Bio of SS-Obergruppenführer Artur Phleps (1881-1944)

Artur Gustav Martin Phleps

Date of Birth: 29.11.1881 - Birthälm, Siebenbürgen, Transylvania (Rumania)
Date of Death: 21.09.1944 - near Arad, Siebenbürgen, Transylvania (Rumania)

NSDAP-Nr.: [Not a member as of 30.01.1942]
SS-Nr.: 401 214 (Joined 30.06.1941)

Siblings: Hermann Phleps (1876-1964), a professor of archaeology and art history
Wife: Emilie Erber (married 30.04.1916)
Children: SS-Obersturmführer Dr. med. Reinhart Phleps (16.02.1917)

Promotions:
01.11.1901 Leutnant (Austria-Hungary)
31.10.1907 Oberleutnant (Austria-Hungary)
01.11.1911 Hauptmann (Austria-Hungary)
01.08.1916 Major (Austria-Hungary)
01.11.1918 Oberstleutnant (Austria-Hungary)
28.06.1920 Oberst (Rumania, with seniority from 01.04.1919)
15.04.1935 General-maior (Rumania)
01.06.1939 General-locotenent (Rumania)
00.00.1941 SS-Standartenführer
30.06.1941 SS-Oberführer
30.11.1941 SS-Brigadeführer und Generalmajor der Waffen-SS
20.04.1942 SS-Gruppenführer und Generalleutnant der Waffen-SS
21.06.1943 SS-Obergruppenführer und General der Waffen-SS

Career:
00.00.1893 - 00.00.1896 Attended Unterrealschule in Hermannstadt
00.00.1896 - 00.00.1900 K.u.K. Infanteriekadettenschule in Preßburg (Austria-Hungary)
18.08.1900 - 00.00.1902 Kadett-Offizierstellvertreter in K.u.K. 3. Tiroler Jäger-Regiment "Kaiserjäger"
00.00.1902 - 00.00.1905 K.u.K. 11.ungarischen Feldjäger-Bataillon in Güns (later Triest)
00.00.1905 - 00.00.1907 Theresianische Militärakademie in Wiener Neustadt
01.05.1908 entered K.u.K. Generalstab, assigned to Generalstab 13.Infanterie-Brigade in Esseg
00.00.19__ K.u.K. Infanterieregiment "Jung-Starhemberg" Nr. 13
00.00.19__ K.u.K. 6. Infanterietruppendivision in Graz
00.00.1911 K.u.K. XV. Korps in Sarajevo
00.00.1914 - 00.00.1915 Ib (2.Generalstabsoffizier) 32. Infanterie-Division in Serbia & Galicia
00.00.1915 Stabsoffizier K.u.K. 2. Armee in Poland
00.00.1915 Generalstabschef des Etappenkommando Armeegruppe Rohr
00.00.191_ 2. Quartiermeister, k.u.k. 10. Armee
27.08.1916 Stabchef 72. Honved-Infanterie-Division in Siebenbürgen
00.00.1916 - 00.00.1918 Quartiermeister, 9. Armee (Deuschee Kaiserreich)
00.00.1918 Chief of materiel group Armeegruppe Tirol
00.00.1918 Quartiermeister Alpenfront
00.00.1919 Kommandant, Sächsische Nationale Garde, Rumänisches Armee
01.04.1919 Entered Royal Romanian Army as a staff officer
00.00.1919 Chief of General Staff 16. Siebenburgen-Romanian Infantry-Division
15.05.1923 Assigned to Great General Staff, Bucharest
00.00.192_ Instructor at Universitatea Nationala de Aparare "Carol I" (Romanian War Academy)
00.00.1925 Assigned to V. Corps Command in Kronstadt
01.04.1929 Commander Calarasi Regiment Nr. 23
01.04.1930 Brigade commander in Constanza
00.09.1930 Kommandante 1. Brigada, Vanatori de Munte (1st Brigade, Mountain Troops)
00.00.1935 Inspector of Recruitment in 5th Territorial Command
05.06.1935 - 13.10.1936 Commander 12. Infantry-Division in Ismail (South Bessarabia
13.10.1936 - 01.11.1937 Commander 21. Infantry-Division in Galatz /(Southern Moldovia)
01.11.1937 Corps Commander in charge of Romanian Mountain Troops
01.02.1940 Placed at disposal of Romanian War Ministry
06.08.1940 Placed in reserves of Romanian Army
21.07.1941 - 31.01.1942 Kommandeur, SS-Panzergrenadier-Regiment "Westland"
01.02.1942 - 00.04.1942 Kommandeur Freiwilligen-Gebirgs-Division
00.04.1942 - 00.10.1942 Kommandeur SS-Freiwilligen-Division "Prinz Eugen"
00.10.1942 - 21.06.1943 Kommandeur SS-Freiwilligen-Gebirgs-Division "Prinz Eugen"
04.06.1943 - 21.09.1944 Kommandierender General V. SS-Gebirgskorps
16.09.1944 - 21.09.1944 Höhere SS und Polizeiführer "Siebenbürgen"

