Hyacinth Graf Strachwitz
German World War II general and Nazi party member (1893-1968)
Hyacinth Graf Strachwitz von Groß-Zauche und Camminetz (30 July 1893 – 25 April 1968) was a German Army officer of aristocratic descent. Strachwitz saw action in World War I, but rose to fame for his command of armoured forces in World War II. For these services he was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves, Swords and Diamonds (German: Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes mit Eichenlaub, Schwertern und Brillanten). At the time of its presentation to Strachwitz it was Nazi Germany's highest military decoration.
Strachwitz was born in 1893 on his family estate in Silesia. He was educated at various Prussian military academies and served with distinction as a cavalry officer in the opening weeks of World War I. He was captured by the French in October 1914 and almost executed on the spot for wearing civilian clothes. He was later sentenced to forced labour and after an odyssey through various French prisons and several escape attempts he returned to Germany after the war in 1918. In the aftermath of World War I, Strachwitz fought with the Freikorps in the Spartacist uprising of the German Revolution in Berlin, and in the Silesian Uprisings against the Poles and Polish Silesians of Upper Silesia. In the mid-1920s he took over the family estate, Groß Stein, from his father and became a member of the Nazi Party and the Allgemeine SS. As an officer in the reserves, he participated in various military exercises during the 1930s.
At the outbreak of World War II, Strachwitz was appointed ordnance officer in his unit. He participated in the Invasion of Poland and later in the Battle of France.
“Hyacinth Graf Strachwitz” enters the record as german World War II general and Nazi party member (1893-1968). Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Hyacinth, Graf and Strachwitz can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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Chronology, provenance and viewpoint should be read together before a broad social or political interpretation is accepted. The source revision retrieved here is dated May 14, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q60722. VIAF identifies the subject as 45396145. The Library of Congress control number is n2013070996. 4 of 4 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 1 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1893, 1968, 1914 and 1918.
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This entry incorporates text from “Hyacinth Graf Strachwitz” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.