Georg von Küchler
Georg von Küchler | |
---|---|
Hesse-Nassau, Kingdom of Prussia, German Empire | |
Died | 25 May 1968 Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Landkreis Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Upper Bavaria, Bavaria, West Germany | (aged 86)
Allegiance | |
Years of service | 1900 – 1944 |
Rank | Generalfeldmarschall |
Commands held | |
Battles/wars | World War I
|
Awards | See awards |
Signature |
Georg Carl Wilhelm Friedrich von Küchler (30 May 1881 – 25 May 1968) was a German
After the end of the war, he was tried in the High Command Trial, as part of the Subsequent Nuremberg trials. On 27 October 1948 he was sentenced to 20 years in prison for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in the Soviet Union. He was released in 1953.
Early life and World War I
Born on 30 May 1881 at Schloss Philippsruhe, Küchler's family were
When
After serving on the frontlines, Küchler performed staff duties at IV Corps and later VIII Corps. By the end of 1916 he was the 'Staff Officer, Operations' with the 206th Infantry Division. He returned to Germany later in the war to take a similar post with 8th Reserve Division. By the end of the war he was serving of the staff of Rüdiger von der Goltz, commander of the Baltic Sea Division. After the armistice and still in the Baltics, he joined the Freikorps and fought the Red Army in Poland.[2]
Interwar period
After the war, Küchler was retained in the postwar
In 1938 Küchler supported Adolf Hitler in his removal of Werner von Blomberg and Werner von Fritsch from power. At this stage of his career, Küchler was a General of Artillery and commander of the 1st Military District. This was a challenging post as it was cc East Prussia and largely surrounded by Poland. Much of his work was in improving the defences of the area but in March 1939, his troops marched into the Lithuanian city of Memel (now Klaipėda).[2][Note 2]
World War II
Invasion of Poland
On the outbreak of
Küchler refused to use his soldiers to persecute Jewish and Polish civilians, explaining to the Gauleiter of East Prussia Erich Koch that the "German army is not a supplier for a killer gang".[6] This made Himmler furious and Küchler was removed from command.[7][8] In November 1939, Commander in Chief of the Army Walther von Brauchitsch appointed Küchler commander of the 18th Army, then being organised in northern Germany. It comprised five infantry divisions, as well as a motorized division and the 9th Panzer Division, and was intended for operations against Holland.[5]
Invasion of the Netherlands
On the morning of 10 May 1940, the German armed forces commenced the implementation of the
Küchler, fighting under General
Küchler's troops then moved into the
Invasion of the Soviet Union
In 1940 he was supportive of Nazi racial policy and ordered on 22 February a halt to any criticism of "ethnic struggle being carried out in the General Government, for instance, that of the Polish minorities, of the Jews and those regarding Church matters". His order explained that the "final ethnic solution" required unique and harsh measures.[13]
Küchler was an active supporter of the planned war of annihilation ( "We are separated from Russia, ideologically and racially, by a deep abyss. Russia is, if only by the mass of her territory, an Asian state...The Führer does not wish to palm off responsibility for Germany's existence on to a later generation; he has decided to force the dispute with Russia before the year is out. If Germany wishes to live in peace for generations, safe from a threatening danger in the East, this cannot be a case of pushing Russia back a little-or even hundreds of kilometers-but the aim must be to annihilate European Russia, to dissolve the Russian state in Europe".[14]
Küchler went on to call Red Army commissars "criminals" who should all be shot.
During
Küchler was directly involved in the murder of mentally disabled people in the occupied Soviet Union. In December 1941, with his express consent, units of the SD shot 240 mental patients in the Russian town of Makaryevo.[16]
On 17 January 1942, Küchler succeeded Field Marshal Wilhelm Ritter von Leeb as commander of Army Group North after the latter was relieved of command. Küchler commanded Army Group North from December 1941 through January 1944, maintaining the siege of Leningrad. On 30 June 1942 Hitler promoted Küchler to Generalfeldmarschall.