Awards and Decorations:
13.10.1914 Österreichisches Militärverdienstmedaille in Bronze
03.07.1915 Österreichisches Militärverdienstkreuz III.Klasse
23.10.1915 Österreichisches Ehrenzeichen für Verdienste um das Rote Kreuz II.Klasse mit Kriegsdekoration
15.03.1916 Österreichisches Militärverdienstmedaille in Silber
27.01.1917 1914 Eisernes Kreuz II.Klasse
24.04.1917 Österreichisches Kaiserlicher Orden der Eisernen Krone
23.07.1918 Österreichisches Franz-Joseph-Orden
12.03.1920 Ordinul Steaua României (Rumania), Officers cross with swords on ribbon of military merit
01.01.1927 Ordinul Corona Romaneii Commander (Rumania)
01.03.1928 Československý válečný kříž 1918 9Czechoslovak War Cross 1918)
28.02.1933 Ordinul Steaua României (Rumania), Commanders cross
00.00.1933 Royal Order of the Yugoslav Crown, 2nd Class
26.04.1934 Orden za Voenna Zasluga (Bulgarian Order of Military Merit), 2nd Class
10.05.1939 Ordinul Corona Romaneii Grand Cross (Rumania)
10.07.1941 1939 spange zum 1914 Eisernes Kreuz II.Klasse
26.07.1941 1939 Eisernes Kreuz I.Klasse
00.00.194_ Red Zeljeni Trolist, First Class Cross (Croatia)
00.00.194_ Red krune kralja Zvonimira (Croatia)
04.07.1943 Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes, as SS-Gruppenführer und Generalleutnant der Waffen-SS and Kommandeur SS-Freiwilligen-Gebirgs-Division "Prinz Eugen"
07.11.1943 Infanterie-Sturmabzeichen in Bronze
20.06.1944 Deutsches Kreuz in Gold
24.11.1944 Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes mit Eichenlaub #670 (posthumously), as SS-Obergruppenführer und General der Waffen-SS and Kommandierender General V. SS-Freiwilligen-Gebirgs-Korps

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Artur Gustav Martin Phleps (29 November 1881 – 21 September 1944) was born in Birthälm (Biertan), near Hermannstadt in Siebenbürgen, then a part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire (modern-day Transylvania, Romania). At the time, Siebenbürgen was densely populated by ethnic Germans, commonly referred to as Transylvanian Saxons. He was the third son of a surgeon, Dr. Gustav Phleps and Sophie (née Stolz), the daughter of a peasant. Both families had lived in Siebenbürgen for centuries. After finishing the Lutheran Realschule school in Hermannstadt, Phleps entered the Imperial and Royal cadet school in Pressburg (modern-day Slovakia) in 1900, and on 1 November 1901 was commissioned as a Leutnant (lieutenant) in the 3rd Regiment of the Tiroler Kaiserjäger (mountain infantry).

