Robert Borchardt - a Jewish Knight's Cross holder - German Forces | Gallery

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#1

Robert Borchardt - a Jewish Knight's Cross holder

Major ROBERT BORCHARDT (*January 9, 1912 in Munich; +March 10, 1985 in Pullach near Munich. Knight's Cross received as commander of the armoured scout company/motorized recce battalion 341. The man who earned his high decoration in the hot deserts of Northern Africa actually was a so-called "unwanted person" in according to race laws of Nuremberg. His Jewish father was inmate of the concentration camp Dachau and emigrated to the UK in 1938. Why did a (half-) jew fight bravely for Nazi Germany? Major Borchardt: "I served to prove that Hitlers race-nonsense was all wrong. I wanted to prove that people of Jewish ancestry factual were brave and courageous soldiers."

This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://www.ww2incolor.com/gallery/german-forces/19567/robert-borchardt-a-jewish-knight's-cross-holder
#2

thats what I never understand,why make things like that to do totally the converse things whats believe

#3
#4

I wonder how he was not detected due to his race and "taken care of"? Or did the authorities just ignore the fact of him being part jewish.

#5

Oh, they knew. He entered the Reichswehr before the Nazis took power in 1933. His superiors sent him on a military advisor mission to China until 1938 to keep out of the “line of fire”. He was such a skilled man (e.g. his knowledge of oriental languages) that they wouldn’t surrender him. BTW, his brother was a soldier in the Wehrmacht too, when he got heavily wounded on the eastern front, he committed suicide to prevent soviet captivity. In this general context I’d like to quote Hermann Göring: “I decide who’s jewish and who’s not!”