Holste, Rudolf.

Holste, Rudolf, born 09-04-1897 in Hessisch Oldenforf, Hesse-Nassau, joined the German Army on 15-08-1914. He became a Leutnant in the 62^nd Reserve Field Artillery Regiment on 18-08- 1915. On October 09-10-1917 he was taken in his regiment as an active officer and after the First World War in the Reichsheer. On 01-04-1937, he was promoted as Major Commander of the Horse Artillery Division in the 1st Cavalry Brigade and on 01-03-1939, to Oberstleutnant. From 1 January to 15-05-1943, Holste commanded the 14^th Panzergrenadier Division  in the central sector on the Eastern Front. He was wounded in hospital from 03-07-1915 to 01-03-1916, 8 months. Holste was allowed in the new Reichswehr and was an Oberstleutnant and commander of the 1^st Mounted Artillery Battalion at the beginning of World War II. Holste was promoted to Oberstleutnant on 01-03-1939, Oberst on 01-02-1942, Generalmajor on 01-10-1944, and Generalleutnant on 20-04-1945. The youngest Generalleutnant in WWII, with 36, was

 Theodor Tolsdorff. 

  From 01-01-to 15-05-1943, From 28 February to 29-03-1945, Holste commanded the 4^th Cavalry Division . The division fought in Hungary from February to March with Generalmajor der Infanterie, VI Armee. Kommandeur Korps III Koblenz, Heinz Gaedcke

 . When the division was forced back into Austria, Holste changed commands. From 19 April to 08-05-1945, Holste commanded the XLI Panzer Corps in the area north of Berlin. Josef Goebbels was the Gauleiter of Berlin. On 22-04-1945, Holste became part of a poorly conceived and incredibly desperate plan that Generalfeldmarschall der Artillerie, Wilhelm Keitel  and Generaloberst der Wehrmacht,  Chef der Wehrmacht, Alfred Jodl proposed to German dictator Adolf Hitler (did you know). The plan was proposed to Hitler to mollify him. Hitler was in a rage the previous day after he discovered that forces under SS Obergruppenführer, Kommandeur der SS-Panzer Grenadier Division “Wiking”, Felix Steiner, here with Hitler and Himmler,  would not be coming to his relief in Berlin. The goal of Keitel and Jodl’s plan was for the few remaining German forces in central Germany to attack the Soviet forces encircling Berlin. If successful, the German attacks would relieve the city and throw the Soviets forces back. With few other options, Hitler ordered that the desperate plan be implemented. The plan called for General der Panzertruppe, commander, the German Twelfth Army Walter Wenck’s   Twelfth Army on the Elbe and Mulde fronts to be turned completely around. Wenck’s army was facing the American forces advancing from the West. Wenck was the youngest German General and called the “The Boy General”, he died age 81, in a car accident, on 01-05-1982. The Western Front and the Eastern Front were so close that, by simply turning completely around, Wenck’s army would face the Soviet forces advancing from the East. The Twelfth Army was to attack towards the east and link up just south of Berlin with General der Infanterie, Chef des Generalstabes Heeresgruppe Süd, Theodor Busse’s

   Ninth Army. Then both armies would strike in a northeastern direction towards Potsdam and Berlin. The plan called for the combined armies to mop up the elite Russian troops that they thereby cut off. Wenck’s objective would be the autobahn at Ferch, near Potsdam. Holste also had a part in the plan. He was to attack from the area northwest of Berlin with his XLI Panzer Corps. Holste was an old regimental comrade of Keitel’s and he was thought to be extremely reliable. The XLI Panzer Corps would be brought back across the Elbe. Holste was to counterattack between Spandau and Oranienburg. To give Holste as much punch as possible, Steiner was to turn over to Holste his mechanized divisions, the 25^th Panzer-Grenadiers and the 7^th Panzer. Wenck’s army did make a sudden turn around and, in the general confusion, surprised the Soviets encircling the German capital with an unexpected attack. Wenck’s forces attacked towards Berlin in good morale and made some initial progress. But they were halted outside of Potsdam by strong Soviet resistance. Neither Busse nor Holste made much progress towards Berlin. By the end of the day on 27 April, the Soviet forces encircling Berlin linked up and the forces inside Berlin were completely cut off from the rest of Germany. Late in the evening of 29 April, General der Infanterie, Chief of the Army General Staff (OKH), Hans Krebs  he committed suicide age 47, on 01-05-1945, in Berlin, contacted Jodl by radio from Berlin and made the following demands: “Request immediate report. Firstly of the whereabouts of Wenck’s spearheads. Secondly of time intended to attack. Thirdly of the location of the Ninth Army. Fourthly of the precise place in which the Ninth Army will break through. Fifthly of the whereabouts of Holste’s spearhead” In the early morning of 30 April, Jodl replied to Krebs: “Firstly, Wenck’s spearhead bogged down south of Schwielow Lake. Secondly, Twelfth Army therefore unable to continue attack on Berlin. Thirdly, bulk of Ninth Army surrounded. Fourthly, Holste’s Corps on the defensive. Two days later, on 2 May, the Battle for Berlin came to an end when General der Artillerie, Helmuth Weidling, Weidling  died age 64, on 17-11-1955, in the Russian prison Wladimirowka , unconditionally surrendered the city to the Soviets. Generalfeldmarschall der Gebirgstruppe, Kommandeur der XXXX Panzerkorps, Ferdinand Schörner,

    Generalfeldmarschall der Panzertruppe, Kommandeur Stalingrad 6^th Armee, Friedrich Paulus and General der Panzertruppe, Saved in the Führerbunker till the end, Johannes “Hans” Rattenhuber   were also imprisoned in this prison. This last desperate plan to save Berlin was never fully implemented, never had the manpower or equipment it required, never achieved its objectives, and ultimately came to almost nothing. The link up between Wenck and Busse, the Battle of Halbe, did allow a remnant of Busse’s army and some German civilians to escape to the West. Holste managed to evade capture until 08-08-1945.

Holste was married to Gabriele, born von Schierbrandt (1911-1966), the widow of the officer Ludwig-Heinrich Guiskard Hans Fabian Eugen von Ostau, who died on 08-09-1939 in the Polish campaign (born 09-01-1905 in Dretzel), Oberleutnant the reserve in the reconnaissance department 13.

In 1947, Holste was released and retired in Baden Baden, where he at the age of 78 died, on 04-12-1970. Holste is buried with his wife Gabrielle, born von Ostau, who died age 54 on 24-01-1966, on the Hauptfriedhof of Baden Baden and only steps of the graves General der Infanterie, Kommandeur der XXV Korps, Dietrich von Choltitz, Generalmajor der Flieger, Commander of Directing Office of Catch Command West, Fritz Fitzau,  General der Nachrichtentruppe, Kommandeur Luftsignal Instruction Staff, Friedrich Fähnert, Generalmajor der Infanterie, Kommandeur 172^th Infanterie Division, Woldemar Rieberg and WW II war movies actor, Wolfgang Preiss.

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