Mauritz von Wiktorin

Mauritz von Wiktorin was born on the 23rd of August 1883 at Hainburg. After graduating from a cadet institute he entered Dragonerregiment Nikolaus Nikolajewitsch Großfürst von Rußland Nr.12 where he was commissioned as a Leutnant on the 1st of September 1903 Promoted to Oberleutnant on the 1st of November 1909 by 1914 he had been attached to the general staff as was serving as the brigade staff officer to the 20th Cavalry Brigade at Cracow. Remaining in staff positions throughout the war he was promoted to Hauptmann in the General Staff on the 1st of May 1914 and to Major on the 1st of November 1918. During the course of the war he was awarded the Order of the Iron Crown 3rd Class with War Decoration and Swords, the Military Merit Cross 3rd Class with War Decoration and Swords, the Silver Military Merit Medal with War Decoration and Swords twice and the Bronze Military Merit Medal with War Decoration and Swords.

Following the collapse of the Dual Monarchy he was retained in the new Austrian Bundesheer and was promoted to Oberstleutnant in 1921 and served as a liaison officer in Berlin from 1924 to 1926. Promoted to Oberst on the 21st of May 1927 he served as a General Staff officer in the Ministry of Defence and was eventually head of the "Foreign Armies" section. He was promoted to Generalmajor in 1932 and became head of the 1st section in the War Ministry in 1934 but following his unauthorized contacts with the German authorities was compulsorily retired in 1935. Following the Anschluß of March 1938, Mauritz Wiktorin was reactivated as a Generalleutnant in the German army with seniority from the 1st of April 1938 (7) and initially assigned to the newly formed Heeresgruppe 5. Whilst serving on the staff of Heeresgruppe 5 he was appointed as a member of the so-called Muff commission under the chairmanship of General  der Infanterie Wolfgang Muff which determined the suitability or otherwise of career Austrian Bundesheer officers for transfer into the German Wehrmacht. On the 1st of July 1938 he was attached to the 13th motorized division and then assumed command of the 20th infantry division on the 10th of November 1938. He commanded the division in Poland and France under Heinz Guderian and was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on the 15th of August 1940. He handed over command of his division on the 25th of November 1940 having been promoted to General der Infanterie on the 1st of November (2) and was appointed commander of the XXVIII Army Corps on the same day. He led the corps on the northern sector of the Russian front until the 30th of January 1942 when he was placed in the Führerreserve. He was appointed as the commander of Wehrkreis XIII with headquarters at Nürnberg on the 1st of May 1942 and was retired following the events of the 20th of July 1944 on the 30th of November 1944 and replaced by General der Infanterie Karl Weisenberger. General der Infanterie Mauritz von Wiktorin died on the 16th of August 1956 in Nürnberg.

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