Paul Conrath (22 November 1896 – 15 January 1979) was a General der Fallschirmtruppe of the German Wehrmacht during World War II and the commander of the Hermann Goering Division from 1 June 1940 to 14 April 1944.
Biography[]
Paul Conrath was born on 22 November 1896 in Berlin, Prussia, German Empire, and he served in the Imperial German Army during World War I. Conrath would remain in the Reichswehr during the Interwar period, and he later entered the Luftwaffe air force of Nazi Germany. Conrath was given command of the elite Hermann Goering Division in 1940, leading it during the campaigns in the Soviet Union, North Africa, and Italy. In 1944, he was honored by the Catholic church in Italy for making sure that the treasures of Monte Cassino were not destroyed in the battle against the Allied Powers, using fuel and troops to remove books and property from the monastery and transport them to Rome and the Vatican City. In April 1944, Hanns-Horst von Necker replaced him as commander of the division. He died in 1979 in Hamburg, West Germany at the age of 82.