The 75. Infanterie-Division was a combat formation of the German Wehrmacht raised on 26 August 1939 during the mobilization of the second wave (2. Welle) in Wehrkreis XVII, drawing recruits primarily from Lower Austria and Vienna. Placed under the leadership of Generalleutnant Ernst Hammer, the division originally comprised Infanterie-Regiment 172, Infanterie-Regiment 202, Infanterie-Regiment 222, Artillerie-Regiment 175, and supporting divisional formations including Pionier-Bataillon 175, Panzerabwehr-Abteilung 175, and Aufklärungs-Abteilung 175. During the invasion of Poland in September 1939, the formation remained deployed in reserve positions along the western border in the Saarland region, safeguarding German frontier lines against prospective Allied counterstrokes before transferring to offensive duties in the 1940 Western Campaign. In France, the division engaged heavily fortified French defensive sectors, participated in breaching operations along the Maginot Line south of Saarbrücken, and pushed rapidly across Nancy into the Vosges until hostilities ceased. Reassigned east to occupied Poland to prepare for Operation Barbarossa in June 1941, the division attacked into the Soviet Union as a component of Heeresgruppe Süd, advancing through Brody, crossing the Dnieper River, and contributing to the major encirclement during the Battle of Kiev. Protracted winter combat along the Belgorod and Kharkov sectors severely depleted divisional strength through early 1942. Command briefly transferred to Generalleutnant Erich Diestel in September 1942 before Generalleutnant Helmuth Beukemann assumed leadership during operations around Voronezh and subsequent defensive actions following Operation Zitadelle near Kursk. In late 1943, following reorganization into Grenadier-Regiment 172, Füsilier-Regiment 202, and Grenadier-Regiment 222, the formation fought in bitter retreats across Ukraine, eventually becoming encircled within the Kamenets-Podolsky pocket under 1. Panzerarmee before successfully executing an armored breakout westward. Surviving intense combat in Galicia and the Carpathian mountain passes under Generalmajor Karl Arning, the weakened division contested the Soviet Upper Silesian Offensive near Mährisch-Ostrau in early 1945. Under Generalmajor Lothar Berger and finally Oberst Gerhard Matthaiss, its remaining combat echelons were overwhelmed, with survivors surrendering to Soviet forces near Prague in May 1945.
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RITTERKREUZTRÄGER
General der Infanterie Johannes Block (1894-1945) was born on 17 November 1894 in Büschdorf near Halle in the Prussian Province of Saxony and entered military service as a Kriegsfreiwilliger in the Mansfelder Feldartillerie-Regiment Nr. 75 of the Preußische Armee shortly after the outbreak of the First World War, later transferring to the infantry where he earned the Eisernes Kreuz II. Klasse on 5 July 1916 and the Eisernes Kreuz I. Klasse on 22 August 1918 along with the Verwundetenabzeichen in Schwarz; after leaving active duty in 1924 he rejoined the Heer in 1934 as Hauptmann, rose to Major in 1936, Oberstleutnant in 1938 and commanded I. Bataillon of Infanterie-Regiment 4 during the Polish campaign, receiving the Spange zum Eisernen Kreuz II. and I. Klasse in September 1939, before assuming command of Infanterie-Regiment 202 of the 75. Infanterie-Division on 14 March 1940, which he led through the Battle of France and into Operation Barbarossa; promoted to Oberst on 1 August 1941, he was awarded the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 22 December 1941 for his decisive leadership in the rapid advance on Ssumy, where his regiment covered 360 kilometres in just twelve days under the worst weather and road conditions and, on his own initiative, launched a surprise attack at 05:00 on 10 October 1941 that seized the city after fierce fighting and captured an intact bridge essential for the continued offensive of the division; on 15 May 1942 he took temporary command of the 294. Infanterie-Division, was promoted to Generalmajor on 1 September 1942 and confirmed as Kommandeur, then to Generalleutnant on 21 January 1943, and for the repeated successes of his Saxon division in the defensive battles between the Don and Donez rivers during the winter of 1942–43 as well as along the Mius in the summer of 1943—actions that also earned the division a mention in the Wehrmachtbericht of 6 February 1943—he received the Eichenlaub zum Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes as the 331st recipient on 22 November 1943; after a period in the Führerreserve and temporary leadership of the VIII. Armeekorps and XIII. Armeekorps in the spring of 1944 he was appointed Kommandierender General of the LVI. Panzerkorps on 15 July 1944, promoted to General der Infanterie on 20 August 1944, and led the corps in the defensive fighting in southern Poland until it was encircled near Kielce during the Soviet Vistula–Oder Offensive, where he was killed in action on 26 January 1945.
Source :
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/75th_Infantry_Division_(Wehrmacht)
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