August Schmidhuber

August Schmidhuber (8 May 1901 – 19 February 1947) was an SS-Brigadeführer of the 7th SS Volunteer Mountain Division Prinz Eugen from 20 January 1944 to 8 May 1945, and the 21st Waffen Mountain Division of the SS Skanderbeg (1st Albanian) from May 1944 onwards.

Biography
August Schmidhuber was born in Augsburg, Bavaria, the son of a minor government official. After finishing basic military training in the Reichswehr in Ulm in 1919, he signed up for 12 years military service on 5 May. He was initially assigned to the Schützen Regiment (rifle regiment) Number 42. From 16 June 1919 until the beginning of October, Schmidhuber served with the 9th Company of his regiment and then spent nearly a year in 3 company.

At the same time, beginning in May 1919 to mid-June, he also entered the ranks of the Freikorps, Major Franz Ritter von Epp. Schmidhuber then transferred to Gebirgs-Jäger-Regiment (mountain hunters) Number 19 and on 1 October 1922 was appointed to the rank of Gefreiter (private). He remained in the regular German army until 4 May 1931, when he left as an Oberfeldwebel (sergeant major).

After leaving the army Schmidhuber worked as a brewer and became active in politics in Bavaria, joining the Bayerische Volkspartei (Bavarian People's Party). During the presidential elections, he stood for the district of Lindau but did not win. He then joined the NSDAP and on 16 July 1933 entered into the SA. In the SA he was part of the SA Gruppe Hochland and served first as the deputy director of SA schools in the region, and then later also as a director.

In parallel with the educational work in these posts, Schmidhuber was a member of the training command of the SA. However, on the 17 May 1935 he joined the SS where he was appointed SS Obersturmführer and immediately attached to the SS-Verfügungstruppe. Initially he commanded the 7th platoon of SS-1 Standarte and commanded troops there until early February 1936, when he was transferred to the SS Germania Regiment. Here he led the 1st Company until 1 May 1936. On 13 September 1936 Schmidhuber was promoted to SS Hauptsturmführer and transferred to the regimental staff of SS Germania. He remained there until mid-November 1937, where the company is responsible for training noncommissioned officers, until the end of February 1938.

On 30 January 1939 Schmidhuber was promoted to the rank of SS Sturmbannführer and put in command of the 1st SS battalion regiment Germania. On 21 June 1941 he was promoted to SS Obersturmbannführer and a year later he became the commander of the SS-Freiwilligen-Gebirgsjäger-Regiment 14 "Skanderberg" of 7th SS Volunteer Mountain Division Prinz Eugen.

On 20 April 1943 Schmidhuber was promoted to SS Standartenführer (Colonel) and from 17 April 1944 until 20 January 1945, served as a commander of the 21st Waffen Mountain Division of the SS Skanderbeg (1st Albanian). On 21 June 1944 he was promoted to SS Oberführer.

With regard to his anti-partisan activities in Kosovo during the war, the scholar Bernd Fischer noted:

"Schmidhuber of the SS "Skanderbeg" issued orders to increase the burning of villages and killing of people. In keeping with these orders, between 19 September and 23 October, 131 NLM prisoners....were shot or hanged in Kosovo."

Following the German evacuation of Albania Schmidhuber was promoted to SS-Brigadeführer und Generalmajor der Waffen-SS on 20 January 1945 and replaced SS-Brigadeführer und Generalmajor der Waffen-SS Otto Kumm as commander of the remnants of the 7th SS Volunteer Mountain Division Prinz Eugen to 8 May 1945.

He was executed on February 27, 1947 in Belgrade by the Yugoslav government for his role in killing civilians of that country.

Nuremberg Trial
Friday, 30 August 1946: I will remind you as well of the deposition given by the SS Major General August Schmidhuber, describing how, on the order of the commander of the 1st SS Battalion, SS-Hauptsturmführer Richard Kaaserer, peaceful citizens were locked up in a church in Krivaya Reka, and then the church building was blown up.

Dates of rank

 * Gefreiter - October 1, 1922
 * Unteroffizier - November 1, 1923
 * Unterfeldwebel - April 1, 1926
 * Oberfeldwebel - November 1, 1926
 * SS-Obersturmführer - May 17, 1935
 * SS-Hauptsturmführer - September 3, 1936
 * SS-Sturmbannführer - January 30, 1939
 * SS-Obersturmbannführer - June 21, 1941
 * SS-Standartenführer - April 20, 1943
 * SS-Oberführer - June 21, 1944
 * SS-Brigadeführer und Generalmajor der Waffen-SS - January 30, 1945

Notable decorations

 * German Cross in Gold - August 3, 1943
 * Eastern Front Medal - ?
 * Iron Cross Second Class - October 4, 1939
 * Iron Cross First Class - November 11, 1939
 * SA Sports Badge in Gold (?)
 * Wound Badge in Black (?)
 * Infantry Assault Badge in silver(?)

Literature

 * History of the United Nations War Crimes Commission and the Development of the Laws of War p. 528, United Nations War Crimes Commission, London: HMSO, 1948
 * Bernd Jürgen Fischer, Albania at War, 1939-1945 (Purdue University Press, West Lafayette 1999), ISBN 1-55753-141-2.
 * Bernhard Kühmel, "Deutschland und Albanien, 1943-1944: Die Auswirkungen der Besetzung und innenpolitsiche Entwicklung des Landes." PhD. diss., University of Bochum, 1981.
 * Georg H. Stein, The Waffen-SS. Hitler's Elite Guard at War (Cornell University Press, Ithaca 1966). ISBN 0-8014-9275-0
 * Axishistory.com
 * Sweb.cz