German Forces

Robert Borchardt - a Jewish Knight's Cross holder

Major ROBERT BORCHARDT (*January 9, 1912 in Munich; +March 10, 1985 in Pullach near Munich. Knight's Cross received as commander of the armoured scout company/motorized recce battalion 341. The man who earned his high decoration in the hot deserts of Northern Africa actually was a so-called "unwanted person" in according to race laws of Nuremberg. His Jewish father was inmate of the concentration camp Dachau and emigrated to the UK in 1938. Why did a (half-) jew fight bravely for Nazi Germany? Major Borchardt: "I served to prove that Hitlers race-nonsense was all wrong. I wanted to prove that people of Jewish ancestry factual were brave and courageous soldiers."