Heinrich Severloh
Heinrich Severloh | |
|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | The Beast of Omaha |
| Born | 23 June 1923 Metzingen, Weimar Republic |
| Died | 14 January 2006 (aged 82) Lachendorf, Germany |
| Allegiance | Nazi Germany |
| Branch | Heer |
| Years of service | 1941–1944 |
| Rank | Gefreiter |
| Unit | 19th Light Artillery Division, 321st Artillery Regiment, 352nd Infantry Division |
| Battles / wars | World War II |
Heinrich “Hein” Severloh, was a soldier in the German 352nd Infantry Division stationed in Normandy in 1944. Severloh became notable for his memoir WN 62 – Erinnerungen an Omaha Beach Normandie, 6. Juni 1944 and translated into English as WN 62: A German Soldier’s Memories of the Defence of Omaha Beach, Normandy, June 6, 1944 in which he claims that, as a machine gunner, he inflicted over 1,000, possibly 2,000, casualties on Allied soldiers landing on Omaha Beach on D-Day.
The claims made in his memoir, ghostwritten by Helmut Konrad von Keusgen, first published in 2000 with an expanded edition in 2002, are regarded by historians as implausible, particularly given that total Allied casualties, (killed, wounded, and missing), across the six-mile length of Omaha Beach are estimated at around 2,400.