Egon Franz
Encyclopedia
Egon Franz was a Unterscharführer
in the Waffen SS during World War II
who was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross
which was awarded to recognize extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership by Nazi Germany
during World War II.
He was born in the Sudetenland
on the 19 August 1921. He volunteered to join the SS and was posted to the SS Division Wiking. He was awarded the Knight's Cross in October 1944 when a platoon commander in the 3rd Company, 9th SS Panzer Grenadier Regiment Germania.
There is some confusion over when he died, the official record states he died from severe wounds near Jungbusch. However other sources indicate he was murdered while in Czech captivity, in August 1945.
Unterscharführer
Unterscharführer was a paramilitary rank of the Nazi Party used by the Schutzstaffel between 1934 and 1945. The SS rank was created after the Night of the Long Knives...
in the Waffen SS during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
who was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross
Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross
The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross was a grade of the 1939 version of the 1813 created Iron Cross . The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross was the highest award of Germany to recognize extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership during World War II...
which was awarded to recognize extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership by Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
during World War II.
He was born in the Sudetenland
Sudetenland
Sudetenland is the German name used in English in the first half of the 20th century for the northern, southwest and western regions of Czechoslovakia inhabited mostly by ethnic Germans, specifically the border areas of Bohemia, Moravia, and those parts of Silesia being within Czechoslovakia.The...
on the 19 August 1921. He volunteered to join the SS and was posted to the SS Division Wiking. He was awarded the Knight's Cross in October 1944 when a platoon commander in the 3rd Company, 9th SS Panzer Grenadier Regiment Germania.
There is some confusion over when he died, the official record states he died from severe wounds near Jungbusch. However other sources indicate he was murdered while in Czech captivity, in August 1945.