
Hans-Jurgen von Arnim (4 April 1889 – 1 September 1962) was a Colonel-General of the Wehrmacht of Nazi Germany during World War II. Von Arnim's most notable command was the 5th Panzer Army in North Africa, serving under Erwin Rommel.
Biography[]
Hans-Jurgen von Arnim was born on 4 April 1889 in Ernsdorf, Prussia (Dzierzoniow, Poland) in the German Empire. Von Arnim joined the Imperial German Army in 1907 and served in World War I, and he remained in the Reichswehr under the Weimar Republic and later the Wehrmacht of Nazi Germany. During World War II, he commanded the German 52nd Infantry Division in Poland and France, and in October 1940 he took command of the 17th Panzer Division during Operation Barbarossa. In November 1942, he was given his most important command when he was sent to North Africa to lead the 5th Panzer Army under Afrika Korps commander Erwin Rommel. Von Arnim was promoted to Colonel-General on 4 December 1942, and he fought at the Battle of Kasserine Pass and the Battle of El Guettar in 1943. On 12 May 1943, he surrendered to the British Eighth Army at Cap Bon, and he was imprisoned at Camp Clinton in Mississippi until 1947, when he was released. He died in Bad Wildungen, West Germany in 1962.