Erhard Raus

Erhard Raus (8 January 1889 – 3 April 1956) was an Austrian general in the Wehrmacht of Nazi Germany during World War II. He commanded the 6th Panzer Division during the early years of the war on the Eastern Front before taking army and army group commands.

Biography

At the age of 18, Raus enrolled in the Austro-Hungarian officer school in Brno, later being stationed in Cormòns. During the First World War he experienced combat on the Eastern Front, in southern Poland, where he commanded a company of Bicycle infantry.

At the end of First World War, he was included in the newly formed Austrian army, first as the commander of the Vienna bicycle infantry battalion, later as a tactician at the military academy.

After the annexation of Austria to Germany in 1938, he transferred allegiance to the German military, becoming the military attaché of the German embassy in Rome.

At the outbreak of Second World War, he was recalled to active duty.

On 7 September 1941, during Operation Barbarossa, Raus was appointed the acting commander of the 6th Panzer Division. On 15 September, the 6th Panzer Division, minus its artillery, was transferred to Army Group Centre to take part in Operation Typhoon, the advance onto Moscow.¹ On 11 October he was awarded the Knights Cross. Raus's unit was transferred to the LVI Panzer Corps.