Friedrich Paulus
Field Marshal General, commander of the 6th Field Army of the Wehrmacht.
Captured near Stalingrad on January 31, 1943 .
Sixtus von Arnom
Lieutenant General, commander of the 113th Infantry Division of the 6th Field Army of the Wehrmacht. Captured near Stalingrad.
Constantin Britescu
Brigadier General, commander of the Romanian 1st Cavalry Division. Captured near Stalingrad.
Hans Hans Wultz
Major General, Chief of Artillery of the 4th Artillery Corps of the 6th Field Army of the Wehrmacht. Captured at Stalingrad on January 30, 1943.
Walter Geitz
Colonel General, commander of the 8th Army Corps of the 6th Field Army of the Wehrmacht. One of the most loyal officers to the Reich. Captured near Stalingrad. Died in captivity in 1944.
Alexander Maximilian von Daniels
Lieutenant General, commander of the 376th Infantry Division of the 6th Field Army of the Wehrmacht. Captured in Stalingrad on January 29, 1943. Vice-chairman of the Union of German Officers, created from prisoners of war in September 1943.
Heinrich Anton Debois
Lieutenant General, commander of the 44th Infantry Division of the 6th Field Army of the Wehrmacht. Captured at Stalingrad on January 28, 1943.
Romulus Dimitriou
Brigadier General of the Romanian Army, commander of the 20th Infantry Division.
Captured near Stalingrad.
Moritz von Drebwehr
Major General, commander of the 297th Infantry Division of the 6th Field Army of the Wehrmacht.
Captured near Stalingrad.
Heinrich Dusseldorf
Oberefreytor, clerk of the headquarters of the 6th field army of the Wehrmacht. Served as a translator. Died in 2001.
Walter Alexander von Seydlitz-Kurzbach
General of Artillery, commander of the 51st Army Corps of the 6th Field Army of the Wehrmacht. Captured at Stalingrad on January 31, 1943. He was one of the supporters of an unauthorized breakout from encirclement. Chairman of the Union of German Officers.
Otto von Corfes
Lieutenant General, commander of the 295th Infantry Division of the 6th Field Army of the Wehrmacht. Captured at Stalingrad on January 31, 1943.
Martin Wilhelm Lattman
Lieutenant General, commander of the 389th Infantry Division of the 6th Field Army of the Wehrmacht. Captured in Stalingrad on February 1, 1943.
Hans Georg Leiser
Lieutenant General, commander of the 29th Motorized Division of the 6th Field Army of the Wehrmacht. Captured at Stalingrad on January 31, 1943.
Arno Richard von Lenski
Major General, commander of the 24th Panzer Division of the 6th Field Army of the Wehrmacht. Captured at Stalingrad on February 2, 1943.
Erich Albert Magnus
Major General, commander of the 389th Infantry Division of the 6th Field Army of the Wehrmacht. Captured at Stalingrad on February 1, 1943.
Max Karl Pfeffer
Lieutenant General of Artillery, commander of the 4th Army Corps of the 6th Field Army of the Wehrmacht. Captured near Stalingrad.
Otto-Carl Wilhelm Repoldi
Brigadier general of the medical service, head of the sanitary service of the 6th field army of the Wehrmacht. Captured at Stalingrad on January 28, 1943.
Karl Rodenburg
Lieutenant General, commander of the 76th Infantry Division of the 6th Field Army of the Wehrmacht. Captured near Stalingrad.
Fritz Georg Roske
Major General, commander of the 71st Infantry Division of the 6th Field Army of the Wehrmacht, commander of the southern group of German troops in Stalingrad. Captured on January 31, 1943.
Ulrich Fasel
Major General, Chief of Artillery of the 51st Army Corps of the 6th Field Army of the Wehrmacht.
Werner Schlömmer
Lieutenant General, commander of the 14th Tank Corps of the 6th Field Army of the Wehrmacht. Captured near Stalingrad.
Arthur Schmidt
Lieutenant General, Chief of Staff of the 6th Field Army of the Wehrmacht. One of the most loyal officers to the Reich. Sentenced to 25 years in prison, in October 1955 he returned to Hamburg, where he lived in recent years.
Karl Strecker
Colonel General, commander of the 11th Army Corps of the 6th Field Army of the Wehrmacht, commander of the northern group of German forces in Stalingrad. Captured in the Stalingrad area on February 2, 1943.
August 29th, 2013
Hello dears!
Today we will finally reach the home stretch of the topic of the Wehrmacht Field Marshals, which began here: and continued here: , here: and here:
I just have to go through the biographies of the 5 best of the best German military leaders, in my humble opinion, in World War II.
This top five is closed by Hans Günther Adolf Ferdinand von Kluge, nicknamed “Clever Hans” (here not only the most German name was played on, but also the surname, because Kluge can be translated from German as “smart”), although it seems to me that his other name was more suitable for him nickname - “Cunning Gunther”, for he was indeed a very resourceful and cunning person. A sort of improved version of Panikovsky, who “will sell, then buy, then sell again, but more expensive” :-)
The son of a general and heir to Prussian military traditions, von Kluge realized from childhood that excellent education and military talent are not enough to reach the heights of success - it is also necessary to learn how to intrigue well. Over time, he achieved great skill in this matter. However, right up until the Nazis came to power, he simply honestly pulled the burden of the army. Having graduated from the Military Academy before the First World War, he, as a capable student, was transferred to the General Staff. From there he went to the front. He was a General Staff officer at the 21st Army Corps, then a battalion commander, and finally, a General Staff officer at the 89th Infantry Division. In 1918 he was seriously wounded by shrapnel near Verdun. He ended the war as a captain, a holder of the Iron Cross of both classes and a number of other awards, including the Austrian Order of the Iron Crown.
Order of the Iron Crown
After recovering from his wound, von Kluge continued to serve in the Reichswehr. By 1933, he had the rank of major general and served as chief of artillery of the 3rd Military District (Berlin). The Nazis' rise to power first accelerated his career, since already in the spring of 1934 he received the rank of lieutenant general, and first the position of inspector of the Army Signal Corps, and then became commander of the 6th Division and commander of the 6th Military District in Münster. However, he soon fell out with Goering (they were enemies until the very end of his life) and fell into disgrace. What makes his situation even worse is that von Kluge openly supports von Fritsch, and is outraged by the party's interference in military affairs. Accordingly, he was almost the first to be sent to the reserve in 1938 during the “general purge of the army ranks.” However, the disgrace did not last long - there are not many good, competent, experienced generals, which Kluge undoubtedly was, in the army and he was again called up for active service. Despite Goering's active opposition, he was tasked with forming and leading the 6th Army Group, which included the 9th, 10th and 11th Military Districts (a total of 6 divisions). In August 1939, the 4th Army was deployed on the basis of this group, and Kluge became its commander. “Clever Hans” simply brilliantly confirmed his skills, both in Poland and in France, was able to enlist the support of Keitel, and most importantly, attracted the attention of Hitler. So Goering’s machinations no longer bothered him. For excellent military work, he was promoted to field marshal general (July 19, 1940) and awarded the Knight's Cross. 
"Clever Hans"
Realizing where the wind was blowing, he began to strongly support any plans of the Reich Chancellor. So von Kluge is one of the few who supported the implementation of the Barbarossa plan and a war on 2 fronts. Kluge began his campaign against the USSR by encircling our group near Bialystok, and then he was responsible for the capture of Smolensk. He was against an active late autumn attack on Moscow, which he repeatedly reported to von Bock, and most importantly to Hitler. And so on December 19, 1941, Kluge was appointed commander of the forces of Army Group Center instead of the displaced Bock. First of all, “Cunning Gunther” carried out a purge and removed the generals he did not like (Gepner, Guderian, Strauss) as a result of a cunning intrigue, placing all the blame on them for the failure to capture Moscow and the tactical retreat from the capital. And only then did he take up the problems of the army group. He held this position until July 1942, and it should be noted that he acted brilliantly - he repelled a number of strong attacks by Soviet troops (near Rzhev and Belev, for example), and also defeated the cavalry corps of General P. Belov near Kirov. Plus, I was able to “feed the misconception” to our headquarters that the offensive must be expected in the Moscow direction, and not at all in the south, as it should have been. No wonder some called him the “lion of defense.” For all this, Hitler awarded him the Oak Leaves to the Knight's Cross on January 18, 1943. Kluge showed the full extent of the master of intrigue before the Germans carried out Operation Citadel. Thus, during the preparation of the operation in May 1943, he arrived at the Reich Chancellor's headquarters with the intention of delaying the offensive, believing that the operation was not prepared well enough. When he found out that Hitler had already made such a decision, he began to oppose the delay of the operation, while pursuing the goal of protecting himself from responsibility in case of failure of the offensive, acting on the principle “I warned you...” As a result, he was excluded from the operation itself removed, the task was assigned to the Model. But when the latter failed, Kluge’s reputation was in no way damaged. 
From left to right Kluge, Himmler, Dönitz, Keitel
It suffered somewhat a little later, when the magnificent Rokossovsky first broke through the front at Orel, and then crossed the Dnieper during the Chernigov-Pripyat operation. And even then, Kluge, unlike many others, was able to avoid complete defeat and withdraw his troops to Belarus, once again proving himself to be a very good military leader. True, it is not completely known how everything would have turned out further if on October 28, 1943, his car had not flown into a ditch on the Orsha-Minsk highway. The field marshal survived, but received quite serious injuries and was forced to undergo treatment in Germany for 8 months. Thus, this accident saved him from his final defeat and the stigma of being a loser.
On July 2, 1944, Kluge replaced Field Marshal Gerd von Rundstedt as commander of the Western Front and was initially very energetic and hopeful. However, all his rosy dreams instantly dissipated when he was faced with the real picture emerging on the Western Front. He repeatedly asked Hitler to begin a retreat across the Seine River, but received a categorical refusal. As a result, 15 German divisions fell into the so-called Falaise bag, and although some of the soldiers and equipment were able to be removed from the encirclement (though without Kluge’s participation), losses were still high (especially in equipment). Hitler immediately removed Kluge from his post as commander and summoned him to his headquarters. Then “clever Hans” realized that the map of his bit was finally and unequivocally and it was not worth returning to Germany. As an experienced gambler, he bet not only on Hitler, but also on the failed conspirators, and the latter gave him up. As a result, near the French city of Metze, Hans Gunther von Kluge committed suicide by biting into a capsule of potassium cyanide. This happened on August 18, 1944. He was 61 years old. 
The famous "African partisan of World War I" P. von Lettow-Vorbeck visiting G. von Kluge
What can we say in conclusion about this general - he was good from a military point of view and certainly was valued as a strong professional by our illustrious marshals; he advocated a humane attitude towards prisoners of war and was an ardent opponent of punitive operations against civilians. He respected the SS, but only as fighters at the front, and not as an organization engaged in racial cleansing. That is, on the one hand, he is an honest, professional, strong opponent and a good warrior. On the other hand, for his own good and to advance his career, at first he supported almost any of Hitler’s undertakings and was his faithful follower. And it seems he outwitted himself. 
One of the most famous WWII commanders
The following man is considered by most English and American historians to be the best German commander of World War II. I am now talking about the one they called the “Desert Fox”, and we know him under the name Erwin Eugen Johannes Rommel. As you can understand, I do not share the assessments of our foreign researchers and do not consider him the best. I will explain why at the very end of the story. Although, in general, I recognize him as an outstanding military leader, and there are reasons for this too.
Erwin was born on November 15, 1891, the son of a school teacher and the daughter of the former president of the government of Württemberg. In addition to him, there were 2 more sons in the family, and a little later a daughter was born. Since childhood, his father did not encourage Erwin’s dream of a military career and tried in every possible way to persuade him to become a teacher. However, Rommel Jr. was adamant and entered a military school. In 1912, he received his first officer rank - chief lieutenant. Rommel was an active participant in the First World War on the Western, Eastern and Italian fronts. In 1914, he served as a platoon commander in the 19th Artillery Regiment, then returned to his native 124th Infantry Regiment. In 1915, in this regiment he received command of a company and the rank of lieutenant. Since the autumn of the same year, he has been a company commander in the Württemberg mountain rifle battalion. In 1917 he fought in Romania, then in Italy. At the end of the war, he served at the headquarters of a regiment located in Germany. For military distinctions during the war he was awarded the Iron Cross of the 2nd and 1st degrees and the Order "Pour le Merite". He was repeatedly wounded and accomplished several feats. He finished the war with the rank of captain. After the war he was retained in the Reichswehr. 
Young Erwin with his future wife
His career took off very sharply when the Nazis came to power. The secret of success is simple - Rommel was Hitler's favorite. It was in such people that the future field marshal, the Reich Chancellor saw help to counterbalance the old Prussian army elite. Judge for yourself - in just 6 years, Rommel from a major became a general (and this in peacetime!), and after less than 3 years - a field marshal general and one of the most famous and recognizable commanders of the Third Reich.
