Austrian Prince Alfred von Habsburg-Hohenberg

[WWIIBuff]

Anbody have any information on Austrian Prince Alfred von Habsburg-Hohenberg? I'm told served as a Heer 1<SUP>st</SUP> Lt. in the 389<SUP>th</SUP> Infantry Division (France, ****omir, Kiev, Charkow, Stalingrad, Chieti, Monte Cassino, Anzio campaigns and more).

Aparrently he had some sort of reputation of using a "hatchet" in hand-to-hand combat.

Thanks
John

[Greni67]

Listen this:

"Alfred von Habsburg-Hohenberg,

Prince Alfred is a direct descendant of Archduke Ferdinand II of Tirol (1529-1595) and Philippine Welser (1527-1580). He was born May 19, 1921, in Silesia, a former province of the Austrian Empire and was educated at the University of Breslau.

After World War II and a distinguished service record (including being wounded six times), Prince Alfred worked with the U.S. Air Force as a consultant at the Palace of Justice, Nuremberg.

Prince Alfred retired and moved to Florida in 1970 and pursued philanthropic interests. He remains active in several environmental organizations such as The World Wildlife Fund, The Sierra Club, The Nature Conservancy, The National Wildlife Federation, etc.

Prince Alfred and his wife, Princess Jean Margaret, are also officers of Habsburg-Hohenberg Historical Research, a non-profit organization, which among other things, promotes workshops, orientations, and travel. They are sponsors of The Friends of Johann Strauss. Prince Alfred is extremely knowledgeable about European history and is considered and expert in heraldry.

These facts were pretty easy to ascertain, but what is not so well known is the history of Prince Alfred's efforts during WWII which forms a better picture of his nature and helps us understand the man.

Though he was a fearless soldier, he was also recognized by the Jewish community as a non Jewish leader in helping Jews escape Nazi Germany.

Here is a translation from the book "Battle of Stalingrad" written in German by Hans Wijers, Brummen, The Netherlands, 2001.

"The Battle of Stalingrad, with emphasis on the factory of Dscherschinski, where the famous T-34 Tank was produced and was defended by the Russians by spe cial order of Stalin; "not one step back."

The 51st Army Corps of the 6th German Army started their attack on the tractor works at 7:30 am on October 14, 1942 and together with the 14th Panzer Division the 389th infantry Division reached the first factory buildings almost in view of the Volga River.

A veteran of the fighting around Stalingrad, 1st Lt. Alfred von Hasburg-Hohenberg, nicknamed 'Winnetou" after an Apache Chieftain who was famous for his skill in fighting with his tomahawk, commanded a small group of combat engineers, all veterans of a number of hand-to-hand combat previously christened at the battle of Kiev and Charkov, as well as a number of river crossings in the Ukraine.

While at the beginning of the attack, the Lt. and his men were properly armed with flame thrower, hand grenade and sticks of dynamite, these items were soon lost when they were rolled over by the Russians and the group had to fight toward the east and the west.

Lt. Habsburg earned his nickname in previous battles when he used the government-issued small axe as the Indians used their Tomahawks. During the winter when the Siberian cold made some of the rifles and guns useless (light oil used by German soldiers easily froze, while the heavy oil used by the Russians withstood the cold), Lt. Habsburg found that the small battle-axe was the best weapon in close combat battles.

There were close combat fights constantly, sometimes the Russians were up on the first floor of the factory and sometimes the Germans were on top of the Russians; underground connections between different buildings were used by both the Germans and Russians to trap the enemies. Both sides had tremendous casualties; no one took prisoners and it was strictly killing or getting killed.

The small group of combat engineers of Lt. Habsburg was reduced to one Sgt. one Corporal and about a dozen men. Everyone showed wounds received in hand-to-hand fighting. The days and nights were bitter cold. Food did not get through.

The Russian artillery kept everyone on his toes as they were bombarding relentlessly. The Russians were very active in the early morning hours (the Vodka the night before made them brave) but their attacks were usually repulsed by Lt. Habsburg's small group.

On November 19th, Lt. Habsburg was wounded for the fifth time and flown out of Stalingrad. He survived the most brutal battle of the century. Although he later participated in battles at Monte Casino and Anzio, none of the battles compared to the viciousness of battle at Stalingrad."
Here is the Military record of Maj. Alfred von Habsburg-Hohenberg


1st Sept. 1939 In Poland with RAD Abt. 6/12.

22nd Feb. 1940 Promoted to 2nd Lt. and transferred to 3rd Company, 298th Combat Engineer Battalion

10th May, 1940 With Guderian s Panzer army into France.

9th. Jun. 1940 Crossing the Aisne River.

10th Jun. 1940 First close combat fighting. Awarded Iron Cross 2nd Class.

11th Jun. 1940 Wound Badge (black).

17th Jun, 1940 End of War in France.

30th Jan. 1941 Promoted to 1st Lt..

22nd Jun. 1941 With 6th German Army into Russia.

14th Jul. 1941 Battle of ****omir.

13th Sept. 1941 Battle of Kiev, wounded (2nd time).

19th Sept. 1941 Awarded Iron Cross 1st Class and Combat Engineer Badge.

25th Oct. 1941 Battle of Charkow.

11th Mar. 1942 Wounded (3rd time).

26th Aug. 1942 Destroyed 3 Russian tanks T-34 s near River Mius;
wounded (4th time).

29th Aug. 1942 Awarded Wounded Badge in Silver. Transferred to 389th Inf. Div. Volga River at Stalingrad.

19th Dec. 1942 Wounded (5th time) and flown out of Stalingrad.

20th Oct. 1943 Promoted to Captain, 26th Panzer Division.

15th Dec. 1943 Wounded near Chieti (6th and last time).

18th Jan. 1944 Re-joined 26th Pz.Div. at Monte Cassino.

2nd Feb. 1944 Battle at Cisterna, Anzio, against 3rd US Inf. Div..

16th Feb. 1944 Awarded the most coveted "Closed-Combat-Badge" in silver.

27th Jul. 1944 Arrested and imprisoned in Dachau for possible link to The Assassination Plot Against Hitler (and for assisting one Jewish
family escape).

17th Aug. 1944 Released from Dachau, cleared of Assassination Plot.

20th Jan. 1945 Promoted to Major, Pz. Div. "Brandenburg".

27th Apr. 1945 Taken Prisoner of war at Neuburg on the Danube

8th May 1945 World War II ended, promoted Lt. Col. while in Prisoner-of-War Camp 6003 in Langres, France.


A more important view of Prince Alfred s integrity was shown when he was honored at the Bradenton Synagogue for his role in helping 200 Jews escape Nazi Germany.



Good Night
Manuel