In 1903, Phleps was transferred to the 11th Feldjäger (rifle) Battalion in Güns (in modern-day Hungary), and in 1905 was accepted into the Theresian Military Academy in Wiener Neustadt. He completed his studies in two years, and was endorsed as suitable for service in the General Staff. Following promotion to Oberleutnant (first lieutenant) he was transferred to the staff of the 13th Infantry Regiment at Esseg in Slavonia, then to the 6th Infantry Division in Graz. This was followed by a promotion to Hauptmann (captain) in 1911, along with a position on the staff of the XV Army Corps in Sarajevo. There, he specialised in mobilisation and communications, in the difficult terrain of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

At the outbreak of World War I, Phleps was serving with the staff of the 32nd Infantry Division in Budapest. His division was involved in the early stages of the Serbian campaign, during which Phleps was transferred to the operations staff of the Second Army. This Army was soon withdrawn from the Serbian front and deployed via the Carpathian Mountains to the Austro-Hungarian province of Galicia (modern-day Poland and Ukraine), to defend against a successful offensive by the Russian Imperial army. The Second Army continued to fight the Russians in and around the Carpathians through the winter of 1914–1915. In 1915 Phleps was again transferred, this time to Armeegruppe Rohr commanded by General der Kavallerie (General) Franz Rohr von Denta, which was formed in the Austrian Alps, in response to the Italian declaration of war in May 1915. Armeegruppe Rohr became the basis for the formation of the 10th Army, which was headquartered in Villach. Phleps subsequently became the deputy quartermaster of the 10th Army, responsible for organising the supply of the troops fighting the Italians in the mountains.

On 1 August 1916, Phleps was promoted to Major. Later that month, King Ferdinand of Romania led the Kingdom of Romania in joining the Triple Entente, subsequently invading Phleps' homeland of Siebenbürgen. On 27 August, Phleps became the chief of staff of the 72nd Infantry Division, which was involved in Austro-Hungarian operations to repel the Romanian invasion. He remained in this theatre of operations for the next two years, ultimately serving as the chief quartermaster of the German 9th Army, and was awarded the Iron Cross 2nd Class, on 27 January 1917. In 1918 he returned to the mountains when he was transferred to Armeegruppe Tirol, and ended the war as an Oberstleutnant (lieutenant colonel) and chief quartermaster for the entire Alpine Front.

After the war the Austro-Hungarian Empire was dissolved, and Phleps returned to his homeland, which had become part of the Kingdom of Romania under the Treaty of Trianon. He joined the Romanian Army and was appointed commander of the Saxon National Guard, a militia formed of the German-speaking people of Siebenbürgen. In this role he opposed the Hungarian communist revolutionary government of Béla Kun, which fought against Romania in 1919. During a battle at the Tisza river against Kun's forces, Phleps disobeyed direct orders and was subsequently court-martialled. The trial concluded that he had saved the Romanian forces through his actions, and he was promoted to Oberst (colonel). He commanded the 84th Infantry Regiment, then joined the general army headquarters and started teaching logistics at the Romanian War Academy in Bucharest. He attended the V Army Corps staff college in Brașov, and published a book titled 'Logistics: Basics of Organisation and Execution' in 1926, which became the standard work on logistics for the Romanian Army. Ironically, after the book was published, Phleps failed his first general's examination on the topic of logistics. He commanded various Romanian units, including the 1st Brigade of the vânători de munte (mountain ranger troops), while serving also as a military advisor to King Carol II in the 1930s. Phleps reached the rank of General-locotenent (major general) despite his reported disdain for the corruption, intrigue and hypocrisy of the royal court. After criticising the government's policy and publicly calling King Carol a liar when another general tried to twist his words, he was transferred to the reserves in 1940 and finally dismissed from service at his own request in 1941.

