Nickname: Papa Hoth, Giftzwerg
Date of Birth: 12.04.1885 - Neuruppin, German Empire
Date of Death: 25.01.1971 - Goslar, West Germany
Battles and Operations: Polish Campaign, Western Campaign, Operation Barbarossa, Case Blue, Battle of Stalingrad relief operations, Third Battle of Kharkov, Operation Citadel, Battle of the Dnieper
NSDAP-Number: No information
SS-Number: No information
Religion: No information
Parents: Hermann Hoth (staff officer surgeon) and Margarethe Hoth (née Hübener)
Siblings: No information
Spouse: Lola Schubering (married 1918)
Children: Hans Joachim (born 1913), Hermann (born 1923)
Promotions:
27.01.1905 Leutnant
19.06.1912 Oberleutnant
08.11.1914 Hauptmann
11.01.1924 Major
01.02.1929 Oberstleutnant
01.02.1932 Oberst
01.10.1934 Generalmajor
02.10.1936 Generalleutnant
10.11.1938 General der Infanterie
19.07.1940 Generaloberst
Career:
1904 joined the Prussian Army as Fahnenjunker after cadet training
1905-1914 served with 72. Infanterieregiment
1914-1918 staff officer on Eastern and Western Fronts during World War I (including Battle of Tannenberg)
1918-1933 Reichswehr service, including suppression of uprisings
1932 commander 17. Infanterieregiment
1934 commander 18. Infanteriedivision
1938 commander XV. Armeekorps (motorized)
1939 led XV. Armeekorps in Polish Campaign
1940 led XV. Armeekorps in Western Campaign
1941 commander 3. Panzergruppe during Operation Barbarossa
10.1941 commander 17. Armee
05.1942 commander 4. Panzerarmee
1943 led 4. Panzerarmee in Operation Citadel and subsequent defensive battles
1944-1945 relieved of command, later commander of defensive sectors in central Germany
07.05.1945 surrendered to U.S. forces
1945-1954 prisoner, tried in Nuremberg High Command Trial
1954 released, author and military writer
Awards and Decorations:
Eisernes Kreuz 2. Klasse 1914 (20.09.1914)
Eisernes Kreuz 1. Klasse 1914 (02.08.1915)
Hausorden von Hohenzollern Ritterkreuz mit Schwertern (16.08.1918)
Wound Badge in Black (World War I)
Various other World War I awards (Turkish War Medal, Austrian Military Merit Cross, etc.)
1939 Spange zum Eisernen Kreuz 2. Klasse (21.09.1939)
1939 Spange zum Eisernen Kreuz 1. Klasse (27.09.1939)
Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes #6 (27.10.1939) as General der Infanterie and Kommandierender General XV. Armeekorps for actions in Poland. Hoth’s corps—initially built around the 2nd and 3rd Light Divisions (later converted into the 7th and 8th Panzer Divisions)—was deployed on the right wing of the 10th Army. Its mission was to punch through the Polish defensive line south of Częstochowa (Tschenstochau) and drive deep into the rear areas. Hoth executed the task with textbook Blitzkrieg precision. His motorized columns broke through the Polish front on the first day, advanced rapidly toward the Lysa Gora hills, and played a decisive role in the pocket battle at Radom (9–12 September). There, Polish forces from Army Kraków were encircled and destroyed. Hoth’s personal leadership—constantly at the front, urging his divisions forward while maintaining tight control of his flanks—earned him the citation: “Awarded for his skillful and energetic leadership of the XV. Armee-Korps during the campaign against Poland. Deployed on the right wing of the 10. Armee, he succeeded in breaking through the Polish front south of Tschenstochau and quickly advancing to the Lysa Gora. He also displayed great personal merit during the pocket battle at Radom (September 9–12, 1939).” The award recognized not only operational success but the speed and coordination that would become the hallmark of German panzer operations.
Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes mit Eichenlaub #25 (17.07.1941) as Generaloberst and Befehlshaber 3. Panzergruppe. Panzer Group 3 formed the northern pincer of the great double envelopment aimed at Minsk. In just days Hoth’s tanks covered hundreds of kilometers, linked up with Guderian’s Panzer Group 2 east of Minsk, and trapped roughly 300,000 Soviet soldiers. The advance continued without pause. Vitebsk fell, and Hoth’s spearheads pushed toward Smolensk. On 15 July 1941 the lead elements of Panzer Group 3 reached the Moscow highway west of Yartsevo (Jarzewo), closing the ring around another huge Soviet force in the Smolensk pocket. The official citation highlighted both the immediate tactical achievement and Hoth’s overall leadership since the invasion began: “On 15 July 1941 the spearhead of Hoth’s Panzergruppe reached the highway to Moscow west of Jarzewo, thereby completing the encirclement of a large Russian force near Smolensk. For his unit’s role in this enormous German victory, as well as his leadership of it throughout Operation Barbarossa thus far, Hoth would be awarded the Eichenlaub to his Ritterkreuz.” The award reflected the scale of the victories: two successive cauldron battles that destroyed entire Soviet armies and opened the road to Moscow. Hoth’s Panzer Group had advanced farther and faster than almost any other formation in the opening phase of the campaign.
Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes mit Eichenlaub und Schwertern #35 (15.09.1943) as Generaloberst and Oberbefehlshaber 4. Panzerarmee. The citation cited two distinct achievements: the army’s performance on the southern face of the Kursk salient during Operation Citadel and the subsequent skillful fighting withdrawal to the Dnieper line. After commanding the 17th Army in the winter of 1941–42 and taking over the 4th Panzer Army in May 1942, Hoth had already shown his versatility. In February–March 1943 he led the southern wing of Field Marshal Erich von Manstein’s brilliant counter-offensive, retaking Kharkov and Belgorod in a masterpiece of mobile defense that halted the Soviet winter offensive. Then came Kursk. As the armored spearhead of the southern pincer in Operation Citadel (launched 5 July 1943), Hoth’s 4th Panzer Army—including the elite II SS Panzer Corps—tore through the first Soviet defensive belts and advanced toward Prokhorovka. Although the offensive was eventually called off, Hoth’s formations inflicted enormous casualties and demonstrated extraordinary tactical skill against the deepest defensive system the Red Army had yet built. When the Soviet counter-offensive rolled west in August and September 1943, Hoth conducted one of the most orderly retreats of the entire war. Despite Hitler’s “stand fast” orders, he pulled his battered army back to the Dnieper line on both sides of Kiev, repeatedly launching sharp counter-attacks that bloodied pursuing Soviet forces and prevented encirclement. The citation read: “Awarded for the skillful retreat of his Armee to the Dnieper line along both sides of Kiev, as well as its accomplishments on the southern face of the Kursk salient during Operation Citadel.” These actions—offensive punch at Kursk followed by masterful mobile defense—showed Hoth at the peak of his powers as a panzer commander.
Ehrenkreuz für Frontkämpfer
Panzerkampfabzeichen in Silver
Dienstauszeichnung der Wehrmacht 1. Klasse (25 years)
Medaille Winterschlacht im Osten 1941/42 (06.11.1942)
Ordinul Mihai Viteazul Clasa 3 (06.11.1942)
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Hermann Hoth (12 April 1885 – 25 January 1971) was a German army commander, war criminal, and author. He served as a high-ranking panzer commander in the Wehrmacht during World War II, playing a prominent role in the Battle of France and on the Eastern Front. Contemporaries and later historians consider Hoth one of the most talented armoured warfare commanders of the war. He was a strong believer in Nazism, and units under his command committed several war crimes including the murder of prisoners of war and civilians.
Hoth was born on 12 April 1885 in Neuruppin, Prussia. He grew up in Demmin. His father was a Prussian staff officer and surgeon. He attended the Gymnasium in Demmin from 1894 to 1896, followed by the Cadet Corps at Potsdam, and the Royal Prussian Military Academy from 1900 to 1904. During his training, Hoth developed a strong authority bias that he never fully discarded. The educators instilled monarchism and rejection of social democracy in him. He was commissioned as a Leutnant in the Prussian Army in 1903. His rise was slow. He attended the Prussian Staff College from 1910 to 1913, where he learned Russian, and was promoted to Oberleutnant in 1912 and Hauptmann in 1914. At this point he worked at the German General Staff. His first son, Hans Joachim, was born in 1913.
