“This military biography is dedicated to a soldier who fought with valor for his country and to the memory of over three million Soviet and German soldiers who fought and died in or survived the Battle of Rzhev, only to be forgotten by history.”
Theo’s Story:
Theodor Georg Flück enlisted as an infantryman in the German Army and was mobilized on August 29th 1939 and assigned to 2nd Company, 352nd Infantry Replacement Battalion, 246th Infantry Replacement Regiment, 182nd Division in Worms; part of Military District XII. On November 12th 1939 the battalion was moved to Jarotschin, Poland as an occupational force. In March 1940 Theo was put on transfer orders to 3rd Company, 3rd Infantry Battalion, 352nd Infantry Regiment, 246th Infantry Division in Germany.
After the beginning of the Second World War the 246th Infantry Division was moved to Saar Front to protect the border with France between the towns of Karlsruhe and Brühl. After no engagements for a few weeks the unit was moved up to the Rhine. On April 1st Soldat Theodor Flück reported to his unit and first saw combat against the French till May 9th 1940 in numerous border battles between the Mosel and Rhine rivers in fixed positions in defense of the West German border.
On May 10th to June 15th he was fighting to clear the area of enemy soldiers who were positioned around the Maginot Line between the Mosel and the Rhine rivers. After clearing the area of enemy soldiers on June 18th, he and his unit was about 1,000 to 1,500 m in front of the Maginot Line. On June 19th his unit was ordered to take the Maginot Line but was pushed back. On June 20th after artillery strikes and airstrikes on the French fortresses his unit attacked and broke the Maginot Line. Theo was in heavy combat till the 24th of June clearing the Maginot Line of French soldiers. After clearing the Maginot Line his unit was put on occupation duty. On July 30th he was transferred to 2nd Company then put on leave and was promoted to the rank of Gefreiter on November 1st, 1940.
After returning from leave on March 9th, 1941 his unit was reunited to work on securing the coastal defense in Northwest France and to be an occupation force until order a came on December 31st to be transported to the Eastern Front with the goal of taking Moscow, the capital of the Soviet Union.
The Wehrmacht, by the winter of 1941 was slowly beginning to realize their Blitzkrieg against the Soviet Union was not going to be another Poland. Indeed, after advancing practically unopposed to the outskirts of Moscow, the “exhausted” enemy as they were told, waited until the Germans began digging in for winter before throwing at them Army after Army gathered from as far east as Siberia.
Records show a dramatic increase in the awarding of the Iron Crosses and other awards during this time. Whether it was desperate men without winter clothing determined to not be thrown out of their shelter or their training that helped him beat off attack after attack, the Iron Cross legend was really defined during this time, most recipients of the Iron Cross was ordinary enlisted men who were given this huge task of holding back the unstoppable juggernaut.
Words like the above might seem like romantic nonsense if not for examples of surviving battle records from the period.
By February of 1942, the 352nd Infantry Regiment, 246th Infantry Division, as part of the 9th Army was occupying the central sector of the Eastern Front where it held back large parts of the Russian Army at the town of Belyi, the western flank of the Rzhev Salient which was the northern most point in Army Group Center’s advance on Moscow. The Rzhev Salient was formed when Army Group Center failed to take Moscow during Operation Typhoon and was pushed back during the Soviet Winter Offensive of 1941-42 in early to mid-January of 1942. Around Rzhev a strong defensive line was made and the area was established as a platform for a future offensive that could capture Moscow. The 9th Army fought there for the entire year defiantly holding the line against close to three million Soviet soldiers, which the casualties were so high for the Russians with 1.3 million Soviet soldiers killed, the Rzhev Salient was known as “The Rzhev Meat-Grinder.”
