Nickname: No information
Date of Birth: 15.11.1911 - Stetten/Hohenzollern, Deutsches Reich
Date of Death: 18.06.1998 - Hechingen-Stetten, Baden-Württemberg, Bundesrepublik Deutschland
Battles and Operations: Polenfeldzug, Unternehmen Barbarossa, Kesselschlacht von Demjansk, Kämpfe an der Ostfront, Normandie (Saint-Lô, Falaise Pocket), Einsätze in Italien und Ungarn
NSDAP-Number: 4.197.040 (01.05.1937)
SS-Number: 237.056 (01.11.1933)
Religion: No information
Parents: Vater: Merchant (Name unknown) and unknown mother
Siblings: No information
Spouse: No information
Children: No information
Promotions:
01.11.1933 SS-Anwärter
14.09.1934 SS-Mann
01.06.1935 SS-Rottenführer
01.07.1935 SS-Unterscharführer
09.11.1935 SS-Standartenjunker
25.02.1936 SS-Standarten-Oberjunker
20.04.1936 SS-Untersturmführer
12.09.1937 SS-Obersturmführer
09.11.1939 SS-Hauptsturmführer
21.06.1941 SS-Sturmbannführer
09.11.1942 SS-Obersturmbannführer
30.01.1944 SS-Standartenführer
17.09.1944 SS-Oberführer
Career:
00.00.19??-00.00.1930 Volksschule then Realgymnasium Hechingen, Abitur 1930
00.00.1930-00.00.1932 Studium der Landwirtschaft an der Landwirtschaftlichen Hochschule Hohenheim (zwei Semester)
01.11.1933 Eintritt in die Allgemeine SS, 13. SS-Standarte, Stuttgart
06.03.1934 SS-Standarte Germania
24.04.1935-00.02.1936 SS-Junkerschule Braunschweig
10.02.1936 Zugführerlehrgang Dachau
01.04.1936 II./SS-Standarte Germania
20.04.1936-01.05.1938 Zugführer II./SS-Standarte Germania
05.05.1937-17.06.1937 Heeres-Sportschule Wünsdorf
01.05.1938-15.11.1938 Zugführer III./SS-Standarte Der Führer
15.11.1938 mit der Führung beauftragt 10./SS-Standarte Der Führer
01.06.1939 mit der Führung beauftragt 7. Kompanie / Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler (Polenfeldzug als Kompaniechef)
03.03.1941 versetzt zur SS-Totenkopf-Division
21.06.1941-13.03.1944 Kommandeur III. Bataillon / SS-Totenkopf-Infanterie-Regiment 3 (Kämpfe an der Ostfront, Demjansk)
13.03.1944 SS-Führerhauptamt
18.06.1944-01.08.1944 Kommandeur 17. SS-Panzergrenadier-Division Götz von Berlichingen (Normandie, Saint-Lô)
28.07.1944-23.10.1944 Führer 2. SS-Panzer-Division Das Reich (Falaise Pocket)
24.10.1944-08.05.1945 Kommandeur 16. SS-Panzergrenadier-Division Reichsführer-SS (Italien, Ungarn)
08.05.1945-00.12.1948 in britischer Kriegsgefangenschaft
00.00.1949-00.00.1998 Tätigkeit in der Textilindustrie
Awards and Decorations:
SA-Sportabzeichen in Bronze (01.12.1936)
Eisernes Kreuz II. Klasse (25.09.1939)
Eisernes Kreuz I. Klasse (15.06.1940)
Infanterie-Sturmabzeichen in Bronze (03.10.1940)
Deutsches Kreuz in Gold (26.12.1941)
Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes (08.05.1942) as SS-Sturmbannführer and Kommandeur III.Bataillon / SS-Totenkopf-Infanterie-Regiment 3 / SS-Division “Totenkopf”. During the bitter winter fighting in the Demjansk Kessel, Baum’s battalion held a critical sector near the villages of Salutschje and Schumilkino. For weeks the position had been under relentless Soviet pressure. On the night of 7 February 1942, at 00:20 hours, the enemy unleashed a massive assault after a heavy artillery and mortar barrage. Elements of the 20th Regiment, the NCO school, and the platoon-leader school of the 7th Soviet Guards Division, supported by tanks and the 42nd Soviet Brigade, struck the depleted German lines in a pincer movement. Soviet infantry overran parts of northern Schumilkino and southeastern Salutschje, threatening to roll up the entire front and seize the vital Kobylkino–Schubino road that supplied the encircled German forces of Gruppe Eicke.
