Otto Lasch


Bernhard Otto Lasch was a German general in the Wehrmacht during World War II who commanded the LXIV Corps. He was also a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves.

Life

The son of Prince Pless's chief forester, Otto Lasch, joined the Jäger Battalion "Prince Bismarck" No. 2 in Kulm as an officer candidate, after graduating from Gymnasium with Abitur, on 27 March 1913, with which he participated in the First World War. Towards the end of the war, he was deployed as an aerial observer.
After World War I, Lasch served in the Freikorps in the East Prussian city of Lyck as part of the Border Protection East. From 1 January 1920 to 1935, he served with the police, finally as a Police Major. He joined the Wehrmacht on 15 October 1935 and later took part in Operation Barbarossa, playing a pivotal role in capturing Riga in early July 1941. He rose to the rank of General of the Infantry in 1944 and functioned as Commandant of Königsberg in East Prussia from November 1944 onward. As Fortress Commandant of Königsberg he was responsible for defending the city and maintaining order among the flood of refugees fleeing from the invading Red Army.
Following heavy fighting and a three month siege of the city during the Battle of Königsberg by the 36-division-strong 3rd Byelorussian Front under Ivan Chernyakhovsky, Lasch disobeyed Hitler's orders and surrendered Königsberg to the Red Army on 9 April 1945. As a result of his surrender Hitler sentenced him in absentia to death by hanging, and his family in Berlin, was arrested.
They were released after the Surrender of the Wehrmacht.
Lasch went into Soviet captivity and was routinely convicted as an alleged war criminal in the Soviet Union and sentenced to twenty-five years in a corrective labor camp in 1948. He was repatriated on 8 October 1955.
Lasch authored So fiel Königsberg. Kampf und Untergang von Ostpreußens Hauptstadt, which was published in 1958. In 1965, he wrote about his years as a Soviet prisoner of war.

Russian captivity

Like so many others, Otto Lasch would become a POW of the Red Army. On 13 April 1945, thousands of Russian leaflets were dropped over German positions. They were signed by the now-prisoners of war General of the Infantry Lasch, Lieutenant General Hermann Haehnle, Colonel Hugo Eduard Wilhelm Freiherr von Süßkind-Schwendi, Colonel Kaspar August Völker, and others, including Colonel Kurt Erdmann-Degenhardt. The text read :

Death

General Lasch died in Bonn in 1971 and is buried in Bad Godesberg with his wife, who predeceased him.

Promotions

Army

  • 27 March 1913 Fahnenjunker
  • 11 July 1913 Fahnenjunker-Oberjäger
  • 17 February 1914 Fähnrich
  • 7 August 1914 Leutnant without Patent
  • * later received Patent from 19 December 1912
  • 22 March 1918 Oberleutnant

    Police

  • 1 January 1920 Polizei-Oberleutnant
  • 20 July 1921 Polizei-Hauptmann
  • 6 November 1933 Major der Landespolizei with effect from 1 January 1934

    Wehrmacht

  • 15 October 1935 Major with Rank Seniority from 1 July 1934
  • 18 January 1937 Oberstleutnant with effect and RDA from 1 January 1937
  • 30 November 1939 Oberst with effect and RDA from 1 December 1939
  • 15 July 1942 Generalmajor with effect and RDA from 1 August 1942
  • 20 April 1943 Generalleutnant with effect and RDA from 1 April 1943
  • 15 November 1944 General der Infanterie with effect and RDA from 9 November 1944

    Awards and decorations

  • Iron Cross
  • * 2nd Class on 5 October 1914
  • * 1st Class on 2 July 1916
  • Prussian Observer's Badge 1914 on 23 February 1916
  • Honour Goblet for the Victor in Aerial Combat on 21 February 1917
  • Wound Badge in Black on 12 August 1918
  • Honour Cross of the World War 1914/1918 with Swords
  • Wehrmacht Long Service Award, 4th to 1st Class
  • * 2nd Class on 2 October 1936
  • * 1st Class on 27 March 1938
  • Repetition Clasp 1939 to the Iron Cross 1914, 2nd and 1st Class
  • * 2nd Class om 14 September 1939
  • * 1st Class on 24 October 1939
  • Three references by name in the Wehrmachtbericht: 1 July 1941, 2 July 1942 and 12 April 1945
  • Certificate of Recognition of the Commander-in-Chief of the Army for Outstanding Achievements on the Battlefield on 3 July 1941 as Oberst
  • Wound Badge in Silver on 10 October 1941
  • Infantry Assault Badge in Silver on 9 July 1942
  • Winter Battle in the East 1941–42 Medal on 14 August 1942
  • Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves
  • * Knight's Cross on 20 July 1941 as Colonel and Commander of the Infanterie-Regiment 43
  • * 578th Oak Leaves on 10 September 1944 Lieutenant General and Commander of the 349. Infanterie-Division