With Rzhev only being a 130 miles from Moscow, Stalin and General Zhukov decided to dedicate the Kalinin Front and Western Front which included the 22nd, 29th, 30th, 31st, 39th of the former, and the 1st Shock, 5th, 10th, 16th, 20th, 33rd, 43rd, 49th, and 50th armies to eliminate this threat to the capital. The Rzhev-Vyazma Strategic Offensive Operation was launched on January 8th, 1942 with the plan on encircling Army Group Center by cutting off the Smolesk-Viaz’ma Highway. The winter fighting was brutal with the 9th Army getting attacked in three directions by the Soviet armies and partisans with stranded Red Army soldiers in the rear. Theo’s unit the 246th Infantry Division surrounded at Belyi in its own salient fought viciously holding the line against the Soviet 39th Army and the 11th Calvary Corp. During the The Rzhev-Vyazma Strategic Offensive Operation the Soviet 29th Army was encircled and destroyed by the 9th Army. On April 1st, Theodor was promoted to the rank of Obergefreiter. Without the 29th Army and the 39th Army exhausted outside of Belyi the Rzhev-Viaz’ma Strategic Offensive Operation ended on April 20th as a failure.
On the second of July the 9th Army launched Operation Seydlitz to destroy the Soviet 29th Army, 11th Calvary Corp and parts of the 41st and 22nd Armies located between Rzhev and Belyi. Theo and his unit, the 352nd Infantry Regiment participated in the offensive operation. The 246th Infantry Division moved north from Belyi to first block the natural breakout route through the Obsha valley while fighting against an attempted breakthrough and counter attacks. After exhausting the enemy the 246th Infantry Division with the 2nd Panzer Division then split the Soviet forces into two isolated pockets. The harsh combat environment consisted mainly of wood with thick undergrowth, numerous marshy areas with small narrow streams. Operation Seydlitz was a success and meant the destruction of more than 60,000 Soviet troops and shaped the Rzhev Salient into the Rzhev Bulge. However, due to the high amount of causalities of the 3rd Battalion (Theo’s battalion) it was disbanded and the 352nd Infantry Regiment was renamed to the 352nd Grenadier Regiment; Theo was transferred to the 2nd Battalion on July 16th.
After Operation Seydlitz the Rzhev Salient turned into a series of bombardments and a series of raids for the next couple of weeks. On July 30th the Soviet Western Front launched the First Rzhev-Sychevka Offensive which was an assault on Rzhev and the Volga River Areas to cut the Rzhev rail line, the Russians were able to push back the front a few miles and reach the outskirts of Rzhev itself. General Model the commander of the 9th Army requested three more divisions to fight off the assault and got them. The 9th Army was able to fight off the assault into a standstill on August 23rd. Upon hearing this Stalin had General Zhukov transferred to defend Stalingrad and replaced by General Konev. General Konev’s strategy was to no longer target the railway but to take Rzhev itself and the highways. He launched an attack in September but it was not effective and abandoned his offensive in October.
From October to late November the Rzhev Salient turned “quiet” again with only skirmishes. During the quiet period Theodor was awarded Eastern Campaign Medal on November 20th, 1942. However, the Russians were readying for Operations Uranus and Mars, which were to be launched simultaneously. Operation Uranus was planned to encircle the German 6th Army, 3rd and 4th Romanian armies along with portions of the German 4th Panzer Army at Stalingrad. Operation Uranus was launched on November 19th and was a decisive Soviet victory on the 23rd. General Zhukov came back to Moscow to command a much larger force then one at Stalingrad equaling 1,890,000 men with 24,692 guns and mortars, 3,375 tanks, and 1,170 aircraft for Operation Mars with the goal to encircle, divide and destroy the Rzhev Salient.
West of Belyi at 0900 on November 25th Operation Mars began with sounds of Katiushas in the air then explosions. After the barge Theo’s unit, the 352nd Grenadier Regiment went under a heavy assault from the snow covered swamps and was forced to retreat to the Vishenka valley, south of Belyi. The German XXXXI Panzer Corps intelligence report that evening recognized the gravity of the situation, accurately noting:
“The Red Army is south of Belyi between Wypozowa and Demischi. It has broken through in the sector of the 352nd Grenadier Regiment and, indeed, at the junction with the 2nd Luftwaffe Field Division along a front 15-20 kilometers wide and to a depth of 30—40 kilometers, reaching almost to the Smolensk-Moscow and Jarzewo-Wladimirskoje road. The first assault wave consisted of 22 Red infantry battalions, supported by up to 100 T-34 tanks. About 24 infantry battalions followed, supported by another 200 tanks to enlarge the breakthrough to the east to tie up German forces north of the autobahn.”
