In total, 43 individuals in the military of allies of Nazi Germany were awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross (German: Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes), the highest award in the military of Nazi Germany during World War II. Eight of these men were also honoured with the next higher grade, the Oak Leaves to the Knight's Cross, and one senior naval officer, Fleet Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, was additionally awarded the Swords to the Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves. Among the recipients were eighteen Romanians, nine Italians, eight Hungarians, two Slovaks, two Japanese, two Spaniards, two Finns, one Dutch man, and one Belgian.
Colonel General Dezső László of Hungary became the last foreign recipient of the award on 3 March 1945. The last surviving foreign recipient of the award was Belgian politician Léon Degrelle, who died on 31 March 1994, fifty years after receiving the medal from Hitler's hands.
The Oberkommando der Wehrmacht kept separate Knight's Cross lists, one for each of the military branches, Heer (Army), Kriegsmarine (Navy), Luftwaffe (Air force) and for the Waffen-SS. Within each of these lists a unique sequential number was assigned to each recipient. The same numbering paradigm was applied to the higher grades of the Knight's Cross, one list per grade. Once the four lists of the Knight's Cross recipients were merged into one listing, the chronological order was abandoned and the list was converted to an alphabetical list of recipients. Foreign recipients were never integrated into this list. The Wehrmacht also refrained from assigning a numbering scheme to the different lists of foreign recipients. Two principles were retained: the foreign Knights Cross recipients were ordered alphabetically and the recipients of the higher grades were ordered chronologically.[1]
The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross and its higher grades were based on four separate enactments. The first enactment Reichsgesetzblatt I S. 1573 of 1 September 1939 instituted the Iron Cross (Eisernes Kreuz) and the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross.[2] As the war progressed, some of the recipients distinguished themselves further and a higher grade, the Oak Leaves to Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross, was instituted. The Oak Leaves, as they were commonly referred to, were based on the enactment Reichsgesetzblatt I S. 849 of 3 June 1940.[3] In 1941, two higher grades of the Knight's Cross were instituted. The enactment Reichsgesetzblatt I S. 613 of 28 September 1941 introduced the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords and the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves, Swords and Diamonds.[4] At the end of 1944 the final grade, the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Golden Oak Leaves, Swords, and Diamonds (Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes mit goldenem Eichenlaub, Schwertern und Brillanten), based on the enactment Reichsgesetzblatt 1945 I S. 11 of 29 December 1944, concluded the variants of the Knight's Cross.[5]
The recipients of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross are initially ordered alphabetically whereas the recipients of the higher grades are initially ordered chronologically. The rank listed is the recipient's rank at the time the Knight's Cross or the Oak Leaves were awarded.
The Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords is based on the enactment Reichsgesetzblatt I S. 613 of 28 September 1941 to reward those servicemen who had already been awarded the Oak Leaves to the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross. Isoroku Yamamoto was the sole non-German combatant to be honoured with the Swords to the Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves.
The Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves was based on the enactment Reichsgesetzblatt I S. 849 of 3 June 1940.
| Name | Country | Rank | Unit | Date of award | Notes | Picture | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| (General de divizie)[7] | |||||||
| Spain | |||||||
| Japan | Commander-in-chief of the IJN Combined Fleet | Awarded Swords 27 May 1943 | |||||
| (General de brigadă)[8] | 6th Cavalry Division | ||||||
| (General de armată)[9] | |||||||
| Japan | Japanese Chief of Fleet | Killed in action 31 March 1944[10] | |||||
| (SS-Sturmbannführer) |
The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross is based on the enactment Reichsgesetzblatt I S. 1573 of 1 September 1939 Verordnung über die Erneuerung des Eisernen Kreuzes (Regulation of the renewing of the Iron Cross).
| Name | Country | Rank | Unit | Date of award | Notes | Picture | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| First non-German to receive this award | |||||||
| Italy | (Generale di Brigata) | Killed in action 12 December 1941[11] | |||||
| Italy | (Generale di Corpo d'Armata designato d'Armata) | ||||||
| 2nd Romanian Mountain Division | |||||||
| (General de armată) | Awarded Oak Leaves 4 April 1944 | ||||||
| Spain | |||||||
| Italy | (Capitano di Fregata) | Italian submarine Enrico Tazzoli | |||||
| Italy | (Generale di Corpo d'Armata designato d'Armata) | ||||||
| Italy | (Capitano di Corvetta) | Italian submarine Archimede | Killed in action 24 May 1943[12] | ||||
| (General de escadră)[13] | |||||||
| Italy | (Generale di Divisione) | ||||||
| Italy | (Capitano di Fregata) | ||||||
| Chief of Finnish General Staff | |||||||
| Romanian 2nd Călărași Cavalry Regiment | |||||||
| Hungarian Cavalry Division | |||||||
| Commander of the Romanian Air Force's Corpul I Aerian | |||||||
| Japan | Japanese Chief of Fleet | Oak Leaves 12 May 1944 | |||||
| Romanian 8th Cavalry Division | |||||||
| (General de brigadă) | Awarded Oak Leaves 22 November 1942 | ||||||
| Awarded Oak Leaves 5 August 1944 | |||||||
| 4th Romanian Mountain Division | |||||||
| Italy | (Generale di Brigata) | Chief of Staff of the Italian Alpini Corps (Corpo d'Armata Alpino) | Killed in action 26 January 1943[14] | ||||
| Italy | (Generale di Corpo d'Armata) | ||||||
| 3rd Romanian Mountain Division | |||||||
| Spain | Awarded Oak Leaves 13 December 1942 | ||||||
| Romanian I./Infantry Regiment 94 | |||||||
| of the Cavalry | |||||||
| 11th Romanian Infantry Division | |||||||
| Romanian I./Infantry Regiment 15 | |||||||
| 20th Romanian Infantry Division | |||||||
| 6th Cavalry Division | Awarded Oak Leaves 8 December 1943 | ||||||
| Slovak Fast Division | |||||||
| Japan | Commander-in-chief of the IJN Combined Fleet | Awarded Oak Leaves 27 May 1943 Awarded Swords 27 May 1943 |