Wehrmacht general who directed anti-Partisan operations
Lüters assessed the Partisans' combat morale as “surprisingly high.”
Rudolf Lüters was a professional German officer who served through the First World War, the Imperial Army, and the Reichswehr before becoming a Wehrmacht general of infantry in the Second World War. From late 1942 he commanded German forces in Croatia and took part in planning and directing the Neretva and Sutjeska offensives against the Yugoslav Partisans. He assessed the Partisans as well organized and well led, with surprisingly high combat morale, yet at Sutjeska ordered that no able-bodied man leave the encirclement alive, exposing the annihilatory character of the occupation war. Captured by Soviet forces in 1945, he died in detention later that year.
Career Timeline
- 1902Entered the Imperial German Army's 118th Infantry Regiment
- 1914–1918Commanded companies and a battalion on the Western Front in the First World War
- 1920–1933Served with the Reichswehr's 15th Infantry Regiment and 5th Division
- 1933–1938Commanded the 1st Prussian Infantry Regiment, then inspected military replacement districts
- 1941–1942Commanded the 223rd Infantry Division during the invasion of the Soviet Union
- 1942–1943Commander of German troops in Croatia, directing the Neretva and Sutjeska offensives
- 1943First commander of the XV Mountain Corps
- 1944–1945Honorably discharged, then died in Soviet captivity