Greim, Alfred Bruno Eduard.

Greim, Alfred Bruno Eduard, born 08-08-1902, in Langensalza. After graduating from high school in Rudolstadt, Alfred Greim joined the Reichswehr at Easter 1922. In 1925 he was promoted to Leutnant in the 15th Infantry Regiment, under command of Oberst, later Generalleutnant Rudolf Krantz, in Kassel and later with the 11th Infantry Regiment in Freiburg and Leipzig, most recently with the 13th (IG) company. In 1933 he was transferred to the Infantry Training Regiment in Döberitz. In 1939 he joined the “Gross Deutschland under command of Oberstleutnant, later Generalleutnant Wilhelm-Hunold von Stockhausen . The Gross Deutschland Regiment had 221 casualties, 830 wounded and 57 missing in the French campaign, a quarter of the regiment had dropped out. Von Stockhausen survived the war and died age 73 on 22-05-1964 in Mönchengladbach

The Gross Deutschland Regiment took its winter position in Russia. By 06-01-1942, the regiment had 900 dead, 3,056 wounded, and 114 missing.

By March 1945, the Panzergrenadier Division Grossdeutschland, now under command of Generalmajor Karl Lorenz, had been reduced to around 4,000 men. These escaped by ferry from the collapsing Memel bridgehead. They landed at Pillau and were put straight back into combat. By 25-04-1945, the division ceased to exist, having been completely destroyed in the battles around Pillau. Of the survivors only a few hundred were able to make their way to Schleswig-Holstein and surrendered to British forces. The majority of the men were left behind and were forced to surrender to the Russians where they often faced a death or indefinite amount of time in Soviet labor camps. Generalmajor Lorenz survived the war and died 03-10-1964, aged 60, in Bad Godesberg.

 Karl Lorenz (second from left) wearing an officer cap and an Oberst’s uniform (Panzergrenadier-Division Grossdeutschland, South of Ukraine, January 1944).

During the French campaign, Greim was commander of the 2nd battalion and acquired both levels of the Iron Cross. Greim also led the battalion at the beginning of the Russian campaign and was awarded the German Cross in Gold on 20-10-1941. During the fighting in the winter of 1941/42 in the bridgehead on the Oka near Bedrinzy-Woronez, Greim succeeded several times in throwing back Russian forces that had broken through with his battalion.

Death and burial ground of Greim, Alfred Bruno Eduard.

 For this he was awarded the Knight’s Cross of the Iron Cross on 04-06-1942. In October 1942 Major Greim was transferred to the High Command of the Army. Oberstleutnant Greim died of a sudden onset of typhus in the reserve hospital 101 in Döberitz. He was originally buried in the army cemetery, but now rests in the Heroes’ Cemetery, the war graves section of the Dallgow-Döberitz church cemetery; Final grave location: Row 3, Grave 2. He was posthumously promoted to Oberst in the Panzergrenadier-Division Grossdeutschland. The community commissioned the then cemetery manager Lippold from Finkenkrug to rebury German soldiers from the army site cemetery to the Dallgow community cemetery. Since then, the graves have been managed by the Protestant parish. The army headquarters cemetery was south and southwest of the community cemetery. Today it no longer exists; It was leveled by Soviet forces after 1950 and used for military purposes.”

Alfred Greim is now buried at Dallgow-Döberitz Kirchenfriedhof Dallgow-Döberitz, Landkreis Havelländ, Brandenburg, Germany, Section: Row 3-grave 2..

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