In November 1940, with the support of the leader of the Volksgruppe in Rumänien (ethnic Germans in Romania), Andreas Schmidt, Phleps wrote to the key Waffen-SS recruiting officer SS-Brigadeführer und Generalmajor der Waffen SS (Brigadier) Gottlob Berger offering his services to the Third Reich. He subsequently asked for permission to leave Romania to join the Wehrmacht, and this was approved by the recently installed Romanian Conducător (leader), the dictator General Ion Antonescu. Phleps volunteered for the Waffen-SS instead, enlisting under his mother's maiden name of Stolz. According to the historian Hans Bergel, Phleps joined the Waffen-SS because Volksdeutsche were not permitted to join the Wehrmacht. He was appointed an SS-Standartenführer (colonel) by Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler and joined the SS Motorised Division Wiking, where he commanded Dutch, Flemish, Danish, Norwegian, Swedish and Finnish volunteers. When Hilmar Wäckerle, the commander of SS-Regiment Westland, was killed in action near Lvov in late June 1941, Phleps took over command of that regiment. He distinguished himself in fighting at Kremenchuk and Dnipropetrovsk in the Ukraine, commanded his own Kampfgruppe, became a confidant of Generalmajor (Brigadier General) Hans-Valentin Hube, commander of the 16th Panzer Division, and was subsequently promoted to SS-Oberführer (senior colonel). In July 1941 he was awarded the 1939 clasp to his Iron Cross (1914) 2nd Class and then the Iron Cross (1939) 1st Class.

On 30 December 1941, Generalfeldmarschall (Field Marshal) Wilhelm Keitel advised Himmler that Adolf Hitler had authorised the raising of a seventh Waffen-SS division from the Volksdeutsche (ethnic Germans) of Yugoslavia. In the meantime, Phleps reverted to his birth name from his mother's maiden name. Two weeks later, SS-Brigadeführer und Generalmajor der Waffen SS Phleps was selected to organise the new division. On 1 March 1942, the division was officially designated the SS-Freiwilligen-Division "Prinz Eugen". Phleps was promoted to SS-Gruppenführer und Generalleutnant der Waffen SS (major general) on 20 April 1942. After recruitment, formation and training in the Banat region in October 1942, the two regiments and supporting arms were deployed into the southwestern part of the German-occupied territory of Serbia as an anti-Partisan force. Headquartered in Kraljevo, with its two mountain infantry regiments centred on Užice and Raška, the division continued its training. Some artillery batteries, the anti-aircraft battalion, the motorcycle battalion and cavalry squadron continued to form in the Banat. During his time with the 7th SS Division, Phleps was referred to as "Papa Phleps" by his troops.

In early October 1942, the division commenced Operation Kopaonik, targeting the Chetnik force of Major Dragutin Keserović in the Kopaonik Mountains. The operation ended with little success, since the Chetniks had forewarning of the operation and were able to avoid contact. After a quiet winter, in January 1943 Phleps deployed the division to the Independent State of Croatia (NDH) to participate in Case White. Between 13 February and 9 March 1943 he was responsible for the initial aspects of raising the 13th Waffen Mountain Division of the SS Handschar (1st Croatian) in the NDH in addition to his duties commanding the 7th SS Division. In his strongly apologetic divisional history of the division which he later commanded, Otto Kumm claims that his division captured Bihać and Bosanski Petrovac, killed over 2,000 Partisans and captured nearly 400 during Case White. After a short rest and refit in April, the division was committed to Case Black in May and June 1943, during which it advanced from the Mostar area into the Italian governorate of Montenegro killing, according to Kumm, 250 Partisans and capturing over 500. The historian Thomas Casagrande notes that all German units fighting partisans routinely counted the civilians they had murdered as partisans. Therefore, it can be assumed that the reported number of inflicted casualties included many civilians. The division played a decisive role during the fighting. Although Himmler had already planned to award Phleps the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross for his role in organising the 7th SS Division, it was for the achievements of his division during Case Black that Phleps received the award. Phleps was also portrayed in the SS-magazine Das Schwarze Korps. He received the Knight's Cross in July 1943, while being also promoted to Obergruppenführer und General der Waffen-SS (lieutenant general), and placed in command of the V SS Mountain Corps.

