Photographs of Hermann Balck by Walter Frentz

Generalleutnant Hermann Balck (Kommandeur 11. Panzer-Division) in a picture taken in late March 1943 by Walter Frentz, during Schwerter award ceremony with Hitler at Führerhauptquartier Wolfsschanze in Rastenburg, East Prussia. In the bitter winter of early 1943, as the German southern front teetered on the brink of collapse following the Soviet encirclement of the Sixth Army at Stalingrad, Generalleutnant Hermann Balck, commanding the battle-hardened but exhausted 11th Panzer Division, orchestrated one of the most masterful displays of mobile armored defense and counterattack in modern military history along the Chir River. Arriving with his division after a grueling 400-mile redeployment, Balck faced overwhelming odds: a vastly superior Soviet 5th Tank Army and multiple tank corps surging across the frozen river, threatening to shatter the German lines and exploit the void left by the Stalingrad debacle. With often fewer than 25 operational tanks, limited fuel and ammunition, and a front stretching dozens of miles that should have required several divisions to hold, Balck refused static defense. Instead, he employed fluid, aggressive tactics, launching rapid, concentrated flank assaults, using his panzers as a "fire brigade" to strike Soviet spearheads in sequence, and coordinating with antitank guns and infantry to maximize firepower while minimizing his own exposure. Over relentless days of combat in December 1942 and into early 1943, his division destroyed entire Soviet armored brigades and much of the 5th Tank Army, inflicting disproportionate losses, including over 70 tanks in single engagements, without allowing the enemy to consolidate gains, thereby stabilizing the critical sector and buying vital time for Manstein’s larger operations. This brilliant combination of tactical audacity, real-time adaptability under extreme pressure, and inspirational frontline leadership earned Balck the 25th award of the Schwerter to the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on March 4, 1943, cementing his reputation as one of the Wehrmacht’s most gifted panzer commanders.

Source :
https://forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic.php?p=1554411&hilit=hermann+balck#p1554411
https://www.tracesofwar.com/persons/204/Balck-Hermann.htm
https://www.walter-frentz-collection.de/fotoarchiv/personenarchiv-a-z/personen-a-b/#&gid=1&pid=19