Walter Krüger was a German Waffen-SS general during the Nazi era who rose to the rank of SS-Obergruppenführer und General der Waffen-SS. Born on 27 February 1890 in Straßburg in Alsace-Lorraine within the German Empire, he was the son of a Prussian army colonel and the elder brother of Friedrich-Wilhelm Krüger, who later became another prominent SS general and Ritterkreuzträger. Krüger served with distinction in both world wars, commanding large formations on the Eastern Front in the second conflict and earning the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords for his leadership in critical defensive and offensive operations. He committed suicide on 22 May 1945 in a forest near Sulęcin close to Liepāja in the Courland Pocket, choosing death over capture by advancing Soviet forces just days after the German surrender in Europe.
Krüger entered the Prussian cadet corps in 1900 and attended institutions in Karlsruhe and Berlin-Lichterfelde before being commissioned as a Leutnant in 1908 with the 2nd Badisches Grenadier-Regiment Nr. 110. During World War I he served initially as a battalion adjutant and later as a company and battalion commander on the Western Front, where he was wounded twice and accumulated a series of Imperial German decorations including both classes of the Iron Cross, the Knight's Cross of the Order of the Zähringer Lion, and the Prussian House Order of Hohenzollern with Swords. After the armistice he joined Freikorps units in the Baltic region in 1919, fighting Bolshevik forces in Kurland with formations such as Abteilung Pfeffer and the Westfälisches Freikorps. He briefly returned to the Reichswehr as a machine-gun company commander before leaving active service in 1920 to join the Stahlhelm veterans' organization, where he remained active until the early 1930s.
In December 1933 Krüger entered the Sturmabteilung as a Standartenführer and transferred to the SS-Verfügungstruppe in April 1935 with the rank of SS-Obersturmbannführer, taking command of the second battalion of SS-Standarte Germania. He served as an instructor at the SS-Junkerschule Bad Tölz and held various regimental commands before becoming operations officer of the SS-Polizei-Division in 1939, a role in which he helped prepare the unit for the Western Campaign. His steady rise through the SS ranks reflected both his Imperial Army experience and his early commitment to the National Socialist movement, including joining the NSDAP in 1937. By January 1940 he had reached SS-Oberführer and was positioned for higher field commands as the war expanded eastward.
Krüger assumed command of the SS-Polizei-Division on 10 August 1941 while it was engaged with L. Armeekorps of the 18. Armee on the Leningrad front during Operation Barbarossa. In the dense forests and marshy terrain south of the city, Soviet forces had constructed formidable defensive lines along the Luga River supported by artillery, minefields, and repeated armored counterattacks. Under his direction the division fought through these positions in grueling close-quarters combat, securing the key town of Luga by late July despite heavy losses from sniper fire and determined Red Army resistance. By late August the unit captured Krasnogvardeisk, a vital road and rail junction that facilitated the German encirclement efforts around Leningrad. Krüger's calm coordination of infantry assaults, artillery barrages, and rapid exploitation of breakthroughs turned repeated stalemates into measurable advances, tying down large Soviet formations and contributing directly to the isolation of the city; for this leadership he received the Knight's Cross on 13 December 1941 as the 734th recipient.
In March 1943 Krüger took command of the SS-Panzergrenadier-Division Das Reich within II. SS-Panzerkorps and led it through the opening phases of Operation Citadel, the German offensive at Kursk. Amid torrential rains that transformed roads into quagmires and thick belts of forest bristling with anti-tank guns and bunkers, his grenadiers and panzers smashed through the first Soviet defensive line on 5 July in fierce hand-to-hand fighting under constant artillery and air attack. The second line fell the following day, enabling thrusts that seized villages such as Lutschki and Kalinin after bitter street battles. When strong Soviet tank waves threatened the open right flank, Krüger directed reserves from forward positions, wheeling his panzer regiment to strike the enemy armor in the flank and rear while defensive strongpoints absorbed the main assault; the division destroyed 212 Soviet tanks in the resulting melee and turned a potential rout into a local victory. Later actions on the Mius front saw his forces break through hilltop positions on 2 August, capture Stepanowka, pursue the retreating enemy across the river, destroy 26 tanks, and take 1,400 prisoners while restoring the German line. These achievements earned him the Oak Leaves on 31 August 1943 as the 286th recipient.
Krüger subsequently commanded IV. SS-Panzerkorps before serving as inspector general of Waffen-SS infantry troops and then taking charge of VI. SS-Freiwilligen-Armeekorps, composed largely of Latvian and Estonian volunteers, in the Courland Pocket. During the Third Battle of Courland in late December 1944 his sector faced a devastating Soviet artillery barrage followed by a breakthrough by the 19th Tank Corps that reached German artillery positions. Krüger committed his scant reserves into savage close-quarters fighting, thinned his own lines to free forces, and launched a counterattack with army-level reserves into the deep right flank of the penetration, relieving encircled troops in Trenci and sealing the gap overnight amid freezing snow. When another Soviet tank corps advanced through forest and swamp toward Lestene, he threw his final reserve—a Kampfgruppe from the 4. Panzer-Division—directly against the enemy main effort. Coordinated counterattacks across snow-covered terrain destroyed more than 100 Soviet tanks in running battles and re-established a continuous defensive line, blunting eleven days of assaults and preventing the collapse of the northern wing of 16. Armee. A telex from the army commander explicitly credited Krüger's unyielding personal leadership for the corps' success against vastly superior forces; for this he was awarded the Swords on 11 January 1945 as the 120th recipient. Surprised by Soviet troops while attempting to evade capture in a forest near Sulęcin on 22 May 1945, he ended his life rather than face imprisonment.
