German command 1941 1945. Big fish

Hello dear!
Yesterday I watched a fairly good German film called "Rommel", in which, as you can guess, we are talking about the life and fate of Edwin Rommel (“Hello, Captain Evidence!” - I smile and wave my hand :-))))), a military leader nicknamed by the British “Desert Fox”. So, watching the ups and downs of the film, I caught myself thinking that most people in our country know very little about the Supreme Generals of the countries participating in the Second World War. At least at the minimum level. No, it's clear that Soviet marshals even more or less someone remembers, in any case, they will not visually confuse Rokossovsky with Zhukov, but about everyone else ..... And it doesn’t matter if they are enemies or allies. Well, this idea came up - to write a series of posts in which, lightly, and without going into the wilds of historical doxology, talk about the most interesting Generals of the Great War. I think I have read a sufficient number of memoirs, scientific and near-historical literature in order to have the right to express my point of view on this issue. Perhaps my assessments will not coincide with generally accepted ones, but I beg your pardon - I just think so. I also want to emphasize that I will evaluate military leaders not from the point of view of “fought for us / fought against”, but, if possible, from the standpoint of professionalism, moral and mental capacity. That is, if I somehow highly enough appreciated some German or Italian general, this does not mean at all that I bow before them and take them as an example. It’s just that there are those who remain human under any circumstances, but someone loses their human appearance catastrophically in the war. Soviet military genius and the demise of the high military command, both the Axis and the Allies.

Marshals of Victory. Not all....

So, the introductory word has been said and, perhaps, we will begin, if you do not mind. By the way, if this topic is interesting exclusively to me, then I ask you not to immediately throw unripe tomatoes and overripe corn at me and not to force the noosphere with phrases - “the author is a Chilean sucker”, but simply write that de “uncle, it’s not interesting at all. Let’s talk about cartoons!” :-)))) Well, of course, constructive criticism is listened to carefully and is well received (please, focus on the term constructive) :-)))
And we will start with you, dear readers, probably, after all, with the Germans. More precisely, from the highest generals of the Third Reich.

Portrait of Hermann Göring in dress uniform

Supreme military rank During this period of activity of the German state, the rank of Field Marshal General (Generalfeldmarschall, abbreviated as GFM), or more precisely, even Field Marshal General (I will use both of these names in the text, don’t let it scare you) was the title. First time on German territories this title appeared in the middle of the 17th century, so we can say that Hitler did not invent anything new, he took experience as a basis former generations. However, if, say, during the First World War, only five people were awarded this honorary title, then the Second World War increased the number of nominees many times over. Only after the end of the French company, and more specifically on June 19, 1940, Chancellor Adolf Hitler awarded this title to 12 generals at once. It must be said that in addition to prestige, the Field Marshal received an annual tax-exempt salary of 36,000 Reichsmarks plus allowance. In total, during WWII, this title was worn by 26 people. I received such a number, counting not only Field Marshals General of the Wehrmacht, but also Field Marshals General der Fluge (in the Luftwaffe) and Grand Admirals (in the Kriegsmarine) corresponding to this rank. And that's not counting the dullest character of the Reich, SS chief Heinrich Himmler, whose rank of Reichsführer just corresponded to the rank of Field Marshal in the Wehrmacht, and in contrast to it, the brightest, most interesting and curious character in Germany of those years - Hermann Goering, who deserves a separate post . The title of "Fat Herman" was the Reichsmarshal of the Greater German Reich and had no analogies. Close, perhaps, to the generalissimo, but a little short of it. But, again, this is a topic for a separate discussion.

Buttonholes of the Generals and Field Marshals of the Wehrmacht

The Field Marshal General could be distinguished, first of all, by the buttonholes and shoulder straps. For all generals of the Wehrmacht, there was a single buttonhole of scarlet color with a special general pattern (as it happened historically). However, on April 3, 1941, the Field Marshal received an elongated buttonhole with a slightly modified ornament pattern, now there were not 2, but 3 elements. Shoulder straps were a weave of a cord (the so-called soutache), with the outer rows of the soutache being golden in color, and the middle row silver, with a gold button. That is, they are the same as those of all generals, only not with stars, but with silver crossed marshal's batons.

Shoulder straps of the Field Marshal of the Wehrmacht.

Field Marshal der Fluge had buttonholes white color(this is also important) which featured the Eagle of the Luftwaffe carrying a swastika and small crossed marshal's batons below it. The soutache shoulder strap was completely gold, with a gold button and gold wands.

Buttonhole Field Marshal der Fluge

Grand admirals wore an epaulette similar to that of the Wehrmacht, with the difference that the lining of it (at the epaulette) was blue, and an anchor was squeezed out on the button. Well, even the admirals did not wear buttonholes - they had sleeve patches. The Grand Admiral had one wide and 4 narrow gold stripes with a gold five pointed star on a blue background.

Grand Admiral's Sleeve Patch

Common to all field marshals was also the presence of a standard and a marshal's baton. And if the standards were common and differed only depending on the type of troops (the Wehrmacht has one, and the Luftwaffe and Kriegsmarine have others), then the marshal's baton is a more interesting thing. The marshal's baton was a cylinder about 4.5 cm in diameter and about 30 cm long, made of precious wood and richly decorated with applied gold ornaments and (or) carvings. The most interesting thing is that uniform pattern the field marshal's baton did not exist, and for each field marshal general, artists and jewelers developed a unique sample of the baton. After the death of a commander, his rod became a family heirloom.


Personal baton of Field Marshal Baron Maximilian von Weichs.

Now that you and I have sorted out a little with the identification of German field marshals, I propose to move on to specific personalities (in any case, start).
The largest field marshal general (19) belonged (which is not surprising) to the Wehrmacht. These are: Werner von Blomberg, Fedor von Bock, Walther von Brauchitsch, Erwin von Witzleben, Wilhelm Keitel, Hans Günther von Kluge, Wilhelm von Leeb, Wilhelm List, Walther von Reichenau, Gerd von Rundstedt, Erwin Rommel, Georg von Küchler, Erich von Manstein, Friedrich Paulus, Ernst Busch, Maximilian von Weichs, Ewald von Kleist, Walter Model, Ferdinand Schörner.


Not field marshals yet... From right to left, Milch, Keitel, Brauchitsch, Raeder, Weichs. Nuremberg. September 12, 1938

If we talk about who I consider the most talented among them? Perhaps Manstein. The strongest from a professional point of view - Kluge. The most highly moral - Bock, the most indispensable - Kleist, the most controversial - Model, and the most insignificant and weak - Keitel.
But about more specifics, if you, of course, will be interested, in the next part ...

