Published in „Siegrunen“ Magazine – Number 73,
Fall / Winter 2002
Otto Baum, the son of salesman/purchasing agent Emil Baum, was born on 15 November 1911 in Stettin near Hechingen/Hohenzollern. After completing his schooling, Baum enlisted in the SS-Verfügungstruppe, joining the newly activated SS-Standarte „Germania” on 6 March 1934. In the course of his military service in the armed SS, he would rise through the ranks to command a division and would become one of 23 members of the Waffen-SS to receive the Knight’s Cross with Swords and Oakleaves. At the end of 1976, 9 of these men were still alive, but probably few if any are still with us today.
After finishing his basic infantry training, Baum was sent to the SS Officer’s Training School Braunschweig on 24 April 1935. In little over a year he would bear the following ranks: SS- Rottenführer.(Corporal), SS-Unterscharführer, (Sergeant), and SS-Standartenoberjunker, (Officer Designate). On 10 February 1936 he graduate from SS-Junkerschule Braunschweig and was immediately assigned to a training course for platoon leaders. On 20 April 1936 he received his officer’s rank of SS-Untersturmführer (2nd Lt.) and was placed in charge of a platoon in 11./“Germania” in Arolsen near Hamburg. Because of the special emphasis on sports in the SS-VT, Baum spent six weeks as an instructor at the Army Sports School in Wünsdorf in 1937. In December of that year he was promoted to SS-Obersturmführer (151 Lt.) and in May 1938 he was named to command a platoon in II./SS-Standarte „Der Führer”, which had newly been raised in Klangenfurt, Austria, and initially was comprised mainly of Austrian recruits. Later in the year it would come under the control of V. Army Corps in Stuttgart.
SS-Ostuf. Baum took charge of 10th Company/”Der Führer” on 1 November 1938 and held this post until 1 June 1939 when he was placed in command of 7th Company/”Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler” in Berlin. After the outbreak of war, Baum proved himself to be a good, if somewhat bold and dare-devil, soldier in the fighting in Poland. For his deeds in action to the south of Modlin, Poland in September 1939 he was decorated with the Iron Cross, 2nd Class and on 9 November 1939 was promoted to SS-Hauptsturmführer(Captain). He would lead his company with vigor and determination in the French Campaign of 1940, helping to break the resistance of the opposing French troops during the crossing of the Marne River, east of La Ferte. For this accomplishment, Baum received the Iron Cross, 1st Class.
Prior to the beginning of the Balkan Campaign of spring 1941, the „LSSAH” travel led from the Metz area to Romania. Here, SS-Hstuf. Baum left the regiment to take command of III. Battalion/SS-“Totenkopf“ Regiment 3 of the SS „Totenkopf“ Division, which was on training/occupation duties in the Dax area of southwestern France, just north of the Spanish border. Soon after his arrival, Baum was promoted to SS-Sturmbannführer (Major). On 1 May 1941, the entire „Totenkopf“ Division was sent home to Germany and in the course of the next several weeks it was deployed for action along the Lithuanian frontier. Lithuania was now of course occupied by the Soviet Union.
On 22 June 1941, Operation „Barbarossa”, Hitler’s pre-emptive strike against the forces of Soviet Bolshevism began. SS-Stubaf. Baum would soon prove his worth as an utterly fearless leader in the hard battles that lay ahead in the east. After crossing through Lithuania, where the SS soldiers were greeted as liberators, the „Totenkopf“ Division began the attack on Russia proper. In early July 1941, SS-Stubaf. Baum’s IIL/SS-T-IR 3 led the breakthrough of the „Stalin Line” at Sebash. The battalion was then in the forefront of the drive over the Opotschka Riva to the Luga River where it participated in the destruction of the 34th Soviet Army, an operation that ended on 19 August 1941. The“Totenkopf“ Division then took part in heavy defensive fighting on the Luga River and around Demyansk for the remainder of the year. For his numerous demonstrations of courageous leadership, Baum was decorated with the German Cross in Gold on 26 December 1941
Above left: SS-Obersturmbannführer Otto Baum as CO of SS-Pz. Or. Rgt. 5 „ Totenköpf” in 1943. He had received the Knight’s Cross on B May 1942. Above right: Two highly decorated „Totenkopf“ regimental commanders; SS- Ostubaf. Baum (SS-Pz.Gr.Rgt.5 „Totenkopf”) on the left and SS-Ostubaf. Karl Ullrich (SS-Pz.Gr.Rgt.6 „Theodor Eicke“) on the right. The photo dates from Byelgorod in June 1943.
