Adolf Hans Pittschellis
Date of Birth: 28.10.1914 - Homberg, Hesse-Nassau (German Empire)
Date of Death: 26.01.1945 - Vereb, Fejér (Hungary)
Buried: Deutsche Kriegsgräberstätte Veszprém (Plot: 5. Row: 20. Grave: 558)
NSDAP Number: 1 492 016 (04.11.1932)
SS Number: 52 819 (04.11.1932)
Promotions:
04.11.1932 SS-Anwärter
18.03.1933 SS-Mann
09.07.1934 SS-Sturmmann
15.10.1934 SS-Rottenführer
01.10.1936 SS-Scharführer
16.02.1937 SS-Hauptscharführer
20.04.1937 SS-Untersturmführer
09.11.1938 SS-Obersturmführer
09.11.1940 SS-Hauptsturmführer (Waffen-SS)
09.11.1943 SS-Sturmbannführer (Waffen-SS )
Career:
04.11.1932 Allgemeine SS
04.11.1932 NSDAP
00.00.1936 SS-Junkerschule Braunschweig
00.00.1938 SS-Totenkopf-Standarte 3 in Thüringen
00.05.1940 Chef 1.Batterie / SS-Artillerie-Regiment 3 "Totenkopf"
00.10.1941 Kommandeur IV.Abteilung (Schwere) / SS-Artillerie-Regiment 3 "Totenkopf"
00.00.1942 - 00.00.1943 7.Batterie / III.Abteilung / SS-Artillerie-Regiment 3 "Totenkopf"
00.01.1944 - 00.00.1944 Kommandeur SS-Sturmgeschütz-Abteilung 3 / 3.SS-Panzer-Division "Totenkopf"
00.00.1944 - 04.01.1945 Kommandeur SS-Panzerjäger-Abteilung 3 / 3.SS-Panzer-Division "Totenkopf"
04.01.1945 - 26.01.1945 Kommandeur SS-Panzer-Regiment 3 / 3.SS-Panzer-Division "Totenkopf"
Awards and Decorations:
00.00.1929 HJ-Ehrenzeichen
00.02.1934 Ehrenwinkel der Alten Kämpfer
00.00.1936 SS-Dienstauszeichnung IV.Stufe (4 Jahre)
00.00.193_ SS-Ehrenring
01.12.1937 DRL Sportabzeichen in Bronze
01.12.1937 SA-Sportabzeichen in Bronze
01.12.1937 Ehrendegen des Reichsführers-SS
26.01.1939 Medaille zur Erinnerung an den 1. Oktober 1938
26.10.1939 Medaille zur Erinnerung an den 13. März 1938
31.05.1940 Eisernes Kreuz II.Klasse
16.07.1941 Eisernes Kreuz I.Klasse
20.12.1941 Allgemeines-Sturmabzeichen
00.00.1942 Dienstauszeichnung der NSDAP 10 Jahre
12.07.1942 Medaille "Winterschlacht im Osten 1941/42" (Ostmedaille)
23.10.1942 Deutsches Kreuz in Gold
31.08.1943 Verwundetenabzeichen in Gold
31.12.1943 Demjankschild
00.00.194_ Nahkampfspange in Bronze
23.08.1944 Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes, as SS-Sturmbannführer and Kommandeur SS-Panzerjäger-Abteilung 3 / 3.SS-Panzer-Division "Totenkopf". Pittschellis’s Ritterkreuz recommendation reads as follows: “On the 19.07.1944 SS-Sturmbannführer Pittschellis received the order to assemble a force from his 7 available Sturmgeschützen and 2 Infanterie-Kompanien from the assembly area at Kielbaski. With this force he was to block the supply bridges over the Niemen that were supporting the enemy forces on the west side of the river and push the enemy towards the northwest. Despite heavy enemy pressure and a desperate defense, Sturmbannführer Pittschellis succeeded in fighting his way northwards from the Kielbaski area, and he used an Infanterie-Kompanie to block the supply bridge leading to the enemy forces that had infiltrated onto the west bank of the Niemen. In all this time he showed great battlefield skill. In spite of the darkness that had by now set in, Pittschellis decided to continue attacking towards the northwest towards Sopockinie on his own initiative with 7 Sturmgeschützen and an Infanterie-Kompanie. In a critical situation, and while operating in extremely difficult terrain conditions, Pittschellis inspired his weary soldiers forwards with his own outstanding example and fearless attacking spirit. He and his troops crushed a strong enemy Pakfront and threw back the enemy from the commanding heights on the eastern village edge southeast of Spockinie. At 00:30 they reported that the village was in friendly hands. With this the enemy forces that had fought their way to the west (in strength of 3 Guards cavalry divisions and 2 rifle divisions) were cut off from their rearward connections, and a further influx of enemy forces operating in the direction of Augustow was prevented. In the process numerous weapons and other war materiel was captured. I hold SS-Sturmbannführer Pittschellis as one who is worthy of being awarded the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes for his heroic devotion to duty and his decisive success.”