On January 30, 1943, Hitler promoted Friedrich Paulus, commander of the 6th German army that fought in Stalingrad, to the highest military rank - field marshal. In a radiogram sent by Hitler to Paulus, among other things, it was said that “not a single German field marshal has been captured yet,” and the very next day Paulus surrendered. We bring to your attention the diary-report of the detective of the counterintelligence department of the special department of the NKVD of the Don Front, Senior Lieutenant of State Security E.A. Tarabrin about finding and communicating with German generals taken prisoner near Stalingrad.

Field Marshal Friedrich Paulus (Friedrich Wilhelm Ernst Paulus), commander of the Wehrmacht 6th Army encircled in Stalingrad, chief of staff Lieutenant General Arthur Schmidt and adjutant Colonel Wilhelm Adam near Stalingrad after surrendering. Shooting time: 01/31/1943,

Diary-report of the detective of the counterintelligence department of the special department of the NKVD of the Don Front, senior lieutenant of state security E.A. Tarabrin 1 about finding and communicating with the generals of the German army who were taken prisoner by the troops of the 64th Army in the city of Stalingrad

Received an order to stay with the German generals prisoners of war. Do not show knowledge of the German language.
At 21.20, as a representative of the front headquarters, he arrived at his destination - in one of the huts with. Zavarygino.
In addition to me, there is security - sentries on the street, art. lieutenant Levonenko - from the commandant's office of the headquarters and the detective of our 7th department Nesterov 2.
"Will there be dinner?" - life was the first phrase I heard in German when I entered the house in which the commander of the 6th German Army, General Field Marshal Paulus, his chief of staff, Lieutenant General Schmidt 3 and adjutant Colonel, taken prisoner on January 31, 1943 Adam 4 .
Paulus is tall, about 190 cm, thin, with sunken cheeks, a hooked nose and thin lips. His left eye is twitching all the time.
The commandant of the headquarters, Colonel Yakimovich, who arrived with me, through the translator of the reconnaissance department, Bezymensky 5, politely suggested that they hand over the available pocket knives, a razor, and other cutting objects.

Without saying a word, Paulus calmly took two penknives out of his pocket and put them on the table.
The interpreter looked at Schmidt expectantly. He first turned pale, then the color rushed into his face, he took a small white penknife out of his pocket, threw it on the table and immediately began shouting in a shrill, unpleasant voice: “Don’t you think that we simple soldiers? Before you is a field marshal, he demands a different attitude towards himself. Ugliness! Other conditions were set for us, we are guests of Colonel-General Rokossovsky 6 and Marshal Voronov 7 here.
"Calm down, Schmidt. Paulus said. “So this is the order.”
"It doesn't matter what order means when dealing with a field marshal." And, seizing his knife from the table, he put it back into his pocket.
A few minutes after the telephone conversation between Yakimovich and Malinin 8, the incident was over, the knives were returned to them.
Dinner arrived and everyone sat down at the table. There was silence for about 15 minutes, interrupted by separate phrases - “pass the fork, another glass of tea”, etc.

They smoked cigars. “And the dinner was not bad at all,” Paulus noted.
“In Russia, in general, they cook quite well,” Schmidt replied.
After some time, Paulus was called to command. "Are you going alone? Schmidt asked. - And I?"
“I was called alone,” Paulus replied calmly.
"I won't sleep until he comes back," said Adam, lit a new cigar and lay down on the bed in his boots. Schmidt followed suit. Paulus returned about an hour later.
“Well, how is the marshal?” Schmidt asked.
"Marshal as Marshal".
"What were they talking about?"
"They offered to order the rest to surrender, I refused."
"And what's next?"
“I asked for our wounded soldiers. I was told that your doctors had fled, and now we must take care of your wounded.”
After a while, Paulus remarked: “Do you remember this one from the NKVD with three distinctions that accompanied us? What terrible eyes he has!”
Adam replied: "It's scary, like everyone else in the NKVD."
This ended the conversation. The bedtime process began. Paulus, the orderly, has not yet been brought in. He opened the bed he had made himself, put his two blankets on top, undressed and lay down.
Schmidt stirred up the whole bed with a flashlight, carefully examined the sheets (they were new, completely clean), grimaced in disgust, closed the blanket, said: “The pleasure begins”, covered the bed with his blanket, lay down on it, covered himself with another and said in a sharp tone: “ Put out the light." There were no people in the room who understood the language, no one paid attention. Then he sat up in bed and began to explain with gestures what he wanted. The lamp was wrapped in newsprint.
“I wonder until what time we can sleep tomorrow?” Paulus asked.
"I will sleep until they wake me up," Schmidt replied.
The night passed quietly, except for the fact that Schmidt said loudly several times: "Don't shake the bed."
Nobody shook the bed. He had bad dreams.

Morning. We started to shave. Schmidt looked in the mirror for a long time and categorically declared: "It's cold, I'll leave the beard."
"That's your business, Schmidt," Paulus remarked.
Colonel Adam, who was in the next room, hissed through his teeth: "Another originality."
After breakfast, they remembered yesterday's dinner at the commander of the 64th Army 9 .
“Did you notice how amazing the vodka was?” Paulus said.
For a long time they were silent. The soldiers brought Art. lieutenant of the newspaper "Red Army" with the release "In the last hour." Revival. They wonder if their names are listed. Having heard the given list, they studied the newspaper for a long time, on a piece of paper they wrote their names in Russian letters. Particularly interested in the numbers of trophies. Pay attention to the number of tanks. “The figure is incorrect, we had no more than 150,” Paulus noted. “Perhaps they also consider the Russians,” 10 Adam replied. "It still wasn't that much." They were silent for a while.

“And he seems to have shot himself,” said Schmidt (it was about one of the generals).
Adam, furrowing his brows and staring at the ceiling: “I don’t know what is better, is it a mistake, captured?”
Paulus: We'll see about that.
Schmidt: The whole history of these four months 11 can be characterized by one phrase - you can't jump above your head.
Adam: Houses will think we're lost.
Paulus: In war - as in war (in French).
Look at the numbers again. Pay attention to total were in the environment. Paulus said: Perhaps, because we did not know anything. Schmidt tries to explain to me - he draws a front line, a breakthrough, an encirclement, he says: There are a lot of convoys, other parts, they themselves did not know exactly how many.
They are silent for half an hour, smoking cigars.
Schmidt: And in Germany, a military leadership crisis is possible.
Nobody is answering.
Schmidt: Until mid-March they will probably advance.
Paulus: Probably longer.
Schmidt: Will they stop at the former borders?
Paulus: Yes, all this will go down in military history as a brilliant example of the operational skill of the enemy.

