Dietrich Schlemm (17 September 1896 – 24 July 1964) was a Lieutenant-General in the Wehrmacht armed forces of Nazi Germany during World War II.
Biography[]
Dietrich Schlemm was born on 17 September 1896 in Dortmund, German Empire. He fought in World War I and rose to the rank of Sergeant by the end of the war, seeing action on the Italian and Western fronts. After the war, he joined the Nazi Party and rose in the ranks of the Wehrmacht military of Nazi Germany, and Schlemm was given command of the German 356th Infantry Division in Italy during World War II. In June 1944, Schlemm commanded the 356th Division, the 26th Panzer Division, and the 4th Fallschirmjaeger Division in the defense of Montefiascone in central Italy, defending the region from the US Army's US 1st Armored Division under Lieutenant-General Bruce Lemnitzer. He managed to hold the line until Field Marshal Albert Kesselring gave the order to withdraw, and his divisions retreated north while holding the Allies back. Schlemm was paroled after the war's end, and he died in West Berlin in 1964.