Arthur Boje

Arthur Boje (3 August 1895 – 18 April 1981) was a highly decorated Oberst in the Wehrmacht during World War II. He was also a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross. The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross was awarded to recognise extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership. Arthur Boje, commanding officer of Grenadier Regiment 134, part of the 44th Infantry Division was captured by Soviet troops in 1943 after the fall of Stalingrad. As a prisoner of war, he was interrogated and tortured in Moscow's infamous Lubjanka prison and was subsequently imprisoned in some of the worst Soviet labor camps and deported to Kazakhstan. He refused to join the National Committee for a Free Germany (NKFD) founded by General v. Seydlitz-Kurzbach on Soviet orders. Boje was released with the last German POWs in January 1956.

Awards and decorations

 * Iron Cross (1914)
 * 2nd Class (18 November 1915)
 * 1st Class (22 November 1917)
 * Wound Badge (1914)
 * in Silver
 * Honour Cross of the World War 1914/1918 (10 December 1934)
 * Iron Cross (1939)
 * 2nd Class (19 September 1939)
 * 1st Class (4 October 1940)
 * Eastern Front Medal
 * Infantry Assault Badge (1 November 1940)
 * German Cross in Gold (26 December 1941)
 * Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 5 February 1942 as Oberst and commander of Infanterie-Regiment 134