The Knight"s Cross of the Iron Cross and its higher grade Oak Leaves was awarded by Nazi Germany to recognise extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership. Kraiß was an anti-semite, as is evidenced by his repeated mentions of allegedly hostile Jewish elements among the Soviet political officers in his orders and field diaries. He was a commander of the 90th Infantry Regiment (from September 1939 to March 1941), 168th Infantry Division (from July 1941 to March 1943) and 355th Infantry Division until May 1943.
In November 1943 he took command of the 352nd Infantry Division which was in 1944, with six other divisions, located in Normandy in front of the Allied invasion.
His 352nd Infantry Division had 7,409 soldiers and kept defensive positions around Saint Lô. He died on August 6, 1944 of injuries sustained 2 days earlier.
Wehrmachtbericht reference Bibliography.
Iron Cross (1914) 2nd Class (18 September 1914) 1st Class (7 June 1915) Wound Badge (1914) in Black Honour Cross of the World War 1914/1918 Knight"s Cross of the Royal House Order of Hohenzollern with Swords (9 October 1918) Knight"s Cross of the Military Merit Order (Württemberg) (21 June 1915) Knight"s Cross Second Class of the Order of the Zähringer Lion with Swords (15 September 1914) Sudetenland Medal Clasp to the Iron Cross (1939) 2nd Class (18 September 1939) 1st Class (3 October 1939) Eastern Front Medal German Cross in Gold on 28 February 1942 as Generalmajor and commander of the 168. Infanterie-Division Knight"s Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves Knight"s Cross on 23 July 1942 as Generalmajor and commander of 168. Infanterie-Division 549th Oak Leaves on 11 August 1944 as Generalleutnant and commander of 352. Infanterie-Division Mentioned in the Wehrmachtbericht (11 June 1944) Wehrmacht Long Service Award, 4th class with 1st class.
