Rudolf Schmidt

 Rudolf Schmidt  (12 May 1886 – 7 April 1957) was a Panzer General in the German army during World War II who served as the Commander of the 2nd Panzer Army on the Eastern Front. He was also a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves (Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes mit Eichenlaub). The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross and its higher grade Oak Leaves was awarded to recognise extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership. Legally it was Germany's highest military decoration at the time of its presentation to Rudolf Schmidt.

Career
He joined Infantry Regiment 83 of the German Imperial Army in 1906 as an officer cadet and in World War I he served on the eastern and western fronts and by the end of the war he was a Hauptmann on the General Staff. He was then retained in the Reichswehr where he served as a staff officer and was promoted to Major in 1927 and Oberstleutnant in 1931. On 1 October 1934  he was promoted to Oberst as commander of the 13th  Infantry Regiment in Ludwigsburg.

In October 1937 he was promoted to Generalmajor and appointed commander of the 1st Panzer Division in Weimar as the successor to Maximilian von Weichs. On 1 June 1938 he was promoted to Generalleutnant and led the unit through the invasion of Poland. On 1 February 1940 he was appointed commanding general of the XXXIX Panzer Corps. He led the Corps in France and was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross for his role in that campaign on 3 June 1940. He was also promoted to General der Panzertruppe and appointed acting commander of the 2nd Army which was involved in the Battle of Moscow. On 25 December 1941 he was appointed the Supreme Commander of the 2nd Panzer Army (replacing the sacked General Guderian). In January 1942 he was promoted to Generaloberst.

Adolf Hitler held him in high regard, but on 10 April 1943 he was relieved of his command after the Gestapo arrested his brother on an unrelated matter and found letters that General Schmidt had written in which he was highly critical of Hitler’s conduct of the war and the Nazi Party. He appeared before a court martial but was acquitted and transferred to the leadership reserve on 30 September 1943. He was never re-employed and in 1945 he was taken into Soviet captivity from his home in Weimar and in common with other Generals captured by the Russians he was not released until 1955.

Awards

 * Iron Cross (1914)
 * 2nd Class
 * 1st Class
 * Knight's Cross Second Class of the Order of the Zähringer Lion with Swords
 * Cross of Honor
 * Sudetenland Medal with Prague Castle Bar
 * Iron Cross (1939)
 * 2nd Class (22 September 1939)
 * 1st Class (2 October 1939)
 * Eastern Front Medal
 * Panzer Badge in Silver
 * Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves
 * Knight's Cross on 3 June 1940 as Generalleutnant and commanding general of the XXXIX. Armeekorps (mot.)
 * 19th Oak Leaves on 10 July 1941 as General der Panzertruppe and commanding general of the XXXIX. Armeekorps (mot.)