Bio of SS-Obersturmbannführer Paul Kümmel

Paul Kümmel (13 April 1911 in Nürnberg - 27 December 1982)
SS Nr. : 28373

Promotions:
20.04.1936 SS-Untersturmführer
09.11.1937 SS-Obersturmführer
28.02.1939 SS-Hauptsturmführer
09.11.1943 SS-Sturmbannführer
20.04.1945 SS-Obersturmbannführer

Career:
00.05.1934 SS-Rottenführer in 4.Sturm / LSSAH
00.09.1940 Chef 3.Kompanie / SS-Totenkopf-Standarte 10
00.07.1941 Chef 8.Kompanie / SS-Infanterie-Regiment 10
00.11.1943 SS-Panzer-Ausbildungs -und - ErsatzGeschütz Regiment
00.03.1944 Kommandeur III.Bataillon / SS-Panzergrenadier-Regiment 9 "Germania"
00.05.1944 Kommandeur I.Abteilung / SS-Panzer-Regiment 5 "Wiking"
00.06.1944 Kommandeur III.Bataillon / SS-Panzergrenadier-Regiment 9 "Germania"
00.10.1944 Kommandeur I.Abteilung / SS-Panzer-Regiment 9 "Hohenstaufen"
00.11.1944 Kommandeur III.Bataillon / SS-Panzergrenadier-Regiment 20

Medals and Decorations:
00.00.194_ Eisernes Kreuz II.Klasse
00.00.194_ Eisernes Kreuz I.Klasse
28.11.1944 Nahkampfspange in Silber

Notes:
Douglas E. Nash (author) : "I was never able to nail down the exact reasons why he was so abruptly transferred from one battalion command to another in a different division. Perhaps the reasons why was that he had qualified himself as a battalion commander, but there were at least two very excellent men who were waiting in line to replace him (Heinz Murr and Paul Scholven), while in contrast the Hohenstaufen Division needed replacement battalion commanders after the debacle in Normandy. Kümmel may also have requested a transfer, but I found nothing in his record to indicate this. It could also have been because his "senior raters" (his division commander Herbert Gille and the senior Waffen-SS commander on the Eastern Front, Felix Steiner, were not overly impressed with his performance). On his efficiency report dated 28 May 1944, Gille stated: "K. needs to become more confident. After further instruction, K. will become a good battalion commander." Steiner wrote on 7 August 1944, "Agree. He is not a prominent personality. Fills his position adequately." Perhaps that was all that was needed to move him out? After all, he wasn't a "Wikinger" from the beginning, having begun his combat career in a Totenkopf Infantry Regiment fighting against partisans in 1941 as part of the 1st SS-Infantry Brigade."

 

Source :
https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=10158135645364639&set=gm.1031367484024678
https://forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic.php?f=38&t=53885