Egon Franz was a Unterscharführer in the Waffen SS during World War II who was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross which was awarded to recognize extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership by Nazi Germany during World War II. He was born in the Sudetenland on the 19 August 1921. He volunteered to join the SS and was posted to the SS Division Wiking. He was awarded the Knight's Cross in October 1944 when a platoon commander in the 3rd Company, 9th SS Panzer Grenadier Regiment Germania.