In the early days of February 1942, the 1st Soviet Storm Army and the 11th Soviet Army completed an encirclement of the Demyansk area. For the next several months the SS „Totenkopf“ Division fought a terrible battle for survival amidst great cold and deprivation. Otto Baum would lead ad hoc battle-groups of between 2 and 6 battalions in strength on all parts of the „cauldron” front, both on the attack and on the defensive. On the south-southwest portion of the Demyansk front sector, SS-Stubaf. Baum personally led a task force in a valiant assault on two enemy strongpoints. In a week-long engagement marked by intense, bitter close combat around the town of Salutsche, his troops destroyed strong enemy concentrations and severed on of their most important supply roads. For his decisive leadership in this battle, Otto Baum was awarded the Knight’s Cross to the Iron Cross on 8 May 1942.
The „Totenkopf“ Division continued to hold its positions in the Demyansk pocket for several more months, (being re-supplied by air in the meantime; the success of this operation at Demyansk led the Führer to conclude that the same results could be achieved via air supply at the later Stalingrad encirclement). Severe fighting continued until the completion of a strong ground supply corridor into the pocket on 20 April 1942. Although badly depleted, battle-groups from the division continued to fight on the Eastern Front throughout the summer of 1942. Finally the whole „Totenkopf“ Division was withdrawn to the Angouleme region in France in October 1942 for both refitting and reforming into a panzer division. At that time the division added another combat formation, SS Regiment „Thule”, that was initially designated a „motorcycle” regiment but was later changed to simply a „fast” light- mobile infantry unit.
On 9 November 1942, Otto Baum was promoted to SS-Obersturm bann führer (Lt.Col.) and he assumed command of I./SS-T-IR 1 (which was soon changed to I./SS-Pz. Gr. Rgt. 5 „Totenkopf“). Followingthe Allied landings in North Africa, Baum’s battalion was dispatched by rail to the central French Riviera coast and thence to Narbonne where it was unloaded and sent to take up positions along the coast between the Spanish frontier and Perpignan. SS-Ostubaf. Baum then received orders to disarm the local French Army garrisons. In the historical city of Carcassone, the bulk of the French troops were disarmed and demobilized without resistance. The French soldiers were dismissed from further duty while the officers were sent on a semipermanent „home leave”, subject to emergency recall. In the middle of December 1942, 1. /SS-Pz. Gr. Rgt.5 returned to the Bordeaux area where it received new weapons, equipment and armored cars.
In the second half of January 1943, the „new” 3. SS-Panzer Division „Totenkopf“ was loaded onto 178 railroad cars and sent across Europe east to the Poltava sector of the Russian front. Here the division joined the new SS Panzer Corps led by SS-Obergruppenführer Paul Hausser. On 22 February 1943, SS-Ostubaf. Baum and his armored infantry battalion entered into the battle raging between the Don and the Dneipr Rivers. During the night of23/24 February 1943, SS-Pz. Gr. Rgt. 5, supported by SS-Panzer Rgt. 3, attacked elements of the 6th Soviet Army in the area to the north of Pavlograd. In heavy fighting the enemy was pushed back and the „Totenkopf“ Division moved towards Vyasovol, crossing the Temovka River and establishing a bridgehead to the east of Kulakovo.
