List of foreign recipients of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross
In total, 43 individuals in the military of allies of Nazi Germany were awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross, the highest award in the military of Nazi Germany during World War II. Eight of these men were also honoured with the next higher grade, the Oak Leaves to the Knight's Cross, and one senior naval officer, Fleet Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, was additionally awarded the Swords to the Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves. Among the recipients were eighteen Romanians, nine Italians, eight Hungarians, two Slovaks, two Japanese, two Spaniards, two Finns, one Dutch man, and one Belgian.
Colonel General Dezső László of Hungary became the last foreign recipient of the award on 3 March 1945. The last surviving foreign recipient of the award was Belgian politician Léon Degrelle, who died on 31 March 1994, fifty years after receiving the medal from Hitler's hands.
Background
The Oberkommando der Wehrmacht kept separate Knight's Cross lists, one for each of the military branches, Heer, Kriegsmarine, Luftwaffe and for the Waffen-SS. Within each of these lists a unique sequential number was assigned to each recipient. The same numbering paradigm was applied to the higher grades of the Knight's Cross, one list per grade. Once the four lists of the Knight's Cross recipients were merged into one listing, the chronological order was abandoned and the list was converted to an alphabetical list of recipients. Foreign recipients were never integrated into this list. The Wehrmacht also refrained from assigning a numbering scheme to the different lists of foreign recipients. Two principles were retained: the foreign Knights Cross recipients were ordered alphabetically and the recipients of the higher grades were ordered chronologically.The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross and its higher grades were based on four separate enactments. The first enactment Reichsgesetzblatt I S. 1573 of 1 September 1939 instituted the Iron Cross and the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross. As the war progressed, some of the recipients distinguished themselves further and a higher grade, the Oak Leaves to Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross, was instituted. The Oak Leaves, as they were commonly referred to, were based on the enactment Reichsgesetzblatt I S. 849 of 3 June 1940. In 1941, two higher grades of the Knight's Cross were instituted. The enactment Reichsgesetzblatt I S. 613 of 28 September 1941 introduced the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords and the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves, Swords and Diamonds. At the end of 1944 the final grade, the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Golden Oak Leaves, Swords, and Diamonds, based on the enactment Reichsgesetzblatt 1945 I S. 11 of 29 December 1944, concluded the variants of the Knight's Cross.
Recipients
The recipients of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross are initially ordered alphabetically whereas the recipients of the higher grades are initially ordered chronologically. The rank listed is the recipient's rank at the time the Knight's Cross or the Oak Leaves were awarded.Recipients of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords
The Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords is based on the enactment Reichsgesetzblatt I S. 613 of 28 September 1941 to reward those servicemen who had already been awarded the Oak Leaves to the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross. Isoroku Yamamoto was the sole non-German combatant to be honoured with the Swords to the Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves.| Name | Country | Rank | Unit | Date of award | Notes | Picture |
| Japan | Fleet Admiral | Commander-in-chief of the IJN Combined Fleet | 27 May 1943* | Killed in action 18 April 1943 |
Recipients of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves
The Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves was based on the enactment Reichsgesetzblatt I S. 849 of 3 June 1940.| Name | Country | Rank | Unit | Date of award | Notes | Picture |
