Heinz Harmel
Heinz Harmel (29 June 1906 – 2 September 2000) was a German SS commander during the Nazi era.Born in 1906,[1] Harmel volunteered for the SS-Verfügungstruppe (later known as the Waffen-SS) in 1935 and served as a company commander in the SS-Regiment Der Führer, with which he took part in the Battle of France in 1940.[3] Harmel had been ordered to break the enemy's lines, to free the German units encircled in Falaise Pocket numbering approximately 125,000 troops of the 7th Army.His division was then transferred to Alsace, where Harmel was ordered to establish a bridgehead to join the Colmar Pocket.The division was subsequently transferred to Heeresgruppe Mitte where in late April it was ordered to counterattack the forces of Marshal Ivan Konev.