His star rose in the French Company and Rommel is without a doubt one of its brightest heroes. Back in February 1940, the future field marshal asked to be appointed commander of the 7th Panzer Division. Hitler was quite surprised (since before this Rommel had dealt only with infantry) but granted the request. And this unit, armed, by the way, with captured Czech tanks, showed itself in all its glory. During the fighting in France, this division lost about 2.5 thousand people killed and wounded, while capturing up to 100 thousand people, including 17 generals and 5 admirals. Its trophies amounted to about 400 tanks and armored vehicles, over 360 artillery pieces and 10 aircraft. It is quite understandable that such brilliant results of the division commander were awarded the Knight's Cross and the rank of lieutenant general. And most importantly - fame and fame. This played into Rommel's hands. On February 6, 1941, he was appointed commander of the newly formed Afrika Korps (tank and light infantry divisions), which was sent by Hitler to North Africa to help the Italian army defeated there by the British. I will not describe all the vicissitudes of these races in the desert now - because this is worthy of at least a separate large post, but I will say that here Erwin Rommel showed himself very, very well. And this is in conditions of superiority of the enemy in forces and means, and most importantly, the total supremacy of the British fleet in the Mediterranean Sea. Describing Rommel’s military talents, it is enough to recall only 2 topographical points - Tobruk and Benghazi. For almost 2.5 years, the “Desert Fox” and his troops fought like a lion in Africa, almost took Alexandria and Cairo, and by and large his big problems began when he met a worthy opponent in Montgomery. However, the ending was a little predictable. On June 22, 1942, Rommel was awarded the rank of Field Marshal, thus becoming the youngest Wehrmacht officer to achieve this rank. Hitler recalled his newly appointed field marshal from Africa shortly before the final surrender of the Italo-German troops there and awarded him the highest (at that time) military award of the 3rd Reich - he was awarded the Diamonds (No. 6) to the Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords (for the entire war Only 27 people were awarded). 
E. Rommel and A. Kesselring in Libya
After a short rest and treatment, he led Army Group B, which was transferred to Italy, but could not get along with another Field Marshal General (whom we will talk about in the next part, since this concerns the Luftwaffe) A. Kesselring, who commanded the group armies "C". Hitler took the latter’s side, reassigning to him all the troops located on the Apennine Peninsula, and sent Rommel to inspect the Atlantic Wall. The “Desert Fox” was in quiet horror from the inspection trip - there was simply no active defense in the West, and the Val was a chain of scattered fortified areas. What the commanders had been doing there before, including the current von Rundstedt, was absolutely not clear. A number of conflicts occurred between the two field marshals, which they were more or less able to extinguish in December 1943 and jointly approached Hitler with proposals to improve the situation. The result was a kind of two-tier chain of command. Von Runstedt remained the commander of the entire western front, but Army Group B was created again under the command of Rommel, who was subordinate to Runstedt. Erwin Rommel energetically took up the matter and in six months was able to seriously strengthen the defense line. I did a lot, but not everything. Well, on June 6, 1944, D-Day broke out, or it would be more correct to say “Operation Neptune”... On June 9, Rommel tried to carry out a counterattack, and on the 15th he lost his nerve. He sent a message to Hitler in which he unequivocally proposed ending the war and sitting down at the negotiating table with the British and Americans. However, the latter did not react in any way and the “Desert Fox” led the troops until July 17, when he was bombed by an English plane and received a shrapnel wound to the head. Everyone believed that he would not survive, but the strong body of the relatively young field marshal survived. Until October 14, he was treated surrounded by his family in the small town of Herlingen near Ulm. And on this day, 2 generals came to see him - the head of the OKH personnel department, Lieutenant General V. Burgdorf and his deputy, Major General E. Meisel. They said without offense that Hitler knew about the field marshal’s participation in the conspiracy of Colonel Schauffenberg’s group against the Reich Chancellor and offered a choice: a court of honor or suicide. Rommel, who was indeed actively in contact with the conspirators, but was categorically against the elimination of Hitler, did not hesitate to choose the first. This answer did not suit the generals at all - apparently they did not count on it. They began to prove to the “Desert Fox” that the court of honor had already pronounced its verdict and, in fact, was a farce. Rommel insisted that he was right. Then the generals began to blackmail the field marshal with his family. The choice is either suicide and an honorable funeral, or a trial with a 100% guarantee that loved ones will fall into the hands of “Himmler’s boys.” Rommel naturally chose suicide. Having said goodbye to his loved ones, he drove towards Ulm and took poison along the way. It was officially announced that he had died of a cerebral hemorrhage and a magnificent funeral was held. No one touched the family - from this point of view, the agreement was respected. 
Rommel's family home
Thus ended the life of one of the most famous military men of World War 2.
Let's go back to the beginning of our story, and I will try to answer you, dear ones, why for me Rommel is not No. 1 or even No. 2 among the top generals of the Third Reich. It seems that he is brave and experienced, and skillful, and talented, and brilliantly savvy in theory (back in 1937 he published his war diaries under the title “Infantry Attacks”, and previously taught a little at the military academy). Plus, this is almost the only general to whom Hitler asked forgiveness for not listening to him on his actions in Africa and admitted that it was Rommel, and not the chancellor himself, who was right.
But the whole point is that Rommel never fought on the Eastern Front, and for me this is the most important indicator - I just can’t fully understand how cool he really was as a commander. And then, no matter what you say, Rommel screwed up the landing in Normandy. The blame for the fact that the Allies successfully landed and began to advance deep into France can be equally shared by 3 people - Hitler, von Rundstedt and Rommel. That's it.
Have a nice day!
To be continued...
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The names of some are still honored, the names of others are consigned to oblivion. But they are all united by their leadership talent.
USSR
Zhukov Georgy Konstantinovich (1896–1974)
Marshal of the Soviet Union.
Zhukov had the opportunity to take part in serious hostilities shortly before the start of World War II. In the summer of 1939, Soviet-Mongolian troops under his command defeated the Japanese group on the Khalkhin Gol River.
By the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, Zhukov headed the General Staff, but was soon sent to the active army. In 1941, he was assigned to the most critical sectors of the front. Restoring order in the retreating army with the most stringent measures, he managed to prevent the Germans from capturing Leningrad, and to stop the Nazis in the Mozhaisk direction on the outskirts of Moscow. And already at the end of 1941 - beginning of 1942, Zhukov led a counter-offensive near Moscow, pushing the Germans back from the capital.
In 1942-43, Zhukov did not command individual fronts, but coordinated their actions as a representative of the Supreme High Command at Stalingrad, on the Kursk Bulge, and during the breaking of the siege of Leningrad.
At the beginning of 1944, Zhukov took command of the 1st Ukrainian Front instead of the seriously wounded General Vatutin and led the Proskurov-Chernovtsy offensive operation he planned. As a result, Soviet troops liberated most of Right Bank Ukraine and reached the state border.
At the end of 1944, Zhukov led the 1st Belorussian Front and led an attack on Berlin. In May 1945, Zhukov accepted the unconditional surrender of Nazi Germany, and then two Victory Parades, in Moscow and Berlin.
After the war, Zhukov found himself in a supporting role, commanding various military districts. After Khrushchev came to power, he became deputy minister and then headed the Ministry of Defense. But in 1957 he finally fell into disgrace and was removed from all posts.
Rokossovsky Konstantin Konstantinovich (1896–1968)
Marshal of the Soviet Union.
Shortly before the start of the war, in 1937, Rokossovsky was repressed, but in 1940, at the request of Marshal Timoshenko, he was released and reinstated in his former position as corps commander. In the first days of the Great Patriotic War, units under the command of Rokossovsky were one of the few that were able to provide worthy resistance to the advancing German troops. In the battle of Moscow, Rokossovsky’s army defended one of the most difficult directions, Volokolamsk.
Returning to duty after being seriously wounded in 1942, Rokossovsky took command of the Don Front, which completed the defeat of the Germans at Stalingrad.
On the eve of the Battle of Kursk, Rokossovsky, contrary to the position of most military leaders, managed to convince Stalin that it was better not to launch an offensive ourselves, but to provoke the enemy into active action. Having precisely determined the direction of the main attack of the Germans, Rokossovsky, just before their offensive, undertook a massive artillery barrage that bled the enemy’s strike forces dry.
His most famous achievement as a commander, included in the annals of military art, was the operation to liberate Belarus, codenamed “Bagration,” which virtually destroyed the German Army Group Center.
Shortly before the decisive offensive on Berlin, command of the 1st Belorussian Front, to Rokossovsky's disappointment, was transferred to Zhukov. He was also entrusted with commanding the troops of the 2nd Belorussian Front in East Prussia.
Rokossovsky had outstanding personal qualities and, of all Soviet military leaders, was the most popular in the army. After the war, Rokossovsky, a Pole by birth, headed the Polish Ministry of Defense for a long time, and then served as Deputy Minister of Defense of the USSR and Chief Military Inspector. The day before his death, he finished writing his memoirs, entitled A Soldier's Duty.
Konev Ivan Stepanovich (1897–1973)
Marshal of the Soviet Union.
In the fall of 1941, Konev was appointed commander of the Western Front. In this position he suffered one of the biggest failures of the beginning of the war. Konev failed to obtain permission to withdraw troops in time, and, as a result, about 600,000 Soviet soldiers and officers were surrounded near Bryansk and Yelnya. Zhukov saved the commander from the tribunal.
In 1943, troops of the Steppe (later 2nd Ukrainian) Front under the command of Konev liberated Belgorod, Kharkov, Poltava, Kremenchug and crossed the Dnieper. But most of all, Konev was glorified by the Korsun-Shevchen operation, as a result of which a large group of German troops was surrounded.
In 1944, already as commander of the 1st Ukrainian Front, Konev led the Lvov-Sandomierz operation in western Ukraine and southeastern Poland, which opened the way for a further offensive against Germany. The troops under the command of Konev distinguished themselves in the Vistula-Oder operation and in the battle for Berlin. During the latter, rivalry between Konev and Zhukov emerged - each wanted to occupy the German capital first. Tensions between the marshals remained until the end of their lives. In May 1945, Konev led the liquidation of the last major center of fascist resistance in Prague.
After the war, Konev was the commander-in-chief of the ground forces and the first commander of the combined forces of the Warsaw Pact countries, and commanded troops in Hungary during the events of 1956.
Vasilevsky Alexander Mikhailovich (1895–1977)
Marshal of the Soviet Union, Chief of the General Staff.
As Chief of the General Staff, which he held since 1942, Vasilevsky coordinated the actions of the Red Army fronts and participated in the development of all major operations of the Great Patriotic War. In particular, he played a key role in planning the operation to encircle German troops at Stalingrad.
At the end of the war, after the death of General Chernyakhovsky, Vasilevsky asked to be relieved of his post as Chief of the General Staff, took the place of the deceased and led the assault on Koenigsberg. In the summer of 1945, Vasilevsky was transferred to the Far East and commanded the defeat of the Kwatuna Army of Japan.
After the war, Vasilevsky headed the General Staff and then was the Minister of Defense of the USSR, but after Stalin’s death he went into the shadows and held lower positions.
Tolbukhin Fedor Ivanovich (1894–1949)
Marshal of the Soviet Union.
Before the start of the Great Patriotic War, Tolbukhin served as chief of staff of the Transcaucasian District, and with its beginning - of the Transcaucasian Front. Under his leadership, a surprise operation was developed to introduce Soviet troops into the northern part of Iran. Tolbukhin also developed the Kerch landing operation, which would result in the liberation of Crimea. However, after its successful start, our troops were unable to build on their success, suffered heavy losses, and Tolbukhin was removed from office.
Having distinguished himself as commander of the 57th Army in the Battle of Stalingrad, Tolbukhin was appointed commander of the Southern (later 4th Ukrainian) Front. Under his command, a significant part of Ukraine and the Crimean Peninsula were liberated. In 1944-45, when Tolbukhin already commanded the 3rd Ukrainian Front, he led troops during the liberation of Moldova, Romania, Yugoslavia, Hungary, and ended the war in Austria. The Iasi-Kishinev operation, planned by Tolbukhin and leading to the encirclement of a two-hundred-thousand-strong group of German-Romanian troops, entered the annals of military art (sometimes it is called “Iasi-Kishinev Cannes”).
After the war, Tolbukhin commanded the Southern Group of Forces in Romania and Bulgaria, and then the Transcaucasian Military District.
Vatutin Nikolai Fedorovich (1901–1944)
Soviet army general.
In pre-war times, Vatutin served as Deputy Chief of the General Staff, and with the beginning of the Great Patriotic War he was sent to the North-Western Front. In the Novgorod area, under his leadership, several counterattacks were carried out, slowing down the advance of Manstein's tank corps.
In 1942, Vatutin, who then headed the Southwestern Front, commanded Operation Little Saturn, the purpose of which was to prevent German-Italian-Romanian troops from helping Paulus’ army encircled at Stalingrad.
In 1943, Vatutin headed the Voronezh (later 1st Ukrainian) Front. He played a very important role in the Battle of Kursk and the liberation of Kharkov and Belgorod. But Vatutin’s most famous military operation was the crossing of the Dnieper and the liberation of Kyiv and Zhitomir, and then Rivne. Together with Konev’s 2nd Ukrainian Front, Vatutin’s 1st Ukrainian Front also carried out the Korsun-Shevchenko operation.
At the end of February 1944, Vatutin’s car came under fire from Ukrainian nationalists, and a month and a half later the commander died from his wounds.
Great Britain
Montgomery Bernard Law (1887–1976)
British Field Marshal.