At dinner, every dish served was incessantly praised. Adam, who ate the most, was especially zealous. Paulus left half and gave it to the orderly.
After dinner, the orderly tries to explain to Nesterov that the penknife that was left with their staff doctor should be returned to him. Paulus addresses me, adding german words gestures: “The knife is a memory from Field Marshal Reichenau 12, for whom Hein was an orderly before moving on to me. He was with the field marshal before his last minutes". The conversation was interrupted again. The prisoners went to bed.
Dinner. Among the dishes served on the table are coffee biscuits.
Schmidt: Good biscuits, probably French?
Adam: Very good, in my opinion, Dutch.
They put on glasses, carefully examine the cookies.
Adam surprised: Look, Russian.
Paulus: At least stop looking. Ugly.
Schmidt: Pay attention, every time there are new waitresses.
Adam: And pretty girls.
The rest of the evening they smoked in silence. The orderly prepared the bed and went to bed. Schmidt did not cry at night.

Adam takes out a razor: “We will shave every day, the view should be decent.”
Paulus: Exactly. I will shave after you.
After breakfast they smoke cigars. Paulus looks out the window.
“Pay attention, Russian soldiers drop in, they are interested in what the German field marshal looks like, and he differs from other prisoners only in insignia.”
Schmidt: Have you noticed what kind of security is here? Lots of people, but you don't feel like you're in a prison. But I remember when at the headquarters of Field Marshal Bush 13 there were captured Russian generals, there was no one in the room with them, the posts were on the street, and only the colonel had the right to enter them.
Paulus: It's better that way. It's good that it doesn't feel like a prison, but it's still a prison.
All three are in a somewhat depressed mood. They talk little, smoke a lot, think. Adam took out photographs of his wife and children, looked with Paulus.
Paulus Schmidt and Adam are treated with respect, especially Adam.
Schmidt is reserved and selfish. He even tries not to smoke his own cigars, but to take other people's.
In the afternoon I went to another house, where there are generals Daniel 14, Drebber 15, Wulz 16 and others.
Completely different environment and mood. Lots of laughs, Daniel tells jokes. It was not possible to hide the knowledge of the German language here, since there was a lieutenant colonel with whom I had spoken earlier.
They began to ask: “What is the situation, who else is in captivity, ha, ha, ha,” he said for about five minutes.
Rumanian general Dimitriu 17 was sitting in the corner looking gloomy. Finally, he raised his head and asked in broken German: “In captivity of Popescu 18?” - apparently, this is the most exciting question for him today.
After staying there for a few more minutes, I returned to Paulus' house. All three were in bed. Adam learned Russian by repeating aloud the Russian words he had written down on a piece of paper.

Today at 11 o'clock in the morning again at Paulus, Schmidt and Adam.
When I entered they were still asleep. Paulus woke up, nodded his head. Schmidt woke up.
Schmidt: Good morning what did you see in your dream?
Paulus: What kind of dreams can a captured field marshal have? Adam, have you started shaving yet? Leave me hot water.
The procedure of morning washing, shaving and so on begins. Then breakfast and regular cigars.
Paulus was summoned for interrogation yesterday, he is still under his impression.
Paulus: Weird people. A captured soldier is asked about operational matters.
Schmidt: Useless thing. None of us will speak. This is not 1918, when they shouted that Germany is one thing, the government is another, and the army is a third. We will not make this mistake now.
Paulus: I fully agree with you, Schmidt.
Again they are silent for a long time. Schmidt lies down on the bed. Falls asleep. Paulus follows suit. Adam takes out a notepad with written down Russian aftertaves, reads it, whispers something. Then he also goes to bed.
Suddenly Yakimovich's car arrives. The generals are offered to go to the bathhouse. Paulus and Adam happily agree. Schmidt (he is afraid of catching a cold) after some hesitation also. Paulus' statement that Russian baths are very good and always warm had a decisive influence.
All four went to the bath. Generals and Adam in a car. Hine in the back on a lorry. Representatives of the headquarters guards went with them.

About an hour and a half later they all returned. An excellent impression. They exchange lively opinions about the qualities and advantages of the Russian bath over others. They are waiting for dinner, so that after it they immediately go to bed.
At this time, several cars drive up to the house. The head of the RO enters - Major General Vinogradov 19 with an interpreter, through whom he tells Paulus that he will now see all his generals who are in our captivity.
While the translator is explaining, I manage to find out from Vinogradov that filming is planned for the chronicle of the entire “captured generals”.
Despite some displeasure caused by the prospect of going out into the cold after the bath, everyone hastily dresses. A meeting with other generals is coming! They don't know anything about filming. But operators are already waiting near the house. Schmidt and Paulus exit. The first shots are taken.
Paulus: All this is already superfluous.
Schmidt: Not superfluous, but simply disgraceful (they turn away from the lenses).
They get into the car, go to the neighboring house, where there are other generals. At the same time, from the other side, the rest drive up in several cars - Colonel-General Geyts 20 and others.

Meeting. Operators are filming feverishly. Paulus shakes hands with all his generals in turn, exchanging a few phrases: Hello, my friends, more cheerfulness and dignity.
Filming continues. The generals are divided into groups, talking animatedly. The conversation turns mainly on questions - who is here and who is not.
Central group - Paulus, Geyts, Schmidt The attention of operators is directed there. Paulus is calm. Looks into the lens. Schmidt is nervous, tries to turn away. When the most active operator approached him almost closely, he smiled caustically and covered the lens with his hand.
The rest of the generals almost do not react to the filming. But some seem to deliberately try to get on film, and especially next to Paulus.
Some kind of colonel constantly walks between everyone and repeats the same phrase: “Nothing, nothing! No need to be nervous. The main thing is that everyone is alive.” No one pays attention to him.
Shooting ends. The departure begins. Paulus, Schmidt and Adam return home.
Schmidt: Wow pleasure, after the bath we will probably catch a cold. Everything is done on purpose to make us sick.
Paulus: This shoot is even worse! A shame! Marshal (Voronov) probably doesn't know anything! But there's nothing to be done - captivity.