With the situation critical and his own battalion stretched to breaking point, Baum acted on his own initiative. Gathering a handful of hastily assembled men and elements of an attached company, he personally led a death-defying counterthrust straight into the teeth of the Soviet penetration. In brutal, close-quarters fighting amid the snow and darkness, Baum’s small force drove the enemy out of both villages. By 06:30 the frontline was restored. Over 300 Soviet dead lay in and around the German positions, and further attacks collapsed under concentrated defensive fire. The recommendation emphasized that Baum’s “heroic bravery and decisive success” had prevented a breakthrough that would have endangered the entire pocket. Theodor Eicke, commander of the Totenkopf Division, personally presented the Ritterkreuz to Baum in a short frontline ceremony less than a mile from the fighting.
Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes mit Eichenlaub #277 (22.08.1943) as SS-Obersturmbannführer and Kommandeur SS-Panzergrenadier-Regiment “Thule” (formerly SS-Pz.Gr.Rgt. 5 “Totenkopf”) / SS-Panzergrenadier-Division “Totenkopf”. The Eichenlaub was awarded for a series of outstanding leadership feats during the German counteroffensive that recaptured Kharkov in February-March 1943 and the subsequent heavy fighting.
On the night of 23/24 February 1943, Baum’s regiment, with I. Bataillon and attached panzers, was ordered to strike north of Pawlograd, seize Wjasowol, cross the Malaja Ternowka river, and establish a bridgehead. Despite bitter cold and enemy resistance, Baum led from the front. His battalion drove past Wjasowol, pursued the fleeing Soviets across the river, and pivoted southeast to the northern edge of Werbki – arriving ahead of the supporting panzer regiment and linking up with SS-Division “Das Reich”. The move cut off the Soviet escape route west of Ternowka.
On 1 March 1943, advancing northwest in the Orel sector under heavy snowstorms, Baum again made ruthless decisions. Ignoring supply difficulties, he pushed I. (gep.) Bataillon and attached panzers across the Berestowaja river to Par. Schlachowaja, linked with the Leibstandarte from the southwest, and helped encircle the Soviet 3rd Tank Army north of Schljachowaja. The haul included 21 T-34s, 107 artillery pieces, hundreds of vehicles and weapons, and large numbers of prisoners.
On 12 March 1943, Baum’s regiment was rushed to cover the eastern approaches to Kharkov. At 14:00 he set out along the Kharkov–Tschugujew road despite terrible conditions. Baum stayed constantly with the lead elements, personally directing the advance. By evening of 13 March his forces had captured Rogan, cut the main road, and linked with “Das Reich”. After a hurried refuel, they overran Kamenaja Jaruga, seized Tschugujew, and blocked the Donetz crossings – sealing the fate of the Soviet forces attempting to escape from Smijew.
Later actions in July 1943 near Beresoff and at the Psel river bridgehead during the Kursk offensive further underscored his bravery: Baum broke through heavy enemy fire, was wounded but refused evacuation, and became “the soul of the resistance” at critical points, repulsing repeated Soviet attacks with heavy losses to the enemy. The recommendation highlighted Baum’s “bold decisions, aggressiveness, and personal example of bravery” as decisive for the success of the entire operation.
Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes mit Eichenlaub und Schwertern #95 (02.09.1944) as SS-Standartenführer and Kommandeur 2. SS-Panzer-Division “Das Reich”. The Schwerter were awarded for his outstanding performance during the Normandy campaign, particularly in the fighting around Operation Cobra and the subsequent encirclement battles in the Falaise Pocket.
In late July and August 1944, as American forces launched their breakout from the Cotentin Peninsula, Baum’s division was thrown into desperate counterattacks and holding actions to stem the Allied flood. With the German front collapsing and large elements of the 7th Army and Panzergruppe West becoming trapped in the Falaise Pocket, Baum led aggressive operations that succeeded in opening escape corridors and freeing significant numbers of encircled German troops, vehicles, and equipment. Under constant Allied air attack and against overwhelming numerical superiority in men, tanks, and artillery, he coordinated rapid thrusts, rearguard actions, and breakout maneuvers that prevented total annihilation of the trapped forces. The official recommendation noted his “success in freeing significant elements of German units that had been encircled on the Invasion Front,” crediting his decisive leadership and personal courage with saving thousands of men who would otherwise have been lost. Baum’s actions during these chaotic days helped keep the division combat-effective even as the Normandy front disintegrated.