In the early morning hours of 24 February, SS-Ostubaf. Baum’s I./SS-Pz.Gr.Rgt.5, fighting alongside parts of the SS-Panzer Rgt. 3, launched a bold attack on Vyasovol, forcing the enemy to fall back throughout the Temovka sector. Baum then attacked with his battalion to the southeast, towards Verbki. Confronting a large number of Soviet tanks in Verbki, I.Battalion waited for elements of SS-Panzer Regiment 3 to come up before continuing the attack southwards. Contact and a link-up was made with the 2. SS-Panzer Division „Das Reich” to the south in the afternoon. The Waffen-SS battalions now began the difficult task of mopping up the Red Army elements that had been cut-off and stranded behind the „Das Reich” and „Totenkopf“ armored spearheads.
Shortly after this operation, SS-Ostubaf. Baum assumed command of the entire SS-Pz.Gr.Rgt 5 „Totenkopf“, („Totenkopf“ was the honorary title of the regiment, whose personnel wore a cuff-band bearing a single white deaths head on a black field). On 1 March 1943, SS-Pz. Gr. Rgt. 5 attacked northwards in the Orel sector as part of the concentrated effort by the SS Panzer Corps to retake Kharkov, which SS-Ogruf. Hausser had earlier abandoned against orders. On the next day the attack moved forward with good momentum, carrying over the Berestovaya River and into the Berstovenka Hills. On the night of 2 March 1943 I./SS-Pz. Gr. Rgt. 5 (now led by SS-Hstuf. Walter Reder), and I./SS-Pz.Rgt.3, (under SS-Hstuf. Erwin Meierdress), ran into stubborn enemy resistance at Schlyachovaya. Both of the above mentioned battalion commanders would soon receive the Knight’s Cross for their actions. The situation was further hindered by a heavy snow storm and the inability to resupply the tank detachment. SS-Ostubaf. Baum was however able to secure a link-up with part of the 1.SS-Panzer Division „LSSAH” on his right wing, and together the Waffen-SS units were able to block off a Soviet withdrawal movement.
On 3 March 1943. I./SS-Pz.Rgt. 3 in conjunction with troops from SS-Pz. Gr. Rgt. 5, successfully drove off a strong enemy counterattack. The „Totenkopf” assault wave then continued to roll northwards with the help of SS-Standartenführer Helmuth Becker’s SS-Pz.Gr.Rgt.6 „Theodor Eicke”. In the violent lighting between Kotyarowka and Medwedowka, the greater part of the 3rd Soviet Tank Army was encircled and destroyed.
Above: The legendary’ long-time commander of the SS-“Totenkopf“ Division, SS-Gruppenführer Theodor Eicke, who was shot down in his Fieseler-Storch reconnaissance airplane in February? 1943. After his death his name was bestowed as a battle-honor on SS-Panzergrenadier Regiment 6.
To the north of Schlyachovaya, the SS-Pz. Gr. Rgt. 5 and I./SS-Pz.Rgt. 3 finished off the last enemy remnants and counted the following amount of booty items captured on the battlefield: 29 intact T-34 tanks. 1 armored scout car, 25 armored cars. 107 field pieces, 2 infantry guns, 95 anti-tank rifles, 1 light Flak gun, 44 machine guns, 12 machine pistols, 29 heavy mortars and tremendous quantities of infantry weapons and ammunition. Also captured were 27 intact field kitchens, 359 trucks, more than 300 horse carts and hundreds of horses and oxen. This successful haul was directly attributed to the bold and decisive leadership exhibited by SS-Ostubaf. Baum.
In the course of the battle to retake Kharkov by the SS Panzer Corps, SS-Pz. Gr. Rgt. 5 “Totenkopf” was deployed against the northern enemy positions along the line running from Ruskaya to Dergatschi to Fesski to Myakiymyaka. At 11:30 AM on 12March 1943, 11th Company/SS-Pz. Gr. Rgt. 5 was ordered by the division HQ to leave its defensive positions and attack southeastwards to try and seize part of the Kharkov-Tschuguyev road. This would be the key to the capture of the Donez Bridge at Tschuguyev which would in turn block the escape route of Red Army forces to the east and northeast.. While 11th Company was the spearhead for this mission, all of III./SS-Pz. Gr. Rgt. 5 soon became directly involved. The efforts on the first day proved to be unsuccessful and during the night of 12/13 March, the whole regiment became involved in what was described as heavy fighting near Ssorokowka. A dangerous situation, in which the regiment could have been destroyed was averted only through the prompt actions of the regimental commander who directed all unit movements from the foremost lines.
