Simon Grascher

Simon Grascher
Born	18 December 1920 Klagenfurt, Austria
Died	14 July 1943(1943-07-14) (aged 22) Belgorod, Soviet Union
Allegiance	Nazi Germany
Service/branch	Waffen SS
Years of service	1939–43
Rank	Unterscharführer
Unit	2nd SS Panzer Division Das Reich
Battles/wars	World War II
Awards	Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross Iron Cross 1st Class Iron Cross 2nd Class Eastern Front Medal Tank Destruction Badge

Simon Grascher (18 December 1920 – 14 July 1943) was a Unterscharführer, in the Waffen SS during World War II who was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross. This was awarded to recognize extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership by Nazi Germany during World War II.

Biography

Grascher was born in Klagenfurt (Austria) on the 18 December 1920 in Austrian-Carinthian Slovene family.

He volunteered to join the SS and was posted to the Das Reich, he was promoted to Unterscharführer and made a platoon commander in the 9th Company, SS Panzer Grenadier Regiment Der Führer.

Grascher was awarded the Iron Cross 2nd class for actions in the battles around Moscow and in 1943 he was awarded the Iron Cross 1st class.

Grascher was killed in action near Belgorod. He was awarded the Knight's Cross posthumously in July 1943.

References

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.

Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross recipients of the 2nd SS Panzer Division Das Reich

Stab	Otto Baum¹ (Oak Leaves & Swords) Paul Hausser² (Oak Leaves & Swords) Matthias Kleinheisterkamp³ (Oak Leaves?) Walter Krüger⁴ (Oak Leaves & Swords) Werner Ostendorff (Oak Leaves?) Herbert-Ernst Vahl

Panzer-Kampfgruppe "Das Reich"	Heinz Lammerding

Panzergrenadier-Regiment 3 "Deutschland" SS-Standarte "Deutschland"	Heinrich Bastian? Wilhelm Bittrich⁵ (Oak Leaves & Swords?) Hans Eckert Franz Grohmann Heinz Harmel⁶ (Oak Leaves & Swords) Alfred Koch? Heinz Macher (Oak Leaves) Walter Mattusch? Adolf Rüd Helmuth Schreiber Felix Steiner⁷ (Oak Leaves & Swords) Alois Weber Günther-Eberhardt Wisliceny (Oak Leaves & Swords?) Fritz Witt⁸ (Oak Leaves)

Panzergrenadier-Regiment 4 "Der Führer" SS-Standarte "Der Führer"	Simon Grascher Wilhelm Grieme Hans Hauser? Helmut Kämpfe Vinzenz Kaiser Georg Keppler Ludwig Kepplinger Joachim Krüger Otto Kumm⁹ (Oak Leaves & Swords) Josef Lainer Günther Lange? Alfred Lex Adolf Peichl Herbert Schulze Sylvester Stadler¹⁰ (Oak Leaves & Swords) Otto Weidinger¹¹ (Oak Leaves & Swords?) Heinz Werner (Oak Leaves)

Panzer-Regiment 2 "Das Reich"	Ernst Barkmann Karl-Heinz Boska Rudolf Enseling Franz Frauscher Horst Gresiak Friedrich Holzer Dieter Kesten Karl Kloskowski (Oak Leaves) Fritz Langanke Karl Mühleck Adolf Reeb Albin Freiherr von Reitzenstein Emil Seibold? Willy Simke Johann Thaler Christian Tychsen (Oak Leaves) Johann Veith Karl-Heinz Worthmann

Panzerartillerie-Regiment 2 "Das Reich"	Wolfgang Gast Karl Kreutz (Oak Leaves?) Hans Schabschneider

Sturmgeschütz-Abteilung 2 "Das Reich"	Walter Kniep Wolfgang Röhder

Panzerjäger-Abteilung 2 "Das Reich"	Erich Rossner

Kradschützen-Bataillon "Reich"	Fritz Klingenberg

Aufklärungs-Abteilung SS-Verfügungs-Division	Fritz Vogt¹² (Oak Leaves)

SS-Schützen-Regiment "Langemarck"	Jakob Fick

Panzeraufklärungs-Abteilung 2 "Das Reich"	Ernst Krag (Oak Leaves) Alfred Siegling Otto Weidinger¹¹ (Oak Leaves & Swords?) Hans Weiß

Panzerpionier-Bataillon 2 "Das Reich"	Siegfried Brosow Gebhard? Fritz Rieflin? Heinrich Schmelzer (Oak Leaves)

Flak-Abteilung 2 "Das Reich"	Franz-Joseph Dreike? Fritz Rentrop

¹Knight's Cross and Oak Leaves with SS-Panzergrenadier-Regiment "Totenkopf" (3rd SS Panzer Division Totenkopf). ²Oak Leaves with the II SS Panzer Corps, Swords with the 7th Army. ³Oak Leaves with the XI SS Panzer Corps. ⁴Knight's Cross with the 4th SS Polizei Panzergrenadier Division, Swords with the VI. Waffen-Armeekorps der SS. ⁵Oak Leaves with the II SS Panzer Corps, Swords with the 8th SS Cavalry Division Florian Geyer. ⁶Swords with the 10th SS Panzer Division Frundsberg. ⁷Oak Leaves with the 5th SS Panzer Division Wiking, Swords with the III (Germanic) SS Panzer Corps. ⁸Oak Leaves with SS-Panzergrenadier-Regiment 1 "Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler" (1st SS Panzer Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler). ⁹Oak Leaves with the 7th SS Volunteer Mountain Division Prinz Eugen. ¹⁰Swords with the 9th SS Panzer Division Hohenstaufen. ¹¹ Knight's Cross with SS-Panzer-Aufklärungs-Abteilung 2 "Das Reich", Oak Leaves and Swords with SS-Panzergrenadier-Regiment 4 "Der Führer". ¹²Oak Leaves with SS-Panzergrenadier-Regiment 23 "Norge" (11th SS Volunteer Panzergrenadier Division Nordland). This along with the ? (question mark) indicates doubt regarding the veracity and formal correctness of the listing.

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