Verwundetenabzeichen in Silber (21.08.1943)
Demyansk-Schild (31.12.1943)
Ostmedaille (1942)
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Otto Baum was a high-ranking officer in the Waffen-SS during the Second World War who rose to the rank of SS-Oberführer and became one of the few recipients of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords. Born on 15 November 1911 in Stetten in Hohenzollern in the German Empire as the son of a merchant he grew up in a modest family environment and later died on 18 June 1998 in Hechingen-Stetten in Baden-Württemberg in the Federal Republic of Germany. Throughout his military career Baum demonstrated exceptional leadership and personal bravery in some of the most intense campaigns of the war serving first in the Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler during the invasion of Poland and then distinguishing himself repeatedly on the Eastern Front with the SS-Totenkopf Division before taking command of larger formations on the Western Front in Normandy and later in Italy and Hungary. His awards reflected critical actions in defensive battles around the Demjansk Pocket in 1942 the German counteroffensive at Kharkov in 1943 and desperate breakout operations during the collapse of the Normandy front in 1944. After the war Baum spent several years in British captivity before returning to civilian life where he worked in the textile industry until his death more than five decades later.
Baum completed his early education at the local Volksschule and then at the Realgymnasium in Hechingen where he passed his Abitur in 1930. He enrolled for two semesters in the study of agriculture at the Landwirtschaftliche Hochschule Hohenheim near Stuttgart but left his studies to pursue a military path. On 1 November 1933 he entered the Allgemeine SS with the 13th SS-Standarte in Stuttgart receiving the SS service number 237056. His rapid advancement through the ranks began with basic training and attendance at the SS-Junkerschule Braunschweig from April 1935 to February 1936 followed by a platoon-leader course at Dachau in early 1936. By April 1936 he served as a Zugführer in the second battalion of SS-Standarte Germania and later transferred to the Der Führer regiment where he gained experience as a company officer. In May 1937 he briefly attended the Heeres-Sportschule Wünsdorf and by November 1938 he was given acting command of the tenth company of Der Führer. His pre-war service also included membership in the NSDAP which he joined retroactively with number 4197040 effective 1 May 1937.
In June 1939 Baum assumed command of the seventh company of the motorized infantry regiment of the Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler and led it through the Polish campaign in September 1939 earning the Iron Cross Second Class on 25 September 1939 for his performance under fire. He continued with the Leibstandarte during the western campaign in 1940 receiving the Iron Cross First Class on 15 June 1940 and the Infantry Assault Badge in bronze on 3 October 1940. Transferred to the SS-Totenkopf Division in March 1941 he took over the third battalion of SS-Totenkopf-Infanterie-Regiment 3 in June 1941 and participated in Operation Barbarossa the invasion of the Soviet Union. His battalion fought in heavy engagements across the Eastern Front and by late 1941 he had been promoted to SS-Sturmbannführer on 21 June 1941 while also earning the German Cross in Gold on 26 December 1941 for sustained combat leadership.
The action that earned Baum the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 8 May 1942 occurred during the desperate winter defense inside the Demjansk Pocket. As commander of the third battalion his unit held a vital sector near the villages of Salutschje and Schumilkino against repeated Soviet assaults. On the night of 7 February 1942 following a massive artillery and mortar barrage elements of several Soviet regiments and brigades supported by tanks launched a pincer attack that overran parts of the German positions threatening the only supply road for the encircled forces. With his battalion stretched thin Baum gathered a small assault group and personally led a counterattack through deep snow and darkness in close-quarters fighting that restored the line by dawn inflicting over three hundred enemy casualties and preventing a breakthrough that could have collapsed the entire pocket. Division commander Theodor Eicke personally presented the decoration to him in a frontline ceremony shortly afterward praising his initiative and bravery.
By early 1943 after recovering from wounds sustained in earlier fighting Baum had been promoted to SS-Obersturmbannführer and given command of SS-Panzergrenadier-Regiment 5 Thule within the Totenkopf Division. His leadership during the German counteroffensive that recaptured Kharkov in February and March 1943 earned him the Oak Leaves to the Knight's Cross as the 277th recipient on 22 August 1943. On the night of 23 February his regiment seized key river crossings and bridgeheads north of Pawlograd advancing through bitter cold to cut off Soviet escape routes and link up with other SS divisions. In subsequent days he pushed armored elements across the Berestowaja River linking with the Leibstandarte and encircling large Soviet forces while capturing dozens of tanks and hundreds of artillery pieces. Later in the fighting around Kharkov and during the Kursk offensive his regiment repeatedly broke through enemy lines under heavy fire with Baum leading from the front refusing evacuation after being wounded again and becoming the driving force in repulsing multiple Soviet counterattacks.