III./SS-Pz. Gr. Rgt. 5 was finally able to grab and hold onto a section of the Kharkov-Tschuguyev road by the evening of 13 March. Tanks from I./SS-Pz.Rgt. 3 used up their last fuel reserves in supporting this operation. The enemy was firmly trapped when a link-up was made with SS-Kampfgruppe „Harmel” from SS-Pz. Gr. Rgt. 3 „Deutschland” of the 2nd SS Panzer Division „Das Reich” near the town of Rogan.
A stubborn, strong enemy tank attack from the east directed towards Rogan soon developed and Luftwaffe Stuka support had to be called for. On 14 March 1943, the enemy made a small penetration near Tschuguyev, and by 15:00 hours a desperate battle to contain it got underway. The Soviets were applying maximum pressure to try and carve out a relief corridor to Kharkov. SS-Ostubaf. Baum was forced to utilize all of the troops in his command to seal off the Donez River crossings — it was there that the battle for Kharkov would be decided once and for all. After much violent fighting, the enemy began to get perceptibly weaker and was soon unable to launch any further offensive actions. By evening it was apparent that the Waffen-SS had carried the day.
Above: An unknown SS-Rottenführer front the „Totenkopf” Division. (Photo courtesy of Erik Rundkvist).
It was during the early stages of „Operation Citadel”, the German effort to pinch off the Kursk salient in July 1943, that SS-Ostubaf. Baum and his regiment next distinguished themselves. On 5 July, SS-Pz. Gr. Rgt. 5 „Totenkopf“ managed to overcome the tenacious Red resistance and smash through the main enemy defensive line. Although wounded, SS-Ostubaf. Baum stayed with his troops as they managed to deepen their penetration into the Byelograd bulge. An awesome, breathtaking struggle then ensued as Soviet armored forces staged mass counter-attacks. The Waffen-SS soldiers held on against incredible pressure, and right among them was Otto Baum who led his regiment from the very thick of fighting. Thanks to his determined leadership the regiment was able to hold on to its gained position while the massive Soviet assaults spluttered and failed.
After the Kursk offensive was called off, largely due to the critical situation developing in Italy, SS- Ostubaf. Baum and his regiment were sent off on an emergency mission to help stop a Soviet incursion far to the south. SS-Pz. Gr. Rgt. 5 covered some 250 miles in four days to get to the crisis area where it joined up with other units of the „Totenkopf“, „Das Reich” and 3rd Army Panzer Division in trying to eliminate a strong enemy bridgehead across the Mius River to the northwest of Kuipychevo that was threatening the whole front in south Ukraine. After three days of hard but ineffectual fighting, the German counterattack on the bridgehead ended in failure.
The SS-“Totenkopf“ Division and Baum’s SS-Pz. Gr. Rgt. 5 were now withdrawn from the sector and set on another forced march 60 miles to the north to confront yet another crisis. The enemy had broken through to the west of Kharkov by Valki and the Waffen-SS troops were forced to travel continuously day and night, over long distances, to try and catch up with and contain the Soviet advance elements.
The combat activity was intense and failure in any respect meant certain disaster for the German troops involved. During the new fighting around Kharkov, the SS-Pz. Gr. Rgt 5 sector was twice penetrated by the enemy and SS-Ostubaf. Baum’s command post was directly assaulted in two night attacks over a 48 hour period. Both times the Reds were driven back but it was a near thing. During a third attack on the regimental HQ, Baum was shot through the shoulder and had to be evacuated by air to a military hospital in Breslau. For his brave and distinguished leadership of his unit during the battle actions of the difficult summer of 1943, Otto Baum would become the 277th soldier in the German Armed Forces to receive the Oakleaves to the Knight’s Cross on 22 August 1943 by direction of Adolf Hitler.
