Hans Felber

Hans-Gustav Felber
Felber, during deportation of Jews from Marseille, France, in 1943
Born	(1889-07-08)July 8, 1889
Died	March 8, 1962(1962-03-08) (aged 72)
Allegiance	German Empire Weimar Republic Nazi Germany
Service / branch	German Army
Years of service	1908–45
Rank	General of the Infantry
Commands	XIII Army Corps LXXXIII Army Corps Militärbefehlshaber Südost 7th Army
Battles / wars	World War I World War II
Awards	Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross

Hans Felber in front of Gare d'Arenc, Marseille, 1943

Hans-Gustav Felber (July 8, 1889 – March 8, 1962) was a general in the Wehrmacht of Nazi Germany during World War II.

Biography

From 15 October 1939 Felber was the chief of staff of the 2nd Army, becoming chief of staff of the Army Group Centre in February 1940.
On 25 October 1940 he was given the command of the XIII Army Corps with which he fought in the Soviet Union. In April 1942, he was transferred to the Höheres Kommando z. b. V. XXXXV, later renumbered to LXXXIII Army Corps and Army Group Felber, stationed in France.

During August 1943, Felber was appointed Militärbefehlshaber Südost, under whose command were all German troops in Serbia, Albania, Montenegro, Croatia and Greece. German Foreign Ministry delegate for Balkans Hermann Neubacher and Felber considered that punitive measures against population(1:50) were no longer in interests of Germany, as they wanted better relations with Nedić's government, which August Meyszner, Higher SS officer and police leader for Serbia, opposed. Despite arguing for lesser punitive measures, under Felber Germans executed over 2000 hostages in first two months of his rule, more than in the same period of previous year. On December 22 new lesser punitive measures were approved, and it was applied for entire Balkans not just Serbia.

From 26 September to 27 October 1944 he headed the Army Group Serbia.

On 6 December 1944 he led the Corps Group Felber, which was renamed XIII Army Corps after the original XIII Corps had been disbanded following their crushing defeat in the Lvov–Sandomierz Offensive. From 22 February to 25 March 1945 Felber was the commander of the 7th Army.

Awards

• Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 17 September 1941 as General der Infanterie and commander of XIII. Armee-Korps

References

Bibliography

• (Russian) Kto byl kto v Tretyem reykhe. Biografichesky entsiklopedichesky slovar, Moscow, 2003
• Fellgiebel, Walther-Peer (2000) [1986]. Die Träger des Ritterkreuzes des Eisernen Kreuzes 1939–1945 — Die Inhaber der höchsten Auszeichnung des Zweiten Weltkrieges aller Wehrmachtteile [The Bearers of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross 1939–1945 — The Owners of the Highest Award of the Second World War of all Wehrmacht Branches] (in German). Friedberg, Germany: Podzun-Pallas. ISBN 978-3-7909-0284-6.
• Scherzer, Veit (2007). Die Ritterkreuzträger 1939–1945 Die Inhaber des Ritterkreuzes des Eisernen Kreuzes 1939 von Heer, Luftwaffe, Kriegsmarine, Waffen-SS, Volkssturm sowie mit Deutschland verbündeter Streitkräfte nach den Unterlagen des Bundesarchives [The Knight's Cross Bearers 1939–1945 The Holders of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross 1939 by Army, Air Force, Navy, Waffen-SS, Volkssturm and Allied Forces with Germany According to the Documents of the Federal Archives] (in German). Jena, Germany: Scherzers Militaer-Verlag. ISBN 978-3-938845-17-2.
• Glišić, Venceslav (1970). Teror i zločini nacističke Nemačke u Srbiji 1941–1945 [Terror and Crimes of Nazi Germany in Serbia 1941–1945] (in Serbo-Croatian). Belgrade: Rad. OCLC 9151138.