Hermann Ritter von Speck

Hermann Ritter von Speck
Born	8 August 1888
Died	15 June 1940(1940-06-15) (aged 51) Pont-sur-Yonne, France
Allegiance	Nazi Germany
Service / branch	Army (Wehrmacht)
Rank	Full General
Commands	33. Infanterie-Division XXXXIII. Armeekorps XVIII. Armeekorps
Battles / wars	Battle of France
Awards	Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross

Hermann Ritter von Speck (8 August 1888 – 15 June 1940) was a German general during World War II. He was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross of Nazi Germany. Speck was killed by French machine gun fire on 15 June 1940 in Pont-sur-Yonne, France.

After World War I, Speck joind the Freikorps and participated in the suppression of the German Revolution of 1918–1919 in southern Bavaria, Landshut, Augsburg, and Munich. He later joined became a colonel in the Reichswehr.

He was posthumously awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 17 October 1940.

In 2010, Jay Nordlinger spoke with von Speck's daughter, who claimed that the general deliberately sought death in battle: "According to his daughter, he wanted to die, and arranged to die. He felt he could not break his oath to the army — he could not desert. And his Catholic faith prevented him from committing suicide — suicide straight out, you might say. So, he put himself in the line of fire. In his dying words, he did not say, 'Give my love to my family', or anything like that. He said, 'It had to be this way'.”

Awards and decorations

• Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 17 October 1940 as Generalleutnant and commander of XVIII. Armeekorps

References

Bibliography

• Fellgiebel, Walther-Peer (2000) [1986]. Die Träger des Ritterkreuzes des Eisernen Kreuzes 1939–1945 — Die Inhaber der höchsten Auszeichnung des Zweiten Weltkrieges aller Wehrmachtteile [The Bearers of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross 1939–1945 — The Owners of the Highest Award of the Second World War of all Wehrmacht Branches] (in German). Friedberg, Germany: Podzun-Pallas. ISBN 978-3-7909-0284-6.