Above: Commanders of the SS-“Totenkopf” Division during the summer of 1943. On the left is SS-Ostubaf. Otto Baum (SS-Pz. Gr. Rgt. 5). In the center is SS-Brigadeführer Hermann Priess (Divisional Commander) and on the right is SS-Stubaf. Georg Bochmann (SS-Panzer Rgt.3).
After recovering from his wounds, Baum returned to his regiment at the beginning of November 1943 near Kirovograd. Here the SS-“Totenkopf ‘ Division resisted strong enemy attacks until the end of the year. On 30 January 1944, Otto Baum was promoted to SS-Standartenführer (Colonel), and towards the latter part of February 1944, he and his regiment participated in a rear-guard action to help protect the general German withdrawal to the Dneister River line. SS-Staf. Baum was now in line for bigger things, like a divisional command, but in March 1944 he left the division for the first time in several years and was placed in the Waffen-SS reserve officer’s pool for special assignments. His duties for the next couple of months involved sharing his considerable East Front experiences in lectures to students at various Waffen-SS officer’s and NCO schools.
Then on 20 June 1944, while in Salzburg, Austria. Baum received the orders to take over the command of the 17. SS-Panzergrenadier Division „Götz von Berlichengen”, which was getting battered on the „Invasion Front” in Normandy. The previous commander, SS-Oberführer Werner Ostendorf, had just been wounded in a combat action with American forces. In April of 1945, U.S. troops would murder him in captivity, a fact long concealed by people on both sides! SS-Staf. Baum arrived at the front on the same day that the enemy forces were launching their major breakout effort from the Cotentin Peninsula. The 17 SS Pz.Gr. Division, along with the Fallschirmjäger Regiment 6 and an army battle-group, attempted to defend a 25-mile-long front sector to the west of Vire.
In the middle of July 1944, a strong section of the reformed 2 SS Panzer Division „Das Reich” came up from southern France to take up positions on the left wing of the „Götz von Berlichengen” Division. The „Das Reich” commander, SS-Brigadeführer Heinz Lammerding was promptly wounded and his replacement, SS-Obersturmbann führer Tychsen was killed, so SS-Standartenführer Baum had to assume command of both the 2nd and 17th SS Divisions; leading them in combination in the fighting to the west of Vire.
On 27 July 1944, the enemy broke through at St. Lo and began driving to the south. Baum therefore undertook a counterattack with both of his divisions on the morning of 28 July against the VII. U.S. Army Corps. The U.S. breakthrough had cut-off the western half of the German 7th Army, but the successful assault led by SS-Staf. Baum was soon instrumental in freeing the 7th Army divisions from their entrapment, albeit in very heavy fighting. But the crisis situation only kept getting worse. The German forces had no replacements, no air support and haphazard resupply, while the Allied elements were getting everything they wanted in massive doses. It was the very classic example of a „war of material”, and no army in the world, however good, could stand up very long to this one-sided onslaught.
30 July 1944 saw an enemy breakthrough at Avranches and American forces then began operating in the rear of the 7th German Army. The plan from the Führer HQ was to have the 7th Army counterattack towards the Atlantic Coast with the aim of severing the American troops from their supply lines and isolating them. Everything started out alright under the cover of darkness and the „Das Reich” Division managed to make a significant penetration in the proper direction. But with the advent of daylight on 31 July, everything changed for the worse. The largely exposed „Das Reich” Division lost momentum and was caught out in the open by the U.S. Army Air Force, which literally began to disassemble the formation without opposition! The Luftwaffe never put in an appearance, and „Das Reich” was bombed to pieces in perhaps the most completely devastating day of the war for that proud unit. There was no question of trying to continue with any „offensive”; SS-Staf. Baum’s job was now to try and reassemble the badly battered surviving elements of his divisions and lead them to the northwest to join the 5th Panzer Army around Vimoutiers.
