Helmuth Raithel Helmuth Raithel ( 9 April 190712 September 1990 ) was a German officer who held the rank of " SS - Standartenführer " ( colonel ) in the " Waffen - SS " during World War II . While still at school , Raithel was swept up in the excitement of the Munich Beer Hall Putsch of 9 November 1923 led by Adolf Hitler , and was subsequently awarded the coveted Blood Order , even though he was not a member of the Nazi Party . He joined the " Reichswehr " ( interwar German Army ) in 1926 . After World War II broke out he fought in the invasion of Greece in summer 1941 , then against the Soviet Red Army in northern Finland before transferring to the " Waffen - SS " in 1943 . Raithel subsequently commanded a regiment of the newly formed 13th Waffen Mountain Division of the SS " Handschar " ( 1st Croatian ) and led it during fighting against the Yugoslav Partisans in the Independent State of Croatia . Raithel was seriously wounded in mid - 1944 and was replaced . When a new " Waffen - SS " division was to be raised in June 1944 , the cadre was provided by the 13th SS Division and Raithel was appointed as the divisional commander . The 23rd Waffen Mountain Division of the SS " Kama " ( 2nd Croatian ) never reached full divisional strength and did not see action as a formation , but elements of the division fought briefly in southern Hungary in early October 1944 . Raithel quickly suppressed a mutiny by the Bosnian Muslim soldiers of the division in mid - October 1944 , but it was disbanded and its reliable troops were absorbed by the 13th SS Division and the 31st SS Volunteer Grenadier Division . Raithel was then appointed to command a regiment of 6th SS Mountain Division " Nord " in Alsace , where his regiment fought the United States Army . He received a serious head wound during fighting northeast of Frankfurt in early April 1945 and was captured by the Americans . Raithel recovered from his wounds and had a career in agriculture after the war , working in South Africa for many years . He returned to Bavaria when he retired and earned a doctorate of history from the University of Munich . His interest in mountaineering continued and he regularly climbed in the Alps into his seventies . He maintained contact with his former comrades from the 6th SS Division , attending many reunions . On 12 September 1990 at the age of 82 , he was returning home from the Semmering Pass in eastern Austria when he was killed in a traffic accident . Early life . Born Helmuth Hans Walter Paul Raithel in Ingolstadt , Kingdom of Bavaria , a federated state of the German Empire , on 9 April 1907 , he was the second son of a Bavarian Army officer . Raithel attended primary school then the " Wittelsbacher - Gymnasium München " ( secondary school ) until 1926 . On 9 November 1923 at the age of 16 , Raithel was walking his bicycle in Munich when he stumbled across the Beer Hall Putsch being led by Adolf Hitler . Swept up in the excitement , he fell in with a group led by " Freikorps " veteran Gerhard Roßbach . After shots were fired , he took cover with some of the group in an alley , one of whom wrote down Raithel ' s name as one of the " party faithful " present that day . He was subsequently awarded the highly prized Nazi Party Blood Order , although he apparently did not have any political beliefs and was not a member of the Party at the time . After he successfully completed secondary school in early 1926 , he joined the " Reichswehr " as a " offizieranwärter " ( officer cadet ) on 1 April 1926 . He was posted to the 19th Infantry Regiment during which he spent four years commanding a " Gebirgsjäger " ( mountain infantry ) platoon . While he was with the regiment , the " Reichswehr " was absorbed by the " Wehrmacht " . Now part of the " Gebirgs Brigade " , Raithel gained experience as a signals officer and company commander , and was promoted to " Hauptmann " ( captain ) . With the creation of the 1st " Gebirgs " Division in April 1938 he was appointed as the adjutant of the 99th " Gebirgsjäger " Regiment . At the outbreak of war in September 1939 he was an instructor at the mountain infantry school at Fulpmes in the Stubai Alps . He was married and he and his wife had two daughters . World War II . Greece and Finland . In August 1940 , Raithel was transferred from instructional duties to command a battalion of the newly formed 6th " Gebirgs " Division , which had been deployed to France on occupation duty in anticipation of involvement in the planned invasion of the United Kingdom , Operation Sealion . When Sealion was abandoned , the division was sent first to Poland then in spring 1941 took part in the invasion of Greece . During the Battle of Metaxas Line in early April 1941 , the division , led by " Generalmajor " ( Brigadier ) Ferdinand Schörner , breached the formidable Greek defences by crossing a snow - covered mountain pass considered inaccessible by the Greeks . This enabled the division to cut the rail line to Thessaloniki . Raithel was awarded the Iron Cross 1st Class in late April 1941 . Following the defeat of Greece and its allies , the division was deployed to Lapland in northern Finland in September 1941 . Raithel remained as a battalion commander with the 143rd " Gebirgsjäger " Regiment of the division in Finland and was promoted to " Major " on 1 November 1941 . Schörner became Raithel ' s mentor during their service with the 6th " Gebirgs " Division . In January 1942 he was awarded the German Cross in Gold . In August 1942 he was transferred to the " Oberkommando des Heeres " ( Army Headquarters ) reserve pool for an extended period , during which he returned to the mountain infantry school then served briefly with the 133rd Fortress Division on Crete . He was promoted to " Oberstleutnant " ( lieutenant colonel ) on 1 October 1943 . Yugoslavia . In 1943 , his mentor Schörner , now a " General der Gebirgstruppe " ( lieutenant general ) , advised him to transfer to the quickly expanding " Waffen - SS " where regimental command would be easier to come by , particularly as his Blood Order was especially prized in the " Waffen - SS " . Raithel subsequently transferred to the " Waffen - SS " ( and " Allgemeine SS " ) on 30 November 1943 , but still did not join the Nazi Party . He was immediately appointed to command a regiment of the newly formed 13th Waffen Mountain Division of the SS " Handschar " ( 1st Croatian ) , the rank - and - file of which were mostly Bosnian Muslims . Initially appointed as an " SS - Obersturmbannführer " ( lieutenant colonel ) commanding the 28th Waffen " Gebirgsjäger " Regiment , he oversaw the completion of his regiment ' s training at the Neuhammer training grounds in the Silesian region of Germany ( present - day Poland ) then led his regiment to fight the Yugoslav Partisans in the Independent State of Croatia ( NDH ) in February 1944 . The division was given the primary role of securing around of territory ( the designated security zone ) in north - eastern Bosnia within the NDH . The security zone encompassed the Posavina , Semberija and Majevica regions between the Sava , Bosna , Drina and Spreča rivers . " Reichsführer - SS " Heinrich Himmler saw this task as critical to the safeguarding of important agricultural areas and " Volksdeutsche " ( ethnic German ) settlements in the Syrmia region to the north . Between March and June 1944 Raithel commanded his regiment during several major operations , including what may have been the largest anti - Partisan sweep of the war , Operation " Maibaum " ( Maypole ) . He was promoted to " SS - Standartenführer " ( colonel ) on 1 April 1944 . Raithel led his regiment well , resulting in a serious wound in June 1944 . On 11 June 1944 he was recommended for an award of the Knight ' s Cross of the Iron Cross citing his leadership and courage while commanding the regiment , but it was not approved . While it achieved successes and proved itself competent in counter - insurgency operations against the Partisans in eastern Bosnia between March and August 1944 , the 13th SS Division earned a reputation for brutality and savagery , not only during combat operations , but also through atrocities committed against Serb civilians in the security zone . When a second Bosnian Muslim " Waffen - SS " division was to be raised in June 1944 , the cadre was provided by the 13th SS Division and Raithel was appointed as the divisional commander . The 23rd Waffen Mountain Division of the SS " Kama " ( 2nd Croatian ) never reached full divisional strength and did not see action as a formation , but elements of the division fought briefly in southern Hungary in early October 1944 . The Bosnian Muslim members of the division mutinied on 17 October 1944 , but Raithel quickly gained control over the situation . Following the mutiny , the division was formally disbanded on 31 October and reliable elements were absorbed by the 13th SS Division and the 31st SS Volunteer Grenadier Division . Germany . After a short time convalescing as part of the " SS Führungshauptamt " ( SS headquarters ) reserve pool , Raithel was appointed to command the 11th " Gebirgsjäger " Regiment of the 6th SS Mountain Division " Nord " in December 1944 . In early January 1945 , the division was located around Pirmasens near the French - Reich border , reeling from their losses in what was the last major German offensive of World War II on the Western Front , Operation " Nordwind " . Committed to a series of desperate counterattack s against the United States Army XV Corps , on one occasion Raithel ' s regiment infiltrated the American positions , surrounding five US infantry companies and taking 450 prisoners of war . The fighting depleted the already understrength regiment , with one company numbering only eight men by 20 January . The commander of one of the US battalions they fought in January 1945 ruefully described Raithel ' s regiment as , " the best men we ever ran into , extremely aggressive , and impossible to capture . There was no driving them out , for they fought until they were killed " . After a quiet period in February 1945 absorbing replacements , the division was withdrawn from the defensive line and ordered to recapture Trier from the US Army . This attack started on 7 March in freezing conditions but after limited success a fresh US offensive struck the division and forced them back north of Mainz . By 19 March , Raithel ' s regiment had been converted into a " kampfgruppe " ( battlegroup ) consisting of two " gebirgsjäger " battalions , a mountain artillery battalion , a pioneer company and eight anti - tank guns . Two weeks later they were fighting their way out of encirclement near Limburg . On 1 April 1945 , " " Kampfgruppe " Raithel " and the rest of what remained of the division drove east . Shortly afterwards , Raithel received a serious head wound and was captured . The remnants of the division disintegrated over the next few days and weeks and were captured by the Americans . Personal life . Raithel recovered from his wounds and had a career in agriculture after the war , working in South Africa for many years . He returned to Bavaria when he retired and earned a doctorate of history from the University of Munich . He continued with mountaineering and regularly climbed in the Alps into his seventies . He maintained contact with his former comrades from the 6th SS Division " Nord " and attended many reunions . On 12 September 1990 at the age of 82 , he was returning home from the Semmering Pass in eastern Austria when he was killed in a traffic accident . Career . Raithel received the following promotions during his career , after joining the " Reichswehr " as an officer cadet on 1 April 1926 : Awards . Raithel received the following awards during his service :