Helmut Kämpfe
Encyclopedia
Helmut Kämpfe was a Sturmbannführer
Sturmbannführer
Sturmbannführer was a paramilitary rank of the Nazi Party equivalent to major, used both in the Sturmabteilung and the Schutzstaffel...

 (Major), in the Waffen SS during 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 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 recognize extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership by Nazi Germany during World War II. He was also one of only 631 men to be awarded the rare Close Combat Clasp
Close Combat Clasp
The Close Combat Clasp is a German military award instituted on 25 November 1942 for achievement in hand to hand fighting in close quarters. The Close Combat Clasp was worn above the upper left uniform pocket...

 in Gold.

Helmut Kämpfe, the commander of the III. Battalion, 4th SS Panzer Grenadier Regiment Der Führer, 2nd SS Panzer Division Das Reich, was captured by the French Resistance on 9 June 1944 by a group headed by Jean Canou. Canou then placed him in the custody of Georges Guingouin
Georges Guingouin
Georges Guingouin was a French Communist Party militant who played a leading role in the French resistance as head of the Maquis du Limousin...

.
The following day Kämpfe was executed on the orders of Guingouin and his body was burned.

When it was clear that Kämpfe had been kidnapped, the Germans sent out forces to try to locate him. Among these was a unit under the command of Adolf Diekmann, I. Battalion, 4th SS Panzer Grenadier Regiment. On June 10, Diekmann was given information regarding Kämpfe by two members of the Milice
Milice
The Milice française , generally called simply Milice, was a paramilitary force created on January 30, 1943 by the Vichy Regime, with German aid, to help fight the French Resistance. The Milice's formal leader was Prime Minister Pierre Laval, though its chief of operations, and actual leader, was...

, the French secret police that collaborated with the German Gestapo
Gestapo
The Gestapo was the official secret police of Nazi Germany. Beginning on 20 April 1934, it was under the administration of the SS leader Heinrich Himmler in his position as Chief of German Police...

. Allegedly, French resistance fighters in Oradour-sur-Vayres were planning to execute Kämpfe by ceremoniously burning him alive that day. Kämpfe was the highest ranking officer ever to be captured by the resistance. His execution was to be a big event. That same day, Diekmann's battalion went mistakenly to nearby Oradour-sur-Glane
Oradour-sur-Glane
Oradour-sur-Glane is a commune in the Haute-Vienne department in the Limousin region in west-central France.The original village was destroyed on 10 June 1944, when 642 of its inhabitants, including women and children, were massacred by a German Waffen-SS company...

 and massacred most of its inhabitants.

The massacre was, according to Diekmann's superior, Brigadeführer Heinz Lammerding
Heinz Lammerding
Heinz Lammerding was aBrigadeführer in the Waffen-SS and a commander of 2...

, an act outside of his order and would therefore have subjected Diekmann to a court martial if he had survived the following battles in Normandy
Normandy
Normandy is a geographical region corresponding to the former Duchy of Normandy. It is in France.The continental territory covers 30,627 km² and forms the preponderant part of Normandy and roughly 5% of the territory of France. It is divided for administrative purposes into two régions:...

.

Another person caught up in the search for Kämpfe was Violette Szabo
Violette Szabo
Violette Reine Elizabeth Bushell Szabo, GC, was a Second World War French-British secret agent.-Early life and marriage:...

, who was eventually executed by the Germans at the Ravensbrück concentration camp
Ravensbrück concentration camp
Ravensbrück was a notorious women's concentration camp during World War II, located in northern Germany, 90 km north of Berlin at a site near the village of Ravensbrück ....

.

External links

  • Photograph of Helmut Kämpfe. http://www.oradour.info/images/kampfe01.htm
  • Details of Helmut Kämpfe's awards. http://www.ww2awards.com/person/13552
The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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