Walter von Reichenau
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Walter von Reichenau | |
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Born | Walter Karl Ernst August von Reichenau 8 October 1884 |
Died | 17 January 1942 | (aged 57)
Resting place | Invalidenfriedhof, Berlin, Germany |
Years active | 1903–1942 |
Known for | |
Political party | Nazi Party |
Spouse | Alexandrine Gräfin Maltzan Freiin zu Wartenberg und Penzlin |
Parent | Ernst August von Reichenau (father) |
Awards | Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross Iron Cross 1st Class |
Allegiance | |
Military career | |
Commands held | 10th Army 6th Army |
Battles/wars | |
Signature | |
Walter Karl Ernst August von Reichenau (8 October 1884 – 17 January 1942) was a German
While in command of the 6th Army during Operation Barbarossa in 1941, he issued the notorious
Early life and service
The son of Prussian
Reichenau's early years are described in conflicting terms, as both progressively minded but also brutal, with a history of executing soldiers who were
Interwar period
After the war, he joined the Grenzschutz Ost Freikorps as a General Staff officer, serving in Silesia and Pomerania. In 1919 Reichenau joined in the newly established Reichswehr of the Weimar Republic. The officer corps of the new armed forces' was limited to 4,000, and there was to be no General Staff. Reichenau took a post in the Truppenamt, which was the "underground" equivalent of the General Staff formed by Hans von Seeckt. He was promoted to Major in 1924, to Lieutenant Colonel on 1 April 1929 and Colonel on 1 February 1932. In 1930, Reichenau was appointed Chief of Staff to the Inspector of Signals at the Ministry of the Reichswehr. He was later introduced to Hitler in April 1932 by his uncle, a diplomat. Extremely ambitious, he saw the Nazi Party as a revolutionary vessel in which he could propel his career and so broke with the pro-Monarchist politics of the Prussian military caste and became a devoted Nazi.[3]
As an outspoken ally and advocate of Hitler and the Nazi Party, Reichenau soon ran afoul of cabinet member and eventual Chancellor Kurt von Schleicher, who used his authority to have him transferred out of his prestigious posting in Berlin to the headquarters of the military district of East Prussia, a relative backwater. In East Prussia Reichenau served under General Werner von Blomberg, a fellow exile of Schleicher's. Reichenau and Blomberg became political allies within the army and it was Reichenau who introduced Blomberg to Hitler. Blomberg, who had a reputation of being manipulated by Reichenau, was captivated by Hitler and both men soon used their connections with the Nazi party to advance. When Hitler came to power in January 1933, Blomberg became Minister of War. One of his first acts was to promote Reichenau to head the powerful Ministerial Office, acting as liaison officer between the Army and the Nazi Party. He played a leading role in persuading Nazi leaders such as Göring and Himmler that the power of Ernst Röhm and the SA must be broken if the army was to support the Nazi-led government. This led directly to the "Night of the Long Knives" of 30 June 1934.
In 1935, Reichenau was promoted to
Reflecting Reichenau's preference for assignments of political matter, Blomberg sent Reichenau to
In 1938, after the
World War II
In September 1939, Reichenau commanded the 10th Army during the German invasion of Poland and was the first German to cross the Vistula river, which he swam across, pushing his clothes ahead of him in a raft.[9][7] After the campaign he was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross for his role as commander of the 10th Army.[10]
In 1940 he led the
During the
In November 1941 Hitler relieved Field Marshal von Rundstedt from his command of Army Group South and promoted Reichenau to take his place. At his personal recommendation to Hitler, Friedrich Paulus, a protege of Reichenau's and former member of his command staff, was promoted to take over his command of the 6th Army.[12]
Death
Reichenau was a habitual cross-country runner and suffered a stroke after a routine run in cold weather on 14 January 1942.[13] He then sustained severe head injuries when the flight carrying him back to Leipzig for medical attention crashed on landing in Lemberg. Whether he died from his stroke or from injuries sustained in the crash is unknown.[14] He was replaced at Army Group South by Fedor von Bock and given a state funeral.[15][16]
Nazi political activities and war crimes
Reichenau's uncle was an ardent
The only objection Reichenau raised to the activities of the Einsatzgruppen in his sector was when they were killing so many Jews, so quickly, that they began to create ammunition shortages in his sector of operations, an issue he addressed by recommending that the SS and SD limit themselves to two bullets per Jew.[14]
Reichenau was in charge of the area of operations in which
References
Citations
- ^ "German Generals: Brief Who's Who of the High Command of Nazidom's Army". Life Magazine. 13 November 1939. pp. 39–43.