Before the outbreak of World War II, Montgomery was considered one of the bravest and most talented British military leaders, but his career advancement was hampered by his harsh, difficult character. Montgomery, himself distinguished by physical endurance, paid great attention to the daily hard training of the troops entrusted to him.
At the beginning of World War II, when the Germans defeated France, Montgomery's units covered the evacuation of Allied forces. In 1942, Montgomery became the commander of British troops in North Africa, and achieved a turning point in this part of the war, defeating the German-Italian group of troops in Egypt at the Battle of El Alamein. Its significance was summed up by Winston Churchill: “Before the Battle of Alamein we knew no victories. After it we didn’t know defeat.” For this battle, Montgomery received the title Viscount of Alamein. True, Montgomery’s opponent, German Field Marshal Rommel, said that, having such resources as the British military leader, he would have conquered the entire Middle East in a month.
After this, Montgomery was transferred to Europe, where he had to operate in close contact with the Americans. This was where his quarrelsome character took its toll: he came into conflict with the American commander Eisenhower, which had a bad effect on the interaction of troops and led to a number of relative military failures. Towards the end of the war, Montgomery successfully resisted the German counter-offensive in the Ardennes, and then carried out several military operations in Northern Europe.
After the war, Montgomery served as Chief of the British General Staff and subsequently as Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Europe.
Alexander Harold Rupert Leofric George (1891–1969)
British Field Marshal.
At the beginning of the Second World War, Alexander led the evacuation of British troops after the Germans captured France. Most of the personnel were taken out, but almost all the military equipment went to the enemy.
At the end of 1940, Alexander was assigned to Southeast Asia. He failed to defend Burma, but he managed to block the Japanese from entering India.
In 1943, Alexander was appointed Commander-in-Chief of Allied ground forces in North Africa. Under his leadership, a large German-Italian group in Tunisia was defeated, and this, by and large, ended the campaign in North Africa and opened the way to Italy. Alexander commanded the landing of Allied troops on Sicily, and then on the mainland. At the end of the war, he served as Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces in the Mediterranean.
After the war, Alexander received the title of Count of Tunis, for some time he was Governor General of Canada, and then British Minister of Defense.
USA
Eisenhower Dwight David (1890–1969)
US Army General.
His childhood was spent in a family whose members were pacifists for religious reasons, but Eisenhower chose a military career.
Eisenhower met the beginning of World War II with the rather modest rank of colonel. But his abilities were noticed by the Chief of the American General Staff, George Marshall, and soon Eisenhower became head of the Operational Planning Department.
In 1942, Eisenhower led Operation Torch, the Allied landings in North Africa. In early 1943, he was defeated by Rommel in the Battle of Kasserine Pass, but subsequently superior Anglo-American forces brought a turning point in the North African campaign.
In 1944, Eisenhower oversaw the Allied landings in Normandy and the subsequent offensive against Germany. At the end of the war, Eisenhower became the creator of the notorious camps for “disarming enemy forces”, which were not subject to the Geneva Convention on the Rights of Prisoners of War, which effectively became death camps for the German soldiers who ended up there.
After the war, Eisenhower was commander of NATO forces and then twice elected president of the United States.
MacArthur Douglas (1880–1964)
US Army General.
In his youth, MacArthur was not accepted into the West Point military academy for health reasons, but he achieved his goal and, upon graduating from the academy, was recognized as its best graduate in history. He received the rank of general back in the First World War.
In 1941-42, MacArthur led the defense of the Philippines against Japanese forces. The enemy managed to take American units by surprise and gain a great advantage at the very beginning of the campaign. After the loss of the Philippines, he uttered the now famous phrase: “I did what I could, but I will come back.”
After being appointed commander of forces in the southwest Pacific, MacArthur resisted Japanese plans to invade Australia and then led successful offensive operations in New Guinea and the Philippines.
On September 2, 1945, MacArthur, already in command of all U.S. forces in the Pacific, accepted the Japanese surrender aboard the battleship Missouri, ending World War II.
After World War II, MacArthur commanded occupation forces in Japan and later led American forces in the Korean War. The American landing at Inchon, which he developed, became a classic of military art. He called for the nuclear bombing of China and the invasion of that country, after which he was dismissed.
Nimitz Chester William (1885–1966)
US Navy Admiral.
Before World War II, Nimitz was involved in the design and combat training of the American submarine fleet and headed the Bureau of Navigation. At the beginning of the war, after the disaster at Pearl Harbor, Nimitz was appointed commander of the US Pacific Fleet. His task was to confront the Japanese in close contact with General MacArthur.
In 1942, the American fleet under the command of Nimitz managed to inflict the first serious defeat on the Japanese at Midway Atoll. And then, in 1943, to win the fight for the strategically important island of Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands archipelago. In 1944-45, the fleet led by Nimitz played a decisive role in the liberation of other Pacific archipelagos, and at the end of the war carried out a landing in Japan. During the fighting, Nimitz used a tactic of sudden rapid movement from island to island, called the “frog jump”.
Nimitz's homecoming was celebrated as a national holiday and was called "Nimitz Day." After the war, he oversaw the demobilization of troops and then oversaw the creation of a nuclear submarine fleet. At the Nuremberg trials, he defended his German colleague, Admiral Dennitz, saying that he himself used the same methods of submarine warfare, thanks to which Dennitz avoided a death sentence.
Germany
Von Bock Theodor (1880–1945)
German Field Marshal General.
Even before the outbreak of World War II, von Bock led the troops that carried out the Anschluss of Austria and invaded the Sudetenland of Czechoslovakia. At the outbreak of war, he commanded Army Group North during the war with Poland. In 1940, von Bock led the conquest of Belgium and the Netherlands and the defeat of French troops at Dunkirk. It was he who hosted the parade of German troops in occupied Paris.
Von Bock objected to an attack on the USSR, but when the decision was made, he led Army Group Center, which carried out an attack on the main direction. After the failure of the attack on Moscow, he was considered one of the main people responsible for this failure of the German army. In 1942, he led Army Group South and for a long time successfully held back the advance of Soviet troops on Kharkov.
Von Bock had an extremely independent character, repeatedly clashed with Hitler and pointedly stayed away from politics. After in the summer of 1942, von Bock opposed the Fuhrer’s decision to divide Army Group South into two directions, the Caucasus and Stalingrad, during the planned offensive, he was removed from command and sent to reserve. A few days before the end of the war, von Bock was killed during an air raid.
Von Rundstedt Karl Rudolf Gerd (1875–1953)
German Field Marshal General.
By the beginning of the Second World War, von Rundstedt, who held important command positions back in the First World War, had already retired. But in 1939, Hitler returned him to the army. Von Rundstedt became the main planner of the attack on Poland, code-named Weiss, and commanded Army Group South during its implementation. He then led Army Group A, which played a key role in the capture of France, and also developed the unrealized Sea Lion attack plan on England.
Von Rundstedt objected to the Barbarossa plan, but after the decision was made to attack the USSR, he led Army Group South, which captured Kyiv and other major cities in the south of the country. After von Rundstedt, in order to avoid encirclement, violated the Fuhrer's order and withdrew troops from Rostov-on-Don, he was dismissed.
However, the following year he was again drafted into the army to become commander-in-chief of the German armed forces in the West. His main task was to counter a possible Allied landing. Having familiarized himself with the situation, von Rundstedt warned Hitler that a long-term defense with the existing forces would be impossible. At the decisive moment of the Normandy landings, June 6, 1944, Hitler canceled von Rundstedt's order to transfer troops, thereby wasting time and giving the enemy the opportunity to develop an offensive. Already at the end of the war, von Rundstedt successfully resisted the Allied landings in Holland.
After the war, von Rundstedt, thanks to the intercession of the British, managed to avoid the Nuremberg Tribunal, and participated in it only as a witness.
Von Manstein Erich (1887–1973)
German Field Marshal General.
Manstein was considered one of the strongest strategists of the Wehrmacht. In 1939, as Chief of Staff of Army Group A, he played a key role in developing the successful plan for the invasion of France.
In 1941, Manstein was part of Army Group North, which captured the Baltic states, and was preparing to attack Leningrad, but was soon transferred to the south. In 1941-42, the 11th Army under his command captured the Crimean Peninsula, and for the capture of Sevastopol, Manstein received the rank of Field Marshal.
Manstein then commanded Army Group Don and tried unsuccessfully to rescue Paulus's army from the Stalingrad pocket. Since 1943, he led Army Group South and inflicted a sensitive defeat on Soviet troops near Kharkov, and then tried to prevent the crossing of the Dnieper. When retreating, Manstein's troops used scorched earth tactics.
Having been defeated in the Battle of Korsun-Shevchen, Manstein retreated, violating Hitler's orders. Thus, he saved part of the army from encirclement, but after that he was forced to resign.
After the war, he was sentenced to 18 years by a British tribunal for war crimes, but was released in 1953, worked as a military adviser to the German government and wrote a memoir, “Lost Victories.”
Guderian Heinz Wilhelm (1888–1954)
German Colonel General, commander of armored forces.
Guderian is one of the main theorists and practitioners of “blitzkrieg” - lightning war. He assigned a key role in it to tank units, which were supposed to break through behind enemy lines and disable command posts and communications. Such tactics were considered effective, but risky, creating the danger of being cut off from the main forces.
In 1939-40, in the military campaigns against Poland and France, the blitzkrieg tactics fully justified themselves. Guderian was at the height of his glory: he received the rank of Colonel General and high awards. However, in 1941, in the war against the Soviet Union, this tactic failed. The reason for this was both the vast Russian spaces and the cold climate, in which equipment often refused to work, and the readiness of the Red Army units to resist this method of warfare. Guderian's tank troops suffered heavy losses near Moscow and were forced to retreat. After this, he was sent to the reserve, and subsequently served as inspector general of tank forces.
After the war, Guderian, who was not charged with war crimes, was quickly released and lived out his life writing his memoirs.
Rommel Erwin Johann Eugen (1891–1944)
German field marshal general, nicknamed "Desert Fox". He was distinguished by great independence and a penchant for risky attacking actions, even without the sanction of the command.
At the beginning of World War II, Rommel took part in the Polish and French campaigns, but his main successes were associated with military operations in North Africa. Rommel headed the Afrika Korps, which was initially assigned to help Italian troops who were defeated by the British. Instead of strengthening the defenses, as the order prescribed, Rommel went on the offensive with small forces and won important victories. He acted in a similar manner in the future. Like Manstein, Rommel assigned the main role to rapid breakthroughs and maneuvering of tank forces. And only towards the end of 1942, when the British and Americans in North Africa had a great advantage in manpower and equipment, Rommel’s troops began to suffer defeats. Subsequently, he fought in Italy and tried, together with von Rundstedt, with whom he had serious disagreements affecting the combat effectiveness of the troops, to stop the Allied landing in Normandy.
In the pre-war period, Yamamoto paid great attention to the construction of aircraft carriers and the creation of naval aviation, thanks to which the Japanese fleet became one of the strongest in the world. For a long time, Yamamoto lived in the USA and had the opportunity to thoroughly study the army of the future enemy. On the eve of the start of the war, he warned the country's leadership: “In the first six to twelve months of the war, I will demonstrate an unbroken chain of victories. But if the confrontation lasts two or three years, I have no confidence in the final victory.”
Yamamoto planned and personally led the Pearl Harbor operation. On December 7, 1941, Japanese planes taking off from aircraft carriers destroyed the American naval base at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii and caused enormous damage to the US fleet and air force. After this, Yamamoto won a number of victories in the central and southern parts of the Pacific Ocean. But on June 4, 1942, he suffered a serious defeat from the Allies at Midway Atoll. This happened largely due to the fact that the Americans managed to decipher the codes of the Japanese Navy and obtain all the information about the upcoming operation. After this, the war, as Yamamoto feared, became protracted.
Unlike many other Japanese generals, Yamashita did not commit suicide after the surrender of Japan, but surrendered. In 1946 he was executed on charges of war crimes. His case became a legal precedent, called the “Yamashita Rule”: according to it, the commander is responsible for not stopping the war crimes of his subordinates.
Other countries
Von Mannerheim Carl Gustav Emil (1867–1951)
Finnish marshal.
Before the revolution of 1917, when Finland was part of the Russian Empire, Mannerheim was an officer in the Russian army and rose to the rank of lieutenant general. On the eve of the Second World War, he, as chairman of the Finnish Defense Council, was engaged in strengthening the Finnish army. According to his plan, in particular, powerful defensive fortifications were erected on the Karelian Isthmus, which went down in history as the “Mannerheim Line”.
When the Soviet-Finnish war began at the end of 1939, 72-year-old Mannerheim led the country's army. Under his command, Finnish troops for a long time held back the advance of Soviet units significantly superior in number. As a result, Finland retained its independence, although the peace conditions were very difficult for it.
During the Second World War, when Finland was an ally of Hitler's Germany, Mannerheim showed the art of political maneuver, avoiding active hostilities with all his might. And in 1944, Finland broke the pact with Germany, and at the end of the war it was already fighting against the Germans, coordinating actions with the Red Army.
At the end of the war, Mannerheim was elected president of Finland, but already in 1946 he left this post for health reasons.
Tito Josip Broz (1892–1980)
Marshal of Yugoslavia.
