ϟϟ-Sturmbannführer der Waffen-SS Schreiber

Helmuth Schreiber as SS-Hauptsturmführer

Original SS-Regiment Deutschland Officer's Cuff Title

Helmuth Schreiber (March 25 1917 – December 6 2008) volunteered for the SS-VT at age 21. He was assigned to SS-Standarte Deutschland, where he underwent tough physical and military training. Following his training at SS-Junkerschule Bad Tölz and additional specialized training in Wien in Austria, he was assigned back to his former division, SS-Division Reich, as a platoon leader in SS-Infanterie-Regiment Deutschland. Schreiber distinguished himself in the fighting on the Eastern Front. The young officer learned all facets of the infantry war: Conducting assaults while covered by friendly mortar fire; fighting in trenches for enemy positions; combat patrols with attached flamethrower teams or snipers; house-to-house fighting in nameless villages; to name just a few aspects. Schreiber's company often experienced several days of intense fighting without a break. It demonstrated itself to be a tough unit. The regiment experienced great success in the fighting to retake Kharkov at the beginning of 1943. When SS-Obersturmführer Schreiber and his company of daredevils were victorious against a numerically superior Soviet combat formation, he personally received the German Cross in Gold from SS-Obersturmbannführer Heinz Harmel's hand. Schreiber was promoted to SS-Hauptsturmführer on June 21 1943. On July 8 1943, during the Battle of Kursk, the Soviets attacked the positions of SS-Hauptsturmführer Schreiber's battalion, supported by strong tank forces. In the sector of Regiment Deutschland, 83 enemy tanks were destroyed. Shortly after 16:00 hours the enemy broke through the open left flank. Schreiber immediately recognized the danger threatening the battalion. He mustered together a platoon of his company and conduted a textbook assault into the flank of the enemy. After a bitterly hard battle the enemy was thrown out of his positions. Taking advantage of the initial success, Schreiber began a further attack on his own initiative and advanced  through no-man's-land. In a sweeping attack the enemy positions were overrun and captured. Schreiber's actions closed the enemy's essential escape route. For those actions, he was awarded the covered Knight's Cross on July 30 1943. On April 1944, Schreiber was promoted to SS-Sturmbannführer and given command of III./SS-Panzergrenadier-Regiment Deutschland. After an urgently needed reconstitution in France, the experience and combat power of 2.SS-Panzer.Division Das Reich were brought to bear on the Invasion Front in May 1944. But against the material superiority of the British and the Americans, even the battle-scarred Waffen-SS veterans were powerless. Despite it all, however, Schreiber had some success during the defensive fighting at Caen and Falaise. SS-Sturmbannführer Helmuth Schreiber and the equally highly decorated SS-Brigadeführer Sylvester Stadler surrendered to the Americans in Austria on May 4 1945. Before the proud SS veteran took this final difficult step, he had the presence of mind to save his awards from the greedy hands of the victors. The Knight's Cross and the Close Combat Clasp in Gold lasted through the months of captivity in the hollow wooden leg of an officer comrade. As a result, the deserving warrior had those awards until his last day of life. Schreiber was one of only 98 German soldiers that received both the Knight's Cross and the Close Combat Clasp in Gold. Source: Florian Berger: The Face of Courage. Top image: Helmuth Schreiber, here as SS-Hauptsturmführer, in a formal sitting. This is the photograph he used to satisfy autograph requests. Credit: Pink. Fair use.