World War II & Post-war Career
At the start of the war, Mauss served with the 20th motorized infantry division, with which he participated in the 1939 Invasion of Poland. In May 1940 his 10th Panzer Division travelled west to take part in the Battle of France together with Heinz Guderian's XIX Army Corps.
Already in these first engagements Mauss successfully utilized his war experiences from 1914/18, his energy and enthusiasm transferring to his men. In the second phase of the French campaign, Mauss participated in the battles against the French 7th Army.
Mauss, now lieutenant colonel (promoted on April 1, 1941), also fought in the Soviet campaign, Operation Barbarossa, from its outset. In November 1941, when his battalion successfully defended their positions on the bridgehead by Ugra despite heavy Soviet attacks and calamitous weather conditions, Mauss was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross.
In the year 1942 Mauss was promoted to Colonel, and after leading his troops with small losses from the Battle of Kursk, he was awarded the Oak Leaves to the Knight's Cross in November, 1943. In January 1944 he took command of the famous 7th Panzer Division. In April the same year, he was promoted to Major General. Furthermore, on October 23, 1944 he received the Knight's Cross with Oakleaves and Swords before he was seriously injured by artillery shell fragments in February, 1945 in Gotenhafen and had a leg amputated. He was promoted to Lieutenant General in April, and received as the last commander of the 7th Panzer division the Knight's Cross with Oakleaves, Swords, and Diamonds on April 15, 1945.
Following the surrender to British troops, Mauss learned that his wife Minna (maiden name Lohoff), the mother of three of their children, had died. A request to go to Lübeck for the funeral was denied. In 1949 he remarried and a year later his son Dietrich was born.
After the war Mauss worked as a dentist in his own practice. His request for re-enlistment was rejected by the Bundeswehr for health reasons. Karl Mauss died of a heart attack following a lengthy illness on 9 February 1959 in Hamburg, at the age of 60.
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