The great destructive catastrophe of the German military forces in Normandy and northwest France now began in earnest. The enemy now began forming a ring around the 7th German Army that would terminate at the town of Falaise. Surviving elements of the „Das Reich” Division were regrouped with surviving portions of the 9. SS-Panzer Division „Hohenstaufen” in the rapidly forming pocket. At this critical juncture, the commanding general of the 7th Army, SS-Oberstgruppenführer Paul Hausser was severely wounded. The leadership began to crumble and a general breakout effort got underway. After enormous losses in men and material, the „Das Reich” Division fought its way out of the Falaise Pocket and began its retreat to the „West Wall” fortifications on the German border, traveling through Gourmay, Beauvais, La Fere, Hirson, Philippeville, Dinant and Spa. In the meantime, the 17.SS Pz.Gr.Div. „GvB”, had also been totally shattered and splintered into small battle-groups that began falling back on the town of Metz to regroup.
On 2 September 1944, SS-Staf. Otto Baum became the 95th recipient of the Swords to the Oakleaves of the Knight’s Cross. His valiant, unflagging leadership in the most desperate, critical situations in Normandy and France, had at least managed to save the troops under his command from total destruction and bring many of them back to safety near the German border. The „Das Reich” and „GvB” Divisions were still on the books, with enough personnel and material to begin the process of reconstruction. On 17 September 1944, Baum was promoted to the rank of SS-Oberführer, (roughly the same as an American Brigadier General), and in the middle of October 1944 he gave back the command of the „Das Reich” Division to SS- Brigadeführer Lammerding, who had now largely recovered from his wounds.
A new assignment now took SS-Oberfhr. Baum to Italy where he assumed command of the 16. SS- Panzergrenadier Division „Reichsführer-SS” on 1 November 1944. In the latter part of January 1945, the division was pulled out of the Italian sector and sent north over the Po River to be transported by rail to Hungary. It was reassembled at Nagy Kanisza where it was placed in the combat reserve of 2nd Panzer Army. It then took part in a new offensive by the Army LXII. Panzer Corps against Soviet positions along the Boehene-Kaposvar road. At the same time, a Soviet attack to the north of Lake Balaton began to make headway, making the „RF-SS” Division’s positions to the south of Lake Balaton increasingly untenable, and a withdrawal to the Austrian border soon got underway.
At the end of March 1945, SS-Oberfhr. Baum led the l6.SS-Pz.Gr.Division in battles on the Mur River and back into Oststeiermark, Austria by early April. For the next month, the unit was basically able to hold back the enemy in occasionally violent defensive Fighting, but everywhere else in Germany the frontlines had collapsed. It was clear the war was over. On 8 May 1945, at his command post in the Haimburg Castle overlooking Völkermarkt, Austria, SS-Oberfhr. Baum received the directive from the Wehrmacht High Command that all military actions would permanently cease at 01:00 hours on 9 May. In accordance with these orders, Baum led his division into British captivity on the next day. His career had spanned the entire history of the Waffen-SS and most of its hardest combat engagements. Otto Baum had proved himself to be one of the finest commanding officers of any force engaged in WWII; the legacy of his career and deeds speak for themself. After the war he was active in Waffen-SS veteran’s affairs and enjoyed a successful business career and a long retirement.
Above: Rare photos of a very „unmilitary” looking and unheralded, but extremely brave and proficient Waffen-SS officer, SS-Sturmhannführer Werner Schumacher. He served as a signals officer in the 7th SS Mnt. Div. „Prinz Eugen” and as the commander of the Signals Detachment in the / 6. SS-Pz. Gr. Di v. „RF-SS”. His last assignment was as Corps Signals Officerfor the / V.SS-Panzer Corps. During the course of the war, he was decorated with both the Iron Cross, 1st Class and the German Cross in Gold. (Erik Rundkvist Archives via Chuck Donner).
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