Hoth spent almost all of World War I as a staff officer on higher headquarters and only four weeks on the front line. Assigned to the 8th Army on the Eastern Front in August 1914 because of his Russian skills, he witnessed the Russian invasion of East Prussia, which he regarded as waged with bestial cruelty. He served under Generalfeldmarschall Paul von Hindenburg, including at the Battle of Tannenberg, and greatly admired him. In June 1916 he was transferred to the Western Front. He held positions at the German General Staff, various armies, and the Luftstreitkräfte. He received both classes of the Iron Cross.
After the German surrender in 1918, Hoth felt greater loyalty to Hindenburg than to the new democratic government. During the German Revolution of 1918–1919 he helped suppress left-wing uprisings at Halle as a Reichswehr officer. This experience hardened his hatred of Communism. He believed the failure of the Kapp Putsch showed that the military must avoid political misuse. He married Lola Schubering in 1918. His second son, Hermann, was born in 1923.
Hoth remained in the Reichswehr during the Weimar Republic, serving in the organization department of the General Staff. He was promoted to Major in 1924. In 1927 he was sent to the Soviet Union as part of secret military cooperation missions. He was promoted to Oberstleutnant in 1929.
In the 1920s Hoth had little interest in the Nazi Party and viewed its activities as disruptive. His attitude changed after the 1930 German federal election. He approved of Hitler's nationalist ambitions and the Nazis' outreach to workers. He was among the officers most favorably disposed toward Hitler's seizure of power, seeing it as an opportunity to advance motorization and armoured warfare. Promoted to Oberst, he clashed with Nazi officials after criticising the murder of Communists and Social Democrats in Braunschweig, leading to his transfer to Lübeck.
Hoth later studied Nazi ideology in depth. He approved of its aims and achievements overall, though he expressed some unease about the elimination of German Jews. He ultimately viewed the fate of the Jews as less important than the destruction of Communism and Germany's restoration as a world power. In October 1932 he was appointed head of the 17th Infantry Regiment and transferred to command the 6th Infantry Regiment in August 1933. Promoted to Generalmajor in 1934, he commanded the 18th Infantry Division after the Wehrmacht's formation in 1935. Regarded as one of the most modern officers, he advocated motorization. He was promoted to Generalleutnant in 1936 and General der Infanterie in 1938. In 1938 he led the 18th Infantry Division during the occupation of the Sudetenland.
Hoth received command of the XV Motorised Corps in 1938 and led it in the invasion of Poland in 1939. The corps included two light divisions of tanks, infantry, and artillery. Hoth believed the war served a higher purpose. His corps advanced rapidly, routing Polish divisions and breaking through toward Kielce. It relentlessly pursued Polish forces. Hoth was described as a hard-charging commander. He received the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross for his achievements. The light divisions were later converted into panzer divisions.
Hoth continued to lead the XV Army Corps (redesignated) during the invasion of France in May 1940. His corps, with the 5th and 7th Panzer Divisions (the latter under Erwin Rommel), spearheaded the advance through the Ardennes. It secured bridgeheads across the Meuse near Dinant on 12–13 May. After breaking out, it captured Cambrai and advanced toward Arras. In the Battle of Dunkirk it broke through the British line at La Bassée Canal. On 6–7 June his divisions achieved a breakthrough at Airaines and Forges-les-Eaux. Soldiers under his command murdered French prisoners of war, mainly black colonial troops. The corps captured Rouen, encircled Allied forces at Saint-Valery-en-Caux (taking about 10,000 British prisoners), crossed the Seine, and advanced into Brittany, Normandy, and toward La Rochelle. Hoth was promoted to Generaloberst in July 1940.
Hoth commanded the 3rd Panzer Group during Operation Barbarossa starting in June 1941. The formation included four panzer divisions, three motorized divisions, and four infantry divisions, with 626 tanks. Hoth expressed no opposition to the invasion. He viewed Russia as overtaken by Jewish Bolshevism, an expansionist Asiatic despotism on a collision course with Germany. He had strategic misgivings and urged greater flexibility to strike deeper, but was overruled by superiors including Fedor von Bock.
The 3rd Panzer Group broke through Soviet border defenses easily. Released from the 9th Army, it cooperated with Guderian's 2nd Panzer Group to encircle Minsk, trapping 300,000 Soviet troops and destroying or capturing 2,500 tanks. Hoth pushed toward Smolensk, splitting his forces to secure Daugava river crossings and capturing Vitebsk. The breakthrough enabled the encirclement of three Soviet armies. He ordered limited examinations of suspected Red Army soldiers in civilian clothes, with execution if confirmed, and fully implemented the Commissar Order. Subordinate reports indicated widespread execution of commissars.