Brought back to Hitler's headquarters on 31 January 1944, Küchler was relieved of his command and replaced by Generaloberst Model. Although Model stabilised the situation by March, this was only by withdrawing what was left of 18th Army to the west of Lake Peipus. Küchler in the meantime went into retirement. He declined an invitation from Carl Goerdeler and Johannes Popitz to join the anti-Hitler movement.[17]
Trial and conviction
At the end of World War II, Küchler was arrested by
On 27 October 1948 Küchler was sentenced to twenty years' imprisonment for
Awards
- Iron Cross (1914) 2nd Class (20 November 1914) & 1st Class (8 January 1915)[3]
- Clasp to the Iron Cross (1939) 2nd Class (11 September 1939) & 1st Class (22 September 1939)[3]
- Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves
- Knight's Cross on 30 September 1939 as General der Artillerie and commander of the 3rd Army[21]
- 273rd Oak Leaves on 21 August 1943 as Generalfeldmarschall and commander of Army Group North[22]
Notes
Footnotes
- ^ In the Wehrmacht, the rank of Generalmajor was equivalent to a brigadier general in the United States Army.[4]
- ^ Previously part of Imperial Germany, it was ceded to Lithuania after World War I. However, pressure from Nazi Germany saw the Lithuanian government cede the city.[2]
Citations
- ^ a b Mitcham 1988, p. 255.
- ^ a b c d e f Mitcham 1988, p. 256.
- ^ a b c Thomas 1997, p. 421.
- ^ Mitcham 1988, p. 363.
- ^ a b Mitcham 1988, p. 257.
- ^ Thoms 2014: "deutsche Armee sei kein Lieferant für eine Mörderbande"
- ^ Wette 2006, p. 102.
- ^ Steinert, Marlis (September 2010). Hitler's war and the Germans : public mood and attitude during the Second World War, p. 57. Ohio University Press.
- ^ "International Military Tribunal 11-28-1947: High Command Case". UND Scholarly commons. Nuremberg Transcripts. 12. University of North Dakota. Retrieved 29 April 2023.
- ISBN 90-12-08959-X.
- ^ "Georg Karl Friedrich Wilhelm von Küchler". Wehrmacht History. Retrieved 29 April 2023.
- ^ Beginning of the German occupation of The Netherlands during WW-II, YouTube documentary clip
- ^ Browning & Matthäus 2007, p. 79.
- ^ Förster 2004, p. 125.
- ^ Хомяков, И (2006). История 24-й танковой дивизии ркка (in Russian). Санкт-Петербург: BODlib. pp. 232 с.
- ^ Hebert 2010, p. 95.
- ^ Mitcham 1988, p. 266.
- ^ Hebert 2010, p. 123.
- ^ Hebert 2010, p. 216–217.
- ^ Mitcham 1988, p. 268.
- ^ Fellgiebel 2000, p. 277.
- ^ Fellgiebel 2000, p. 71.
References
- Browning, Christopher R.; Matthäus, Jürgen (2007). The Origins of the Final Solution. Lincoln, Nebraska: University of Nebraska Press. ISBN 978-0-8032-1327-2.
- Fellgiebel, Walther-Peer (2000) [1986]. Die Träger des Ritterkreuzes des Eisernen Kreuzes 1939–1945 [The Bearers of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross 1939–1945] (in German). Friedberg, Germany: Podzun-Pallas. ISBN 978-3-7909-0284-6.
- Förster, Jürgen (2004). "The German Military's Image of Russia". In Erickson, Ljubica; Erickson, Mark (eds.). Russia War, Peace and Diplomacy. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson.
- Hebert, Valerie (2010). ISBN 978-0-7006-1698-5.
- Mitcham, Samuel W. Jr. (1988). Hitler's Field Marshals and Their Battles. London, United Kingdom: Guild Publishing. OCLC 220632577.
- Thomas, Franz (1997). Die Eichenlaubträger 1939–1945 Band 1: A–K [The Oak Leaves Bearers 1939–1945 Volume 1: A–K] (in German). Osnabrück, Germany: Biblio-Verlag. ISBN 978-3-7648-2299-6.
- Wette, Wolfram (2006). ISBN 9780674025776.
External links
- Thoms, Robert (14 September 2014). "Georg von Küchler 1881-1968". LeMO Biografie (in German).
- US Military Tribunal Nuremberg (1948). "High Command Trial, Judgment of 27 October 1948" (PDF). Retrieved 30 May 2016.
- Newspaper clippings about Georg von Küchler in the 20th Century Press Archives of the ZBW