Hero Background

Birth: 27 May 1922
When he finished his studies at school, World War II broke out. At that time he volunteered for the army, following family tradition, but was rejected twice, due to his short stature and light weight. It was not easy for him to fulfill his destiny of becoming a German war hero. He persisted again and again, finally being admitted and assigned to the 104th Infantry Regiment in May 1940. After his training, he volunteered to serve in the armored vehicle regiments (something he was expressly forbidden to do by his father, an Army officer, because of the heavy casualties he was sure would result from being the spearhead of the German attack), was admitted, and was sent to Putlos (Holstein), in the 7th Panzer Battalion.

His battalion was sent, in June 1941, to the invasion of Russia. He experienced his first battle in the role of a loader aboard a Czech-made Panzer 38(t) during “Operation Barbarossa". He suffered a number of wounds, none of them serious, but escaped with a few facial injuries and a couple of broken teeth when a Russian anti-tank shell hit his tank, the worst of which was suffered by the radio operator who lost an arm.

A year later, after being stationed on the Eastern Front, he was accepted for an Officers' Promotion Course, where after completing it, he was assigned to the 502nd Heavy Tank Battalion.

In April 1943, he was promoted to lieutenant and assigned as a tank commander in the 9th Company, which was equipped with the new "Tiger" tanks. Tank he loved.

Otto Carius destroyed over 150/200 armored vehicles during his service, most of them on the Eastern Front.