Schmidt: I can't stomach German journalists, and then there are Russians! Disgusting!
The conversation is interrupted by the appearance of dinner. Eat, praise the kitchen. The mood rises. After dinner, they sleep almost until dinner. Dinner is praised again. They light up. Silently follow the smoke rings.
The sound of broken dishes is heard in the room nearby. Hine broke the sugar bowl.
Paulus: This is Hein. Here's a teddy bear!
Schmidt: Everything is falling apart. I wonder how he held the steering wheel. Hine! Have you ever lost your steering wheel?
Hine: No, lieutenant general. Then I had a different mood.
Schmidt: Mood - mood, dishes - dishes, especially someone else's
Paulus: He was a favorite of Field Marshal Reichenau. He died in his arms.
Schmidt By the way, what are the circumstances of his death?
Paulus From a heart attack after a hunt and breakfast with him. Hein, please elaborate.
Hein: That day the field marshal and I went hunting. He was in a great mood and felt good. Sat down for breakfast. I served coffee. At that moment, he had a heart attack. The staff doctor said that we must immediately take him to Leipzig to some professor. The plane was quickly arranged. The field marshal, I, the doctor and the pilot flew off. Heading for Lvov.
The field marshal was getting worse and worse. An hour later, he died on the plane.
In the future, we were generally accompanied by failures. The pilot had already landed over the Lvov airfield, but took off again. We made two more circles over the airfield. Landing the plane for the second time, for some reason, neglecting the basic rules, he came in for a landing on a black man. As a result, we crashed into one of the airfield buildings. I was the only one who got out of this operation.
Again there is almost an hour of silence. Smoke, think. Paulus raises his head.
Paulus: I wonder what news?
Adam: Probably further advance of the Russians. Now they can do it.
Schmidt: And what's next? All the same sore point! In my opinion, this war will end even more abruptly than it began, and its end will not be military, but political. It is clear that we cannot defeat Russia, and she cannot defeat us.
Paulus: But politics is not our business. We are soldiers. The marshal asked yesterday why we, without ammunition, food, offered resistance in a hopeless situation. I answered him - an order! Whatever the situation, an order remains an order. We are soldiers! Discipline, order, obedience - the basis of the army. He agreed with me. And in general it is ridiculous, as if it was in my will to change anything.
By the way, the marshal leaves an excellent impression. Cultural, educated person. Knows the situation very well. At Schleferer, he was interested in the 29th regiment, from which no one was captured. Remembers even such trifles.
Schmidt: Yes, fortune always has two sides.
Paulus: And the good thing is that you can't predict your fate. If I knew that I would be a field marshal and then a prisoner! In the theater about such a play, I would say nonsense!
Starts to go to sleep.

Morning. Paulus and Schmidt are still in bed. Enter Adam. He's already shaved and cleaned himself up. Stretches out left hand, says: "Hail!"
Paulus: If you remember the Roman greeting, it means that you, Adam, have nothing against me. You don't have a weapon.
Adam and Schmidt laugh.
Schmidt: In Latin, it sounds like "morituri tea salutam" ("those going to death greet you").
Paulus: Just like us.
He takes out a cigarette and lights up.
Schmidt: Don't smoke before meals, it's bad.
Paulus: Nothing, captivity is even more harmful.
Schmidt: You have to be patient.
Get up. Morning toilet, breakfast.
Major Ozeryansky 21 arrives from the RO for Schmidt. He is summoned for interrogation.
Schmidt: Finally, they became interested in me too (he was somewhat hurt that he had not been called before).
Schmidt leaves. Paulus and Adam lie down. They smoke, then they sleep. Then they wait for dinner. Schmidt returns a couple of hours later.
Schmidt: All the same - why they resisted, did not agree to surrender, and so on. It was very difficult to speak - a bad translator. Didn't understand me. She translated questions in such a way that I did not understand her.
And finally, the question is my assessment of the operational art of the Russians and us. Of course, I refused to answer, saying that this was a question that could harm my homeland.
Any conversation on this topic after the war.
Paulus: That's right, I answered the same.
Schmidt: In general, all this is already tired. How can they not understand that not a single German officer will go against his homeland.
Paulus: It's simply tactless to put such questions before us, soldiers. Now no one will answer them.
Schmidt: And always these pieces of propaganda are not against the motherland, but for it, against the government, etc. I already somehow noticed that it was only the camels of 1918 that separated the government and the people.
Paulus: Propaganda remains propaganda! Even the course is not objective.
Schmidt: Is an objective interpretation of history possible at all? Of course not. Take, for example, the question of the beginning of the war. Who started? Who is guilty? Why? Who can answer this?
Adam: Only archives after many years.
Paulus: Soldiers were and will remain soldiers. They fight, fulfilling their duty, not thinking about the reasons, faithful to the oath. And the beginning and end of the war is the business of politicians, to whom the situation at the front prompts certain decisions.
Then the conversation turns to the history of Greece, Rome, etc. They talk about painting and archeology. Adam talks about his participation in excavation expeditions. Schmidt, speaking of painting, authoritatively declares that the German one is the first in the world and the best German artist is ... Rembrandt 21 (supposedly because the Netherlands, Holland and Flanders are the "old" German provinces).
This continues until dinner, after which they go to bed.
On the morning of February 5, I receive an order to return back to the department in connection with the redeployment. The stay with the generals is over.

Detective KRO OO NKVD Donfront
senior lieutenant of state security Tarabrin
Right: Lieutenant Colonel P. Gapochko
AP RF, f. 52, on. 1, d. 134, m. 23-33. Copy

During the Battle of Stalingrad, not only the generals mentioned in the text of the document were taken prisoner. As you know, from January 10 to February 2, 1943, the troops of the Don Front captured 24 generals, including Max Preffer, commander of the 4th Infantry Corps, von Seidlitz-Kurbach Walter, commander of the 51st Infantry Corps, Alfred Strezcius - commander of the 11th infantry corps, Erich Magnus - commander of the 389th infantry division, Otto Renoldi - head of the medical service of the 6th army, Ulrich Vossol - chief of artillery of the 6th german army and etc.
The document is interesting for live sketches, non-fictional judgments of captured German generals, captured over the course of five days by the detective of the NKVD OO of the Don Front, Senior Lieutenant of State Security E.A. Tarabrin.

