Schmalz, Wilhelm, born 01-03-1901 in Gut Reussen, near Seitz,
entered the Army on 01-04-1919, age 18, in the III Marine Brigade and then with the Volunteer Division
of Paul Emil von Lettow-Vorbeck








Schmalz was transferred to the Luftwaffe as Commander of Special Purpose Grenadier Brigade of Panzer Division Hermann Goering
until 15-04-1944. Commander of Parachute Panzer Division Hermann Goering until 03-10-1944,as a Generalmajor now. According to a British Government report, the Hermann Goering Division
was involved in several reprisal operations during its time in Italy. One of these occurred in the surrounding area of the village of Civitella in Val di Chiana. On 29-06-1944, 244 citizens of Civitella were massacred by Hermann Goering Division
, in retaliation for the killing of two German soldiers by the hands of partisans. On 10-10-2006, SS Max Josef Milde was convicted by the Italian military court of La Spezia for his role in the Civitella massacre. The Italian Court of Cassation in October 2008 ruled that Germany was to pay one million dollars to 203 victims of the massacre. However, the International Court of Justice later ruled that Italy was required to void the judgment out of respect for Germany’s state immunity. After the end of the World War II he lived in Bremen and worked for the police. On 01-12-2007 there was a rally in front of the court where Milde. Milde died without punishing for his war crimes on the very old age of 93 on 24-04-2016.



Around 800 soldiers from the division took part in fighting during the Warsaw Uprising in the Wola district, where mass executions of civilians occurred in connection with Hitler’s orders to destroy the city. During the battle of Sicily around 12.000 Germans killed or captured,add wounded and the figure is around 20.000. This would work out to be around 4.000 killed, missing, 8.000 wounded, 8.000 captured. With around the equivalent of 4 German divisions involved this would mean losses of 5.000 men per division on average. Italian losses are given as 140.000 (mainly prisoners). Allied losses around 24.000 men. Promoted to Generalleutnant









In early May, units of the corps attempted to break out towards the American forces on the Elbe, but were unsuccessful. The corps surrendered to the Red Army on 08-05-1945. Schmalz landed in US captivity and accused of alleged war crimes by an allied war court in Italy, but lucky for him acquitted of these crimes and released in 1950.
Death and burial ground of Schmalz, Wilhelm.


