Formal studio portrait of Hauptsturmfuhrer (later Sturmbannfuhrer) Eberhard Heder from the studio of Heinrich Hoffmann, probably made in connection with his award of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross, November 1944 (following distinguished conduct in command during the defence of Warsaw against Soviet forces).  Prussian-born Heder spent most of his Waffen-SS career in the 5th SS Division, "Wiking".  He survived the war, and subsequently served in the West German Bundeswehr, in which he reached the rank of Oberst.  Apart from the Knight's Cross, he is seen here wearing the German Cross in Gold and the Close Combat Clasp in Silver.  Best regards, JR

Highly decorated Wiking.

It was in his capacity as a company commander that he gained notoriety, being responsible for the 27 May 1940 massacre of British prisoners-of-war at Le Paradis in the Pas-de-Calais. Ninety-nine members of the 2nd Battalion of the Royal Norfolk Regiment who had surrendered to his unit in a cattle shed were stood in front of the barn wall, and Knöchlein ordered two machine-guns turned on them, followed by bayoneting and shooting any apparent survivors. Two of the prisoners, privates Albert Pooley and William O'Callaghan, managed to escape the massacre, but the remaining 97 were hastily buried along the barn wall.

Fritz Knöchlein- Le Paradis Massacre

Fallen Danish and Norwegian SS-volunteers from Division Nordland waiting for burial during the intense fighting at Narva in Estonia, winter 1944. 