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
At the beginning of the 20th century, three family members of the Pittschellis family gradually came to Homberg from East Prussia. Ernst, Adolf's father, started things off. He came to Homberg at the end of the first decade of the 20th century. The Pittschellis in turn founded families here and also had their children in northern Hesse.
Adolf was the son of the cutter Ernst Franz Pittschellis (born February 25, 1886 in Groß Klingbeck, Heiligenbeil district) and his wife Martha Elisabeth, née Schlott, who married on April 15, 1911 in Homberg (born December 12, 1884 in Homberg). His grandparents were the court master Heinrich Pittschellis and Maria (Marie), née Klotzky (both of whom died when their parents married in Groß Klingbeck) as well as the master butcher Kraft Schlott and Marie Mathilde Friederike, née Breithut. He had several uncles and aunts, including Anna Auguste Blümke, née Pittschellis (1893–1956).
The Pittschellis brothers, Adolf and Ernst, were, like their father, committed National Socialists. The boys were in the Hitler Youth and joined the SS at the first opportunity. Ernst Junior survived the war and captivity, founded a butcher's shop in Bad Arolsen in 1950 (his son Reinhard Pittschellis took over in 1976, grandson Oliver Pittschellis has run the family business since January 1, 2000) and preserved the family history (including family registers) which continues by his daughter, Charlotte Brinkmann, née Pittschellis, who unfortunately commit suicide with her husband Klaus on January 22, 2015. In her last will, she gave the family history to the student council, where she has been a teacher at the Federal President Theodor Heuss School in Homberg/Efze since 2001 for the subjects of art, history, geography and Politics and economics, and also to historian and author Thomas Schattner (1964 in Wabern, in the Schwalm-Eder district, Hesse), who published it as a book in 2016.
Adolf Pittschellis fell at the head of his regiment on January 26, 1945 in Vereb in the Stuhlweiß district during the third relief attempt at the Battle of Budapest. The operation with the code name "Konrad 3" (January 12 to 27, 1945) was based in the Stuhlweißenburg area. He left behind his wife, whom he had married on May 26, 1939 in Meringhausen, and at least one child.
He rests in the war cemetery in Weißbrunn (Veszprem); Final grave location: Block 5, row 20, grave 558.
Adolf Pittschellis from Homberg as SS-Junker. Thomas Schattner photo collection.
Photograph
of the Pittschellis family in the 1930s, at which time son
Ernst (right) and Adolf (the latter
Ritterkreuzträger) was already joined the SS. Father Ernst Franz
Pittschellis was born on 25 February 1886 in Groß Klingbeck,
Heiligenbeil district, and married with Martha Elisabeth Schlott (born
12 December 1884 in Homberg) on 15 April 1911 in Homberg. Ernst Senior
was most recently a member of the Volkssturm and fell in the final
battle for Germany when he died of his war wounds on 10 April 1945 in
the Nordschule reserve hospital in Hersfeld, southeast of Homberg. More about Adolf Pittschellis family can be seen HERE.
Portrait of young Adolf Pittschellis, possibly in his SA-Sportabzeichen urkunde (document).
Rare picture of Adolf Pittschellis smiling, here as an SS-Scharführer (promoted 1 October 1936).
Adolf Pittschellis as SS-Untersturmführer (promoted 20 April 1937).
Adolf Pittschellis as SS-Obersturmführer (promoted 9 November 1938).
