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Kurt Knispel
German World War II tank gunner From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Kurt Knispel (20 September 1921 – 28 April 1945[1]) was a German tank commander during World War II. His fame comes from the alleged 168 "kills" during his combat career, which has been debunked by historians, but continues to be spread by online.[2]
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Knispel was severely wounded on 28 April 1945 by shrapnel to his head when his Tiger II was hit in battle by Soviet tanks. He died two hours later in a German field hospital.[3]
On 10 April 2013, Czech authorities said that Knispel's remains were found with 15 other German soldiers behind a church wall in Vrbovec, identified by his dog tags.[4]
On 12 November 2014, the German War Graves Commission reburied his remains at the Brno Central Cemetery in Brno, at the German army cemetery of the military department.[5] He was buried with 41 other German soldiers who died in Moravia and Silesia.[6]
Knispel was profiled extensively in the second installment of the popular historical fiction series Panzer Aces, written by Franz Kurowski. Alfred Rubbel, Knispel's superior officer during the war, challenged Kurowski's retelling of Knispel's alleged tank kills and awards. Rubbel described Kurowski's writing on Knispel as "a sheer outrage. What he wrote in there, it is all made up. Alone the quotes he puts in my mouth. It is all completely untrue."[7][8]
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Awards
- German Cross in Gold on 20 May 1944 as Unteroffizier in the 1./schwere Panzer-Abteilung 503[9]
References
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