The shaken remnants of the 352nd Grenadier Regiment clung desperately against overwhelming odds. The 246th Infantry Division dispatched all its remaining reserves to reinforce the 352nd Grenadier Regiment but few were available since the entire front around Belyi was under Russian assault. The 352nd Grenadier Regiment was able to hold the line.
On the morning of the 26th, 2nd Battalion of the 352nd Grenadier Regiment was tasked out to defend along the Vena River and setup defensive positions at Mar’ino. On the afternoon of the 27th Theo’s battalion came into contact with the Soviet 219th Tank Brigade and a regiment of the 150th Rifle Division. They gave the Soviets heavy resistance but were pushed back that night to Ananino in constant fighting against armor and infantry. On the 28th in a heavy snow storm the Soviet 91st Rifle Brigade and 47th Mechanized Brigade struck the 352nd Grenadier Regiment’s new defenses with spearheaded by the brigade’s tank regiment. Due to low visibility of less than 20 meters the fighting was chaotic with many instances of hand to hand combat as the 352nd fought against overwhelming odds. The 352nd fell back with the frontline only being 2-3 kilometers south of Belyi.
The 246th Infantry Division was tasked to defend Belyi at all costs by General Model because if Belyi was lost so would be the 9th Army. The 352nd was in defensive positions until December 3rd when they were ordered to counter attack the Russians east of Belyi to prevent encirclement since the Russians cut off their supply and communication lines but the attack was not successful. They attacked again with the 1st Panzer Regiment on December 6th and were successful. On Decembers 7th the 19th Panzer and 20th Panzer Divisions counter attacked the Russian forces from the south while the 246th Infantry Division held Belyi resulting in the encirclement of 40,000 Soviet soldiers of the 41st Army. A week later the 41st Army retreated. On December 16th the 41st Army lost a total of 28,100 men and 220 tanks south of Belyi. Operation Mars was a failure, the 9th Army stood its ground and inflicted heavy casualties upon the enemy; this would not be another Stalingrad. Operation Mars cost the Red Army nearly half a million men killed, wounded, or captured.
However, with the Soviet military failure the aftermath of Operation Mars caused Army Group Center to rethink the strategy of holding a salient for a future thrust towards Moscow and due to the heavy casualties the 9th Army was severely weakened. In January-February 1943 fighting continued around the perimeter of the Rzhev without any significant success for the Red Army. On January 1st, 1943, Theo was promoted to the rank of Unteroffizier for previously being positioned as an infantry squad leader. Also for several days of infantry combat while defending Belyi he was awarded the Infantry Combat Badge in Silver on February 4th, 1943. Unteroffizier Theodor Flück was decorated with the Iron Cross 2nd Class on March 2nd, 1943 for defending Belyi with valor.
The 246th Infantry Division was in defensive positions around Belyi until March 7th, 1943 with the initiation of Operation Büffel Bewegung (Buffalo Movement), a series of local withdrawals conducted by the Germans to prevent encirclement such as the one at Stalingrad and provide a strategic reserve to stabilize the front outside at Dukhovshchina. General Grossman stated that “The German soldiers left position near Rzhev undefeated!” However, with abandoning the Rzhev Salient it effectively meant that Germany would abandon any future offensive against Moscow. Before the withdrawal the 9th Army launched a massive anti-partisan operation and was ordered to execute all partisans, in addition confiscating all food supplies, poison all the wells, burn down all buildings in sight and put down land mines to their rear. Because of General Model’s scorched earth policy he was declared a war criminal by the USSR. However, during the withdrawal the Soviet Union launched The Rzhev-Viaz’ma Offensive Operation on March 2nd with the goal of destroying the “withered down” 9th Army. During this operation the withdrawing German soldiers were in heavy combat. The 246th Infantry Division was in heavy combat against the Soviet 41st and 22nd Armies from March 6th to the 10th when Belyi was “liberated.” The Rzhev-Viaz’ma Offensive Operation was a failure because it became more of a pursuit than an actual offensive due to General Model’s scorched earth policy and the meticulous planning of Operation Büffel Bewegung.
