Period:

Second World War (1939-1945)

Awarded on:

April 1st, 1937

Period:

Second World War (1939-1945)

Period:

Second World War (1939-1945)

Awarded on:

October 18th, 1939

Period:

Second World War (1939-1945)

Awarded on:

January 5th, 1940

Period:

Second World War (1939-1945)

Awarded on:

May 22nd, 1942

Period:

Second World War (1939-1945)

Period:

Second World War (1939-1945)

Awarded on:

February 17th, 1943

Period:

Second World War (1939-1945)

Period:

Second World War (1939-1945)

Rank:

Major

Unit:

Führer, SS-Kavallerie-Regiment 16, 8. SS-Kavallerie-Division "Florian Geyer", Waffen-SS

Awarded on:

January 27th, 1945

The following newspaper article (dated 15.02.1945) describes why Schack received the Knight’s Cross…

“The Knight’s Cross for the Defender of Budapest:

The garrison of Budapest has fended off the Bolshevik onslaught for 7 weeks now. Each day every individual soldier of the defending Heer and Waffen-SS has offered up superhuman efforts. Among the most distinguished of these troops has been Major Hans von Schack (born in Gotha), leader of a Kavallerie-Regiment.

Already during the first 5 weeks of the fighting in Budapest he managed to defeat over 100 Soviet attacks in company to battalion strength. During one of these attacks the Bolsheviks managed to penetrated his Regiment’s thinly held line with 2 companies. Major von Schack proceeded to cut off this Bolshevik force in a counterthrust with only 20 men of his own, and after this he struck both cut-off companies in a bold attack. Although the Bolsheviks attacked his handful of troops in the rear in order to relieve their own trapped forces, this latter group was totally smashed. The result was that it was possible for our men to stabilize this fiercely contested point of the defensive line.

The Führer has awarded the Knight’s Cross of the Iron Cross to this brave officer.