Dietrich von Saucken Friedrich Wilhelm Eduard Kasimir Dietrich von Saucken ( 16 May 1892 – 27 September 1980 ) was a general in the German army , the " Wehrmacht Heer " , during World War II . He was the last of just 27 men to be awarded the Knight ' s Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves , Swords and Diamonds ( ; Germany awarded the Knight ' s Cross of the Iron Cross and its higher grade , that with Oak Leaves , Swords and Diamonds , during World War II to recognise extreme bravery or successful leadership on the battlefield ) . Biography . Born in Fischhausen , East Prussia , Saucken joined the German Army as a " Fahnenjunker " ( ensign ) in 1910 and was commissioned a second lieutenant on June 19 , 1912 . After the First World War , he served as a colonel in the pre - war Wehrmacht and was promoted to major general on January 1 , 1942 . Appointed to command the 4th Panzer Division at the end of 1941 , he later served as commandant of the German School for Mobile Troops ( " Schule für Schnelle Truppen " ) . In late June , 1944 , as deputy commander of the III Panzer Corps on the Eastern Front , Saucken formed an " ad hoc " unit known as " Group von Saucken " from the remnants of several units that had been smashed in the Soviet assault on Army Group Centre . This grouping ( later designated the XXXIX Panzer Corps ) attempted to defend the occupied city of Minsk and temporarily maintained an escape route across the Berezina River for retreating German soldiers in the face of overwhelmingly superior Soviet forces . In the last months of the war , Saucken led the Second Army in its defence of East and West Prussia , ordering the surrender of his army one day after the unconditional surrender of all German forces on May 8 , 1945 . After surrendering on the Hel Peninsula , Saucken went into Soviet captivity . Initially he was imprisoned in the Lubyanka Building before he was transferred to the Oryol Prison . His captors sentenced him to 25 years ' hard labour , later commuted to 30 months . Saucken was the last German officer to receive the Knight ' s Cross with Oakleaves , Swords , and Diamonds during the Second World War . His oldest son , " Leutnant " Hans - Erich von Saucken ( born on May 29 , 1924 ) , was killed in action on May 30 , 1944 , in Romania . Saucken was released from Soviet captivity in 1955 . He died near Munich , Germany , in 1980 . Character traits . A cavalry officer who regularly wore both a sword and a monocle , Saucken personified the archetypal aristocratic Prussian conservative who despised the " braune Bande " ( " brown mob " ) of Nazis . When he was ordered to take command of the Second Army on March 12 , 1945 , he came to Hitler ' s headquarters with his left hand resting casually on his cavalry sabre , his monocle in his eye , . . . [ and then ] saluted and gave a slight bow . This was three ' outrages ' at once . He had not given the Nazi salute with raised arm and the words ' Heil Hitler ' , as had been regulation since 20 July 1944 , he had not surrendered his weapon on entering . . . and had kept his monocle in his eye when saluting Hitler . When Hitler told him that he must take his orders from Albert Forster , the " Gauleiter " ( Nazi governor , or " District Leader " ) of Danzig , Saucken returned Hitler ' s gaze . . . and striking the marble slab of the map table with the flat of his hand , he replied ' I have no intention , Herr Hitler , of placing myself under the orders of a Gauleiter ' . In doing this he had bluntly contradicted Hitler and not addressed him as " Mein Führer " . To the surprise of everyone who was present , Hitler capitulated and replied " All right , Saucken , keep the command yourself . " Hitler dismissed the General without shaking his hand and Saucken left the room with only the merest hint of a bow .