At the end of Operation Büffel Bewegung the 246th Infantry Division reached Dukhovshchina on March 21st. While in combat at Dukhovshchina Theo was wounded on April 20th, 1943 by an infantry bullet through the right thigh and another in the left upper arm. Because of the seriousness of his wounds he was put on transfer orders to the Grenadier Replacement and Training Battalion 352nd in Luxemburg to recover the following day. As a result, he was awarded the Black Wound Badge on May 24th, 1943. After convalescing Theo was transferred to Heeres Entlassungsstelle 1/XII on August, 31st 1944 to be reviewed for possible discharge from the Wehrmacht. He was discharged on October 16th, 1944 due to severe nerve damage from his wounds. He survived the war.
Date of Birth/Place:
4th December 1919 in Niederselters, Limburg/L. Wiesbaden
Wehr Number:
Limburg (Lahn) 19 / 28 / 4 / 3
Dog Tag Number:
2./ I. Ers. Btl. 352 #89
Date Registered:
24th July 1939
Units:
29.8.39 - 30.3.40 - 2./ Infanterie-Ersatz-Bataillon 352
1.4.40 - 27.5.40 - 3./ Infanterie-Regiment 352
30.7.40 - 15.7.42 - 3./ Infanterie-Regiment 352
16.7.42 - 20.4.43 - 2./ Grenadier -Regiment 352
21.4.43 – 30.8.44 - Grenadier-Ersatz- und Ausbildungs-Bataillon 352
31.8.44 – 16.10.44 - Heeres Entlassungsstelle 1/XII
16.10.44 - Discharged from the Wehrmacht
Weapons trained on:
K98, MG 34, P.08
Special Training:
Messenger for Company HQ
Awards:
Eastern Campaign Medal 20.11.42, Infantry Assault Badge 4.2.43, Iron Cross 2nd Class 2.3.43, and Black Wound Badge 24.5.43.
Hospitalizations/Wounds:
20.4.43 – Infantry bullet through the right thigh and left upper arm.
Promotions:
1.11.40 - Gefreiter.
1.4.42 - Obergefreiter.
1.1.43 - Unteroffizier.
Theo’s Story:
Theodor Georg Flück enlisted as an infantryman in the German Army and was mobilized on August 29th 1939 and assigned to 2nd Company, 352nd Infantry Replacement Battalion, 246th Infantry Replacement Regiment, 182nd Division in Worms; part of Military District XII. On November 12th 1939 the battalion was moved to Jarotschin, Poland as an occupational force. In March 1940 Theo was put on transfer orders to 3rd Company, 3rd Infantry Battalion, 352nd Infantry Regiment, 246th Infantry Division in Germany.
After the beginning of the Second World War the 246th Infantry Division was moved to Saar Front to protect the border with France between the towns of Karlsruhe and Brühl. After no engagements for a few weeks the unit was moved up to the Rhine. On April 1st Soldat Theodor Flück reported to his unit and first saw combat against the French till May 9th 1940 in numerous border battles between the Mosel and Rhine rivers in fixed positions in defense of the West German border.
On May 10th to June 15th he was fighting to clear the area of enemy soldiers who were positioned around the Maginot Line between the Mosel and the Rhine rivers. After clearing the area of enemy soldiers on June 18th, he and his unit was about 1,000 to 1,500 m in front of the Maginot Line. On June 19th his unit was ordered to take the Maginot Line but was pushed back. On June 20th after artillery strikes and airstrikes on the French fortresses his unit attacked and broke the Maginot Line. Theo was in heavy combat till the 24th of June clearing the Maginot Line of French soldiers. After clearing the Maginot Line his unit was put on occupation duty. On July 30th he was transferred to 2nd Company then put on leave and was promoted to the rank of Gefreiter on November 1st, 1940.
After returning from leave on March 9th, 1941 his unit was reunited to work on securing the coastal defense in Northwest France and to be an occupation force until order a came on December 31st to be transported to the Eastern Front with the goal of taking Moscow, the capital of the Soviet Union.
