In late July 1943, he rejoined the SS Division Wiking in the aftermath of the Battle of Kursk, which was followed by a Soviet offensive. On 12 August 1943 he died southwest of Belgorod (in Western Russia near the border with Ukraine), while attempting to counterattack against the advancing Red Army troops. His death was marked by a memorial service on 26 September 1943 in the Kroll Opera House in Berlin.