Before the outbreak of World War II, Tito was a figure in the Yugoslav communist movement. After the German attack on Yugoslavia, he began organizing partisan detachments. At first, the Titoites acted together with the remnants of the tsarist army and the monarchists, who were called “Chetniks.” However, differences with the latter eventually became so strong that it came to military clashes.
Tito managed to organize scattered partisan detachments into a powerful partisan army of a quarter of a million fighters under the leadership of the General Headquarters of the People's Liberation Partisan Detachments of Yugoslavia. She used not only traditional partisan methods of war, but also entered into open battles with fascist divisions. At the end of 1943, Tito was officially recognized by the Allies as the leader of Yugoslavia. During the liberation of the country, Tito's army acted together with Soviet troops.
Shortly after the war, Tito led Yugoslavia and remained in power until his death. Despite his socialist orientation, he pursued a fairly independent policy.
War is always a cruel test; it spares no one, even generals and marshals. Every military leader has ups and downs during military operations, each has his own destiny. As one American president rightly noted, war is a dangerous place. The statistics of deaths of high-ranking officers during the fighting of the Second World War is clear proof of this.
While quite a lot has been written about the military fates and losses of the Red Army generals during the Great Patriotic War in recent years, much less is known about their German “counterparts” who died on the Eastern Front. At least, the authors do not know of a book or article published in Russian on the topic in the title. Therefore, we hope that our work will be useful for readers interested in the history of the Great Patriotic War.
Before going directly to the story, it is necessary to make a small note. The practice of posthumously assigning general ranks was widespread in the German army. We do not consider such cases and we will talk exclusively about persons who had the rank of general at the time of their death. So let's get started.
1941
The first German general killed on the Eastern Front was the commander of the 121st East Prussian Infantry Division, Major General Otto LANCELLE, who died on July 3, 1941 east of Kraslava.
Soviet military historical literature provided various information about the circumstances of the death of this general, including a version about the involvement of Soviet partisans in this episode. In fact, Lanzelle became the victim of a rather typical incident for an offensive operation. Here is an excerpt from the history of the 121st Infantry Division: “ When the main body of the 407th Infantry Regiment reached the forested area, General Lanzelle left his command post. Together with the division headquarters officer, Lieutenant Steller, he went to the command post of the 407th regiment. Having reached the advanced units of the battalion advancing to the left of the road, the general did not notice that the right battalion had fallen behind... the Red Army soldiers retreating in front of this battalion suddenly appeared from the rear. In the ensuing close battle, the general was killed...».
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On July 20, 1941, the acting commander of the 17th Panzer Division, Major General Karl Ritter von WEBER, died in a field hospital in the city of Krasny. He had been wounded the day before during artillery shelling from Soviet shell fragments in the Smolensk area.
On August 10, 1941, the first SS general, SS Gruppenführer and Police Lieutenant General, commander of the SS Polizei division, Arthur MULVERSTEDT, died on the Soviet-German front.
The division commander was at the forefront when units of his division broke through the Luga defensive line. This is how the death of the general is described on the pages of the division chronicle: “ Enemy fire paralyzed the attack, it was losing strength, and was in danger of stopping completely. The general instantly assessed the situation. He rose to resume promotion by example. "Go ahead, guys!" In such a situation, it doesn’t matter who sets the example. The main thing is that one carries away the other, almost like a law of nature. A lieutenant can raise a rifleman to attack, or a whole battalion can be a general. Attack, forward! The general looked around and gave the order to the nearest machine-gun crew: “Cover us from the side of that spruce forest over there!” The machine gunner fired a long burst in the indicated direction, and General Mülverstedt again moved forward into a small ravine overgrown with alder bushes. There he knelt down to get a better look around. His adjutant, Lieutenant Reimer, was lying on the ground, changing the magazine of his submachine gun. A mortar crew was changing positions nearby. The general jumped up, and his command “Forward!” was heard again. At that moment, a shell explosion threw the general to the ground, fragments pierced his chest...
A non-commissioned officer and three soldiers were taken toIljishe Proroge. A dressing station for the 2nd medical company was organized there under the leadership of senior physician Dr. Ott. When the soldiers delivered their cargo, the only thing the doctors could do was to confirm the death of the division commander».
According to some reports, the general’s presence directly in the infantry combat formations was caused by the dissatisfaction of the higher command with the not very successful actions of the division.
A few days after Mülverstedt, on August 13, the explosion of a Soviet anti-tank mine put an end to the career of the commander of the 31st Infantry Division, Major General Kurt KALMUKOFF. He, along with his adjutant, was blown up in a car during a trip to the front line.
Colonel General Eugen Ritter von SCHOBERT, commander of the 11th German Field Army, became the highest-ranking Wehrmacht officer to die on the Soviet-German front in 1941. He also had the fate of becoming the first German army commander to die in World War II.
On September 12, Schobert flew on a connected Fisiler-Storch Fi156 from the 7th courier detachment (Kurierst. 7), led by pilot Captain Suvelak, to one of the divisional command posts. For an unknown reason, the plane landed before reaching its destination. It is possible that the car received combat damage along the way. The landing site for the “physicaler” (with serial number 5287) turned out to be a Soviet minefield near Dmitrievka, in the area of the Kakhovka-Antonovka road. The pilot and his high-ranking passenger were killed.
It is curious that in Soviet times, a heroic story was written by T.S. "based on" this event. According to its plot, a German general watched as his subordinates forced Soviet prisoners to clear a minefield. At the same time, it was announced to the prisoners that the general had lost his watch on this very field. One of the captured sailors who participated in demining, with a freshly removed mine in his hands, approached the surprised Germans with a message that the watch had allegedly been found. And, approaching, he blew himself up and his enemies. However, it may be that the source of inspiration for the author of this work was completely different.
On September 29, 1941, Lieutenant General Rudolf KRANTZ, commander of the 454th Security Division, was wounded. On October 22 of the same year, he died in a hospital in Dresden.
On October 28, 1941, on the Valki-Kovyagi road (Kharkov region), the car of Lieutenant General Erich BERNECKER, commander of the 124th Artillery Command, was blown up by an anti-tank mine. During the explosion, the artillery general was mortally wounded and died on the same day.
In the early morning of November 14, 1941, Lieutenant General Georg BRAUN, commander of the 68th Infantry Division, took off from a mansion on 17 Dzerzhinsky Street in Kharkov. This was triggered by a radio-controlled landmine planted by miners from the operational engineering group of Colonel I.G. Starinova in preparation for the evacuation of the city. Although by this time the enemy had already more or less successfully learned to fight Soviet special equipment, in this case the German sappers made a mistake. Together with the general, two headquarters officers of the 68th division and “almost all the clerks” (more precisely, 4 non-commissioned officers and 6 privates) died under the rubble, as the entry in German documents says. In total, 13 people were killed in the explosion, and, in addition, the head of the division's intelligence department, an interpreter and a sergeant major were seriously injured.
In retaliation, the Germans, without any investigation, hanged the first seven townspeople who came to hand in front of the explosion site, and by the evening of November 14, stunned by the explosions of radio-controlled land mines that thundered throughout Kharkov, they took hostages from among the local population. Of these, 50 people were shot on the same day, and another 1000 had to pay with their lives if sabotage was repeated.
The death of General of Infantry Kurt von BRIESEN, commander of the 52nd Army Corps, opened the account of the losses of senior Wehrmacht officers from the actions of Soviet aviation. On November 20, 1941, around noon, the general left for Malaya Kamyshevakha to assign the task to his subordinate units to capture the city of Izyum. At that moment, a pair of Soviet planes appeared over the road. The pilots attacked very competently, gliding with the engines running at low gas. Fire was opened on the target from a height of no more than 50 meters. The Germans sitting in the general's car discovered the danger only by the roar of the engines again operating at full power and the whistle of flying bullets. Two officers accompanying the general managed to jump out of the car, one of them was wounded. The driver remained completely unharmed. But von Briesen received as many as twelve bullet wounds in the chest, from which he died on the spot.
It is unknown who was the author of this queue mark. Let us note that, according to the operational report of the Air Force headquarters of the Southwestern Front, on November 20, our aviation operated limitedly due to bad weather. However, units of the 6th Army Air Force, operating just above the area where von Briesen was killed, reported the destruction of five vehicles during the attack on enemy troops moving along the roads.
Interestingly, the father of the deceased von Briesen, Alfred, was also a general and also met his death on the Eastern Front in 1914.
On December 8, 1941, near Artemovsk, the commander of the 295th Infantry Division, Lieutenant General Herbert GEITNER, was wounded. The general was evacuated from the front line, but the wound turned out to be fatal, and he died on January 22, 1942 in a hospital in Germany.
Very unusual for the Wehrmacht of the “1941 model” was the death of Lieutenant General Conrad von COCHENHAUSEN, commander of the 134th Infantry Division. The general's division, together with the 45th Infantry Division, was surrounded by units of the Southwestern Front in the Yelets area. In winter conditions, the Germans had to fight their way out of the resulting “cauldron” to join the rest of their army. Kochenhausen could not stand the nervous tension and on December 13, considering the situation hopeless, he shot himself.
Most likely, such a tragic outcome was predetermined by the general’s character traits. Here is what he wrote about this: “ Already when I met Lieutenant General von Kochenhausen on September 30, 1941, he spoke very pessimistically about the general military situation on the Eastern Front" Of course, being surrounded is not a pleasant thing and the German losses were great. We do not know exactly the losses of the 134th Division, but its “neighbor”, the 45th Infantry Division, lost over a thousand people from December 5 to 17, including 233 killed and 232 missing. The losses in material terms were also great. Only 22 light field howitzers were left by the 45th Division during the retreat. But, in the end, the Germans still managed to break through.
The remaining Wehrmacht divisions in the central sector of the Soviet-German front found themselves in similar situations more than once or twice. The losses were also quite significant. But their division commanders, nevertheless, did not lose their cool. How can one not remember the popular wisdom - “all diseases come from nerves.”
The penultimate Wehrmacht general to die on the Eastern Front in 1941 was the commander of the 137th Infantry Division, Lieutenant General Friedrich BERGMANN. The division lost its commander on December 21 during the Kaluga operation of the Western Front. Trying to prevent the mobile group of the 50th Soviet Army from reaching Kaluga, units of the 137th Division launched a series of counterattacks. General Bergman arrived at the command post of the 2nd battalion of the 449th Infantry Regiment, located in the forest north of the village of Syavki (25 kilometers southeast of Kaluga). Trying to personally assess the situation on the battlefield, Bergman moved with the battalion reserve to the edge of the forest. Soviet tanks, supporting their infantry, immediately opened fire on the Germans. One of the machine gun bursts mortally wounded the general.
The last to die in battle in 1941 (December 27) was the commander of the 1st SS Motorized Brigade, SS Brigadeführer and Major General of the SS troops Richard HERMANN. This is how this episode is reflected in the combat log of the 2nd Field Army: “ 12/27/1941. From the very early morning, the enemy, with a force of up to two reinforced rifle regiments, with artillery and 3-4 cavalry squadrons, began an attack south through Aleksandrovskoye and Trudy. By noon he managed to advance to Vysokoye and break into the village. SS Major General Hermann was killed there».
Two more episodes should be mentioned that are directly related to the topic raised in this article. A number of publications provide information about the death of the veterinarian general of the 38th Army Corps, Erich BARTSCH, on October 9, 1941, on the Soviet-German front. However, Dr. Bartsch, who died from a mine explosion, at the time of his death had the title of oberst veterinarian, i.e. has nothing to do with purely general losses.
In some sources, the commander of the 2nd SS Police Regiment, Hans Christian SCHULZE, is also considered an SS Brigadeführer and Police Major General. In fact, Schulze was a colonel both at the time of his injury near Gatchina on September 9, 1941, and at the time of his death on September 13.
So, let's summarize. In total, twelve Wehrmacht and SS generals were killed on the Soviet-German front in 1941 (including the commander of the 295th Infantry Division who died in 1942), and another general committed suicide.
German generals who died on the Soviet-German front in 1941
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Name, rank |
Job title |
Cause of death |
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Major General Otto Lanzelle |
Commander of the 121st Infantry Division |
Killed in close combat |
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Major General Karl von Weber |
etc. commander |
Artillery fire |
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Police Lieutenant General Arthur Mühlverstedt |
Commander of the SS MD "Polizei" |
Artillery fire |
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Major General Kurt Kalmukov |
Commander of the 31st Infantry Division |
Mine explosion |
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Colonel General Eugen von Schobert |
Commander of the 11th Army |
Mine explosion |
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Lieutenant General Rudolf Krantz |
Commander of the 454th Security Division |
Not installed |
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Lieutenant General Erich Bernecker |
Commander of the 124th Art. command |
Mine explosion |
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Lieutenant General Georg Braun |
Commander of the 68th Infantry Division |
Sabotage (detonation of a radio high explosive) |
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General of Infantry Kurt von Briesen |
Commander of the 52nd Army Corps |
Air raid |
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Lieutenant General Herbert Geithner |
Commander of the 295th Infantry Division |
Not installed |
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Lieutenant General Konrad von Kochenhausen |
Commander of the 134th Infantry Division |
Suicide |
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Lieutenant General Friedrich Bergmann |
Commander of the 137th Infantry Division |
Machine gun fire from a tank |
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SS Major General Richard Hermann |
Commander of the 1st SS Mechanized Brigade |
Killed in close combat |
1942
In the new year of 1942, the bloody battles that eventually engulfed the entire Eastern Front could not help but result in a steady increase in irretrievable losses among senior Wehrmacht officers.
