Heinrich Hannibal

Heinrich Hannibal
Born 19 November 1889
Söllingen
Died 9 May 1971(1971-05-09) (aged 81)
Hamburg
Allegiance  German Empire
Nazi Germany Nazi Germany
Service/branch  Imperial German Army
Waffen SS
Years of service 1914–18
1939–45
Rank SS-Brigadeführer and Generalmajor of Polizei
Battles/wars

World War I


World War II
Awards World War I
Iron Cross I class
Iron Cross II class
Wound Badge in Silver
Honour Cross of the World War 1914/1918
World War II
Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross
Iron Cross I class
Iron Cross II class

Heinrich Hannibal (19 November 1889 – 9 May 1971) was a Waffen SS Brigadeführer (Major General) and Generalmajor of Polizei during World War II. He was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross, which was awarded to recognize extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership during World War II.

Early life

Heinrich Hannibal was born on 19 November 1889 in Söllingen into a farming family. In 1905, he joined the Reichswehr and was stationed until 1907 in the Unteroffiziers school in Neubreisach, subsequently from 1907 to 1909 he was at the corporal school in Jülich. In April 1909, Hannibal was transferred to the 4th Lothringischen Infantry Regiment 136 in Straßburg.

World War I

Hannibal stayed with his regiment throughout World War I, taking part in numerous actions, for which he was awarded the Iron Cross I & II class and the Wound Badge in Silver.

Interwar period

In 1919 Hannibal was still in the Reichswehr and in July 1920, the now Leutnant Hannibal transferred to the Schutzpolizei in Ohrdruf. He attended the Police school in Düsseldorf and Magdeburg and subsequently became the commander in Bochum-South and from December 1935, in Dezernent and in Arnsberg. He moved in 1937, to Hamburg, until the start of World War II.

World War II

At the start of World War II Hannibal was the commander of the police recruit Battalion 3030 in Bremen. During this time he also joined the NSDAP (party number 952,252) and the SS (SS number 327,343). During the invasion of the Soviet Union in January 1942, he took up the post of section officer of police in Kherson (Southern Russia) and in April 1943 the command of the SS-Polizei-Schützenregiments 31. He was wounded during combat at Lida. He was awarded the Knight's Cross on 23 August 1944, for his achievements within the Kampfgruppe Gottberg.[1] In January 1945 he was promoted to Brigadefuhrer and Major General of Police and assumed the leadership of a Kampfgruppe in the IV Army in East Prussia.

Hannibal died on 9 May 1971 in Hamburg.

Notes

Footnotes
    Citations
    1. Scherzer:p 365

    Further reading

    • Fellgiebel, Walther-Peer (2000) [1986]. Die Träger des Ritterkreuzes des Eisernen Kreuzes 1939–1945 — Die Inhaber der höchsten Auszeichnung des Zweiten Weltkrieges aller Wehrmachtteile [The Bearers of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross 1939–1945 — The Owners of the Highest Award of the Second World War of all Wehrmacht Branches] (in German). Friedberg, Germany: Podzun-Pallas. ISBN 978-3-7909-0284-6. 
    • Scherzer, Veit (2007). Ritterkreuzträger 1939 - 1945 Die Inhaber des Ritterkreuzes des Eisernen Kreuzes 1939 von Heer, Luftwaffe, Kriegsmarine, Waffen-SS, Volkssturm sowie mit Deutschland verbündeter Streitkräfte nach den Unterlagen des Bundesarchives. Scherzers Miltaer-Verlag. ISBN 978-3-938845-17-2. 
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