Otto Carius


Otto Carius was a German tank commander in the Wehrmacht of Nazi Germany during World War II. He was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves.

World War II

World War II broke out soon after Carius graduated from school. He enlisted in the army and was only accepted after twice being rejected as unfit for military service for being underweight. He first served in the infantry before volunteering for the Panzer branch; his father referred to tanks as "metal deathtraps." Carius was transferred to the 502nd Heavy Panzer Battalion in 1943 and fought in the northern sectors of the Eastern Front.
At the beginning of 1945 he was made commander of a Jagdtiger company of the 512th Heavy Anti-tank Battalion, which by that time was engaged in fighting on the Western Front. On 8 March 1945, the 2nd Company was directed to the front line near Siegburg, where it took part in the defense of the Rhine against the American forces crossing the river, with limited success. Eventually, after being trapped in the Ruhr Pocket east of the Rhine, he ordered all his Jagdtigers destroyed to prevent enemy forces from capturing them intact and then surrendered to the US Army on 7 May. He was released from captivity on 21 May, two weeks later.
He is considered a "panzer ace", credited with destroying more than 150 enemy tanks and one plane; most of his kills were on the Eastern Front.

Later life

After the war, Carius studied pharmacy at Heidelberg University and set up a pharmacy which he named the "Tiger Apotheke" as a tribute to the Tiger tank. He also authored a book about his wartime experiences called "Tigers in the Mud", which was released in 1960. Carius ran his pharmacy until retiring in 2011. He died on 24 January 2015 at age 92.

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