1 Tarabrin Evgeny Anatolyevich (1918-?) - Colonel (19%). From August 1941 - detective of the OO NKVD of the South-Western Stalingrad Don and Central Fronts. From December 1942 - translator of the OO NKVD of the Don Front. From May 1943 - senior detective of the 2nd department of the 4th department of the Main Directorate of the Kyrgyz Republic "Smersh" of the Central Front From June 1946 - senior detective of the 1st department of Department 1-B
1st Main Directorate. From August 1947 - assistant to the head of the 2nd department of the 1st Directorate of the Information Committee under the Council of Ministers of the USSR From December 1953 - deputy head of the sector of the 2nd Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the USSR From August 1954 - senior assistant to the head of the 1st Main Directorate of the KGB under SM USSR. Since January 1955 he was enrolled in the active reserve of the 1st Main Directorate. From August 1956 - Head of the 2nd Department of the 1st Main Directorate of the KGB under the Council of Ministers of the USSR From February 1963 - Deputy Head of Service No. 2.
On May 18, 1965, by order of the KGB No. 237, he was dismissed under Art. 59 p. "d" (for official non-compliance).
2 Nesterov Vsevolod Viktorovich (1922-?) - senior lieutenant (1943). Since January 1943, he was the operative officer of the reserve of the NKVD of the Don Front, then the ROC "Smersh" of the Central Front. Since September 1943, he was an operative officer of the Smersh ROC of the 4th Artillery Corps of the Central Front. Since April 1944, he was the detective of the Smersh ROC of the Belorussian Front. Since August 1945, he was an operative officer of the Smersh ROC of the 4th artillery corps of the Group of Soviet Occupation Forces in Germany. Since April 1946, he was the detective of the Smersh ROC of the 12th artillery battalion of the 1st Military District, then the Moscow Military District.
By order of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the USSR No. 366 of August 24, 1946, he was dismissed at his personal request with transfer to the registration of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
3 Schmidt Arthur (1895-?) - lieutenant general. Chief of Staff of the 6th Army.
4 Adam Wilhelm (? -?) - adjutant F. Paulus, colonel.
5 Lev Alexandrovich Bezymensky, born in 1920, captain (1945). In the Red Army since August 1941, he began serving as a private of the 6th reserve engineering regiment, then a cadet of the courses of military translators of the Red Army (Orsk) and the Military Institute foreign languages(Stavropol). Since May 1942 - at the front, officer of the 394th separate radio division for special purposes ( Southwestern Front). In January 1943, he was transferred to the intelligence department of the headquarters of the Don Front, where he acted as an interpreter, senior front interpreter, deputy head of the information department. Subsequently, he served in the intelligence departments of the headquarters of the Central, Belorussian, 1st Belorussian fronts, the intelligence department of the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany. In October 1946 he was demobilized. After he graduated from the Faculty of Philosophy of Moscow State University (1948). Worked in the magazine "New time". Author of several books, candidate historical sciences. Professor of the Academy of Military Sciences. He was awarded 6 orders and 22 medals of the USSR.
6 Rokossovsky Konstantin Konstantinovich (1896-1968) - Marshal Soviet Union(1944), twice Hero of the Soviet Union (1944 1945). In September 1942 - January 1943 he commanded the Don Front.
7 Voronov Nikolai Nikolaevich (1899-1968) - Chief Marshal of Artillery (1944), Hero of the Soviet Union (1965) From July 1941 - Chief of Artillery of the Red Army, simultaneously from September 1941 - Deputy People's Commissar of Defense of the USSR, representative of the headquarters of the All-Russian High Command near Stalingrad from March 1943 - commander of the artillery of the Red Army.
8 Malinin Mikhail Sergeevich (1899-1960) - General of the Army (1953), Hero of the Soviet Union (1945). In the Red Army since 1919. Since 1940 - Chief of Staff of the 7th MK. During the war - chief of staff of the 7th MK on the Western Front, 16th Army (1941-1942), Bryansk, Don, Central, Belorussian and 1st Belorussian Fronts (1942-1945). In the future - at the staff work in the Soviet Army.
9 The commander of the 64th Army from August 1942 was Shumilov Mikhail Stepanovich (1895-1975) - Colonel General (1943), Hero of the Soviet Union (1943). The 64th Army, together with the 62nd Army, heroically defended Stalingrad. In April 1943 - May 1945 - commander of the 7th guards army. After the war, in command positions in the Soviet Army.
10 Apparently, the press published data not only on the trophies of the 6th Army, but also on a number of other armies. In particular, the 4th German tank, 3rd and 4th Romanian, 8th Italian armies.
11 Most likely, the chief of staff of the 6th Army A. Schmidt has in mind the period when the counteroffensive in the Stalingrad direction of the troops of three fronts began. South-Western, Don and Stalingrad and completed the encirclement of the 6th Army and part of the 4th Panzer Army.
12 Reichenau Walther von (1884-1942) - Field Marshal General (1940). He commanded the 6th Army in 1939-1941. From December 1941 - Commander of the Army Group "South" on Soviet-German front. Died of a heart attack.
13 Busch Ernst Von (1885-1945) - Field Marshal General (1943). In 1941 he commanded the 16th Army on the Soviet-German front. In 1943-1944. - Commander of the Army Group "Center".
14 Daniels Alexander Fon (1891-?) - lieutenant general (1942), commander of the 376th division.
15 Drebber Moritz Fon (1892-?) - Major General of the Infantry (1943), commander of the 297th Infantry Division.
16 Wulz Hans (1893-?) - major general of artillery (1942).
17 Dimitriu - Commander of the 2nd Romanian Infantry Division, Major General.
18 Apparently, we are talking about Popescu Dimitar, a general, commander of the 5th cavalry division.
19 Vinogradov Ilya Vasilievich (1906-1978) - lieutenant general (1968) (see vol. 2 of this collection, document No. 961).
20 Geitz (Heitz) Walter (1878-?) - Colonel General (1943).
21 Ozeryansky Yevsey (Eugene) (1911-?), Colonel (1944). In the Red Army from December 1933 to March 1937 and from August 10, 1939. In June 1941 - battalion commissar, senior instructor of the organizational instructor department of the political administration of the Kyiv Special Military District. Since July 1, 1941 - in the same position in the political department of the Southwestern Front. From November 22, 1941 - head of the organizational instructor department of the political department of the 21st Army; from December 1941 - deputy head of the political department of the 21st Army. On April 14, 1942, he was transferred to the post of military commissar - deputy chief for political affairs of the intelligence department of the headquarters of the South-Western, then until the end of the Great Patriotic War - the Don Central, 1st Belorussian fronts. AT post-war years- in political work in the Carpathian and Odessa military districts.
Transferred to the reserve on March 19, 1958. He was awarded three orders of the Red Banner, the Order of Bogdan Khmelnitsky, the Order of the Patriotic War 1st degree, the Red Star, and other orders and medals.
22 Rembrandt Harmensz van Ryn (1606-1669) - Dutch painter, draftsman, etcher.

