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RARE WW2 SIFNATURE GENERAL GUSTAV SCHMIDT SIGNED PHOTO, IN INK SIGNED SCHMIDT KC AND GERMAN CROSS HOLDER, FINE KIA 1943

GUSTAV SCHMIDT
(1894 – 1943) German general and commander of the 19th Panzer Div., fought in Belgium and Poland, and spearheaded the attack into Russia. Awarded the Knights Cross with Oak Leaves. S.P., 3.5 x 5.5 a portrait in uniform signed in blue ink at bottom. Fine.
Most post-war sources state, Schmidt committed suicide on 7 August 1943 to avoid capture by the Red Army in the course of the Soviet Belgorod-Kharkov Offensive Operation (it cannot be clearly determined whether this occurred before or after capture). According to the war diary of the 19th Panzer Division, however, he was killed in action during the breakthrough from the Soviet encirclement.