Krüger entered the Prussian cadet corps in 1900 and attended institutions in Karlsruhe and Berlin-Lichterfelde before being commissioned as a Leutnant in 1908 with the 2nd Badisches Grenadier-Regiment Nr. 110. During World War I he served initially as a battalion adjutant and later as a company and battalion commander on the Western Front, where he was wounded twice and accumulated a series of Imperial German decorations including both classes of the Iron Cross, the Knight's Cross of the Order of the Zähringer Lion, and the Prussian House Order of Hohenzollern with Swords. After the armistice he joined Freikorps units in the Baltic region in 1919, fighting Bolshevik forces in Kurland with formations such as Abteilung Pfeffer and the Westfälisches Freikorps. He briefly returned to the Reichswehr as a machine-gun company commander before leaving active service in 1920 to join the Stahlhelm veterans' organization, where he remained active until the early 1930s.
In December 1933 Krüger entered the Sturmabteilung as a Standartenführer and transferred to the SS-Verfügungstruppe in April 1935 with the rank of SS-Obersturmbannführer, taking command of the second battalion of SS-Standarte Germania. He served as an instructor at the SS-Junkerschule Bad Tölz and held various regimental commands before becoming operations officer of the SS-Polizei-Division in 1939, a role in which he helped prepare the unit for the Western Campaign. His steady rise through the SS ranks reflected both his Imperial Army experience and his early commitment to the National Socialist movement, including joining the NSDAP in 1937. By January 1940 he had reached SS-Oberführer and was positioned for higher field commands as the war expanded eastward.
Krüger assumed command of the SS-Polizei-Division on 10 August 1941 while it was engaged with L. Armeekorps of the 18. Armee on the Leningrad front during Operation Barbarossa. In the dense forests and marshy terrain south of the city, Soviet forces had constructed formidable defensive lines along the Luga River supported by artillery, minefields, and repeated armored counterattacks. Under his direction the division fought through these positions in grueling close-quarters combat, securing the key town of Luga by late July despite heavy losses from sniper fire and determined Red Army resistance. By late August the unit captured Krasnogvardeisk, a vital road and rail junction that facilitated the German encirclement efforts around Leningrad. Krüger's calm coordination of infantry assaults, artillery barrages, and rapid exploitation of breakthroughs turned repeated stalemates into measurable advances, tying down large Soviet formations and contributing directly to the isolation of the city; for this leadership he received the Knight's Cross on 13 December 1941 as the 734th recipient.
In March 1943 Krüger took command of the SS-Panzergrenadier-Division Das Reich within II. SS-Panzerkorps and led it through the opening phases of Operation Citadel, the German offensive at Kursk. Amid torrential rains that transformed roads into quagmires and thick belts of forest bristling with anti-tank guns and bunkers, his grenadiers and panzers smashed through the first Soviet defensive line on 5 July in fierce hand-to-hand fighting under constant artillery and air attack. The second line fell the following day, enabling thrusts that seized villages such as Lutschki and Kalinin after bitter street battles. When strong Soviet tank waves threatened the open right flank, Krüger directed reserves from forward positions, wheeling his panzer regiment to strike the enemy armor in the flank and rear while defensive strongpoints absorbed the main assault; the division destroyed 212 Soviet tanks in the resulting melee and turned a potential rout into a local victory. Later actions on the Mius front saw his forces break through hilltop positions on 2 August, capture Stepanowka, pursue the retreating enemy across the river, destroy 26 tanks, and take 1,400 prisoners while restoring the German line. These achievements earned him the Oak Leaves on 31 August 1943 as the 286th recipient.
Krüger subsequently commanded IV. SS-Panzerkorps before serving as inspector general of Waffen-SS infantry troops and then taking charge of VI. SS-Freiwilligen-Armeekorps, composed largely of Latvian and Estonian volunteers, in the Courland Pocket. During the Third Battle of Courland in late December 1944 his sector faced a devastating Soviet artillery barrage followed by a breakthrough by the 19th Tank Corps that reached German artillery positions. Krüger committed his scant reserves into savage close-quarters fighting, thinned his own lines to free forces, and launched a counterattack with army-level reserves into the deep right flank of the penetration, relieving encircled troops in Trenci and sealing the gap overnight amid freezing snow. When another Soviet tank corps advanced through forest and swamp toward Lestene, he threw his final reserve—a Kampfgruppe from the 4. Panzer-Division—directly against the enemy main effort. Coordinated counterattacks across snow-covered terrain destroyed more than 100 Soviet tanks in running battles and re-established a continuous defensive line, blunting eleven days of assaults and preventing the collapse of the northern wing of 16. Armee. A telex from the army commander explicitly credited Krüger's unyielding personal leadership for the corps' success against vastly superior forces; for this he was awarded the Swords on 11 January 1945 as the 120th recipient. Surprised by Soviet troops while attempting to evade capture in a forest near Sulęcin on 22 May 1945, he ended his life rather than face imprisonment.
Source:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Krüger_(SS_general)
https://www.tracesofwar.com/persons/34579/Krüger-Walter-Waffen-SS.htm
https://grokipedia.com/page/Walter_Krüger_(SS_general)
https://www.lexikon-der-wehrmacht.de/
https://forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic.php?t=22259
https://en.namu.wiki/w/발터_크뤼거
https://www.geni.com/
https://rk.balsi.de/index.php?action=list&cat=300
https://www.unithistories.com/units_index/index.php?file=/officers/personsx.html
https://web.archive.org/web/20091027052912fw_/http://geocities.com/orion47.geo/index2.html
https://www.wehrmacht-awards.com/forums/
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