True, the Wehrmacht generals suffered their first loss in the second year of the war on the Soviet-German front for a non-combat reason. On January 18, 1942, Lieutenant General Georg HEWELKE, commander of the 339th Infantry Division, died of a heart attack in Bryansk.
Let us now fast forward to the southernmost section of the Soviet-German front, to Crimea. Stubborn fighting is taking place on the isthmus connecting the Kerch Peninsula with the rest of Crimea. Warships of the Black Sea Fleet provide all possible assistance to the ground forces of the Red Army.
On the night of March 21, 1942, the battleship Paris Commune and the leader Tashkent, maneuvering in the Gulf of Feodosia, fired at concentrations of enemy troops in the area of Vladislavovka and Novo-Mikhailovka. The battleship fired 131 main-caliber shells, the leader - 120. According to the chronicle of the 46th Infantry Division, units located in Vladislavovka suffered serious losses. Among the seriously wounded was the division commander, Lieutenant General Kurt HIMER. In the hospital, his leg was amputated, but German doctors were unable to save the general’s life. On April 4, 1942, he died in the military hospital 2/610 in Simferopol.
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On March 22, Soviet pilots achieved new success. During an air raid on a command post in the village of Mikhailovka, the commander of the 294th Infantry Division, Lieutenant General Otto GABCKE, was killed. This is what Stefan Heinzel, the author of a book about the 294th Division, said about this episode: “ The division command post was located in the school in the village of Mikhailovka. At 13.55 two so-called “rats”on a low-level flight they dropped four bombs on the school. Along with General Gabke, Major Jarosz von Schwedler, two sergeant majors, one senior corporal and one corporal were killed" Interestingly, Major Jarosz von Schwedler, who died in the bombing, was the chief of staff of the neighboring 79th Infantry Division, temporarily assigned to the headquarters of the 294th.
On March 23, 1942, the head of Einsatzgruppe A, the head of the order police and security service of the Reichskommissariat Ostland, Walter STAHLECKER, completed his bloody journey. While the biography of the SS Brigadeführer and Police Major General is known quite well, the circumstances of his death are quite contradictory. The most plausible version is that the brigadeführer was seriously wounded in a battle with Soviet partisans, leading a detachment of Latvian policemen, and died while being transported to a rear hospital. But at the same time, the area indicated in all sources without exception in which the military clash with the partisans took place - Krasnogvardeysk - looks very doubtful.
Krasnogvardeysk in March 1942 is the front-line zone of the 18th Army, which was besieging Leningrad, occasionally falling under Soviet railway artillery shells. It is unlikely that in those conditions the partisans could wage open battle with the Germans. The chances of them surviving in such a battle were close to zero. Most likely, Krasnogvardeysk is a more or less conditional point (like “Ryazan, which is near Moscow”), to which events are “attached”, but in reality everything happened much further from the front line. There is also no clarity on the date of the battle in which Stahlecker was wounded. There is an assumption that it happened a little earlier on March 23.
In the introductory part of the article, the principle was declared - not to include in the list of losses officers who received the rank of general posthumously. However, based on common sense, we decided to make several deviations from this principle. We will justify ourselves by the fact that the officers mentioned in these retreats were not only posthumously promoted to the rank of general, but, and this is most important, at the time of their death they held general positions as division commanders.
The first exception will be Colonel Bruno HIPPLER, commander of the 329th Infantry Division.
So, the 329th Infantry Division, transferred to the Eastern Front from Germany in late February 1942, took part in Operation Brückenschlag, the result of which was supposed to be the release of the six divisions of the 16th Wehrmacht Army encircled in the Demyansk area.
At dusk on March 23, 1942, the division commander, Colonel Hippler, accompanied by an adjutant, rode out in a tank to conduct reconnaissance. After some time, the crew of the car radioed: “ The tank hit a mine. The Russians are already nearby. Get help soon b". After this the connection was interrupted. Since the exact location was not indicated, the searches carried out the next day remained unsuccessful. Only on March 25, a reinforced reconnaissance group found a blown up tank, the bodies of the division commander and his companions on one of the forest roads. Colonel Hippler, his adjutant and the tank crew apparently died in close combat.
The Wehrmacht lost another “fake” general, but the division commander, on March 31, 1942. True, this time Colonel Karl Fischer, commander of the 267th Infantry Division, did not die from a Soviet bullet, but died from typhus.
On April 7, 1942, west of the village of Glushitsa, a well-aimed shot from a Soviet sniper put an end to the career of Colonel Franz SCHEIDIES, commander of the 61st Infantry Division. Shaidis took command of the division only on March 27, leading a “team” of various units and subunits that repelled the attacks of the Red Army north of Chudov.
On April 14, 1942, near the village of Korolevka, the commander of the 31st Infantry Division, Major General Gerhard Berthold, died. Apparently, the general personally led the attack of the 3rd Battalion of the 17th Infantry Regiment on Soviet positions at Zaitsevaya Mountain on the Yukhnov-Roslavl highway.
On April 28, 1942, the commander of the 127th Artillery Command, Major General Friedrich KAMMEL, shot himself in the village of Parkkina. This is the only German general who died in Northern Finland during the Great Patriotic War. The reason for his suicide is unknown to us.
The beginning of the summer campaign of 1942 was marked, as the Germans like to write, by the “spectacular” success of Soviet anti-aircraft gunners. As a result, the first Luftwaffe general died on the Soviet-German front.
So, in order. On May 12, 1942, Soviet anti-aircraft artillery shot down a German Junkers-52 transport plane from the 300th Transport Group in the Kharkov area. Sergeant Major Leopold Stefan, who survived and was captured, said during interrogation that there were four crew members, ten passengers and mail on board the plane. The car lost its orientation and was hit. However, the captured sergeant major during interrogation did not mention a very significant detail - there was a whole German general among the passengers. This was the commander of the 6th Luftwaffe construction brigade, Major General Walter HELING. It should be noted that since Sergeant Major Stefan was able to escape, Heling could well have become the first Wehrmacht general to be captured.
On July 12, 1942, the habit of using the advantages of flying on a communications plane ended tragically for another Wehrmacht general. On this day, the Chief of Staff of the 4th Panzer Army, Major General Julius von BERNUTH, flew to the headquarters of the 40th Panzer Corps in a Fisiler-Storch plane. It was assumed that the flight would pass over territory that was not controlled by Soviet troops. However, the “Stork” never arrived at its destination. Only on July 14, a search group of the 79th Infantry Division found a wrecked car, as well as the bodies of a general and a pilot, in the area of the village of Sokhrannaya. Apparently, the plane was hit by fire from the ground and made an emergency landing. The passenger and pilot were killed in the shootout.
During the summer campaign of 1942, heavy fighting took place not only on the southern flank of the huge Soviet-German front. The troops of the Western and Kalinin fronts tried to knock out of the hands of the Wehrmacht “the pistol pointed to the heart of Russia” - the Rzhev-Vyazemsky ledge. The combat operations on it quickly took on the character of bloody battles within the line of defense, and therefore these operations were not distinguished by quick and deep breakthroughs, leading to disruption of the enemy’s control system and, as a consequence, to losses among the senior command personnel. Therefore, among the losses of German generals in 1942, there was only one who died in the central sector of the front. This is the commander of the 129th Infantry Division, Lieutenant General Stephan RITTAU.
This is how the death of the division commander on August 22, 1942 is described in the division chronicle: “ At 10.00, the commander of the 129th Infantry Regiment, accompanied by an adjutant on an all-terrain vehicle, went to the command post of the 427th Infantry Regiment, located in the forest between Tabakovo and Markovo. From there, the division commander intended to personally reconnoiter the battlefield. However, after 15 minutes, a liaison motorcyclist arrived at the division command post, who reported that the division commander, Lieutenant General Rittau, his adjutant, Dr. Marschner and the driver were killed. Their all-terrain vehicle received a direct hit from an artillery shell at the southern exit from Martynovo».
On August 26, 1942, another Wehrmacht general added to the list of losses, this time again on the southern flank of the Soviet-German front. On this day, the commander of the 23rd Armored Division, Major General Erwin MACK, with a small task force, went to the advanced units of the division, which were repelling fierce attacks by Soviet troops. Further events are reflected in the dry lines of the “Journal of Combat Operations” of the 23rd TD: “ At 08.30, the division commander arrived at the command post of the 2nd battalion of the 128th motorized infantry regiment, located on a collective farm south of Urvan. He wanted to personally find out the situation at the Urvan bridgehead. Shortly after the discussion began, a mortar shell exploded in the middle of the participants. The division commander, commander of the 2nd battalion, Major von Unger, the adjutant of the 128th regiment, Captain Count von Hagen, and Oberleutnant von Puttkamer, who accompanied the division commander, were mortally wounded. They died on the spot or on the way to the hospital. Miraculously, the commander of the 128th regiment, Colonel Bachmann, survived, receiving only a slight wound.» .
On August 27, 1942, General of the Medical Service Dr. Walter HANSPACH, corps doctor (chief of medical service) of the 14th Panzer Corps, was included in the list of irretrievable losses. True, we have not yet found information about how and under what circumstances this German general died.
The authors, who grew up on Soviet military-patriotic literature and cinema, have repeatedly read and watched how Soviet military intelligence officers penetrated behind enemy lines, set up an ambush, and then successfully destroyed a German general riding in a car. It would seem that such stories are just the fruit of the activity of a sophisticated writer’s mind, but in the reality of the war there really were such episodes, although of course there were not many of them. During the Battle of the Caucasus, it was in such an ambush that our soldiers managed to destroy the commander and chief of staff of the 198th Wehrmacht Infantry Division.
On September 6, 1942, around noon, an Opel passenger car with a commander’s flag on the hood was driving along the road leading northeast from the village of Klyuchevaya to Saratovskaya. In the car were the commander of the 198th Infantry Division, Lieutenant General Albert BUCK, the chief of staff of the division, Major Buhl, and the driver. As the car approached the bridge, it slowed down. At that moment, explosions of two anti-tank grenades were heard. The general was killed on the spot, the major was thrown out of the car, and the seriously wounded driver turned the Opel into a ditch. The soldiers of the construction company working on the bridge heard explosions and shots, were able to quickly organize the pursuit of Soviet intelligence officers and were able to capture several of them. It became known from the prisoners that the reconnaissance and sabotage group consisted of military personnel from the reconnaissance and mortar companies of the 723rd Infantry Regiment. The scouts set up an ambush, taking advantage of the fact that the thick bushes in this place approached the road itself.
On September 8, 1942, the list of Wehrmacht losses was supplemented by the general of the medical service from the 40th Panzer Corps, Dr. SCHOLL. On September 23, 1942, Major General Ulrich SCHUTZE, commander of the 144th Artillery Command, was on the same lists. As in the case of Medical General Hanspach, we have not yet been able to find information under what circumstances these two generals died.
On October 5, 1942, the Wehrmacht command issued an official message which stated: “ On October 3, 1942, on the front line on the Don River, the commander of the tank corps, General of the Tank Forces, Baron Langermann und Erlenkamp, holder of the Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves, died. Colonel Nagy, commander of one of the Hungarian divisions, died shoulder to shoulder with him. They fell in battles for the freedom of Europe" The message was about the commander of the 24th Panzer Corps, General Willibald Freiherr von LANGERMANN UND ERLENCAMP. The general came under Soviet artillery fire while traveling to the front line near the Storozhevsky bridgehead on the Don.
At the beginning of October 1942, the German command decided to withdraw the 96th Infantry Division to the reserve of Army Group North. The division commander, Lieutenant General Baron Joachim von SCHLEINITZ, went to the corps command post to receive the appropriate orders. On the night of October 5, 1942, on the way back to the division, an accident occurred. The division commander and Oberleutnant Koch, who accompanied him, died in a car accident.
On November 19, 1942, hurricane fire from Soviet artillery heralded the beginning of the winter offensive of the Red Army and the imminent turning point in the course of the war. In relation to the topic of our article, it should be said that it was then that the first German generals appeared and went missing. The first of them was Major General Rudolf MORAWETZ, head of the prisoner of war transit camp No. 151. He went missing on November 23, 1942 in the area of Chir station and opened a list of losses of German generals during the winter campaign of 1942-1943.
On December 22, 1942, near the village of Bokovskaya, the commander of the 62nd Infantry Division, Major General Richard-Heinrich von REUSS, died. The general tried to rush through the columns of Soviet troops rushing behind enemy lines after breaking through German positions during Operation Little Saturn.
It is noteworthy that 1942, which began with a heart attack in General Gewelke, ended with a heart attack in another German division commander. On December 22, 1942, Major General Viktor KOCH, commander of the 323rd Infantry Division, occupying the defense in the Voronezh region, died. A number of sources claim that Koch was killed in action.
On December 29, 1942, General Medical Officer Dr. Josef EBBERT, corps physician of the 29th Army Corps, committed suicide.