SS-Totenkopf-Artillerie-Regiment training in France in the late summer or early autumn 1940. Standing in the middle is probably SS-Sturmbannführer Dr.jur. Eduard Deisenhofer (Kommandeur I.Bataillon / SS-Totenkopf-Infanterie-Regiment 1), while the officer holding stick at right is SS-Obersturmführer Adolf Pittschellis (Chef 1.Batterie / SS-Totenkopf-Artillerie-Regiment). Other pictures from this sequence can be seen HERE.
SS-Hauptsturmführer Adolf Pittschellis with his wife and daughter.
SS-Sturmbannführer Adolf Pittschellis after he received the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 23 August 1944 as Kommandeur of SS-Panzerjäger-Abteilung 3 / 3.SS-Panzer-Division "Totenkopf". Divisionskommandeur Karl Ullrich nominated him for the bravery medal on 25 July 1944 for an extraordinary feat of arms on the Eastern Front.
SS-Sturmbannführer Adolf Pittschellis and comrades.
Polish Front, January 1945: While holding a wolchowstock (the walking stick for German officers and non-commissioned officers typical of the Eastern Front), SS-Obergruppenführer und General der Waffen-SS Herbert Otto Gille (Kommandierender General IV. SS-Panzerkorps) chatted with SS- Brigadeführer und Generalmajor der Waffen-SS Hellmuth Becker (Kommandeur 3. SS-Panzer-Division "Totenkopf") who was under his command. Far left behind Gille is SS-Sturmbannführer Adolf Pittschellis (Führer SS-Panzer-Regiment 3 / 3.SS-Panzer-Division "Totenkopf") who would later be killed in battle on January 26, 1945, just a few days after this photo was taken! BTW, the Ärmelstreifen (cufftitle) attached to Becker's arm is different from the ärmelstreifen commonly worn by other Totenkopf Division personnel. The ärmelstreifen bearing the skull was a sign that the wearer was a former member of the SS-Totenkopfstandard "Oberbayern" in Dachau, and they were allowed to keep it on their arm even after moving to another unit as a form of pride in their old unit.
The grave of Adolf Pittschellis at Deutsche Kriegsgräberstätte Veszprém (Weißbrunn), Plot: 5. Row: 20. Grave: 558. He fell at the head of his regiment (SS-Panzer-Regiment 3 "Totenkopf") on January 26, 1945 in Vereb in the Stuhlweiß district during the third relief attempt at the Battle of Budapest. The operation with the code name "Konrad 3" (January 12 to 27, 1945) was based in the Stuhlweißenburg area. He left behind his wife, whom he had married on May 26, 1939 in Meringhausen, and at least one child. Veszprém Communal Cemetery itself contains a German plot with 4,110 graves from the Second World War. Of these, 1500 were buried here during the Second World War. The other graves were brought here from the surroundings.
Pittschellis family in the book by Thomas Schattner: "Die Familie Pittschellis: Geschichten aus Homberg/Efze zur Zeit des Nationalsozialismus". From the author: The Pittschellis family members originally came from East Prussia. Ernst, Berta and Anna Auguste were born there at the end of the 19th century. Other family members remained in East Prussia. At the beginning of the 20th century, three family members gradually came to Homberg. Ernst was the first. He came to Homberg at the end of the first decade of the 20th century. The Pittschellis in turn founded families here and also had their children in northern Hesse. These were born between 1912 and 1920. The Pittschellis children experienced the National Socialist era as teenagers and young adults. Their biographies have had an impact up to the present day. On February 13, 2015, I received a letter from a lawyer for SOS Children's Villages in Munich with completely frightening news. Klaus and Charlotte Brinkmann from Bad Arolsen were no longer alive. They died on January 22, 2015, according to the contents of the letter. It also emerged from this that the two of them had left me a suitcase. A little later, contact was made with the couple's estate administrator. During conversations and phone calls, it quickly became clear that the two had left their lives voluntarily. Charlotte's family history probably played a major role in this suicide, because, firstly, none of Klaus and Charlotte's families wanted to attend her funeral. Only her executor and the author expressed interest in it. And when I was handed the suitcase in February and was able to open it, the contents spoke volumes. Secondly, this consisted of the two's Nazi library plus the family archive of Charlotte's ancestors including family books. I understood this legacy in such a way that I should publish about Charlotte's ancestors, from which the present book emerged. From the archive materials inherited from Klaus and Charlotte Brinkmann, who lived in Bad Arolsen until the beginning of the year (they had material from very different archives. Charlotte's ancestors were collected from the Federal Archives, the former Berlin Document Center, the Bad Arols City Archives, etc.) and three biographies could be developed in detail. These are the biographies of Ernst Senior (Charlotte's grandfather) and his sons Ernst Junior (Charlotte's father) and Adolf (Charlotte's uncle). These three not only came to terms with the National Socialists, but were deeply involved in them. Both sons had great careers in the SS. Ernst Senior and Adolf lost their lives at the end of the Second World War as convinced National Socialists. The biography of Ruth Pittschellis (Charlotte's aunt), a cousin of Ernst Junior and Adolf, was also added. This biography shows that members of the Pittschelli family, despite their sympathy for National Socialism, were always able to evade it to a certain extent. You can order the book HERE.
