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Erich BachSS-Obergruppenführer and general of the SS and police forces.
Date of Birth: 01.03.1899
Country:  Germany |
Content:
Biography of Erich Bach
Erich Bach was an Obergruppenführer of the SS and a general in the SS and police forces. He was born in a family of landowners von Zelewski and was raised by adoptive parents. In December 1914, at the age of 15, he volunteered for the 176th Infantry Regiment. In August 1915, he was awarded the Iron Cross 2nd Class. On March 1, 1916, his 17th birthday, he was promoted to lieutenant. In September 1918, he was awarded the Iron Cross 1st Class for his service as a company commander and also received a wound badge for being poisoned by a gas attack.
SS Career
After the war, Bach served in the border guard and then in the 4th Infantry Regiment of the Reichswehr. In February 1924, Lieutenant von Zelewski was dismissed from military service for participating in political activities. In February 1930, he joined the Nazi Party (membership number 489 101) and on February 15, 1931, he joined the SS (membership number 9 831). On July 20, 1931, he was promoted to the rank of SS-Sturmführer. He quickly advanced in ranks and positions within the SS. From February 1931, he commanded the 27th SS-Standarte in Frankfurt an der Oder. In December 1931, he became an SS-Sturmbannführer, and in July 1932, he became a deputy in the Reichstag and the chief of an SS district. From September 1932, he held the rank of SS-Standartenführer, and from October 1932, he was an SS-Oberführer. In December 1933, he became an SS-Brigadeführer, and from July 1934, he held the rank of SS-Gruppenführer. It was Erich Bach whom Hitler once called "What an extraordinary man this Bach-Zelewski is."
World War II
From May 1941, Bach commanded the SS forces in Central Russia and Belarus. In November 1941, he was promoted to SS-Obergruppenführer and general of the police. At the same time, from October 1942, he commanded all anti-partisan forces in Eastern Europe (in Poland, Belarus, and Russia). In August-November 1944, he commanded the corps battle group "Fon dem Bach," which suppressed the Polish uprising in Warsaw. On September 30, 1944, he was awarded the Knight's Cross. Under Bach's orders, in late August 1944, Waffen-Brigadeführer Bronislav Kaminski, the commander of the 29th SS Grenadier Division (Russian No. 1), and his staff were shot, along with the division's medical officer and chauffeur. It was announced that they were killed by Polish partisans. From November 1944 until the beginning of February 1945, Bach was the commander of the 14th SS Corps, and then the 10th SS Corps. From February 1945, he commanded the "Oder" Corps. In late April 1945, he was taken prisoner and later became a witness at the Nuremberg Trials. His testimony provided crucial information exposing the Nazi ideology and plans for the murder of millions of innocent people. He also claimed that anti-partisan operations in the occupied territory of the USSR were primarily carried out by Wehrmacht forces, as the SD and police units were small in numbers.
Post-War Life
In March 1951, Bach was sentenced to 10 years of forced labor by the Chief Court for Denazification in Munich. After his release, he worked as a night watchman. In December 1958, he was arrested by the authorities of West Germany and convicted for his participation in the "Night of the Long Knives" in 1934 when, on Hitler's orders, SS members eliminated the leadership of the SA. In 1961, Bach was sentenced to 4 years of imprisonment for his role in the killing of six German communists in 1933. After serving his sentence in 1962, he was again convicted by the West German authorities and sentenced to life imprisonment.