The Wehrmacht, by the winter of 1941 was slowly beginning to realize their Blitzkrieg against the Soviet Union was not going to be another Poland. Indeed, after advancing practically unopposed to the outskirts of Moscow, the “exhausted” enemy as they were told, waited until the Germans began digging in for winter before throwing at them Army after Army gathered from as far east as Siberia.
Records show a dramatic increase in the awarding of the Iron Crosses and other awards during this time. Whether it was desperate men without winter clothing determined to not be thrown out of their shelter or their training that helped him beat off attack after attack, the Iron Cross legend was really defined during this time, most recipients of the Iron Cross was ordinary enlisted men who were given this huge task of holding back the unstoppable juggernaut.
Words like the above might seem like romantic nonsense if not for examples of surviving battle records from the period.
By February of 1942, the 352nd Infantry Regiment, 246th Infantry Division, as part of the 9th Army was occupying the central sector of the Eastern Front where it held back large parts of the Russian Army at the town of Belyi, the western flank of the Rzhev Salient which was the northern most point in Army Group Center’s advance on Moscow. The Rzhev Salient was formed when Army Group Center failed to take Moscow during Operation Typhoon and was pushed back during the Soviet Winter Offensive of 1941-42 in early to mid-January of 1942. Around Rzhev a strong defensive line was made and the area was established as a platform for a future offensive that could capture Moscow. The 9th Army fought there for the entire year defiantly holding the line against close to three million Soviet soldiers, which the casualties were so high for the Russians with 1.3 million Soviet soldiers killed, the Rzhev Salient was known as “The Rzhev Meat-Grinder.”
With Rzhev only being a 130 miles from Moscow, Stalin and General Zhukov decided to dedicate the Kalinin Front and Western Front which included the 22nd, 29th, 30th, 31st, 39th of the former, and the 1st Shock, 5th, 10th, 16th, 20th, 33rd, 43rd, 49th, and 50th armies to eliminate this threat to the capital. The Rzhev-Vyazma Strategic Offensive Operation was launched on January 8th, 1942 with the plan on encircling Army Group Center by cutting off the Smolesk-Viaz’ma Highway. The winter fighting was brutal with the 9th Army getting attacked in three directions by the Soviet armies and partisans with stranded Red Army soldiers in the rear. Theo’s unit the 246th Infantry Division surrounded at Belyi in its own salient fought viciously holding the line against the Soviet 39th Army and the 11th Calvary Corp. During the The Rzhev-Vyazma Strategic Offensive Operation the Soviet 29th Army was encircled and destroyed by the 9th Army. On April 1st, Theodor was promoted to the rank of Obergefreiter. Without the 29th Army and the 39th Army exhausted outside of Belyi the Rzhev-Viaz’ma Strategic Offensive Operation ended on April 20th as a failure.
On the second of July the 9th Army launched Operation Seydlitz to destroy the Soviet 29th Army, 11th Calvary Corp and parts of the 41st and 22nd Armies located between Rzhev and Belyi. Theo and his unit, the 352nd Infantry Regiment participated in the offensive operation. The 246th Infantry Division moved north from Belyi to first block the natural breakout route through the Obsha valley while fighting against an attempted breakthrough and counter attacks. After exhausting the enemy the 246th Infantry Division with the 2nd Panzer Division then split the Soviet forces into two isolated pockets. The harsh combat environment consisted mainly of wood with thick undergrowth, numerous marshy areas with small narrow streams. Operation Seydlitz was a success and meant the destruction of more than 60,000 Soviet troops and shaped the Rzhev Salient into the Rzhev Bulge. However, due to the high amount of causalities of the 3rd Battalion (Theo’s battalion) it was disbanded and the 352nd Infantry Regiment was renamed to the 352nd Grenadier Regiment; Theo was transferred to the 2nd Battalion on July 16th.
After Operation Seydlitz the Rzhev Salient turned into a series of bombardments and a series of raids for the next couple of weeks. On July 30th the Soviet Western Front launched the First Rzhev-Sychevka Offensive which was an assault on Rzhev and the Volga River Areas to cut the Rzhev rail line, the Russians were able to push back the front a few miles and reach the outskirts of Rzhev itself. General Model the commander of the 9th Army requested three more divisions to fight off the assault and got them. The 9th Army was able to fight off the assault into a standstill on August 23rd. Upon hearing this Stalin had General Zhukov transferred to defend Stalingrad and replaced by General Konev. General Konev’s strategy was to no longer target the railway but to take Rzhev itself and the highways. He launched an attack in September but it was not effective and abandoned his offensive in October.
