Ulrich Kleemann


Ulrich Kleemann was a German general during World War II and a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross of Nazi Germany. He commanded the 90th Light Africa Division in North Africa from 10 April 1942 to 13 July 1942 and from 10 August 1942 to 1 November 1942.
During the Dodecanese Campaign, Kleemann commanded the 7,500-strong Sturm-Division "Rhodos" during the attack on the Italian garrison of Rhodes. Kleeman defeated the Italians within two days, before British reinforcements could arrive in Rhodes. In September 1943, barely two weeks after the Italian surrender, British forces landed on Samos, Leros, and Kos. Kleemann counterattacked and within two months overran the three British garrisons.
In June 1944, two SS officers arrived by plane in Rhodes to hold discussions with Kleemann about the Jews of Rhodes. On July 13, Kleemann issued an order ordering the Jewish population of Rhodes to gather in the city of Rhodes and the towns of Trianda, Cremasto, and Villanova by noon on July 17. On July 16 Kleemann was forced to issue another order stating that the Jewish question on Rhodes had apparently given rise to "doubts" and barring further questioning of orders by the troops. 1,700 members of the ancient Jewish community of Rhodes, out of a population of about 2,000, were rounded up and transported to mainland Europe. Only some 160 of them survived the camps. Out of 6,000 Ladino-speaking Jews in the Dodecanese as a whole, some 1,200 survived by escaping to the nearby coast of Turkey.
From 27 November 1944 to 8 May 1945, Kleeman commanded Panzer Corps Feldherrnhalle on the Eastern Front. Kleeman's tank corps fought in Hungary and was destroyed in the Battle of Budapest.

Command history