Machemer was killed at mid-day 18 May, while on a trip to screen the battlefield for wounded soldiers. He was hit in head by shrapnel from a grenade during the Second Battle of Kharkov. Machemer was travelling in a car at the time, his companion was heavily wounded, but survived. Machemer, who was 39 when he died, recorded in his final diary entry of 18 May that he had slept well and was awaiting orders. In March 1943 Erna and her children were granted "German-blood" status, in what is believed to be the only known case of such an exemption.