Thus, in 1942, losses among German generals amounted to 23 people. Of these, 16 people died in battle (counting two colonels - division commanders, who were awarded the rank of general posthumously: Hippler and Schaidies). Interestingly, the number of German generals killed in battle in 1942 was only slightly higher than in 1941, although the duration of hostilities doubled.
The remaining irretrievable losses of the generals occurred for non-combat reasons: one person died in an accident, two committed suicide, three died as a result of illness, one went missing.
German generals who died on the Soviet-German front in 1942
|
Name, rank |
Job title |
Cause of death |
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|
Lieutenant General Georg Gewelke |
Commander of the 339th Infantry Division |
Died of illness |
||
|
Lieutenant General Kurt Giemer |
Commander of the 46th Infantry Division |
Artillery fire |
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|
Lieutenant General Otto Gabke |
Commander of the 294th Infantry Division |
Air raid |
||
|
Police Major General Walter Stahlecker |
Chief of the Order Police and Security Service of the Reichskommissariat Ostland |
Close combat with partisans |
||
|
Colonel (posthumously Major General) Bruno Hippler |
Commander of the 329th Infantry Division |
Melee |
||
|
Colonel (posthumously Major General) Karl Fischer |
Commander of the 267th Infantry Division |
Died of illness |
||
|
Colonel (posthumously Major General) Franz Schaidies |
Commander of the 61st Infantry Division |
Killed by a sniper |
||
|
Major General Gerhard Berthold |
Commander of the 31st Infantry Division |
Not installed |
||
|
Major General Friedrich Kammel |
Commander of the 127th Art. command |
Suicide |
||
|
Major General Walter Helling |
Commander of the 6th Luftwaffe Construction Brigade |
Died in a downed plane |
||
|
Major General Julius von Bernuth |
Chief of Staff of the 4th Tank Army |
Killed in close combat |
||
|
Lieutenant General Stefan Rittau |
Commander of the 129th Infantry Division |
Artillery fire |
||
|
Major General Erwin Mack |
Commander of the 23rd TD |
Mortar fire |
||
|
General of Medical Services Dr. Walter Hanspach |
Corps doctor of the 14th Tank Corps |
Not installed |
||
|
Lieutenant General Albert Book |
Commander of the 198th Infantry Division |
Killed in close combat |
||
|
General of Medical Services Dr. Scholl |
Corps doctor of the 40th Tank Corps |
Not installed |
||
|
Major General Ulrich Schütze |
Commander of the 144th Art. command |
Not installed |
||
|
General Willibald Langermann und Erlenkamp |
Commander of the 24th Tank Corps |
Artillery fire |
||
|
Lieutenant General Baron Joachim von Schleinitz |
Commander of the 96th Infantry Division |
Died in a car accident |
||
|
Major General Rudolf Moravec |
Head of the transit camp for prisoners of war No. 151 |
Missing |
||
|
Major General Richard-Heinrich von Reuss |
Commander of the 62nd Infantry Division |
Not installed |
||
|
Major General Viktor Koch |
Commander of the 323rd Infantry Division |
Died of illness |
||
|
General Medical Officer Dr. Josef Ebbert |
Corps doctor of the 29th Army Corps |
Suicide |
As we see, in 1942, there were no prisoners among the German generals. But everything would change dramatically just a month later, at the end of January 1943, in Stalingrad.
1943
Of course, the most important event of the third year of the war was the surrender of the German 6th Field Army in Stalingrad and the surrender of its command led by Field Marshal Paulus. But, besides them, in 1943, quite a lot of other senior German officers who were little known to fans of military history fell under the “Russian steam roller”.
Although the Wehrmacht generals began to suffer losses in 1943 even before the end of the Battle of Stalingrad, we will start with it, or rather with the long list of captured senior officers of the 6th Army. For convenience, this list is presented in chronological order in table form.
German generals captured at Stalingrad in January-February 1943
|
Date of capture |
Rank, name |
Job title |
|
|
Lieutenant General Hans-Heinrich Sixt von Armin |
Commander, 113th Infantry Division |
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Major General Moritz von Drebber |
Commander of the 297th Infantry Division |
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|
Lieutenant General Heinrich-Anton Deboi |
Commander of the 44th Infantry Division |
||
|
Major General Prof. Dr. Otto Renoldi |
Chief of Medical Service of the 6th Field Army |
||
|
Lieutenant General Helmuth Schlomer |
Commander of the 14th Tank Corps |
||
|
Lieutenant General Alexander Baron von Daniels (Alexander Edler von Daniels) |
Commander, 376th Infantry Division |
||
|
Major General Hans Wulz |
Commander, 144th Artillery Command |
||
|
Lieutenant General Werner Sanne |
Commander of the 100th Jaeger (Light Infantry) Division |
||
|
Field Marshal Friedrich Paulus |
Commander of the 6th Field Army |
||
|
Lieutenant General Arthur Schmidt |
Chief of Staff of the 6th Field Army |
||
|
General of Artillery Max Pfeffer |
Commander of the 4th Army Corps |
||
|
General of Artillery Walther von Seydlitz-Kurzbach |
Commander of the 51st Army Corps |
||
|
Major General Ulrich Vassoll |
Commander, 153rd Artillery Command |
||
|
Major General Hans-Georg Leyser |
Commander of the 29th Motorized Division |
||
|
Major General Dr. Otto Korfes |
Commander of the 295th Infantry Division |
||
|
Lieutenant General Carl Rodenburg |
Commander of the 76th Infantry Division |
||
|
Major General Fritz Roske |
Commander of the 71st Infantry Division |
||
|
Colonel General Walter Heitz |
Commander of the 8th Army Corps |
||
|
Major General Martin Lattmann |
Commander of the 14th Panzer Division |
||
|
Major General Erich Magnus |
Commander, 389th Infantry Division |
||
|
Colonel General Karl Strecker |
Commander of the 11th Army Corps |
||
|
Lieutenant General Arno von Lenski |
Commander of the 24th Panzer Division |
One note needs to be made about this table. The German bureaucracy seemed intent on doing everything to make life as difficult as possible for future researchers and military historians. There are countless examples of this. Stalingrad was no exception in this regard. According to some reports, the commander of the 60th Motorized Division, Major General Hans-Adolf von Arenstorff, became a general in October 1943, i.e. after he spent six months in Soviet captivity. But that's not all. He was awarded the rank of general on January 1, 1943 (the practice of assigning ranks “retroactively” was not so rare among the Germans). So it turns out that in February 1943 we captured 22 German generals, and six months later there was one more!
The German group surrounded in Stalingrad lost its generals not only as prisoners. Several more senior officers died in the “cauldron” under various circumstances.
On January 26, the commander of the 71st Infantry Division, Lieutenant General Alexander von HARTMANN, died south of the Tsaritsa River. According to some reports, the general deliberately sought his death - he climbed onto the railway embankment and began firing a rifle towards the positions occupied by Soviet troops.
On the same day, Lieutenant General Richard STEMPEL, commander of the 371st Infantry Division, died. On February 2, the commander of the 16th Panzer Division, Lieutenant General Gunter ANGERN, added to the list of irretrievable losses. Both generals committed suicide, not wanting to surrender.
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Now, from the grandiose battle on the Volga, let us return to a chronological presentation of the events of the winter campaign of the third war year.
A full-fledged pestilence attacked the commanders of the 24th Tank Corps in January 1943, when parts of the corps came under attack from advancing Soviet formations during the Ostrogozh-Rossoshansky operation of the Voronezh Front troops.
On January 14, corps commander Lieutenant General Martin WANDEL died at his command post in the Sotnitskaya area. The commander of the 387th Infantry Division, Lieutenant General Arno JAHR, took command of the corps. But on January 20, he too suffered the fate of Vandel. According to some reports, General Yaar committed suicide, not wanting to be captured by the Soviets.
For only one day, January 21, the 24th Panzer Corps was commanded by Lieutenant General Karl EIBL, commander of the 385th Infantry Division. In the confusion of the retreat, the column in which his car was located stumbled upon the Italians. They mistook the allies for Russians and opened fire. In the quick battle it came down to hand grenades. The general was seriously wounded by shrapnel from one of them and died a few hours later from heavy loss of blood. Thus, within one week, the 24th Tank Corps lost its regular commander and the commanders of both infantry divisions that were part of the formation.
The Voronezh-Kastornensk operation carried out by troops of the Voronezh and Bryansk fronts, which completed the defeat of the southern flank of the Wehrmacht on the Eastern Front, was a “harvest” in terms of general losses.
The German 82nd Infantry Division came under the first blow of the advancing Soviet troops. Its commander, Lieutenant General Alfred Bentsch (Alfred BAENTSCH), is listed as having died of wounds on January 27, 1943. The confusion that reigned in the German headquarters was such that on February 14 the general was still considered missing along with his chief of staff, Major Allmer. The division itself was categorized as defeated by the command of the 2nd Field Army of the Wehrmacht.
Due to the rapid advance of Soviet units to the Kastornoye railway junction, the headquarters of the 13th Army Corps was cut off from the rest of the troops of the German 2nd Army, and its two divisions, in turn, were cut off from the corps headquarters. The corps headquarters decided to fight their way to the west. The commander of the 377th Infantry Division, Lieutenant General Adolf LECHNER, chose a different solution. On January 29, while trying to break through in a south-eastern direction, to parts of his formation, he and most of the division headquarters went missing. Only the chief of staff of the division, Oberst-Lieutenant Schmidt, came out to his own by mid-February, but he soon died of pneumonia in a hospital in the city of Oboyan.
The German divisions that found themselves surrounded began to attempt a breakthrough. On February 1, the 88th Infantry Division broke through to the outskirts of Stary Oskol. Units of the 323rd Infantry Division moved behind it. The road was under constant fire from the Soviet troops, and on February 2, the division headquarters following the lead battalion was ambushed. The commander of the 323rd PD, General Andreas NEBAUER, and his chief of staff, Lieutenant Colonel Naude, were killed.
Despite the fact that in the North Caucasus, Soviet troops failed to inflict the same crushing defeat on the German Army Group A as on the Volga and Don, the battles there were no less fierce. On the so-called “Hubertus Line”, on February 11, 1943, the commander of the 46th Infantry Division, Major General Ernst HACCIUS, died. It was chalked up by Soviet pilots, most likely attack aircraft (the division chronicle says “low-level attack”). Posthumously, the general was awarded the following rank and given the Knight's Cross. Hazzius became the second commander of the 46th Infantry Division to be killed on the Eastern Front.
On February 18, 1943, the commander of the 12th Army Corps, Infantry General Walter GRAESSNER, was wounded in the central sector of the front. The general was sent to the rear, was treated for a long time, but finally died on July 16, 1943 in a hospital in the city of Troppau.
On February 26, 1943, not far from Novomoskovsk, a “Fisiler-Storch” disappeared, on board of which was the commander of the SS Panzer-Grenadier Division “Totenkopf”, SS-Obergruppenführer Theodor EICKE. One of the reconnaissance groups sent to search for Eicke discovered a downed plane and the corpse of the Obergruppenführer.
On April 2, plane SH104 (factory 0026) from Flugbereitschaft Luftflotte1 crashed in the Pillau area. The crash killed two crew members and two passengers on board. Among the latter was General Engineer Hans FISCHER from the headquarters of the 1st Air Fleet.
On May 14, 1943, the commander of the 39th Infantry Division, Lieutenant General Ludwig LOEWENECK, died north of Pecheneg. According to some sources, the general became the victim of an ordinary traffic accident, according to others, he ended up in a minefield.
On May 30, 1943, Soviet aviation dealt a powerful blow to the German defenses on the Kuban bridgehead. But according to our data, from 16.23 to 16.41, enemy positions were stormed and bombed by 18 groups of Il-2 attack aircraft and five groups of Petlyakovs. During the raid, one of the groups “caught” the command post of the 97th Jaeger Division. The division commander, Lieutenant General Ernst RUPP, was killed.
On June 26, 1943, the Germans suffered another loss at the Kuban bridgehead. In the first half of this day, the commander of the 50th Infantry Division, Lieutenant General Friedrich SCHMIDT, went to the position of one of the battalions of the 121st Infantry Regiment. On the way, his car near the village of Kurchanskaya hit a mine. The general and his driver were killed.
In the Battle of Kursk, which began on July 5, 1943, the German generals did not suffer major losses. Although there were cases of division commanders being wounded, only one division commander died. On July 14, 1943, during a trip to the front line north of Belgorod, the commander of the 6th Panzer Division, Major General Walter von HUEHNERSDORF, was mortally wounded. He was seriously wounded in the head by a well-aimed shot from a Soviet sniper. Despite the many-hour operation in Kharkov, where the general was taken, he died on July 17.
The offensive of the troops of the Soviet fronts in the Oryol direction, which began on July 12, 1943, was not replete with deep breakthroughs, in which enemy headquarters came under attack. But there were nevertheless losses in the generals. On July 16, the commander of the 211th Infantry Division, Lieutenant General Richard MUELLER, died.
On July 20, 1943, near Izyum, the commander of the 17th Panzer Division, Lieutenant General Walter SCHILLING, died. We were unable to establish the details of the death of both generals.
On August 2, the commander of the 46th Panzer Corps, Infantry General Hans ZORN, died. South-west of Krom, his car came under a bomb attack by Soviet planes.