In mid-July the group was briefly subordinated to Army Group North for an attempt on Velikie Luki but was driven back. In August it faced setbacks at Bryansk and against the Soviet 19th Army. By September it had only about 250 tanks left. During Operation Typhoon in October it advanced toward Vyazma, sealing pockets with Guderian's group despite delays from fuel shortages and counterattacks. Redirected north to Rzhev and Kalinin, it was effectively removed from the direct drive on Moscow.
On 5 October 1941 Hoth was appointed commander of the 17th Army in Ukraine, replacing Carl-Heinrich von Stülpnagel. He advanced against Lozova and split forces toward Izium and Stalino. Bad weather and resistance slowed operations. Hoth supported the war of annihilation. He ordered harsh punishment of Jewry and cooperated closely with Einsatzgruppen death squads, providing more support than his predecessor. In November 1941, following Walter von Reichenau's Severity Order, Hoth issued his own order of the day:
Every sign of active or passive resistance or any sort of machinations on the part of Jewish-Bolshevik agitators are to be immediately and pitilessly exterminated ... These circles are the intellectual supports of Bolshevism, the bearers of its murderous organisation, the helpmates of the partisans. It is the same Jewish class of beings who have done so much damage to our own Fatherland by virtue of their activities against the nation and civilisation, and who promote anti-German tendencies throughout the world, and who will be the harbingers of revenge. Their extermination is a dictate of our own survival.
He also ordered the shooting of suspected partisans and civilians in woods, mass requisitioning of food, and cultivation of hatred among troops. Massacres by Sonderkommando 4b and Einsatzkommando 6 occurred in the army's rear areas. In early 1942 he briefly acted as commander of Army Group South during the Soviet Barvenkovo–Lozovaya offensive.
Hoth took command of the 4th Panzer Army on 31 May 1942. During Case Blue he demonstrated great operational skill. His forces broke through Soviet lines on 28 June, reached the Don River, and assaulted Voronezh. Despite Soviet counterattacks he repulsed them and continued advancing. The army participated in the drive toward Stalingrad. When the 6th Army was encircled in November 1942, Hoth's force led an unsuccessful relief attempt from the south. He remained in command during the Third Battle of Kharkov in March 1943 (recapturing the city) and the Battle of Kursk in July 1943, where his units suffered heavy losses at Prokhorovka. After Kursk his army defended during the Soviet Dnieper offensive. He was relieved of command on 26 November 1943 following the surprise Soviet reconquest of Kiev.
For the remainder of the war Hoth held mostly powerless positions.
Hoth was arrested by American forces in May 1945. He stood trial in the High Command Trial (Case 11) at Nuremberg. He was convicted of war crimes and crimes against humanity for implementing the Commissar Order, mistreatment of Soviet prisoners of war, and crimes against civilians (including Jews and Slavs). On 27 October 1948 he was sentenced to 15 years imprisonment and served time in Landsberg am Lech prison.
He was released on parole in 1954. His sentence was reduced to time served in 1957. Hoth lived quietly in West Germany. He became an author, publishing Panzer-Operationen in 1956 (later translated into English as Panzer Operations: Germany's Panzer Group 3 During the Invasion of Russia, 1941). He wrote articles for the Wehrkunde journal and collaborated on books such as Unternehmen Barbarossa (1963). His writings supported the myth of the clean Wehrmacht. He died on 25 January 1971 in Goslar, West Germany, at age 85.
Source:
https://www.lexikon-der-wehrmacht.de/
https://en.wikipedia.org/
https://www.tracesofwar.com/
https://rk.balsi.de/index.php?action=list&cat=300
https://www.unithistories.com/units_index/index.php?file=/officers/personsx.html
https://forum.axishistory.com/
https://www.bundesarchiv.de/en/
https://www.geni.com/
https://books.google.com/ (various searches on Hoth biography and awards)
Hoth, Hermann - Panzer-Operationen (Heidelberg, 1956)
Various Wehrmacht command histories and Knight's Cross recipient compilations cross-referenced from the above websites.