From October to late November the Rzhev Salient turned “quiet” again with only skirmishes. During the quiet period Theodor was awarded Eastern Campaign Medal on November 20th, 1942. However, the Russians were readying for Operations Uranus and Mars, which were to be launched simultaneously. Operation Uranus was planned to encircle the German 6th Army, 3rd and 4th Romanian armies along with portions of the German 4th Panzer Army at Stalingrad. Operation Uranus was launched on November 19th and was a decisive Soviet victory on the 23rd. General Zhukov came back to Moscow to command a much larger force then one at Stalingrad equaling 1,890,000 men with 24,692 guns and mortars, 3,375 tanks, and 1,170 aircraft for Operation Mars with the goal to encircle, divide and destroy the Rzhev Salient.
West of Belyi at 0900 on November 25th Operation Mars began with sounds of Katiushas in the air then explosions. After the barge Theo’s unit, the 352nd Grenadier Regiment went under a heavy assault from the snow covered swamps and was forced to retreat to the Vishenka valley, south of Belyi. The German XXXXI Panzer Corps intelligence report that evening recognized the gravity of the situation, accurately noting:
“The Red Army is south of Belyi between Wypozowa and Demischi. It has broken through in the sector of the 352nd Grenadier Regiment and, indeed, at the junction with the 2nd Luftwaffe Field Division along a front 15-20 kilometers wide and to a depth of 30—40 kilometers, reaching almost to the Smolensk-Moscow and Jarzewo-Wladimirskoje road. The first assault wave consisted of 22 Red infantry battalions, supported by up to 100 T-34 tanks. About 24 infantry battalions followed, supported by another 200 tanks to enlarge the breakthrough to the east to tie up German forces north of the autobahn.”
The shaken remnants of the 352nd Grenadier Regiment clung desperately against overwhelming odds. The 246th Infantry Division dispatched all its remaining reserves to reinforce the 352nd Grenadier Regiment but few were available since the entire front around Belyi was under Russian assault. The 352nd Grenadier Regiment was able to hold the line.
On the morning of the 26th, 2nd Battalion of the 352nd Grenadier Regiment was tasked out to defend along the Vena River and setup defensive positions at Mar’ino. On the afternoon of the 27th Theo’s battalion came into contact with the Soviet 219th Tank Brigade and a regiment of the 150th Rifle Division. They gave the Soviets heavy resistance but were pushed back that night to Ananino in constant fighting against armor and infantry. On the 28th in a heavy snow storm the Soviet 91st Rifle Brigade and 47th Mechanized Brigade struck the 352nd Grenadier Regiment’s new defenses with spearheaded by the brigade’s tank regiment. Due to low visibility of less than 20 meters the fighting was chaotic with many instances of hand to hand combat as the 352nd fought against overwhelming odds. The 352nd fell back with the frontline only being 2-3 kilometers south of Belyi.
The 246th Infantry Division was tasked to defend Belyi at all costs by General Model because if Belyi was lost so would be the 9th Army. The 352nd was in defensive positions until December 3rd when they were ordered to counter attack the Russians east of Belyi to prevent encirclement since the Russians cut off their supply and communication lines but the attack was not successful. They attacked again with the 1st Panzer Regiment on December 6th and were successful. On Decembers 7th the 19th Panzer and 20th Panzer Divisions counter attacked the Russian forces from the south while the 246th Infantry Division held Belyi resulting in the encirclement of 40,000 Soviet soldiers of the 41st Army. A week later the 41st Army retreated. On December 16th the 41st Army lost a total of 28,100 men and 220 tanks south of Belyi. Operation Mars was a failure, the 9th Army stood its ground and inflicted heavy casualties upon the enemy; this would not be another Stalingrad. Operation Mars cost the Red Army nearly half a million men killed, wounded, or captured.
