Karl-Ludwig Barths

Karl-Ludwig Barths (born 13 May 1920) was born in Kolbatz (now Kolbacz) near Stettin (now Szczecin). After completing secondary school he entered the Wehrmacht in 1937. After fighting in World War II and subsequent Soviet captivity, which he described in his 2007 book ''Jungmann. Erlebte und erzählte Episoden 1939-1949'', he became an export/import apprentice in Hamburg. In 1953 he started working for Volkswagen, where he became responsible for the company's business in North America.

In 1963, Barths moved to Toronto in Canada where he was president of Volkswagen Canada Ltd. There, he also held the offices of a governor of the town's Central Hospital and director of the Toronto Symphony. In 1972, Barths moved to Wolfsburg in Germany where he was chairman of the Volkswagen Versicherungsdienst Gmbh until 1985, and president of the Deutsch-Kanadische Gesellschaft (German-Canadian Society) until 2000.

Awards and decorations

 * Iron Cross (1939)
 * 2nd Class
 * 1st Class
 * Eastern Front Medal
 * Panzer Assault Badge
 * Honour Roll Clasp of the Army (29 September 1941)
 * Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 14 January 1945 as Hauptmann and commander of Heeres-Sturmgeschütz-Brigade 393