Service/branch Army Name Theodor Scherer Years of service 1909–201935–45 | Other work Police officer | |
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Born 17 September 1889Hochstadt an der Donau ( 1889-09-17 ) Battles/wars World War IWorld War II | ||
Commands held 281st Infantry Division | ||
Theodor Scherer (17 September 1889 – 17 May 1951) was a German general and divisional commander in the Wehrmacht during World War II.
In October 1941, Scherer took command of 281st Security Division, stationed in Kholm, in the occupied Soviet Union. (The security divisions were not frontline combat formations, but were posted to the rear area and engaged in eliminating any form of resistance, real or imagined, including partisans, communists, Red Army stragglers, Jews and Roma.) In January 1942, the division, along with other Wehrmacht and police units, was encircled at Kholm, and was not relieved until 5 May 1942. For his defense of the Kholm Pocket, Scherer was decorated with the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 20 February 1942.
Scherer was subsequently appointed commander of the 34th and then the 83rd Infantry Division. The division was deployed in Velikije Luki on the left flank of Army Group Center, when it was encircled by the Soviet 3rd Shock Army in November 1942 and subsequently destroyed by mid-January 1943. Scherer then served in a staff role in the 4th Panzer Army and at the end of the war was in charge of the defence of the Schwarzen Elster river, near the Elbe. He was killed in a car accident at Ludwigsburg in May 1951.
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