Adolf Pittschellis as a cover in the book "Totenkopf: The Structure, Development and Personalities of the 3.SS-Panzer-Division: Volume 2" by Mark C. Yerger and Ignacio Arrondo. In "Totenkopf" volume II Mark C. Yerger begins with a lengthy chapter on the SS officer and Waffen-SS combat arms schools. Especially relevant to the earliest divisions, many "Totenkopf" officers were trained by this system with divisional veterans found serving with their ever-changing faculties. Starting with the prewar Junkerschulen and their expansion, both the wartime created academies are included. Overlooked despite their significance, the arms schools that produced SS officers among their variety of specialist training programs from mid-1942 to nearly the end of hostilities are detailed. Facilities examined include the SS-Pionierschule "Hradsichko," SS-Panzergrenadierschule "Kienschlag," SS-Artillerieschule II, SS-Nachrichtenschule, and the assault gun school in Bukowan that became the SS-Panzerjäger(Sturmgeschütz)Schule "Janowitz." The final 53 German Cross in Gold recipients are examined next with unpublished details for all ranks. Among them are men also awarded the Knight's Cross, material being included from the personal photo albums of two such officer recipients with dozens of other new images along with over 30 proposal texts relating the combats resulting in these decorations. A chapter examines those entered in the Roll of Honor (later Honor Clasp holders), including narratives resulting in that distinction. With the most of any Waffen-SS division, the 33 Close Combat Clasp in Gold holders are detailed. A lengthy chapter on the formation preparing for Russia opens with text details on its essential but often overlooked support units. The March-April 1941 transfers and final component are added, in total showing all divisional command and staff personnel. Men found elsewhere are noted, with priority service specifics given for nearly 250 more officers of the division. That data includes specifics of officer school graduates, reflecting on the stated significance of the opening chapter. Rather than faceless statistics, the massive casualties in 1941-1942 that comprised individuals becomes humanly grasped as was the continued tenacity of the division in Demjansk despite those losses. Order of Battle charts are compared to actual composition of the division. An addendum adds to volume I with an index for the nearly 800 personnel within this volume. Lavishly illustrated with primarily unpublished photographs in larger size, other images that have been seen were traced to original prints and negatives for previously unseen reproductive clarity. Appendix, glossary and bibliography. 367 pages, 230 illustrations. You can order the book HERE.
Source :
Mark C. Yerger photo collection
Thomas Schattner photo collection
http://www.2kompanie.org/adolf-pittschellis.html
http://alifrafikkhan.blogspot.com/2016/02/foto-hellmuth-becker.html
https://de.metapedia.org/wiki/Pittschellis,_Adolf
https://www.dws-xip.com/reich/biografie/52819.html
https://forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic.php?f=38&t=120230&hilit=pittschellis
https://www.muzej-nz.si/en/collections/fotographic-collections/927-The-German-Italian-Collection-1939-1945
https://reibert.info/media/adolf-pittschellis-jpg.356091/
https://www.seknews.de/2017/06/05/taeter-und-opferbiographien-in-norhessen/adolf-pitschellis-170605a/
https://www.tracesofwar.com/persons/13772/Pittschellis-Adolf-Hans-Waffen-SS.htm
https://www.wehrmacht-awards.com/forums/forum/wehrmacht-era-militaria/photos-and-paper-items-forum/658969-some-nice-photos-allgemeine-ss-waffen-ss#post5521213
https://ww2gravestone.com/people/pittschellis-adolf-hans/
No comments:
Post a Comment