On August 7, in the midst of our counteroffensive near Kharkov, the commander of the 19th Tank Division, Lieutenant General Gustav SCHMIDT, familiar to everyone who watched the film “Arc of Fire” from the famous Soviet film epic “Liberation,” died. True, in life everything was not as spectacular as in the movies. General Schmidt did not shoot himself in front of Army Group South commander Erich von Manstein and his staff officers. He died during the defeat of the 19th Division column by tankmen of the Soviet 1st Tank Army. The general was buried in the village of Berezovka by the crew members of the command tank who survived and were captured by the Soviets.
On August 11, 1943, at about six o'clock in the morning Berlin time, Soviet snipers again distinguished themselves. A well-aimed bullet overtook the commander of the 4th Mountain Infantry Division, Lieutenant General Hermann KRESS. The general at that moment was in the trenches of the Romanian units blockading Myskhako, the legendary “Little Land” near Novorossiysk.
On August 13, 1943, Major General Karl Schuchardt, commander of the 10th Anti-Aircraft Artillery Brigade, died. Details of the death of the anti-aircraft gunner general could not be found, but he definitely died in the zone of the 2nd field army of the Wehrmacht. According to the documents of this association, on August 12, Shuchard reported to army headquarters about the transfer of the brigade to operational subordination.
On August 15, 1943, Lieutenant General Heinrich RECKE, commander of the 161st Infantry Division, went missing. The general personally raised his soldiers in a counterattack in the area south of Krasnaya Polyana. The division's chronicle provides information from eyewitnesses who allegedly saw how Soviet infantrymen surrounded the general. At this point his traces were lost. However, in the Soviet sources available to us there is no mention of the capture of General Recke.
On August 26, near the Polish city of Ozarow, the commander of the 174th reserve division, Lieutenant General Kurt RENNER, was killed. Renner was ambushed by Polish partisans. Along with the general, two officers and five privates were killed.
The 161st Division mentioned above was received by Major General Karl-Albrecht von GRODDECK. But the division did not fight with the new commander for even two weeks. On August 28, von Groddeck was wounded by shrapnel from an aerial bomb. The wounded man was evacuated to Poltava, then to the Reich. Despite the efforts of doctors, the general died on January 10, 1944 in Breslau.
On October 15, 1943, the offensive of the 65th Army of the Central Front began in the Loyev direction. Powerful Soviet artillery fire disrupted the communication lines of the German troops defending in this area. Lieutenant General Hans KAMECKE, commander of the 137th Infantry Division, went to the command post of the 447th Infantry Regiment to personally navigate the situation that was emerging during the large-scale Russian offensive that had begun. On the way back south of the village of Kolpen, the general’s car was attacked by Soviet attack aircraft. Kameke and the liaison officer Oberleutnant Mayer accompanying him were seriously injured. The next morning the general died in a field hospital. Interestingly, Lieutenant General Kameke was the second and last full-time commander of the 137th Division in World War II. Let us recall that the first commander, Lieutenant General Friedrich Bergmann, was killed in December 1941 near Kaluga. And all the other officers who commanded the divisions wore the prefix “acting” until the formation was finally disbanded on December 9, 1943.
On October 29, 1943, German troops fought stubborn battles in the Krivoy Rog area. During one of the counterattacks, the commander of the 14th Panzer Division, Lieutenant General Friedrich SIEBERG, and his chief of staff, Oberst-Lieutenant von der Planitz, were wounded by shrapnel from an exploding shell. If Planitz's wound turned out to be minor, then the general was unlucky. Although he was urgently taken by Fisiler-Storch plane to hospital No. 3/610, despite all the efforts of the doctors, Siberg died on November 2.
On November 6, 1943, the commander of the 88th Infantry Division, Lieutenant General Heinrich ROTH, died from a wound received the day before. His division at that time was fighting heavy battles with Soviet troops storming the capital of Soviet Ukraine - Kyiv.
Major General Max ILGEN, commander of the 740th formation of the “eastern” troops, was listed as missing on November 15, 1943 in the Rivne region. As a result of a daring operation, the general was kidnapped from his own mansion in Rovno by the legendary Soviet intelligence officer Nikolai Ivanovich Kuznetsov, acting under the name of Lieutenant Paul Siebert. Due to the impossibility of transporting the captive Ilgen to Soviet territory, after interrogation he was killed in one of the surrounding farms.
On November 19, 1943, aviation from the Black Sea Fleet and the 4th Air Army launched the most powerful strike on an enemy naval base since the beginning of the war. This base was the port of Kamysh-Burun on the Crimean shore of the Kerch Strait. From 10.10 to 16.50, six “petlyakov” and 95 attack aircraft worked at the base, whose operations were supported by 105 fighters. Several fast landing barges were damaged as a result of the raid. But the enemy’s losses from our strike were not limited to this. It was on this day that the commander of the German Navy on the Black Sea (“Admiral of the Black Sea”), Vice Admiral Gustav KIESERITZKY, decided to visit Kamysh-Burun and reward the crews of the BDB who successfully blocked the Soviet bridgehead in the Eltigen area. At the entrance to the base, a car, in which, in addition to the admiral, his adjutant and the driver, there were two more naval officers, was attacked by four “silts”. Three, including Kieseritzki, died on the spot, two were seriously injured. According to A.Ya. Kuznetsov, author of the book “The Big Landing,” the enemy fleet on the Black Sea was beheaded by one of the four fours of the 7th Guards Assault Regiment of the 230th ShAD of the 4th Air Army. We also note that Kieseritzky became the first Kriegsmarine admiral to die on the Eastern Front.
On November 27, 1943, the acting commander of the 9th Panzer Division, Colonel Johannes SCHULZ, died north of Krivoy Rog. He was posthumously awarded the rank of major general.
On December 9, 1943, the combat career of Lieutenant General Arnold ZELINSKI, commander of the 376th Infantry Division, ended. We have not established the details of his death.
The third war year brought both quantitative and qualitative changes in the structure of losses of German generals on the Soviet-German front. In 1943, these losses amounted to 33 people killed and 22 people captured (all captured in Stalingrad).
Of the irretrievable losses, 24 people died in battle (including Colonel Schultz, the division commander, who was awarded the rank of general posthumously). It is noteworthy that if in 1941 and 1942 only one German general was killed by air strikes, then in 1943 there were already as many as six!
In the remaining nine cases, the causes were: accidents - two people, suicides - three people, "friendly fire" - one person, two were missing, and another was killed after being captured behind German lines by partisans.
Note that among the losses due to non-combat reasons there were no deaths due to illness, and the reason for all three suicides was the reluctance to be captured by the Soviets.
German generals who died on the Soviet-German front in 1943
|
Name, rank |
Job title |
Cause of death |
||
|
Lieutenant General Martin Wandel |
Commander of the 24th Tank Corps |
Possibly killed in close combat |
||
|
Lieutenant General Arno Jaar |
And about. commander of the 24th Tank Corps, commander of the 387th Infantry Division |
Possible suicide |
||
|
Lieutenant General Karl Able |
And about. commander of the 24th Tank Corps, commander of the 385th Infantry Division |
Close combat with allied Italian units |
||
|
Lieutenant General Alexander von Hatmann |
Commander of the 71st Infantry Division |
Melee |
||
|
Lieutenant General Richard Stempel |
Commander of the 371st Infantry Division |
Suicide |
||
|
Lieutenant General Alfred Bench |
Commander of the 82nd Infantry Division |
Not installed. Died from wounds |
||
|
Lieutenant General Adolf Lechner |
Commander of the 377th Infantry Division |
Missing |
||
|
Lieutenant General Günter Angern |
Commander of the 16th TD |
Suicide |
||
|
General Andreas Nebauer |
Commander of the 323rd Infantry Division |
Melee |
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|
Major General Ernst Hazzius |
Commander of the 46th Infantry Division |
Air raid |
||
|
General of Infantry Walter Greissner |
Commander of the 12th Army Corps |
Not installed. Died from wounds |
||
|
SS-Obergruppenführer Theodor Eicke |
Commander of the SS Panzergrenadier Division "Totenkopf" |
Died in a downed plane |
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General Engineer Hans Fischer |
headquarters of the 1st Air Fleet |
Plane crash |
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Lieutenant General Ludwig Leveneck |
Commander of the 39th Infantry Division |
Died in a car accident |
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Lieutenant General Ernst Rupp |
Commander of the 97th Jaeger Division |
Air raid |
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Lieutenant General Friedrich Schmidt |
Commander of the 50th Infantry Division |
Mine explosion |
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Major General Walter von Hünersdorff |
Commander of the 6th TD |
Wounded by a sniper. Died from his wound |
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Lieutenant General Richard Müller |
Commander of the 211th Infantry Division |
Not installed |
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Lieutenant General Walter Schilling |
Commander of the 17th TD |
Not installed |
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General of Infantry Hans Zorn |
Commander of the 46th Tank Corps |
Air raid |
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Lieutenant General Gustav Schmidt |
commander of the 19th TD |
Melee |
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Lieutenant General Hermann Kress |
Commander of the 4th Civil Regiment |
Killed by a sniper |
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Major General Karl Schuchard |
Commander of the 10th Anti-Aircraft Artillery Brigade |
Not installed |
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Lieutenant General Heinrich Recke |
Commander of the 161st Infantry Division |
Missing |
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Lieutenant General Kurt Renner |
Commander of the 174th Reserve Division |
Close combat with partisans |
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Major General Karl-Albrecht von Groddeck |
Commander of the 161st Infantry Division |
Wounded during an air raid. Died from wounds |
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Lieutenant General Hans Kamecke |
Commander of the 137th Infantry Division |
Air raid |
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Lieutenant General Friedrich Seeberg |
Commander of the 14th TD |
Wounded during an artillery attack. Died from his wounds. |
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Lieutenant General Heinrich Rott |
Commander of the 88th Infantry Division |
Not installed |
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Major General Max Ilgen |
Commander of the 740th formation of the “eastern” troops |
Killed after being captured by partisans |
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Vice Admiral Gustav Kieseritzky |
Commander of the German Navy on the Black Sea |
Air raid |
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Colonel (posthumously Major General) Johannes Schultz |
and about. commander of the 9th TD |
Not installed |
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Lieutenant General Arnold Zielinski |
Commander of the 376th Infantry Division |
Not installed |
– Geschichte der 121. ostpreussischen Infanterie-Division 1940-1945/Tradizionverband der Division – Muenster/Frankfurt/Berlin, 1970 – S. 24-25
We were unable to make an adequate reverse translation of the name of the mentioned settlement from German into Russian.
Husemann F. Die guten Glaubens waren – Osnabrueck – S. 53-54
US National Archives T-314 roll 1368 frame 1062
US National Archives T-314 roll 1368 frame 1096
Vokhmyanin V.K., Podoprigora A.I. Kharkov, 1941. Part 2: City on fire. – Kharkov, 2009 – P.115
TsAMO F. 229 Op. 161 storage units 160 “Air Force Headquarters of the Southwestern Front. Operational report by 04.00 11/21/1941.”
Hartmann Ch. Wehrmacht im Ostkrieg – Oldenburg, 2010 – S. 371
Ibid.
Meyer – Detring W. Die 137. Infanterie – Division im Mittelabschnitt der Ostfront – Eggolsheim, o.J. – S.105-106
US National Archives T-312 roll 1654 frame 00579
For some reason, the wrong hull number is indicated - 37th Ak.
US National Archives T-311 roll 106 “Name losses of officers Gr. And “North” from October 1, 1941 to March 15, 1942.”
This is exactly how Schulze’s rank is indicated in the document, in army style, and not as the rank of the SS troops.
US National Archives T-311 roll 108 “Losses of the 18th Army and 4th Tank Group from June 22 to October 31, 1941.”
Chronicle of the Great Patriotic War of the Soviet Union at the Black Sea Theater - Vol. 2 – M., 1946 – P.125
Scherzer V. 46. Infanterie-Division – Jena 2009 – S.367
It should be noted that the Germans could call any Soviet aircraft a “army”, not just the I-16
Saenger H. Die 79. Infanterie– Division, 1939 – 1945 – o.O, o.J. – S. 58
Einsatzgruppen der Sicherheitspolizei und des SD - special purpose task force of the SD security service. On the territory of the USSR, the tasks of operational and special groups included: identifying and liquidating party and Komsomol activists, conducting search activities and arrests, exterminating Soviet party workers, NKVD employees, army political workers and officers, combating manifestations of anti-German activities, seizing institutions with file cabinets and archives, etc.
Colonel Hippler was promoted to the rank of major general on April 8, 1942
Pape K. 329. Infanterie-Division – Jena 2007 – S.28
Colonel Fischer was promoted to the rank of major general on April 8, 1942
Hinze R.: Bug – Moskwa – Beresina – Preußisch Oldendorf,1992 – S.306
Spektakular – sensational, attention-grabbing
Ju-52 (serial number 5752, tail number NJ+CU) from KGrzbV300, pilot non-commissioned officer Gerhard Otto.
Zablotsky A.N., Larintsev R.I. “Air Bridges” of the Third Reich – M., 2013 – P.71
In German documents on this day, Fi156 from the 62nd Signal Detachment (serial number 5196), pilot Oberfeldwebel Erhard Zemke - VA-MA RL 2 III/1182 S. 197, is listed as lost from enemy action. However, in some sources the surname The pilot is given differently - Linke.