In May 1943, Phleps became frustrated by the failure of his Italian allies to cooperate with German operations, which was demonstrated in his reputation for forthright speech. During a meeting with his Italian counterpart in Podgorica, Montenegro, Phleps called the Italian corps commander General Ercole Roncaglia a "lazy macaroni". Phleps scolded his Wehrmacht interpreter, Leutnant Kurt Waldheim for toning down his language, saying "Listen Waldheim, I know some Italian and you are not translating what I am telling this so-and-so". On another occasion, he threatened to shoot Italian sentries who were delaying his passage through a checkpoint. On 15 May 1943, Phleps handed over command of the division to SS-Brigadeführer und Generalmajor der Waffen SS Karl von Oberkamp.

While under Phleps' command, the division committed many crimes against civilian population of the NDH, especially during Case White and Case Black. These included "burning villages, massacre of inhabitants, torture and murder of captured partisans", thence the division thereby developed a distinctive reputation for cruelty. These charges have been denied by Kumm, among others. Still, the divisional orders routinely called for the annihilation of hostile civilian population and documents by the Waffen-SS themselves show that these orders were regularly put into practice. For example, Himmler's police representative in the NDH, SS-Brigadeführer und Generalmajor der Polizei Konstantin Kammerhofer, reported on 15 July 1943 that units of the 7th SS Division had shot the Muslim population of Kosutica, about 40 men, women, and children gathered in a "church". The division claimed that "bandits" in the village had opened fire, but the police could not discover any traces of combat. Such incidents, which jeopardized the plan to raise a Muslim SS division, led to a dispute between Kammerhofer and Phleps' successor Oberkamp. Himmler ordered Phleps to intervene, and he reported on 7 September 1943 that he could not discover anything wrong with the shootings in Kosutica and that Kammerhofer and Oberkamp had resolved their dispute. The war crimes committed by the 7th SS Division became the subject of international controversy when Waldheim's service in the Balkans became public in the mid-1980s, during his successful bid for the Austrian presidency.

The formations under the command of V SS Mountain Corps varied during Phlep's command. In July 1944, it consisted of the 118th Jäger Division and 369th (Croatian) Infantry Division in addition to the 7th SS and 13th SS divisions. Throughout Phlep's command, the corps was under the overall control of 2nd Panzer Army and conducted anti-Partisan operations throughout the NDH and Montenegro. These operations included Operations Kugelblitz (ball lightning) and Schneesturm (blizzard), which were part of a major offensive in eastern Bosnia in December 1943, but they were only a limited success. Phleps had met personally with Hitler to discuss the planning for Operation Kugelblitz.

Due to the unreliable nature of the troops loyal to the NDH government, Phleps utilised Chetnik forces as auxiliaries, stating to a visiting officer that he could not disarm the Chetniks unless the NDH government provided him with the same strength in reliable troops. In January 1944, due to fears that the Western Allies would invade along the Dalmatian coastline and islands, V SS Mountain Corps forced the mass evacuation of male civilians between the ages of 17 and 50 from that area. Phleps was criticised by both NDH and German authorities for the harshness with which the evacuation was carried out. During the first six months of 1944, elements of the V SS Mountain Corps were involved in Operation Waldrausch (Forest Fever) in central Bosnia, Operation Maibaum (Maypole) in eastern Bosnia, and Operation Rösselsprung (Knight's Move), the attempt to capture or kill the Partisan leader Josip Broz Tito.

On 20 June 1944, Phleps was awarded the German Cross in Gold. In September, he was appointed plenipotentiary general of German occupation troops in south Siebenbürgen and the Banat, organising the flight of the Volksdeutsche of north Siebenbürgen ahead of the advancing Soviet Red Army.

