World Battlefronts: BATTLE OF RUSSIA: Path of Glory

The war had struck close to Hans Hube. His son had been killed on the Eastern front; his daughter had died in an air raid on Berlin. He himself, the Reich’s famed one-armed tank general, had barely managed to slip out of the Russians’ reach on the hostile Ukrainian steppe.

On Hitler’s birthday, straight-backed Hans Hube journeyed to Berlin, stood at stiff attention while the Führer pinned oak leaves to the Ritterkreuz (Knight’s Cross) on his arched chest. Germany needed heroes; the Nazi press obediently hailed the 53-year-old general.

Few hours later dark news was brought to Hitler: Colonel General Hans Valentin Hube had died in an air accident. Last week at the Mosaic Hall of the Chancellery, Hitler, Göring, smaller Nazi fry met to mourn the 32nd Nazi general officer lost in World War II.