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First, let's talk about Ernst Wilhelm Bernardt Busch. By the way, this military leader has nothing to do with the well-known American magnate family, from which 2 US Presidents originated. As well as to his full namesake - the famous anti-fascist singer. "Bush's legs" is also not his invention :-))))
The general was just a convinced Nazi. By the way, Bush is one of two people from the top generals (the other was von Reichenau) who supported Hitler in his decision to invade Czechoslovakia. And in the future, he showed his loyalty to the Nazi Party in every possible way. This had the most beneficial effect on his career. For 15 years of service in the ranks of the army of the Weimar Republic, Bush was able to advance only from battalion commander to regiment commander, and with the advent of Hitler, his career went famously uphill. In 1935, he became a major general, in 1938 - an infantry general, at 40 - a colonel general. Finally, on February 1, 1943, he was promoted to Field Marshal General. He knew his business, of course, plus he was a very brave man, which is confirmed by the same Pour le Merite (the highest military award of Prussia). However, from the commander's point of view, "there were not enough stars from the sky", and so high position in military hierarchy without the support of Hitler would never have reached.

Obverse and reverse of the highest military award Prussia.

Krakow took over the Polish company. Then, until 1943, he led the 16th Army, which especially distinguished itself in France and on the Eastern Front. He spoiled a lot of nerves for our troops. Suffice it to recall Demyansk, Staraya Russa, Orsha, and partly Vitebsk. True, it cannot be said that he showed himself brightly. Average. Plus, the soldier never regretted. Both in the 16th Army itself, and when he commanded the entire Army Group Center for 8 months. The brilliant "Bagration" put an end to his career - in just 2 weeks he was defeated to smithereens, after which Bush was sent to the reserve, from which he was recalled only in April 1945 to save the north of Germany from the British. The result was a little predictable :-)) On May 4, 1945, he was taken prisoner, and on July 17 of the same year he died in captivity from an attack of coronary disease.

Ernst Busch himself

Next in line we have a hereditary military and a bright representative of "Prussianism" Georg Karl Friedrich Wilhelm von Küchler, nicknamed the "Conqueror of Paris". A talented and diligent officer was noticed by the command even before the First World War, and for 3 years (from 1910 to 1913) he studied at the General Staff Academy, and later, already in the war, he passed good school headquarters work. In general, a strong pro, to say the least - a talented commander. In the Polish company, the troops under his command crushed the Modlin Army Group, closed the ring near Warsaw and went to Brest.
In the French company, Küchler commanded the 18th army, passing like a "knife through butter" Holland and Belgium, surrounded the British near Dunkirk, and then at the head of his troops entered the French capital abandoned by the enemy.
Honor and respect were not long in coming. Hitler in July 1940 promoted him to colonel general.

Field Marshal Küchler

Kuchler commanded the 18th Army until 1942, until the Reich Chancellor put him in place of von Leeb at the head of Army Group North. And I must say that to my great chagrin (since I am a Petersburger), for a whole year he coped with his duties very well - only one defeat 2 shock army what is it worth. And the next year it was difficult to fight with Kühler. And this despite the fact that he always acted in a numerical and material minority, and from the end of 1943 under his leadership there were no tank formations left at all, and there was little aviation. Hitler removed it in January 1944 because the field marshal tried (and was generally successful) to carry out a general retreat in violation of Hitler's direct order. The rank of Field Marshal Küchler was awarded on June 30, 1942, and after 1944 he no longer held positions in the Wehrmacht.
In 1947, together with a group of high-ranking military men, he appeared before the tribunal (the so-called "small Nuremberg trials"), where he received his 25 years for military crimes and crimes against civilians. However, he was released 7 years later and died in 1968.

Von Bock and von Küchler (half-turned to us) are discussing plans.

Wilhelm List lived the longest among all the highest Generals - a whole 91 years. In general, I think that this Württemburger is kind of lucky. He knew how to feel in time when and where "it smells of fried" and happily avoid unpleasant incidents for himself. He was cunning, intelligent and rather diplomatic person. He has a reputation for not losing a single battle, but this is more due to his early retirement than military genius. Although he was a good professional. He was considered the greatest specialist of the German military circles in the Balkans, having acquired the benefit of communications there back in the First World War. He unequivocally supported Hitler in the Blomberg-Fritsch case, which I mentioned in the previous part, which allowed him to gain access to the highest posts in the Wehrmacht.
In the Polish company he commanded the 14th army and took Lvov. Together with a group of other generals in 1940, he received the rank of Field Marshal.

"In the circles of power." From left to right - von Schirach, Goering, Liszt

Particularly distinguished himself in the Balkan company of 1941. First, the 12th army under his leadership defeated the Greeks and the English expeditionary corps, and then gouged the army of Yugoslavia. And this is with the most minimal losses and in the shortest possible time! In addition, using his old connections, he paved the way for the conclusion of a military treaty between Germany and Bulgaria.
He missed the start of the war with the USSR due to a serious illness and arrived at the front only in the summer of 1942, leading Army Group A. And immediately, under his leadership, the Red Army was seriously defeated near Rostov-on-Don. True, immediately began a conflict with Hitler. The chancellor demanded that Liszt advance and reach the Caspian Sea, while the field marshal, citing a lack of funds and extended communications, believed that the pace of the offensive should be slowed down and regrouped. Moreover, he went into open confrontation and ensured that in September 1942 he was dismissed, thereby avoiding accusations against him for the defeat in the Battle of Stalingrad. Until the end of the war, List no longer took part in hostilities. He was persuaded to actively participate in the July conspiracy, but, sympathizing with the conspirators, he refused direct action, once again demonstrating his instinct. In 1948, during one of the small Nuremberg trials, he was convicted for life, primarily for the actions committed by the troops he led in Greece and Yugoslavia in 1941. However, after 4 years he was released from prison for health reasons. Health proved to be strong, and he lived another 19 years.


