Hermann Ritter von Speck, Date of Birth, Place of Birth, Date of Death
TweetHermann Ritter von Speck
German General and Knight's Cross recipients
Date of Birth: 
Place of Birth: Munich, Bavaria, Germany
About Hermann Ritter von Speck
- 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.
- He was the first German general officer killed in World War II.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'.”
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