[1] A veteran of WWI and the younger brother of General Maximilian Fretter-Pico, he took part in operations from Poland to France, and from the Soviet Union to Italy.

[1] Ahead of his 148th Infantry Division, he was blocked and surrounded by Brazilian forces in Collecchio when trying to retreat to Germany.

Otto Fretter-Pico was born on 2 February 1893, in Karlsruhe, formerly Grand Duchy of Baden, today Baden-Württemberg,[1] in the German Empire, joining the Württemberg Army on July 14, 1914, as a Fahnenjunker (officer cadet).

[1] Otto would serve the whole war on the Western Front, interruptions were only made by being assigned to the staff of the 28th Division from February to May 1916 and then again briefly in October of the same year.

[1] He remained in service there when it was renamed the Reich Ministry of War (Reichskriegsministerium) in the spring of 1935.

As such, he was appointed commander of the 7th Observation Battalion (Beobachtungs-Abteilung 7) in Ingolstadt, back in Bavaria on November 10, 1938.

[2] In early February 1940 he was appointed commander of the 297th Artillery Regiment (Artillerie-Regiment 297),[1] which he led into battle during the invasion of France.

[1] Next he led his artillery regiment at the beginning of the invasion of the Soviet Union, in Army Group South.

Infanterie-Division) in September 1944 to fight the allied invasion during Operation Dragoon, the unit was used in the counter-attacks against the Americans in the beaches at Le Muy, being slowed down by French guerrillas and British paratroopers.

[4] Between the end of November and the beginning of December 1944 in the Apennines, between La Spezia and Massa-Carrara, 148th men took part in the killings of numerous Italian civilians during rastrellamento operations.

[4] Between 20 and 25 January 1945, the 148th Infantry Division took part in operation Bergkönig, a large search and destroy operation in the areas of Varese Ligure, Monte Gottero, Zeri and Zignago, in the La Spezia region.

[5] Operation Bergkönig comprised German, Ost and RSI units:[4] At the end of April 1945, during the retreat of German forces from northern Italy during the Allied Spring Offensive, Fretter-Pico's 148th Infantry Division was blocked by the Brazilian Expeditionary Force in the area of Collecchio-Fornovo di Taro while trying to gain the Po Valley.

The 148th had remnants of the destroyed 90th Panzergrenadier Division and the RSI "Italia" Division tagging along but despite breakout attempts from 26 to 28 April,[6] the Axis forces were surrounded and forced to surrender on 29 April 1945 in the Battle of Collecchio[6] before General Heinrich von Vietinghoff's overall Axis surrender in Italy on 2 May.

[6] Generals Mario Carloni and Otto Fretter-Pico followed their 14,779 men into captivity,[7] passing from Brazilian custody to a US POW camp some time later.

[1] The ceremony of Fretter-Pico's surrender to the Brazilians is still reenacted in Italy every 25 April in Fornovo and Collecchio.