Erich Zepper

Erich Zepper

Erich Zepper
Born 27 November 1915 (1915-11-27)
Sebnitz, Germany
Died 28 July 2005 (2005-07-29) (aged 89)
Beilstein
Allegiance  Nazi Germany
Service/branch Waffen SS
Years of service 1937–1945
Rank Untersturmführer
Unit
Battles/wars World War II
Awards

Erich Zepper (27 November 1915 – 28 July 2005) was a Untersturmführer (2nd Lieutenant) in the Waffen SS during World War II who was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross, which was awarded to recognize extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership by Nazi Germany during World War II.

Early life

Erich Zepper was born on 27 November 1915 in Sebnitz. He joined the Reichswehr, then the Labour Service (Arbeitsdienst) and in 1937, he volunteered to join the SS-VT. He took part in the Anschluss of Austria and the annexation of the Sudetenland in 1938.

World War II

Zepper was posted to the newly formed SS Division Wiking and sent to the Eastern Front for Operation Barbarossa, the invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941. He was awarded the Iron Cross (2nd class) in August and the Iron Cross (1st class) in December 1941.

Zepper was awarded the Knight's Cross in December 1943, for his actions in the Dnieper sector in October 1943. Zepper was later promoted to untersturmführer. He was captured in October 1944 by the British during fighting on the Western Front.

Post war

Zepper remained a prisoner of war in British captivity until his release in 1948. He died on 28 July 2005, in Beilstein.

References

    Further reading

    • Fellgiebel, Walther-Peer (2000) [1986]. Die Träger des Ritterkreuzes des Eisernen Kreuzes 1939–1945 — Die Inhaber der höchsten Auszeichnung des Zweiten Weltkrieges aller Wehrmachtteile [The Bearers of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross 1939–1945 — The Owners of the Highest Award of the Second World War of all Wehrmacht Branches] (in German). Friedberg, Germany: Podzun-Pallas. ISBN 978-3-7909-0284-6. 
    • Mitcham, Samuel W (2007). Retreat to the Reich : the German defeat in France, 1944. Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole Books. ISBN 978-0-8117-3384-7. 
    • Mitcham, Samuel W (2007). The German Defeat in the East, 1944–45. Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole Books. ISBN 978-0-8117-3371-7. 
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