Boucsein H. Halten oder Sterben. Die hessische 129. ID in Russland und Ostpreussen 1941-1945 – Potsdam, 1999 – S.259
US National Archives T-315 roll791 frame00720
Graser G. Zwischen Kattegat und Kaukasus. Weg und Kaempfe der 198. Infanterie-Divivsion – Tubingen, 1961 – S. 184-185
Pohlman H. Die Geschichte der 96. Infanterie-Division 1939-1945 – Bad Nacheim, 1959 – S.171
Durchgangslager (Dulag) 151
Schafer R.-A. Die Mondschein – Division – Morsbach, 2005 – S. 133
US National Archives T-314 Roll357 Frame0269
Die 71.Infanterie-Division 1939 – 1945 – Eggolsheim, o.J. – S.296
US National Archives NARA T-314 roll 518 fram 0448
Scherzer V. 46.Infanterie – Division – Jena, 2009 – S.453
Zablotsky A., Larintsev R. Losses of German generals on the Soviet-German front in 1942. “Arsenal-Collection”. 2014, No. 5 – P.2
Military archive of Germany BA-MA RL 2 III/1188 S. 421-422
Time indicated is Moscow
US National Archives NARA T-312 roll 723
US National Archives NARA T-314 roll 1219 fram 0532
Zamulin V.N. The forgotten battle on the Kursk Bulge - M., 2009 - P.584-585
Ibid – pp.585-586
Braun J. Enzian und Edelweiss – Bad Nauheim, 1955 – S.44
Kippar G. Die Kampfgescheen der 161. (ostpr.) Infanterie – Division von der Aufstellund 1939 bis zum Ende – o.O., 1994 – S. 521, 523
Kippar G. Op.cit., S. 578
Zablotsky A., Larintsev R. “The Devil’s Dozen” Losses of Wehrmacht generals on the Soviet-German front in 1941. “Arsenal-Collection”. 2014, No. 3 – P.18
Meyer– Detring W. Die 137. Infanterie – Division im Mittelabschnitt dr Ostfront – Eggolsheim, o.J. – S. 186-187
Grams R. Die 14. Panzer-Division 1940 – 1945 –Bad Nauheim, 1957 -S. 131
Time indicated is Moscow
Kuznetsov A.Ya. Big landing - M., 2011 - P. 257-258
During the Great Patriotic War, about three and a half million soldiers were captured by the Soviets, who were later tried for various war crimes. This number included both the Wehrmacht military and their allies. Moreover, more than two million are Germans. Almost all of them were found guilty and received significant prison sentences. Among the prisoners there were also “big fish” - high-ranking and far from ordinary representatives of the German military elite.
However, the vast majority of them were kept in quite acceptable conditions and were able to return to their homeland. Soviet troops and the population treated the defeated invaders quite tolerantly. "RG" talks about the most senior Wehrmacht and SS officers who were captured by the Soviets.
Field Marshal Friedrich Wilhelm Ernst Paulus
Paulus was the first of the German high military ranks to be captured. During the Battle of Stalingrad, all members of his headquarters - 44 generals - were captured along with him.
On January 30, 1943 - the day before the complete collapse of the encircled 6th Army - Paulus was awarded the rank of Field Marshal. The calculation was simple - not a single top commander in the entire history of Germany surrendered. Thus, the Fuhrer intended to push his newly appointed field marshal to continue resistance and, as a result, commit suicide. Having thought about this prospect, Paulus decided in his own way and ordered an end to resistance.
Despite all the rumors about the “atrocities” of the communists towards prisoners, the captured generals were treated with great dignity. Everyone was immediately taken to the Moscow region - to the Krasnogorsk operational transit camp of the NKVD. The security officers intended to win the high-ranking prisoner over to their side. However, Paulus resisted for quite a long time. During interrogations, he declared that he would forever remain a National Socialist.
It is believed that Paulus was one of the founders of the National Committee of Free Germany, which immediately launched active anti-fascist activities. In fact, when the committee was created in Krasnogorsk, Paulus and his generals were already in the general camp in the Spaso-Evfimiev Monastery in Suzdal. He immediately regarded the work of the committee as “betrayal.” He called the generals who agreed to cooperate with the Soviets traitors, whom he “can no longer consider as his comrades.”
Paulus changed his point of view only in August 1944, when he signed an appeal “To prisoners of war German soldiers, officers and the German people.” In it, he called for the removal of Adolf Hitler and an end to the war. Immediately after this, he joined the anti-fascist Union of German Officers, and then Free Germany. There he soon became one of the most active propagandists.
Historians are still arguing about the reasons for such a sharp change in position. Most attribute this to the defeats that the Wehrmacht had suffered by that time. Having lost the last hope for German success in the war, the former field marshal and current prisoner of war decided to side with the winner. One should not dismiss the efforts of the NKVD officers, who methodically worked with “Satrap” (Paulus’s pseudonym). By the end of the war, they practically forgot about him - he couldn’t really help, the Wehrmacht front was already cracking in the East and West.
After the defeat of Germany, Paulus came in handy again. He became one of the main witnesses for the Soviet prosecution at the Nuremberg trials. Ironically, it was captivity that may have saved him from the gallows. Before his capture, he enjoyed the Fuhrer’s enormous trust; he was even predicted to replace Alfred Jodl, the chief of staff of the operational leadership of the Wehrmacht High Command. Jodl, as is known, became one of those whom the tribunal sentenced to hang for war crimes.
After the war, Paulus, along with other “Stalingrad” generals, continued to be captured. Most of them were released and returned to Germany (only one died in captivity). Paulus continued to be kept at his dacha in Ilyinsk, near Moscow.
He was able to return to Germany only after Stalin's death in 1953. Then, by order of Khrushchev, the former military man was given a villa in Dresden, where he died on February 1, 1957. It is significant that at his funeral, in addition to his relatives, only party leaders and generals of the GDR were present.
General of Artillery Walter von Seydlitz-Kurzbach
The aristocrat Seydlitz commanded the corps in Paulus's army. He surrendered on the same day as Paulus, albeit on a different sector of the front. Unlike his commander, he began to cooperate with counterintelligence almost immediately. It was Seydlitz who became the first chairman of Free Germany and the Union of German Officers. He even suggested that the Soviet authorities form German units to fight the Nazis. True, prisoners were no longer considered as a military force. They were used only for propaganda work.
After the war, Seydlitz remained in Russia. At a dacha near Moscow, he advised the creators of a film about the Battle of Stalingrad and wrote memoirs. Several times he asked for repatriation to the territory of the Soviet zone of occupation of Germany, but was refused each time.
In 1950, he was arrested and sentenced to 25 years in prison. The former general was kept in solitary confinement.
Seydlitz received his freedom in 1955 after the visit of German Chancellor Konrad Adenauer to the USSR. After his return, he led a reclusive life.
Lieutenant General Vinzenz Müller
For some, Müller went down in history as the “German Vlasov.” He commanded the 4th German Army, which was completely defeated near Minsk. Müller himself was captured. From the very first days as a prisoner of war he joined the work of the Union of German Officers.
For some special merits, he not only was not convicted, but immediately after the war he returned to Germany. That's not all - he was appointed Deputy Minister of Defense. Thus, he became the only major Wehrmacht commander who retained his rank of lieutenant general in the GDR army.
In 1961, Müller fell from the balcony of his house in a suburb of Berlin. Some claimed it was suicide.
Grand Admiral Erich Johann Albert Raeder
Until the beginning of 1943, Raeder was one of the most influential military men in Germany. He served as commander of the Kriegsmarine (German Navy). After a series of failures at sea, he was removed from his post. He received the position of chief inspector of the fleet, but had no real powers.
Erich Raeder was captured in May 1945. During interrogations in Moscow, he spoke about all the preparations for war and gave detailed testimony.
Initially, the USSR intended to try the former grand admiral itself (Raeder is one of the few who was not considered at the conference in Yalta, where the issue of punishing war criminals was discussed), but later a decision was made on his participation in the Nuremberg trials. The tribunal sentenced him to life imprisonment. Immediately after the verdict was announced, he demanded that the sentence be changed to execution, but was refused.
He was released from Spandau prison in January 1955. The official reason was the prisoner's health condition. The illness did not stop him from writing his memoirs. He died in Kiel in November 1960.
SS Brigadeführer Wilhelm Mohnke
The commander of the 1st SS Panzer Division "Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler" is one of the few SS generals captured by Soviet troops. The overwhelming number of SS men made their way to the west and surrendered to the Americans or British. On April 21, 1945, Hitler appointed him commander of a “battle group” for the defense of the Reich Chancellery and the Fuhrer’s bunker. After the collapse of Germany, he tried to break out of Berlin to the north with his soldiers, but was captured. By that time, almost his entire group was destroyed.
After signing the act of surrender, Monke was taken to Moscow. There he was held first in Butyrka, and then in Lefortovo prison. The sentence - 25 years in prison - was heard only in February 1952. He served his sentence in the legendary pre-trial detention center No. 2 of the city of Vladimir - “Vladimir Central”.
The former general returned to Germany in October 1955. At home he worked as a sales agent selling trucks and trailers. He died quite recently - in August 2001.
Until the end of his life, he considered himself an ordinary soldier and actively participated in the work of various associations of SS military personnel.
SS Brigadeführer Helmut Becker
SS man Becker was brought into Soviet captivity by his place of service. In 1944, he was appointed commander of the Totenkopf (Death's Head) division, becoming its last commander. According to the agreement between the USSR and the USA, all military personnel of the division were subject to transfer to Soviet troops.
Before the defeat of Germany, Becker, confident that only death awaited him in the east, tried to break through to the west. Having led his division through the whole of Austria, he capitulated only on May 9. Within a few days he found himself in Poltava prison.
In 1947, he appeared before the military tribunal of the troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Kyiv Military District and received 25 years in the camps. Apparently, like all other German prisoners of war, he could return to Germany in the mid-50s. However, he became one of the few top German military commanders to die in the camp.
The cause of Becker’s death was not hunger and overwork, which was common in the camps, but a new accusation. In the camp he was tried for sabotage of construction work. On September 9, 1952, he was sentenced to death. Already on February 28 of the following year he was shot.
General of Artillery Helmut Weidling
The commander of the defense and the last commandant of Berlin was captured during the assault on the city. Realizing the futility of resistance, he gave the order to cease hostilities. He tried in every possible way to cooperate with the Soviet command and personally signed the act of surrender of the Berlin garrison on May 2.
The general’s tricks did not help save him from trial. In Moscow he was kept in Butyrskaya and Lefortovo prisons. After this he was transferred to the Vladimir Central.
The last commandant of Berlin was sentenced in 1952 - 25 years in the camps (the standard sentence for Nazi criminals).
Weidling was no longer able to be released. He died of heart failure on November 17, 1955. He was buried in the prison cemetery in an unmarked grave.
SS-Obergruppenführer Walter Krueger
Since 1944, Walter Kruger led the SS troops in the Baltic states. He continued to fight until the very end of the war, but eventually tried to break into Germany. With fighting I reached almost the very border. However, on May 22, 1945, Kruger’s group attacked a Soviet patrol. Almost all the Germans died in the battle.
Kruger himself was taken alive - after being wounded, he was unconscious. However, it was not possible to interrogate the general - when he came to his senses, he shot himself. As it turned out, he kept a pistol in a secret pocket, which could not be found during the search.
SS Gruppenführer Helmut von Pannwitz
Von Pannwitz is the only German who was tried along with the White Guard generals Shkuro, Krasnov and other collaborators. This attention is due to all the activities of the cavalryman Pannwitz during the war. It was he who oversaw the creation of Cossack troops in the Wehrmacht on the German side. He was also accused of numerous war crimes in the Soviet Union.
Therefore, when Pannwitz, together with his brigade, surrendered to the British, the USSR demanded his immediate extradition. In principle, the Allies could refuse - as a German, Pannwitz was not subject to trial in the Soviet Union. However, given the severity of the crimes (there was evidence of numerous executions of civilians), the German general was sent to Moscow along with the traitors.
In January 1947, the court sentenced all the accused (six people were in the dock) to death. A few days later, Pannwitz and other leaders of the anti-Soviet movement were hanged.
Since then, monarchist organizations have regularly raised the issue of rehabilitating those hanged. Time after time, the Supreme Court makes a negative decision.
SS Sturmbannführer Otto Günsche
By his rank (the army equivalent is major), Otto Günsche, of course, did not belong to the German army elite. However, due to his position, he was one of the most knowledgeable people about life in Germany at the end of the war.
For several years, Günsche was Adolf Hitler's personal adjutant. It was he who was tasked with destroying the body of the Fuhrer who committed suicide. This became a fatal event in the life of the young (at the end of the war he was not even 28 years old) officer.
Gunsche was captured by the Soviets on May 2, 1945. Almost immediately he found himself in the development of SMERSH agents, who were trying to find out the fate of the missing Fuhrer. Some of the materials are still classified.
Finally, in 1950, Otto Günsche was sentenced to 25 years in prison. However, in 1955 he was transported to serve his sentence in the GDR, and a year later he was completely released from prison. Soon he moved to Germany, where he remained for the rest of his life. He died in 2003.