On process

The next field marshal we have with you is Nazi No. 1 among all the highest generals, Walter von Reichenau. An active participant in the First World War, which he graduated as a captain, he did not immediately accept the ideas of National Socialism, after all, upbringing and noble roots (his father was a Prussian general, his mother was from an old count family). But when he was inspired, he became an ardent supporter of them in the army. What is there to say, even if he personally wrote the words of the Reichswehr oath to Adolf Hitler personally. The NSDAP reciprocated Reichenau - he was immediately awarded the rank of major general and put in one of the key positions in the military department. Further - harder! Hitler in 1934 plans to put von Reichenau no more, no less, but the commander in chief himself ground forces. And only the open disobedience of the top of the generals did not allow the chancellor to do this. The reasons for the generals were simple - how can a person who previously had little experience in commanding only a battalion command all the troops of the country? Hitler retreated here, but did not abandon his intentions, he always considered devotion to be the main virtue that could outweigh all other qualities. And in 1935, almost for the first time in the history of the entire German army von Reichenau, bypassing the posts of regiment and division commander, immediately becomes commander of the 7th Army Corps and commander of the 7th military district, located in Munich. And almost immediately receives the rank of lieutenant general. The scandal was, of course, notable, and the old Prussian army traditionalists were very indignant. But what's done is done. Moreover, a little more than a year passed, and Reichenau received the rank of general of artillery. It turns out that he had to get from captain to colonel for 14 years, but from colonel to full general only 4.

Reichenau in the unchanged monocle.

Nevertheless, it should be noted that von Reichenau was a competent and very progressive officer. It would not be an exaggeration to consider him one of the creators tank troops in Germany, as well as systems for their effective combat use. He was actively interested in the military doctrine of other countries, was one of 3 (two others - Keitel and Sperrle) field marshals who visited the USSR in the 20-30s, read and translated the works of the Englishman Lidl-Gart.
second world war he met as head of the 10th army, and it should be noted that he was one of the main characters of the Polish company. First, the troops under his leadership staged the Radom cauldron, and then defeated the Polish operational groups Poznan and Lodz. For the Polish campaign of 1939, Reichenau was promoted to colonel general and awarded the Knight's Cross.
In the French company he distinguished himself again. At the head of the 6th Army, he took part in the defeat of the Belgian and Dutch armies, the blocking of the British and French in the Dunkirk area, the encirclement of Paris and the capture of Orleans. For this company, he received the rank of Field Marshal.
This arrogant and tough general with the invariable monocle in his eye was popular among the soldiers, who believed that where Reichenau was, there would be victory. As an army commander, he was very good from a military point of view. As they say, a man in his place.
With his 6th Army, which was part of Army Group South, von Reichenau launched the Eastern Company very successfully. However, here his second essence was also manifested with might and main - a butcher and a killer of civilians. He ordered his troops to assist the SS and SD forces in identifying commissars and persons of Jewish nationality, his soldiers carried out mass acts of vandalism on the territory of the USSR. If he had survived until the end of the war, the scaffold would surely have been waiting for him. But... On December 3, 1941, Reichenau, unexpectedly for many, was appointed commander of all troops of Army Group South, replacing his long-time ill-wisher von Rundstedt in this post. This resignation was unexpected because Reichenau fully confirmed Rundstedt's last order to withdraw the troops of the 1st Panzer Army from the Rostov-on-Don region, for which, in fact, the latter was sent to the reserve. But it took only a month and a half to command the army group at Reichenau. On December 12, he suffered an acute heart attack. On January 7, he was evacuated by a special plane sent by Hitler to Leipzig. On the way, the plane was forced to make an emergency landing in Lvov, during which Reichenau, who was already in an unconscious state, also received a severe head injury. Accordingly, it is not clear from what he died - either from a heart attack, or from a head injury, but this is the first loss among German field marshals in World War II.

Somewhere in Ukraine...

Next in line is Walter Heinrich Alfred Herman von Brauchitsch, who was Commander-in-Chief of the German Land Forces from 1938 to 1941. The son of a general, an adherent of Prussian military traditions and a guard of the Kaiser (he served in the 3rd Guards Grenadier Regiment of Queen Elizabeth) left a memory of himself as a man of weak will, completely subordinate to Hitler and having neither the strength nor the main desire to object to him. A competent and experienced general staff officer, an expert and specialist in artillery systems, he made a good career even before the Nazis came to power (he was a lieutenant general and inspector general of artillery). However, his talents and skills were also in demand by the new government. And soon (in 1938) he was approved for the key position of commander in chief of the ground forces. This appointment was preceded by one unpleasant story for Brauchitsch. The fact is that this general for a long time tried to divorce his unloved wife, with whom he had already lived separately for a long time, and marries his old mistress. Divorce, in essence, was already a huge bad manners among Prussian officers, and here a real scandal was possible, since the ex-wife threatened to give several interviews to the "yellow" press. As a matter of fact, she agreed to give her consent to a “divorce amicably and quietly” only in exchange for a large sum of money, which Brauchitsch simply did not have. And then Goering and Hitler, through the guys of Heydrich, went to Brauchitsch with a proposal to lend him money in the right amount. He was forced to agree, and thus gave the Nazis a big "hook" on himself. Soon after this, an offer was received to take an important army post. Cunning Hitler calculated everything correctly - for the figure of von Brauchitsch did not cause rejection (as we say the same Reichenau) from the old general corps, and the newly minted commander-in-chief himself gradually became an obedient toy in Hitler's hands. In less than a year, the Reich Chancellor completely and completely took possession of the will of the general. The situation was further aggravated by his new wife, she is also a former lover, who turned out to be an ardent Nazi and even more inclined Brauchitsch to follow the "star of the great Fuhrer." In general, in my deep conviction, at the very top of the army there were 2 generals, whose behavior, other than lackey and weak-willed, it was difficult to call - in fact, Lakeitel and Brauchitsch.

