Kaempfe, Rudolf

Kaempfe, Rudolf, born 10-04-1883 in Moscow, joined the Army Service as a Fahnenjunker in the 3^rd Field Artillery Regiment and in the fields of the first war. He ended the war as a Hauptmann in the Staff of the 195^th Infantry Regiment. At the beginning of World War II, he, as a Generalleutnant on 01-01-1938 already, was commander of the 31^st Infantry Division  to 01-05-1945, later commander was General der Infanterie, Friedrich Hossbach.

In May 1945 the 31^st Division surrendered to Russian troops on the Hel Peninsula , a 35-km-long sand bar peninsula in Northern Poland that separates the Bay of Puck from the Baltic Sea. Generalleutnant der Infanterie, Wilhelm-Francis “Willifrank” Ochsner  the last commander, was captured by Soviet troops on 06-06-1944 during Operation Bagration. In 1947 he was sentenced to 25 years imprisonment for war crimes committed against the Soviet Union. He was released in 1955. Ochsner died old age 91 on 05-12-1990 in Marquartstein. Kaempfe was commander of Higher Command of the XXXV Army Corps until 30-09-1942, and promoted to General of the Infantry. Placed to the disposal of the OKW  to 21-07-1944, arrested by the Gestapo, suspected member of the July 20^th plot, and on 09-05-1945 in Soviet captivity.

Death and burial ground of Kaempfe, Rudolf.

Released on 30-09-1949, Kaempfe retired in Stuttgart where he at the age of 79 died, on 23-12-1962. He is buried on the Hauptfriedhof of Stuttgart, his gravestone is alas removed.