilly may refer to:People* James Tilly Matthews, the first fully documented case of paranoid schizophrenia* Charles Tilly, sociologist* Jacques Louis François Delaistre de Tilly, French general in the Napoleonic Wars* Jennifer Tilly, actress, poker player...

, a few kilometers from Caen
Caen
Caen is a commune in northwestern France. It is the prefecture of the Calvados department and the capital of the Basse-Normandie region. It is located inland from the English Channel....

.

Then a 19 year old, Göstl was a machine gunner, manning an MG-42, defending his position against a British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 (possibly Canadian) attack. During heavy fighting he was shot in his left eye. Shrapnel then wounded him in his upper left arm. Undaunted he continued to fire and was then hit in the other eye, which "almost tore his head off". Even then, completely blinded, he continued to return fire from his machine gun post, alone and shooting at what he could hear, as he was completely unable to see anything. He continued to hold out behind his machine gun and received another hit in his right cheek and nose area of his torn-up face. Göstl held until the enemy attack was ultimately repelled, but it is believed that only because of a jam in the machine gun was Göstl's machine gun silenced. His friend Elmar Bonn worked his way forward to him and with the help of some other men was able to bring him back to a safe position, while under fire. Throughout, he "was suffering horrible pain" and was bleeding heavily from the face.

Göstl survived and was sent to a field hospital before being evacuated to Germany. He was in the school for the War Blind in Cerninpalast, Prague
Prague
Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...

 when he was awarded the Knight's Cross. Göstl story was not used, or selected for propaganda purposes in Nazi Germany; it has been speculated that this was due to the severity of his injuries, but this has never been substantiated by documentation. As a result the account was not widely known during the final years of the war.

His regimental commander, Standartenfuhrer
Standartenführer
Standartenführer was a Nazi Party paramilitary rank that was used in the so-called Nazi combat-organisations: SA, SS, NSKK and the NSFK...

 Albert Frey
Albert Frey (SS officer)
Albert Frey was a Standartenführer in the 1st SS Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler. He was born on 16 February 1913 in Heidelberg, the son of a master baker...

 described awarding him the Cross and his action as follows (translated from German);
Erich Göstl later described his actions as, "only doing my duty". He would also say of staying at his position, "I couldn't do anything else at the time". Along with all Axis military personnel at the end of hostilties he would become a prisoner of war
Prisoner of war
A prisoner of war or enemy prisoner of war is a person, whether civilian or combatant, who is held in custody by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict...

 and was released in April 1946. He would go on, with great assistance from his wife, to earn a Doctorate Law Degree from the University of Vienna
University of Vienna
The University of Vienna is a public university located in Vienna, Austria. It was founded by Duke Rudolph IV in 1365 and is the oldest university in the German-speaking world...

. He died, at the age of 65, on October 28, 1990, in Sankt Jakob, Austria.

Awards

  • Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross
    Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross
    The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross was a grade of the 1939 version of the 1813 created Iron Cross . The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross was the highest award of Germany to recognize extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership during World War II...

     on 31 October 1944 as SS-Panzergrenadier
    Panzergrenadier
    is a German term for motorised or mechanized infantry, as introduced during World War II. It is used in the armies of Austria, Chile, Germany and Switzerland.-Forerunners:...

    and machine gun operator 1 in the 6./SS-Panzergreandier-Regiment 1 "Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler"
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