In 1944 Baum advanced to higher commands first taking charge of the 17th SS-Panzergrenadier-Division Götz von Berlichingen on 18 June 1944 during the Normandy campaign where his division fought fierce defensive battles around Saint-Lô. He was then tasked with leading the 2nd SS-Panzer-Division Das Reich from 28 July to 23 October 1944 amid the chaos of Operation Cobra and the Falaise Pocket. Under relentless Allied air attacks and against overwhelming odds his forces conducted aggressive counterthrusts and rearguard actions that opened escape corridors allowing thousands of encircled German troops vehicles and equipment to break out before the pocket closed. For these achievements he received the Swords as the 95th recipient on 2 September 1944 while still holding the rank of SS-Standartenführer. Promoted to SS-Oberführer on 17 September 1944 he assumed command of the 16th SS-Panzergrenadier-Division Reichsführer-SS on 24 October 1944 leading it through defensive operations in Italy before the division transferred to Hungary in early 1945 where it continued fighting until the final days of the war. Baum surrendered with his forces at Völkermarkt in Carinthia on 8 May 1945 and remained in British captivity until December 1948.
Following his release Baum returned to civilian life in Germany and worked in the textile industry for the remainder of his years avoiding public attention. He lived quietly in his birthplace region until his death at the age of eighty-six. His military record remains a subject of historical study particularly for the combination of tactical skill and personal courage that marked his progression from company commander to division leader across multiple theaters of the Second World War.
SS-Mann Otto Baum.
SS-Mann Otto Baum.
SS-Junker Otto Baum during the course at SS-Junkerschule Braunschweig (1935-1936).
SS-Untersturmführer Otto Baum.
SS-Hauptsturmführer Otto Baum (Kommandeur III.Bataillon / SS-Totenkopf-infanterie-Regiment 3 / SS-Division "Totenkopf") with SS-Gruppenführer und Generalleutnant der Waffen-SS Theodor Eicke (Kommandeur SS-Division "Totenkopf")) in a war exercise ahead of the German invasion of the Soviet Union (Operation Barbarossa), spring 1941. This photo was taken shortly after Baum was transferred from Leibstandarte to Totenkopf (5 March 1941). Eicke - known for being stingy with praise and hard to impress - was always a tough commander and suspicious of newcomers assigned to his unit. He preferred to rely on direct judgment with his own eyes rather than on evaluations from other commanders. Therefore, it is the greatest pride when he considers Baum as one of his best commanders in terms of bravery and leadership!
SS-Sturmbannführer Otto Baum riding a horse.
SS-Sturmbannführer Otto Baum.
SS-Sturmbannführer Otto Baum.
SS-Sturmbannführer Otto Baum.
SS-Sturmbannführer Otto Baum.
Otto Baum wounded.
SS-Obersturmbannführer Otto Baum.
SS-Obersturmbannführer Otto Baum.
SS-Obersturmbannführer Otto Baum.
The
visit of Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler (Chef der SS und Deutschen
Polizei) to the headquarters of the SS-Panzergrenadier-Division
"Totenkopf" near Kharkov, Ukraine, 24 April 1943. To the left of Himmler
is SS-Oberführer Hermann Prieß (Kommandeur SS-Panzergrenadier-Division
"Totenkopf"), while to his right is SS-Obersturmbannführer Otto Baum
(Kommandeur SS-Panzergrenadier-Regiment "Totenkopf"). On the far left is
SS-Sturmbannführer Otto Kron (Kommandeur SS-Flak-Abteilung
"Totenkopf"), while second from the right is likely SS-Hauptsturmführer
Anton "Toni" Laackmann (Kommandeur SS-Panzerjäger Abteilung 3
"Totenkopf"). Other pictures from this visit can be seen HERE.
The visit of Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler (Chef der SS und Deutschen Polizei) to the headquarters of the SS-Panzergrenadier-Division "Totenkopf" near Kharkov, Ukraine, 24 April 1943. From left to right: SS-Oberführer Hermann Prieß (Kommandeur SS-Panzergrenadier-Division "Totenkopf"), Himmler, and SS-Obersturmbannführer Otto Baum (Kommandeur SS-Panzergrenadier-Regiment "Totenkopf").
The visit of Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler (Chef der SS und Deutschen Polizei) to the headquarters of the SS-Panzergrenadier-Division "Totenkopf" near Kharkov, Ukraine, 24 April 1943. From left to right: SS-Obersturmbannführer Otto Baum (Kommandeur SS-Panzergrenadier-Regiment "Totenkopf"), SS-Hauptsturmführer Josef Kiermaier (persönlicher leibwächter bei Heinrich Himmler), and Himmler.
SS-Obersturmbannführer Otto Baum.
SS-Standartenführer Otto Baum.
SS-Oberführer Otto Baum in Italy.
Mugshot of Otto Baum.
Source:
https://www.lexikon-der-wehrmacht.de/
https://en.wikipedia.org/
https://www.tracesofwar.com/
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otto_Baum_(SS-Mitglied)
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.wehrmacht-awards.com/forums/
https://www.bundesarchiv.de/en/
https://www.geni.com/
https://books.google.com/
Additional: https://www.ritterkreuztraeger.info/ and related Ritterkreuzträger documentation.
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