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Swierzinski, Lothar (Waffen SS)

Date of birth:
July 18th, 1921 (Gelsenkirchen, Germany)
Date of death:
October 29th, 1944 (Nowy Dwór Mazowiecki, Bug, Poland)
Buried on:
Modlin Fortress Cemetery
Service number:
SS-Nr.: // NSDAP-Nr.:
Nationality:
German

Biography

00.10.1943: SS-Rottenführer, Gruppenführer, 10. Kompanie, SS-Panzergrenadier-Regiment 5 "Thule", 3. SS-Panzer-Division 'Totenkopf' - Kirovohrad - Krivoi
28.10.1944: severely WIA during the Battle of Warsaw and evacuated to a Lazarett in Modlin
29.10.1944: SS-Uscha, DOW in the Lazarett Modlin / Nowy Dwór Mazowiecki, Bug, Poland

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Period:
Second World War (1939-1945)
Awarded on:
August 1942
Medaille
Period:
Second World War (1939-1945)
Awarded on:
1942
Verwundetenabzeichen 1939 in Schwarz
Period:
Second World War (1939-1945)
Awarded on:
1942
(Allgemeines) Sturmabzeichen (ohne zahlen), I.Stufe
Period:
Second World War (1939-1945)
Awarded on:
November 1942
Eisernes Kreuz 2. Klasse
Period:
Second World War (1939-1945)
Awarded on:
November 14th, 1943
Eisernes Kreuz 1. Klasse
Period:
Second World War (1939-1945)
Rank:
SS- Rottenführer (Corporal)
Unit:
Gruppenführer, 10. Kompanie, SS-Panzergrenadier-Regiment 5 "Thule", 3. SS-Panzer-Division 'Totenkopf'
Awarded on:
December 16th, 1943
On 14.11.1943 the Soviets attacked the lines of the 10./SS-Panzergrenadier-Regiment 5 "Thule", and all the officers and NCOs of the company were killed or wounded. In these desperate circumstances Swierzinski took over command of the unit and led these remnants in a desperate fight. Despite the odds they were able to recapture the high ground they had lost. Swierzinski himself was wounded in the fighting but hung on, personally manning a machine gun. The company displayed the same courage the division had shown before at Demjansk, and its survival was significant for many other units apart from its own. Swierzinski was thus awarded the Knight’s Cross.

Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes

Sources

Photos