- ^ Mitcham 2008, p. 23.
- ^ Mitcham 2008, p. 24.
- ^ "German Generals: Brief Who's Who of the High Command of Nazidom's Army". Life Magazine. 13 November 1939. pp. 39–43.
- ^ Weinberg 2010, pp. 323–324.
- ^ "German Generals: Brief Who's Who of the High Command of Nazidom's Army". Life Magazine. 13 November 1939. pp. 39–43.
- ^ a b Mitcham 2008, p. 183.
- ^ "German Generals: Brief Who's Who of the High Command of Nazidom's Army". Life Magazine. 13 November 1939. pp. 39–43.
- ^ "German Generals: Brief Who's Who of the High Command of Nazidom's Army". Life Magazine. 13 November 1939. pp. 39–43.
- ^ Fellgiebel 2000, p. 352.
- ^ Knopp 1998.
- ^ Mitcham & Mueller 2012, pp. 71–74.
- ^ Glantz & House 2009, p. 192.
- ^ a b Mitcham & Mueller 2012, p. 74.
- ^ Mitcham & Mueller 2012, p. 39.
- ^ Adam & Ruhle 2015.
- ^ Liddell Hart 1948, p. 13.
- ^ Nuremberg 1946.
- ^ Stahel 2013, p. 121.
- ^ Kühne 2010.
Bibliography
- Parsinnen, Terry (2004). The Oster Conspiracy of 1938, The Unknown Story of the Military Plot to Kill Hitler. London: Pimlico. ISBN 1844133079.
- ISBN 9781473833869.
- ISBN 0-14-139017-4.
- Fellgiebel, Walther-Peer (2000) [1986]. Die Träger des Ritterkreuzes des Eisernen Kreuzes 1939–1945 — Die Inhaber der höchsten Auszeichnung des Zweiten Weltkrieges aller Wehrmachtteile [The Bearers of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross 1939–1945 — The Owners of the Highest Award of the Second World War of all Wehrmacht Branches] (in German). Friedberg, Germany: Podzun-Pallas. ISBN 978-3-7909-0284-6.
- Glantz, David M.; House, Jonathan (2009). To the Gates of Stalingrad: Soviet-German Combat Operations, April-August 1942. Lawrence, Kansas: University Press of Kansas. ISBN 978-0-7006-1630-5.
- Görlitz, Walter (1989). "Reichenau," in Correlli Barnett ed., Hitler's Generals. New York: Grove Weidenfeld. pp. 208–18.
- U.S.A., et al., 4 (International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg 7 January 1946).
- Knopp, Guido (1998). Hitler's Warriors. Paulus the Defector. Mainz, Germany: ZDF.
- Liddell Hart, B. H. (1948). The German Generals Talk. New York, NY: Morrow.
- Mayer, Arno J. (1988). Why Did The Heavens Not Darken?. Lanham, Maryland: Pantheon.
- Mitcham, Sameul W.; Mueller, Gene (2012). Hitler's Commanders: Officers of the Wehrmacht, the Luftwaffe, the Kriegsmarine, and the Waffen-SS. Lanham, Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 9781442211544.
- Mitcham, Sameul W. (2008). The Rise of the Wehrmacht: Vol. 1. Santa Barbara, California: ABC-CLIO. ISBN 9780275996413.
- Scherzer, Veit (2007). The Knight's Cross Bearers 1939–1945 The Holders of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross 1939 by Army, Air Force, Navy, Waffen-SS, Volkssturm and Allied Forces with Germany (in German). Jena, Germany: Scherzers Militaer-Verlag. ISBN 978-3-938845-17-2.
- Stahel, David (2013). Operation Typhoon: Hitler's March on Moscow, October 1941. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9781107035126.
- ISBN 9780300168570.
- Weinberg, Gerhard L. (2010). Hitler's Foreign Policy 1933-1939: The Road to World War II. Oxford, United Kingdom: Enigma Books. ISBN 9781936274840.
External links
- The "Reichenau Order" from October 12, 1941 (in German)
- English translation of the "Reichenau Order" (Severity Order)
- Biography at DHM.de (in German)
- Newspaper clippings about Walter von Reichenau in the 20th Century Press Archives of the ZBW