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Riewe, Reinhold

Date of birth:
April 11th, 1920 (Jackonys, Lithuania)
Date of death:
September 14th, 2010 (Harvard/Illinos, United States)
Nationality:
German

Biography

Reinhold Riewe was born in Jakonys, Lithuania as son of German parents Anton and Anna Riewe. His unit and all of the 9.Armee were subsequently destroyed when the Soviets launched "Operation Bagration" in June-July of 1944 and Reinhold Riewe marched into captivity near Bobruisk, Russia spending the next seven years in the USSR as a Prisoner-of-War.

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Period:
Second World War (1939-1945)
Rank:
Gefreiter (Lance Corporal)
Unit:
7. Radfahr Kompanie, II. Bataillon, 533 Grenadier-Regiment 533, 383. Infanterie-Division, Heer
Awarded on:
1943
Elements of Reinhold Riewes unit together with elements of the 87. Sturm-Division successfully counterattacked Soviet probes on their area (village) of deployment at night sometime in the spring of 1943 in the Kursk-Orel salient. For this action, Gefreiter Reinhold Riewe and others of the participating units received the Iron Cross 2nd Class.
Eisernes Kreuz 2. Klasse
During the Battle of Kursk (Unternehmen Zitadelle), Reinhold Riewe and others of his unit had the task of clearing out soviet pockets of resistance (MG nests, Observation & Listening Posts, Anti tank & mortar pits,etc.,). It was at this time that soviet ordnance (mortar round?)exploded in front of him and serverly wounded him with multiple shrapnel wounds for which he was evacuated to the rear and subsequently spent 6 moths recuperating in a Wehrmacht hospital in Warsaw, Poland returning to his unit in early 1944.

Sources

  • Photo 1: Arno Riewe
  • Photo: Family photo
  • - Familyrecords

Photo