Egon von Neindorff
12 September 1892(1892-09-12) – 15 April 1944 (aged 51)
Egon von Neindorff, 1944
Place of birth	Koblenz
Place of death	Tarnopol
Allegiance	German Empire (to 1918) Weimar Republic (to 1933) Nazi Germany
Service/branch	Heer (Army)
Rank	Major General
Commands held	216th Infantry-Division German garrison at Tarnopol
Battles/wars	World War I World War II
Awards	War Merit Cross 1st Class with Swords, April 1942 Silver Wound Badge, Feb 1944 Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves, April 1944

Egon von Neindorff (born 12 September 1892, Koblenz; † 15 April 1944, Tarnopol) was a Major General awarded the Knight’s Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves for his defense of the German garrison at Tarnopol.

[edit] World War I and Interwar Period

Egon von Neindorff joined, 22 March 1911, Jäger battalion 12, in which he served as company commander in the First World War. At the end of the war he was transferred to the Reichswehr, Infantry regiment 10, and on 15 October 1935 to infantry regiment 102, of which he became company commander and a battalion commander. On 1 October 1936 Neindorff was promoted to lieutenant colonel and on 1 August 1939 to Colonel.

[edit] World War II

At the beginning of World War II Neindorff was commander of infantry regiment 456 at Döbeln. On 10 January 1940 he took over command of infantry regiment 433. After the campaign in the West, Neindorff led his regiment, from June 1941, in Russia. After being wounded and recovering Neindorff became, July 1, 1942, commander of fortress brigade 1 in Crete. From September 1942 he commanded the 189th Reserve division and on 1 December 1942 was promoted to major general. On 1 May 1943 Neindorff became commander of the 356th Infantry division in Toulon, on 5 October 1943 he took over command of the 216th Infantry-Division in Orel, on 20 October 1943 he commanded the 137th Infantry division in Gomel, and from 16 December 1943 the 6th Infantry division south of Gomel. From 17 January 1944 Neindorff led the 36th Infantry division in Bobruisk. On 22 January 1944 he became commander of the German garrison at Tarnopol, which he defended March-April 1944 against a Russian siege. Hitler had declared Tarnopol a fortified strong point, to be held to the last man. The Red Army surrounded Tarnopol, killing almost all the German defenders (55 survivors out of 4,500), and reducing Tarnopol to ruins. For his defense of Tarnopol, Neindorff was awarded the Knight’s Cross of the Iron Cross, 4 April 1944. Neindorff was killed during the breakout from Tarnopol, 15 April 1944. Posthumously, 17 April 1944, he was awarded the Knight’s Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves.

[edit] Bibliography

• Lehrer, Steven (2002). Hitler Sites: A City-by-city Guidebook (Austria, Germany, France, United States). McFarland. pp. 224. ISBN 0786410450. http://books.google.com/books?id=pAZoAAAAMAAJ&q=hitler+sites&dq=hitler+sites&ei=6vitSe2QJpXSlQTv24iYBQ&pgis=1. 
• Lexikon der Wehrmacht. Personenregister. Neindorff, Egon von [1] This website is maintained by Volksbund Deutscher Kriegsgräberfürsorge e.V., a non-governmental charity that cares for German World War II military graves and the remains of Hitler's soldiers, both in Germany and in other parts of the world. See Hitler Sites: A City-by-city Guidebook (Austria, Germany, France, United States) for further detail.