August Schmidhuber

August Schmidhuber
August Schmidhuber touring the Mauthausen-Gusen concentration camp, April 1941
Born	(1901-05-08)8 May 1901 Augsburg, Kingdom of Bavaria, German Empire
Died	19 February 1947(1947-02-19) (aged 45) Belgrade, PR Serbia, FPR Yugoslavia
Cause of death	Execution by hanging
Criminal status	Executed
Conviction(s)	War crimes
Criminal penalty	Death
Military service
Allegiance	Weimar Republic  Nazi Germany
Service/branch	Waffen-SS
Years of service	1919–45
Rank	SS-Brigadeführer
Commands held	21st Waffen Mountain Division of the SS Skanderbeg (1st Albanian) 7th SS Volunteer Mountain Division Prinz Eugen
Awards	German Cross in Gold Iron Cross 1st Class

August Schmidhuber (8 May 1901 – 19 February 1947) was an SS-Brigadeführer who commanded two Waffen-SS divisions in occupied Yugoslavia and Albania during the latter stages of World War II who was executed by the post-war Yugoslav authorities for war crimes. The Waffen-SS was an armed branch of the German Nazi Party that served alongside but was never formally part of the Wehrmacht. At the post-war Nuremberg trials, the Waffen-SS – of which Schmidhuber was a senior officer – was declared to be a criminal organisation due to its major involvement in war crimes and crimes against humanity.

During anti-partisan operations in Yugoslavia, under his direct orders, the 21st Waffen SS Division Skanderbeg committed numerous atrocities; the division also contributed to the Holocaust by participating in the roundup and deportation of most of the Jews from Kosovo. Schmidhuber was captured in May 1945, he was tried and convicted as war criminal, he was executed in Belgrade on 19 February 1947.