-Medals

Schulz, Adalbert, born 20-12-1903 in Berlin, the son of a civil servant, graduated from a Berliner Realgymnasium, secondary school, with his abitur and took on an apprenticeship at a bank. To fulfill his ambition in becoming a bank director he attended a merchant college Handelshochschule from 1923 to 1924. In December 1925 he changed his mind and joined the Prussian police force at the Police school, Polizeischule,  in Brandenburg. After completing his training in 1927 he was promoted to Polizeiwachtmeister and after eight years on 20-04-1934 of service was promoted to Polizeileutnant, second lieutenant, in Berlin. On 01-10-1935 Schulz transferred from the Police, preußischen kasernierten Landespolizei,  to the Wehrmacht as an Oberleutnant.He took part in the occupations of Austria, the Anschluss and the Sudetenland. During the western campaign and in 1940 was promoted to captain. He participated in the invasion of Belgium, attacks on French and British positions and assisted in the breakthrough to Cherbourg, serving under General Erwin Rommel. On the 29-09-1940 he received the Knight’s Cross of the Iron Cross . As part of Army Group Centre, under Fielmarshal Fedor von Bock in Klin, Schulz attacked a Soviet force eight times larger than his own. Despite being outnumbered he covered the retreat of German troops and the evacuation of a field hospital with more than 4.000 wounded. For these actions he was awarded the Oak Leaves to his Knights Cross on 31-12-1941. On 06-08-1943 he received the Swords to his Knight’s Cross and was promoted to Oberst. The 7th  Panzer-Division  under GeneralmajorHasso von Manteuffel  subordinated to the 4th  Panzer Army under the command of Hermann Hoth started its counteroffensive against the recently evacuated city of Kharkov on 11-03-1943. The bulk of the 4th  Panzer Army was pushed south of Dresden into the Ore Mountains and forced to surrender to the Soviets in the wake of the early May 1945 Prague Offensive. Adelbert Schulz, who had just recently before been put in command of the 25th Panzer-Regiment, led his Kampfgruppe in one of the most successful engagements of the “Gespensterdivision” “Ghost Division”. His soldiers destroyed more than 100 enemy tanks and many artillery positions during the annihilation of the Red Army’s 3rd Tank Army under Generaloberst Pavel Semjonovich Rybalko    Adelbert Schulz just prior to the battle of Kursk on 21-06-1943.

   On 14 December, Schulz received a radio message that he would receive the Diamonds to the Ritterkreuz, and was told to report to the Führer’s headquarters. Schulz refused to go on the grounds that he was too busy fighting on the eastern front and had no time to receive it. The honor was eventually awarded to him on 09-01-1944, and he was promoted to Major General and made division commander in charge of Rommel’s former division. Generalmajor Adelbert Schulz led the tanks of the 7th  Panzer-Division in an attack against the enemy positions at Sepetovka on 28-01-1944.

Death and burial ground.

Standing in the opened hatch of his tank, Schulz was hit by artillery shrapnel in the head. Schulz succumbed to his injuries the same day even though he had immediately been evacuated to a field hospital.

   His death was announced on 30-01-1944 in the Wehrmachtbericht. Adelbert Schulz, age 42, is buried in a field grave near Sepetovka,  Russia. Wolfgang Linke sent me the photo.  

Tam został pochowany 30 stycznia 1944 roku z orkiestrą i asystą wojskową.

Baczność, spocznij Marcin Schulz.

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