Paul Maitla

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Paul Maitla (born Paul Mathiesen; March 27, 1913 – May 10, 1945) was an Estonian military officer who fought with the German Waffen-SS in World War II. He is one of only four Estonians awarded the Knight’s Cross of the Iron Cross for his leadership during the Battle of the Tannenberg Line, where his unit helped stop a Soviet advance.

He was the youngest of three children. He studied in Sipe, Tartu, and at Poeglaste secondary school, and in 1934 he changed his surname to Maitla. He joined the Estonian Military School in 1934, trained as a pioneer, and later did officer training in 1937–1938. He served with the 3rd Infantry Battalion in Valga and, on Estonia’s Independence Day in 1939, was commissioned as a lieutenant. From 1939 to 1940 he worked as a state defense instructor in Tartu.

After the Soviet occupation of Estonia in 1940, Maitla was drafted into the Red Army. He was captured by the Germans in July 1941, held as a prisoner, and released in November 1941. He then joined the 37th Police Battalion, guarding German airfields. In autumn 1942 he was promoted to lieutenant and joined the Estonian Legion. He and 113 men went to Poland for training, then to Bad Tölz for further officer training. Returning in 1943, he became commander of the 3rd Company of the 1st Battalion of the 45th Regiment.

In April 1943 his Estonian Waffen-SS brigade fought in Nevel, and he received the Iron Cross II Class on December 8, 1943. Maitla was promoted to Hauptsturmführer (captain) in April 1944 and became commander of the 1st Battalion, 45th Regiment of the newly formed 20th Waffen Grenadier Division (1st Estonian). That year he helped stop the Soviet offensive at Auvere and earned the Iron Cross I Class. On July 29, 1944, he led a counter-attack at the Battle of the Tannenberg Line and was awarded the Knight’s Cross on August 23, 1944.

In August 1944 he was assigned to Combat Group Vent, but soon fell ill and spent time in hospitals in Tartu and then Bregenz, Germany, until January 1945. He rejoined the 45th Regiment in central Europe. On April 20, 1945, he was promoted to Sturmbannführer (major).

Maitla’s fate remained unclear for decades, until archives from Nymburk, Czech Republic, showed he was arrested on May 9, 1945, and executed the next day by Czech communists along with four other Estonian soldiers.

Paul Maitla is remembered as a bold Estonian commander who fought for his unit in some of the war’s fiercest battles and earned one of Germany’s highest military honors.