Following the 23 August 1944 King Michael's Coup, while en route to a meeting with Himmler in Berlin, Phleps and his entourage made a detour to reconnoitre the situation near Arad, Romania after receiving reports of Soviet advances in that area. Accompanied only by his adjutant and his driver, and unaware of the presence of Red Army units in the vicinity, he entered Șimand, a village approximately 20 kilometres (12 mi) north of Arad, on the afternoon of 21 September 1944. Soviet forces were already in the village, and Phleps and his men were captured and brought in for interrogation. When the building in which they were held was attacked by German aircraft later that afternoon, the prisoners tried to escape and were shot by their guards. Bergel suspects that Phleps had been set up by Hungarian army officers who had found out that he knew of plans for Hungary to switch sides as Romania had done shortly before. Phleps' personal effects, including his identity card, tags and decorations, were found by a Hungarian patrol and handed over to German authorities on 29 September 1944. Phleps had been listed as missing in action since 22 September 1944 when he did not show up for his meeting with Himmler, who had issued a warrant for his arrest.

The following is qouted from "Their Honor was loyalty!" (Verleihung genemigt!) by Jost W. Schneider page 297:

"Uncertainty prevailed concerning the situation and the actual extend of enemy activity near Arad. Phleps, accompanied only by his adjudant, SS-Untersturmführer Wagner and his driver, SS-Oberscharführer Oehl, made a personal reconnaissance trip to this area. He proceeded quite a distance past the thin German lines of defence. In one village, the inhabitants tried to warn him about advancing Soviet tanks. But it was too late. Phleps, together with his two companions, was captured. The Soviets did not realize how important their prisoner was. During a German air attack they killed the three prisoners and buried their bodies. In 1946 these three graves were still cared for and maintained by elder inhabitants of the village in which they were located. These people passed away, and the graves location became lost for many years. In the 1980's, Phleps daughter, travelling with some friends was provided with the information by remaining ethnic Germans which enabled her to find the the graves with the help of local residents. Now, Phleps, Wagner and Oehl's remains rest in a commen grave with dead Hungarian and Soviet soldiers."

Phleps was posthumously awarded the Oak Leaves to his Knight's Cross on 24 November 1944, which was presented to his son, SS-Obersturmführer (First Lieutenant) Dr.med. Reinhart Phleps, a battalion doctor serving in the 7th SS Division. Soon after his death, the 13th Gebirgsjäger Regiment of the 7th SS Division was given the cuff title Artur Phleps in his honour. Phleps was married; his wife's name was Grete and in addition to their son Reinhart, they had a daughter, Irmingard. One of Phleps' brothers became a doctor, and the other was a professor at the Danzig technical university, now Gdańsk University of Technology.

Although no longer in command of the division, Phleps was accused by the Yugoslav authorities of war crimes in association with the atrocities committed by 7th SS Division in the area of Nikšić in Montenegro during Case Black. At the Nuremberg trials on 6 August 1946, a document from the Yugoslav State Commission for Crimes of Occupiers and their Collaborators regarding the crimes of the 7th SS Division was quoted as follows:

"At the end of May 1943 the division came to Montenegro to the area of Niksic in order to take part in the fifth enemy offensive in conjunction with the Italian troops. [...] The officers and men of the SS division Prinz Eugen committed crimes of an outrageous cruelty on this occasion. The victims were shot, slaughtered and tortured, or burnt to death in burning houses. [...] It has been established from the investigations entered upon that 121 persons, mostly women, and including 30 persons aged 60–92 years and 29 children of ages ranging from 6 months to 14 years, were executed on this occasion in the horrible manner narrated above. The villages [and then follows the list of the villages] were burnt down and razed to the ground. [...] For all of these most serious War Crimes those responsible besides the actual culprits—the members of the SS Division Prinz Eugen—are all superior and all subordinate commanders as the persons issuing and transmitting the orders for murder and devastation. Among others the following war criminals are known: SS Gruppenfuehrer and Lieutenant General of the Waffen-SS Phleps; Divisional Commander, Major General of the Waffen-SS Karl von Oberkamp; Commander of the 13th Regiment, later Divisional Commander, Major General Gerhard Schmidhuber..."

