Adelbert Schulz Adelbert Schulz ( 20 December 1903 – 28 January 1944 ) was a " Generalmajor " ( Major General ) and division commander in the German Wehrmacht during World War II . He was one of 27 people to be awarded the Knight ' s Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves , Swords and Diamonds ( " Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes mit Eichenlaub , Schwertern und Brillanten " ) and one of the youngest German generals . The Knight ' s Cross of the Iron Cross and its higher grade the Oak Leaves , Swords and Diamonds was awarded to recognise extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership . At the time of its presentation to Schulz it was Germany ' s highest military decoration . Early life . Adelbert Schulz was born on 20 December 1903 in Berlin , the son of a civil servant ( Beamter ) . He graduated from a Berliner " Realgymnasium " ( secondary school ) with his " Abitur " and took on an apprenticeship at a bank . To fulfill his ambition in becoming a bank director he attended a merchant college ( " Handelshochschule " ) from 1923 to 1924 . In December 1925 he changed his mind and joined the Prussian police force at the Police school ( " Polizeischule " ) in Brandenburg . After completing his training in 1927 he was promoted to " Polizeiwachtmeister " and after eight years on 20 April 1934 of service was promoted to Polizeileutnant ( second lieutenant ) in Berlin . On 1 October 1935 Schulz transferred from the Police ( " preußischen kasernierten Landespolizei " ) to the Wehrmacht ( German Army ) as an " Oberleutnant " ( first lieutenant ) . World War II . He took part in the occupations of Austria and the Sudetenland . During the western campaign and in 1940 was promoted to captain . He participated in the invasion of Belgium , attacks on French and British positions and assisted in the breakthrough to Cherbourg , serving under General Erwin Rommel . On the 29 September 1940 he received the Knight ' s Cross of the Iron Cross . As part of Army Group Centre , in Klin , Schulz attacked a Soviet force eight times larger than his own . Despite being outnumbered he covered the retreat of German troops and the evacuation of a field hospital with more than 4 , 000 wounded . For these actions he was awarded the Oak Leaves to his Knights Cross on 31 December 1941 . On 6 August 1943 he received the Swords to his Knight ' s Cross and was promoted to colonel . The 7th Panzer - Division subordinated to the 4th Panzer Army under the command of Hermann Hoth started its counteroffensive against the recently evacuated city of Kharkov ( Kharkiv ) on 11 March 1943 . Adelbert Schulz , who had just recently before been put in command of the Panzer - Regiment 25 , led his " Kampfgruppe " in one of the most successful engagements of the " " Gespensterdivision " " ( Ghost Division ) — His soldiers destroyed more than 100 enemy tanks and many artillery positions during the annihilation of the Red Army ' s 3rd Tank Army . On 14 December , Schulz received a radio message that he would receive the Diamonds to the Ritterkreuz , and was told to report to the Führer ' s headquarters . Schulz refused to go on the grounds that he was too busy fighting on the eastern front and had no time to receive it . The honor was eventually awarded to him on 9 January 1944 , and he was promoted to major general and made division commander in charge of Rommel ' s former division . " Generalmajor " Adelbert Schulz led the tanks of the 7th Panzer - Division in an attack against the enemy positions at Shepetivka on 28 January 1944 . Standing in the opened hatch of his tank , Schulz was hit by artillery shrapnel in the head . Schulz succumbed to his injuries the same day even though he had immediately been evacuated to a field hospital . His death was announced on 30 January 1944 in the Wehrmachtbericht . Legacy . A German Army barracks in Munster ( Örtze ) is named after Schulz .