Viktor Linnarz

Viktor Leopold Linnarz
Born	19 August 1894 Alfeld, Lower Saxony
Died	14 October 1979 (1979-10-15) (aged 85) Weiden in der Oberpfalz, Bavaria
Allegiance	German Empire (to 1918)  Weimar Republic (to 1933)  Nazi Germany
Service/branch	Heer
Years of service	1914–45
Rank	Generalleutnant
Commands held	26. Panzer-Division
Battles/wars	World War I World War II *Operation Barbarossa *Spring 1945 offensive in Italy
Awards	German Cross in Silver

Generalleutnant Viktor Leopold Linnarz (19 August 1894 – 14 October 1979) was a German army officer who served in the Deutsches Heer in World War I and the Wehrmacht during World War II.

He joined the Imperial German Army in August 1914 and was awarded the Iron Cross during his service in World War I. At the outbreak of World War II in September 1939 he was an Oberstleutnant. He was promoted to Oberst (Colonel) in 1940 and served as a Brigade commander in the 3rd Panzer Division from 27 June 1941 to August 1941. In 1942 he was appointed the Deputy Chief of the Army Personnel Office (HPA) at the Heer (Army) High Command (OKH).^[1] On 1 January 1943 he was promoted to Generalmajor (Major General) and on 1 April 1944 to Generalleutnant (Lieutenant General). On 21 July 1944 he arrived at the country home of Generalfeldmarschall Erwin von Witzleben, having been ordered to arrest him following his involvement in the 20 July plot coup attempt.

Linnarz was the Commander of the 26th Panzer-Division in Italy from 1 March 1945 until 8 May 1945.^[2][3] He surrendered his division to the British and was then taken into captivity and held in the prisoner-of-war camp at Ghedi, Italy where he made a posthumous award of a Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross to a major in a Panzergrenadier-Regiment without authority.^[1] Linnarz was interrogated about his wartime role and recollections on 25 February 1948. He died aged 85 in 1979 in Weiden in der Oberpfalz.^[4][5][6]

Awards

• Iron Cross (1914)
• Clasp to the Iron Cross (1939)
• German Cross in Silver (15 January 1945)

References