The post-war Nuremberg trials made the declaratory judgement that the Waffen-SS was a criminal organisation due to its major involvement in war crimes and crimes against humanity, including the killing of prisoners-of-war and atrocities committed in occupied countries.

SS-Gruppenführer und Generalleutnant der Waffen-SS Artur Phleps as commander of the SS-Freiwilligen-Gebirgs-Division "Prinz Eugen". On the left of him with binoculars is SS-Standartenführer August Schmidhuber (Kommandeur SS-Gebirgsjäger-Regiment 2), the later SS-Brigadeführer and commander of the 21st Waffen Mountain Division of the SS Skanderberg (as well as the last commander of the Prinz Eugen). This picture was taken in the Yugoslavian front on 2 July 1943. From 15 May – 15 June, the Prinz Eugen took a part in the subsequent Fifth anti-Partisan Offensive (Operation Schwarz) aiming to pin Tito's main force of about 20,000 Partisans against the Zelengora mountain, in south-eastern Bosnia. During the battle, the division received a task to move through the Italian occupation zone in order to block the possible advance of Partisans towards the Adriatic Sea and the Italian-occupied Albania, to close the south-east part of the encirclement and then advance north over mountainous terrain to crush the Partisan forces. In eleven-day fightings from May 20, division captured Šavnik. For this success, Sturmbannführer Dietsche as well as commander Phleps both received first two Ritterkreuzes for the division. The medal for the Divisionskommandeur Phleps would be given two days after this picture was taken.


The picture was taken in the summer of 1943 and it shows the visit of V. SS-Gebirgskorps staff - formed in Milovice - to SS-Panzergrenadierschule Kienschlag (now Prosečnice, about 60 km away from Milovice in Czech Republic). The Ritterkreuzträger facing the camera is SS-Obergruppenführer und General der Waffen-SS Artur Phleps (Kommandierender General V. SS-Gebirgskorps). The officer standing next to Phleps is SS-Sturmbannführer Erich Eberhardt (Ia Erster Generalstabsoffizier SS-Freiwilligen-Gebirgs-Division "Prinz Eugen") and the one with his back turned is SS-Standartenführer Otto Kumm (Chef des Stabes V. SS-Gebirgskorps), who is facing SS-Sturmbannführer Hans Kempin (Kommandeur SS-Panzergrenadierschule Kienschlag). The vehicle parked with a Kübelwagen in its side is Opel Kapitän 1938. Other pictures from the same sequence can be seen HERE.



SS-Obergruppenführer und General der Waffen-SS Artur Phleps (Kommandierender General V. SS-Gebirgskorps) inspects a British submachine gun captured from Yugoslav Partisans. The weapon is of the Sten Mk-II type with the magazine well turns below for easy transport (for jumping paratroopers). It is not possible to open fire in this configuration because the ejection port is covered up and the magazine feed wouldn't be aligned with the bolt face. This photo was taken between 28 August to 1 September 1943 when Phleps on a visit to the Kroatische SS-Freiwilligen-Gebirgs-Division training ground in France.

Source :
Denis Daum photo collection
Lohengrin photo collection
"Totenkopf und Edelweiß: General Artur Phleps und die südosteuropäischen Gebirgstruppen der Waffen-SS 1942-1945" by Roland Kaltenegger
https://www.alamy.com/italiano-il-generale-ss-artur-phleps-il-giorno-del-suo-61-compleanno-29-novembre-1942-29-november-1942-unknown-22-generale-ss-artur-phleps-image208044268.html?imageid=80EBBF61-B736-4F66-A313-D1FA94B85808&p=650648&pn=1&searchId=701bdbdb28ad050f1e2f7a21b321d718&searchtype=0
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artur_Phleps
https://forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic.php?f=38&t=4099&hilit=phleps
https://www.thefifthfield.com/quiet-flows/ss-gruppenfuhrer-artur-phleps/
https://www.tracesofwar.com/persons/1020/Phleps-Artur-Gustav-Martin.htm