After serving in the Imperial German Army in World War I, he studied economics and jurisprudence at the University of Munich and Breslau (Wrocław).

When the SS prepared to launch its first large-scale "resettlement" (liquidation) action against the Jews of Przemyśl on 26 July 1942, Battel, in concert with his superior, ordered the bridge over the River San, the only access into the Jewish ghetto, to be blocked.

As the SS commando attempted to cross to the other side, the sergeant-major in charge of the bridge threatened to open fire unless they withdrew.

Heinrich Himmler, the Reichsführer-SS, took an interest in the results of the investigation and sent a copy of the incriminating documentation to Martin Bormann, chief of the Party Chancellery and Adolf Hitler's right-hand man.

[4] After his release, Battel settled in West Germany but was prevented from returning to practice law by a denazification court.

Battel’s stand against the SS would not be recognized until years after his death, most notably through the tenacious efforts of the Israeli researcher and lawyer Dr. Zeev Goshen.