Karl Gesele (15 August 1912 – 8 April 1968) was an SS-Standartenfuehrer during World War II.
Biography[]
Karl Gesele was born in Riedlingen, Wurttemberg, German Empire on 15 August 1912, and he joined the SS in 1931. He was decorated with the Iron Cross for his service in the 1939 invasion of Poland, and he served as an SS cavalry brigade staff officer during Operation Barbarossa. From February 1942 to September 1943, he commanded the 16th SS Panzergrenadier Division Reichsfuehrer-SS, which was stationed in Corsica, and he led the weakened 37th SS Volunteer Cavalry Division Luetzow on the Eastern Front at the end of the war. He was forced to surrender to the US Army in Austria, and he died in Friedrichshafen, Baden-Wurttemberg, West Germany in 1968.