SS-Obergruppenführer und General der Waffen-SS Theodor Eicke (Kommandeur SS-Division Totenkopf) with his adjutant, SS-Hauptsturmführer Otto Friedrich, in the Demyansk region on 1 May 1942 where his unit has been surrounded by the Red Army since 8 February 1942. Eicke joined the suffering of many of his soldiers. He camped in a pile of snow, wore wet clothes for days, was repeatedly exposed to enemy fire, and ate the same ration as received by the lowest ranking soldier! It is no wonder that his men adored their leader so much, and called him "Papa" Eicke! Friedrich shares the same fate with his boss, when they were both killed in an air crash one year later. On 26 February 1943, during the opening stages of the Third Battle of Kharkov, the Fieseler Fi 156 Storch reconnaissance aircraft that took them was shot down by flak of the Red Army between the villages of Artil'ne and Mykolaivka, 105 kilometers (65 mi) south of Kharkov near Lozova. The plane crashed behind Soviet lines. Several attempts were made by reinforced assault squads to recover the remains of their commander. They finally succeeded after losing several men. Eicke was given an elaborate funeral at one of the cemeteries of the Division near Orelka. Later, when the Germans were forced to withdraw, officers from the divisional staff together, with a few selected men, exhumed Eicke’s corpse and brought it by truck to Kiev.
Source :
http://alifrafikkhan.blogspot.com/2014/11/foto-theodor-eicke.html
http://www.holocaustresearchproject.org/othercamps/eicke.html
http://www.military-antiques-stockholm.com/index.php?cPath=26_60
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