The 52. Infanterie-Division was formed on 26 August 1939 in Siegen within Wehrkreis IX as part of the second mobilization wave of the German Heer and initially assigned border security duties along the West Wall in the Saarpfalz and Trier regions before serving as an OKH reserve near Kusel. Under successive commanders beginning with Generalmajor Karl-Adolf Hollidt for a few days in September 1939, followed by Generalleutnant Hans-Jürgen von Arnim until October 1940, Generalleutnant Lothar Rendulic until November 1942 and Generalleutnant Rudolf Peschel until its first dissolution, the division advanced in May 1940 through Luxembourg and Belgium into northern France as part of the 12. Armee, fighting along the Aisne, in Champagne and at Dijon before remaining on occupation duty in France. Transferred eastward in 1941 for Unternehmen Barbarossa, it advanced via Vilnius and Minsk, engaged at Bobruisk and Rogachev, reached the Protva River west of Serpukhov during the drive on Moscow, and later fought defensive battles near Tarussa, Yukhnov, Spass-Demensk and Orel. Severe attrition in the Nevel sector during 1943 reduced it to a Kampfgruppe that was formally dissolved on 1 November 1943, with remaining elements redistributed. The staff was redesignated 52. Feldausbildungs-Division in December 1943 under Generalmajor Albert Newiger and then 52. Sicherungs-Division in April 1944, operating first around Baranavichy before withdrawing into the Courland Pocket; the remnant staff, redesignated Festungskommandantur Libau under Generalleutnant Albrecht Baron Digeon von Monteton, surrendered in May 1945. Its original organization included Infanterie-Regiment 163, Infanterie-Regiment 181, Infanterie-Regiment 205, Artillerie-Regiment 152 and supporting units numbered 152.
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RITTERKREUZTRÄGER
Generaloberst Dr.jur. Lothar Rendulic (1887-1971) was born on 23 October 1887 in Wiener Neustadt into a military family of Croatian origin and pursued studies in law and political science at the universities of Vienna and Lausanne before entering the Theresianische Militärakademie in 1907, from which he was commissioned as an officer in the Austro-Hungarian Army in 1910. He served throughout the First World War on various fronts, suffering wounds, and after the conflict completed his doctorate in law in 1920 while joining the Austrian Bundesheer, rising through staff and instructional roles and becoming an early member of the illegal NSDAP in 1932, which led to his temporary inactivation in 1936. Reactivated after the Anschluss of 1938 as Oberst in the Wehrmacht, he advanced rapidly, commanding the 14. Infanterie-Division in 1940 and then the 52. Infanterie-Division from late 1940, leading it into the Soviet Union. As Generalleutnant and Kommandeur of the 52. Infanterie-Division he received the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 6 March 1942 for directing a successful counterattack beginning on 9 February 1942 against Soviet forces in the Lidijagrund southwest of Juchnow; over ten intense days his division and attached units repelled thirty-three enemy assaults without yielding ground, destroyed the opposing formations, and reopened the vital supply road northeast of Baruski for the 4. Armee. Promoted further, as General der Infanterie and Kommandierender General of the XXXV. Armeekorps he earned the Eichenlaub on 15 August 1943 for outstanding defensive leadership on the eastern edge of the Orel salient following Operation Citadel, where his forces destroyed hundreds of Soviet tanks, including sixty at pontoon bridges and one hundred twenty more on 14 July, while preempting an attack toward Archangelskoje and contributing to a total claim of eight hundred nineteen enemy tanks destroyed by 20 July. Later as Generaloberst and Oberbefehlshaber of the 20. Gebirgs-Armee he was awarded the Schwerter on 18 January 1945 for overseeing the successful withdrawal of his army from Finland during the Lapland War. He subsequently commanded army groups in Courland, the north, and Ostmark before surrendering in May 1945, was convicted in the 1948 Hostages Trial for actions in Yugoslavia yet acquitted regarding Lapland scorched-earth measures, released in 1951, and died on 17 January 1971.
Source :
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/52nd_Infantry_Division_(Wehrmacht)
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