However, with the Soviet military failure the aftermath of Operation Mars caused Army Group Center to rethink the strategy of holding a salient for a future thrust towards Moscow and due to the heavy casualties the 9th Army was severely weakened. In January-February 1943 fighting continued around the perimeter of the Rzhev without any significant success for the Red Army. On January 1st, 1943, Theo was promoted to the rank of Unteroffizier for previously being positioned as an infantry squad leader. Also for several days of infantry combat while defending Belyi he was awarded the Infantry Combat Badge in Silver on February 4th, 1943. Unteroffizier Theodor Flück was decorated with the Iron Cross 2nd Class on March 2nd, 1943 for defending Belyi with valor.
The 246th Infantry Division was in defensive positions around Belyi until March 7th, 1943 with the initiation of Operation Büffel Bewegung (Buffalo Movement), a series of local withdrawals conducted by the Germans to prevent encirclement such as the one at Stalingrad and provide a strategic reserve to stabilize the front outside at Dukhovshchina. General Grossman stated that “The German soldiers left position near Rzhev undefeated!” However, with abandoning the Rzhev Salient it effectively meant that Germany would abandon any future offensive against Moscow. Before the withdrawal the 9th Army launched a massive anti-partisan operation and was ordered to execute all partisans, in addition confiscating all food supplies, poison all the wells, burn down all buildings in sight and put down land mines to their rear. Because of General Model’s scorched earth policy he was declared a war criminal by the USSR. However, during the withdrawal the Soviet Union launched The Rzhev-Viaz’ma Offensive Operation on March 2nd with the goal of destroying the “withered down” 9th Army. During this operation the withdrawing German soldiers were in heavy combat. The 246th Infantry Division was in heavy combat against the Soviet 41st and 22nd Armies from March 6th to the 10th when Belyi was “liberated.” The Rzhev-Viaz’ma Offensive Operation was a failure because it became more of a pursuit than an actual offensive due to General Model’s scorched earth policy and the meticulous planning of Operation Büffel Bewegung.
At the end of Operation Büffel Bewegung the 246th Infantry Division reached Dukhovshchina on March 21st. While in combat at Dukhovshchina Theo was wounded on April 20th, 1943 by an infantry bullet through the right thigh and another in the left upper arm. Because of the seriousness of his wounds he was put on transfer orders to the Grenadier Replacement and Training Battalion 352nd in Luxemburg to recover the following day. As a result, he was awarded the Black Wound Badge on May 24th, 1943. After convalescing Theo was transferred to Heeres Entlassungsstelle 1/XII on August, 31st 1944 to be reviewed for possible discharge from the Wehrmacht. He was discharged on October 16th, 1944 due to severe nerve damage from his wounds. He survived the war.
Date of Birth/Place:
4th December 1919 in Niederselters, Limburg/L. Wiesbaden
Wehr Number:
Limburg (Lahn) 19 / 28 / 4 / 3
Dog Tag Number:
2./ I. Ers. Btl. 352 #89
Date Registered:
24th July 1939
Units:
29.8.39 - 30.3.40 - 2./ Infanterie-Ersatz-Bataillon 352
1.4.40 - 27.5.40 - 3./ Infanterie-Regiment 352
30.7.40 - 15.7.42 - 3./ Infanterie-Regiment 352
16.7.42 - 20.4.43 - 2./ Grenadier -Regiment 352
21.4.43 – 30.8.44 - Grenadier-Ersatz- und Ausbildungs-Bataillon 352
31.8.44 – 16.10.44 - Heeres Entlassungsstelle 1/XII
16.10.44 - Discharged from the Wehrmacht
Weapons trained on:
K98, MG 34, P.08
Special Training:
Messenger for Company HQ
Awards:
Eastern Campaign Medal 20.11.42, Infantry Assault Badge 4.2.43, Iron Cross 2nd Class 2.3.43, and Black Wound Badge 24.5.43.
Hospitalizations/Wounds:
20.4.43 – Infantry bullet through the right thigh and left upper arm.
Promotions:
1.11.40 - Gefreiter.
1.4.42 - Obergefreiter.
1.1.43 - Unteroffizier.
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