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|serviceyears=1926–45 |rank=''SS-Standartenführer'' |unit= |commands= 23rd ''Waffen'' Mountain Division of the SS ''Kama'' (2nd Croatian). |battles= |battle_label= |awards= Blood Order German Cross in Gold Iron Cross 1st Class |spouse= |relations= |laterwork=Agriculture Mountaineering}} Helmuth Raithel (9 April 190712 September 1990) was a German officer who held the rank of ''SS-Standartenführer'' (colonel) in the ''Waffen-SS'' during World War II. While still at school, Raithel was swept up in the excitement of the Munich Beer Hall Putsch of 9 November 1923 led by Adolf Hitler, and was subsequently awarded the coveted Blood Order, even though he was not a member of the Nazi Party. He joined the ''Reichswehr'' (interwar German Army) in 1926. After World War II broke out he fought in the invasion of Greece in summer 1941, then against the Soviet Red Army in northern Finland before transferring to the ''Waffen-SS'' in 1943. Raithel subsequently commanded a regiment of the newly formed 13th ''Waffen'' Mountain Division of the SS ''Handschar'' (1st Croatian) and led it during fighting against the Yugoslav Partisans in the Independent State of Croatia. Raithel was seriously wounded in mid-1944 and was replaced. When a new ''Waffen-SS'' division was to be raised in June 1944, the cadre was provided by the 13th SS Division and Raithel was appointed as the divisional commander. The 23rd ''Waffen'' Mountain Division of the SS ''Kama'' (2nd Croatian) never reached full divisional strength and did not see action as a formation, but elements of the division fought briefly in southern Hungary in early October 1944. Raithel quickly suppressed a mutiny by the Bosnian Muslim soldiers of the division in mid-October 1944, but it was disbanded and its reliable troops were absorbed by the 13th SS Division and the 31st SS Volunteer Grenadier Division. Raithel was then appointed to command a regiment of 6th SS Mountain Division ''Nord'' in Alsace, where his regiment fought the United States Army. He received a serious head wound during fighting northeast of Frankfurt in early April 1945 and was captured by the Americans. Raithel recovered from his wounds and had a career in agriculture after the war, working in South Africa for many years. He returned to Bavaria when he retired and earned a doctorate of history from the University of Munich. His interest in mountaineering continued and he regularly climbed in the Alps into his seventies. He maintained contact with his former comrades from the 6th SS Division, attending many reunions. On 12 September 1990 at the age of 82, he was returning home from the Semmering Pass in eastern Austria when he was killed in a traffic accident. ==Early life== Born Helmuth Hans Walter Paul Raithel in Ingolstadt, Kingdom of Bavaria, a federated state of the German Empire, on 9 April 1907, he was the second son of a Bavarian Army officer. Raithel attended primary school then the ''Wittelsbacher-Gymnasium München'' (secondary school) until 1926. On 9 November 1923 at the age of 16, Raithel was walking his bicycle in Munich when he stumbled across the Beer Hall Putsch being led by Adolf Hitler. Swept up in the excitement, he fell in with a group led by ''Freikorps'' veteran Gerhard Roßbach. After shots were fired, he took cover with some of the group in an alley, one of whom wrote down Raithel's name as one of the "party faithful" present that day. He was subsequently awarded the highly prized Nazi Party Blood Order, although he apparently did not have any political beliefs and was not a member of the Party at the time. After he successfully completed secondary school in early 1926, he joined the ''Reichswehr'' as a ''offizieranwärter'' (officer cadet) on 1 April 1926. He was posted to the 19th Infantry Regiment during which he spent four years commanding a ''Gebirgsjäger'' (mountain infantry) platoon. While he was with the regiment, the ''Reichswehr'' was absorbed by the ''Wehrmacht''. Now part of the ''Gebirgs Brigade'', Raithel gained experience as a signals officer and company commander, and was promoted to ''Hauptmann'' (captain). With the creation of the 1st ''Gebirgs'' Division in April 1938 he was appointed as the adjutant of the 99th ''Gebirgsjäger'' Regiment. At the outbreak of war in September 1939 he was an instructor at the mountain infantry school at Fulpmes in the Stubai Alps. He was married and he and his wife had two daughters. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Helmuth Raithel」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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