| Romania | 6th Infantry Division of the 3rd Romanian Army | 22 November 1942 | — | |||
| Spain | Blue Division | 13 December 1942 | — | |||
| Japan | Commander-in-chief of the IJN Combined Fleet | 27 May 1943* | Awarded Swords 27 May 1943 | |||
| Romania | 6th Cavalry Division | 8 December 1943 | — | |||
| Romania | 3rd Romanian Army | 4 April 1944 | — | |||
| Japan | Japanese Chief of Fleet | 12 May 1944* | Killed in action 31 March 1944 | |||
| Finland | President and Commander-in-chief of Finnish Defense Forces | 5 August 1944 | — | |||
| Belgium | 5. SS-Freiw.-Sturm-Brig. "Wallonien" | 27 August 1944 | — |
Recipients of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross
The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross is based on the enactment Reichsgesetzblatt I S. 1573 of 1 September 1939 Verordnung über die Erneuerung des Eisernen Kreuzes.| Name | Country | Rank | Unit | Date of award | Notes | Image |
| Romania | Commander-in-chief of the Military of Romania | 6 August 1941 | First non-German to receive this award | |||
| Italy | Italian 52nd Motorised Division Torino | 9 February 1942* | Killed in action 12 December 1941 | |||
| Italy | Chief of the Italian Supreme Command | 14 February 1942 | — | |||
| Romania | Romanian 6th Army Corps | 6 August 1942 | — | |||
| Romania | 2nd Romanian Mountain Division | 21 November 1942 | — | |||
| Romania | 3rd Romanian Army | 1 September 1942 | Awarded Oak Leaves 4 April 1944 | |||
| Spain | Blue Division | 3 October 1943 | — | |||
| Italy | Italian submarine Enrico Tazzoli | 19 March 1943 | — | |||
| Italy | 8th Italian Army | 1 April 1943 | — | |||
| Italy | Italian submarine Archimede | 26 May 1943* | Killed in action 24 May 1943 | |||
| Romania | General Staff of the Romanian Air Force | 4 April 1944 | — | |||
| Italy | Italian 55 Infantry Division Savona | 9 January 1942 | — | |||
| Italy | Italian submarine Barbarigo | 7 October 1942 | — | |||
| Finland | Chief of Finnish General Staff | 5 August 1944 | — | |||
| Hungary | 3rd Hungarian Army | 28 October 1944 | — | |||
| Hungary | Commander-in-chief of the Military of Hungary | 10 September 1941 | — | |||
| Romania | Romanian 2nd Călărași Cavalry Regiment | 28 March 1943 | — | — | ||
| Hungary | Hungarian Cavalry Division | 26 November 1944 | — | — | ||
| Hungary | 2nd Hungarian Army | 31 March 1943 | — | |||
| Romania | Commander of the Romanian Air Force's Corpul I Aerian | 10 May 1944 | — | |||
| Japan | Japanese Chief of Fleet | 12 May 1944* | Oak Leaves 12 May 1944 | |||
| Romania | Romanian 8th Cavalry Division | 18 December 1942 | — | |||
| Hungary | 1st Hungarian Army | 24 May 1944 | — | |||
| Romania | Romanian 1st Mountain Brigade | 18 January 1942 | Awarded Oak Leaves 22 November 1942 | |||
| Hungary | 1st Hungarian Army | 3 March 1945 | — | |||
| Romania | Romanian Naval Forces | 21 May 1944 | — | |||
| Slovakia | Slovak Fast Division | 23 January 1942 | — | |||
| Finland | Commander-in-chief of the Finnish Defense Forces | 30 August 1941 | Awarded Oak Leaves 5 August 1944 | |||
| Romania | 4th Romanian Mountain Division | 30 August 1942 | — | |||
| Italy | Staff of the Italian Alpini-Corps | 3 April 1943* | Killed in action 26 January 1943 | |||
| Italy | Italian Expeditionary Corps in Russia | 23 January 1942 | — | |||
| Hungary | Hungarian Fast Corps | 4 December 1941 | — | |||
| Romania | 3rd Romanian Mountain Division | 19 December 1943 | — | |||
| Spain | Blue Division | 12 March 1942 | Awarded Oak Leaves 13 December 1942 | |||
| Romania | Romanian I./Infantry Regiment 94 | 7 April 1943 | — | — | ||
| Romania | of the Cavalry | 4th Romanian Army | 8 July 1944 | — | ||
| Romania | 11th Romanian Infantry Division | 3 July 1944 | — | — | ||
| Romania | Romanian I./Infantry Regiment 15 | 4 December 1942 | — | |||
| Hungary | Hungarian Infantry Division Szent László'' | 12 January 1945 | — | |||
| Romania | 20th Romanian Infantry Division | 17 December 1942 | — | — | ||
| Romania | 6th Cavalry Division | 27 August 1943 | Awarded Oak Leaves 8 December 1943 | |||
| Slovakia | Slovak Fast Division | 7 August 1942 | — | |||
| Japan | Commander-in-chief of the IJN Combined Fleet | 27 May 1943* | Awarded Oak Leaves 27 May 1943 Awarded Swords 27 May 1943 |