Eduard Crasemann

Eduard Crasemann
Eduard Crasemann (behind Erwin Rommel)
Born	(1891-03-05)5 March 1891 Hamburg, German Empire
Died	29 April 1950(1950-04-29) (aged 59) Werl Prison, Werl, West Germany
Allegiance	German Empire  Weimar Republic  Nazi Germany
Service / branch	Imperial German Army German Army
Years of service	1910–19 1936–45
Rank	General der Artillerie
Commands	15th Panzer Division 26th Panzer Division XII SS Army Corps
Battles / wars	World War I World War II Invasion of Poland Battle of France Western Desert Campaign Siege of Tobruk First Battle of El Alamein Moro River Campaign Battle of Monte Cassino Gothic Line Offensive Ruhr Pocket
Awards	Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves

Eduard Crasemann (5 March 1891 – 29 April 1950) was a German General der Artillerie in the Wehrmacht and convicted war criminal who commanded several Panzer divisions during World War II.

Crasemann fought as an artillery officer during World War I on both the Western and Eastern Fronts but left the military in 1919, returning to civilian life. In 1936, he joined the Heer (Army) branch of the Wehrmacht. He served in the Battle of France and the Western Desert Campaign as a battalion- and regimental-level commander. He was briefly acting commander of the 15th Panzer Division in mid-1942. In 1944 he was given command of the 26th Panzer Division, which was operating in Italy. He then commanded the XII SS Army Corps from January to April 1945 until it surrendered to United States troops. He was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves of Nazi Germany.

Under Crasemann's command, the 26th Panzer Division massacred over 160 Italian civilians in the Padule di Fucecchio massacre. In 1947 he was tried by a war crimes tribunal run by the British authorities in Padua. Convicted and sentenced to 10 years in prison, Crasemann died in prison in 1950.