This Date in History: July 19

 

Fritz Haas, SS-Sturmbannführer, was born in Friedberg on July 19, 1912.  He served at the Dachau concentration camp in 1937.  From 1940 to 1943, Haas served in the 3rd SS Division “Totenkopf” and the 10th SS Division “Frundsberg” in 1944, where he won the Iron Cross First Class.  (The Camp Men: The SS Officers Who Ran the Nazi Concentration Camp System)

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The 101st SS Heavy Panzer Detachment was created on July 19, 1943 to be part of the Ist SS Panzer Corps.  The process involved incorporating the 13th (Heavy) Company of the Leibstandarte with two new heavy tank companies that also had Tigers; the new unit deployed to Verona, Italy on August 23, 1943 to combat the anticipated Allied invasion of that country now that the island of Sicily had fallen.  The unit remained in Italy until mid-October, when the unit sent some of its elements back to the Eastern Front.  (Waffen-SS Tiger Crews at Kursk: The Men of SS Panzer Regiments 1, 2 & 3 in Operation Citadel, July 5-15, 1943)

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Silver Star – also known as the Silver Star Medal, was approved on July 19, 1932 by the Secretary of War as a replacement for an earlier award, the “Citation Star” from the Great War.  Authorization for the award was placed into law by two Acts of Congress in 1942; approval for Army recipients began on December 15, 1942.  The award is for gallantry in action against the enemy.  For Army ground troops, this generally means singular acts of valor, or heroism over a brief period, such as one or two days of an extended battle.  It was far more difficult to win a Silver Star than a Bronze Star, especially for enlisted soldiers.  (Dying Hard: Company B, 39th Infantry Regiment, 9th US Infantry Division in World War II)