Bravensky von Brauchitsch

No, sometimes he still showed his high professionalism and staff skills - the same plan of the Polish company developed by him is excellent, and I would even say brilliant. Sometimes he remembered his own honor, when, for example, he sent a challenge to a duel to Goebbels. But, in general, everything is of course very, very sad. He even received the rank of Field Marshal in 1940 only because 7 of his subordinates received it, and to bypass Brauchitsch himself would be a frank spit in the face.
After he saw that the attack on Moscow, against which he quietly objected (as, by the way, against the war with the USSR itself) lost momentum, and a heart attack seized his power. I understand perfectly well that it is he who will be made the “scapegoat” for a failed company, he asked for his resignation. But Hitler did not accept the resignation. He sent it to the reserve only on December 19, when it became obvious that Blitzkrieg had failed, and the battle for Moscow had been lost.
Until the end of his life, he lived on his estate in Schleswig-Holstein, where he was arrested by the British. At the Nuremberg Trials he acted as a witness, but nevertheless he was kept by the British in very harsh conditions, which finally undermined his already poor health. He died in a prisoner-of-war hospital in Hamburg on October 18, 1948. As an important person in the Wehrmacht, he was appointed by many significant awards of the German allies - from the Romanian Order of Michael the Brave to the Bulgarian Order of St. Alexander.

Polish company card

Well, the last German top general for today, which we will briefly mention with you, will be a prominent theorist of military art, Wilhelm Joseph Franz Ritter von Leeb. He received the title of nobility (ritter, that is, knight) from Kaiser Wilhelm in 1916 for his excellent military skills.
He began his career by participating in the suppression of the famous Boxer Rebellion in China in 1900. Later he received numerous theoretical and practical training, wrote a number of well-known works, the most striking and interesting of which is the work called "On Defense". In general, he was a prominent and well-known figure.
He took the Nazis' coming to power with a purely disapproving attitude, and never hid his views, condemning National Socialism until the end of the war, which he could not accept, primarily because of his deep Catholic convictions. However, neither Hitler nor the security forces touched the opposition general, since they believed (and quite justifiably) that he, expressing himself openly against the existing government, would never violate the oath and participate in a conspiracy. However, in February 1938, during the "army purge", von Leeb was almost the first of the high-ranking military men to be dismissed. However, less than six months later, he was again called to active duty. military service- his military talents and talents were needed. After a couple of months, he again went to the reserve, but was recalled from there a second time. Despite von Leeb's vigorous objections (especially to the French Company, when the general tried to organize an "Italian strike") and a warning against plunging Germany into the abyss of a new world war, he had to take a direct part in this very war.

Wilhelm von Leeb. Takeoff...

In the Polish company, he covered with small forces the rear of Germany in the West, in the French, first fettered the enemy forces at the notorious Maginot Line, and then partially broke through it and completed the defeat of the French. At the end of the company he was promoted to field marshal general.
During the attack on the USSR, he led the Army Group "North", defeated the Red Army in the Baltic states, occupied it, and by mid-September 1941 reached Leningrad. His tactics are described by many historians as overly cautious and too slow, but to me personally, that he was still an enemy, it seems that he did everything right. His troops closed the ring of the Blockade, but tired of defending his point of view and constant interference in the affairs of the army group, on January 16, 1942, von Leeb resigned, which was accepted by Hitler. He was replaced by Küchler, about whom, my dear readers, we spoke a little higher. Until the end of the war, he no longer participated in hostilities. May 2, 1945 taken prisoner US troops. Was judged within the small Nuremberg Trials on the charge: "United States of America v. Wilhelm von Leeb - 'commissar order'".

...and fall

In October 1948 he was sentenced to 3 years in prison as a war criminal. Since he had already served 3 and a half years, he was released. He died on April 29, 1956 at the age of 79.

Have a nice day!
To be continued....

Von Bock Theodor (1880–1945)

German Field Marshal.

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. With the outbreak of war, he commanded Army Group North during the war with Poland. In 1940, von Bock led the capture of Belgium and the Netherlands and the defeat of the French troops at Dunkirk. It was he who hosted the parade German troops in occupied Paris.

Von Bock objected to an attack on the USSR, but when the decision was made, he led the Army Group Center, which carried out a strike in the main direction. After the failure of the attack on Moscow, he was considered one of the main responsible for this failure of the German army. In 1942, he led the Army Group "South" and for a long time successfully held back the offensive of Soviet troops on Kharkov.

Von Bock was distinguished by an extremely independent character, repeatedly clashed with Hitler and defiantly kept aloof from politics. After in the summer of 1942, von Bock opposed the Fuhrer's decision to divide Army Group South into 2 directions, Caucasian and Stalingrad, during the planned offensive, he was removed from command and sent to the reserve. A few days before the end of the war, von Bock died during an air raid.

Von Rundstedt Karl Rudolf Gerd (1875–1953)

German Field Marshal.

By the beginning of the Second World War, von Rundstedt, who had held important command positions back in the First World War, had already managed to retire. But in 1939, Hitler returned him to the army. Von Rundstedt became the main developer of the plan for the attack on Poland under code name"Weiss", and during its implementation he commanded the Army Group "South". He then led Army Group A, which played a key role in the capture of France, and also developed the failed Sea Lion plan to attack 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 very next 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. After reviewing the situation, von Rundstedt warned Hitler that a long-term defense with the available forces would be impossible. At the decisive moment of the landings in Normandy, June 6, 1944, Hitler canceled von Rundstedt's order to transfer troops, thereby wasting time and giving the enemy an opportunity to develop the offensive. Already at the end of the war, von Rundstedt successfully resisted the Allied landing 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.

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 a 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.

Then Manstein commanded the Don Army Group and unsuccessfully tried to rescue the Paulus army from the Stalingrad cauldron. Since 1943, he led the Army Group South and inflicted Soviet troops sensitive defeat near Kharkov, and then tried to prevent the crossing of the Dnieper. During the retreat, Manstein's troops used the tactics of "scorched earth".

Having suffered a defeat in the Battle of Korsun-Shevchensk, Manstein retreated, violating Hitler's order. Thus, he saved part of the army from encirclement, but after that he was forced to retire.

After the war, he was convicted by a British tribunal for war crimes for 18 years, but already in 1953 he was released, worked as a military adviser to the government of Germany and wrote his memoirs Lost Victories.

Guderian Heinz Wilhelm (1888–1954)

German colonel general, commander of the armored forces.

Guderian is one of the main theorists and practitioners of the "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 military campaigns against Poland and France, the blitzkrieg tactics fully justified itself. Guderian was at the pinnacle of fame: 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 expanses 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 near Moscow big losses and were forced to retreat. After that, he was sent to the reserve, and subsequently served as inspector general of tank troops.

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, 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 participated in the Polish and French campaigns, but his main successes were associated with military operations in North Africa. Rommel led the Afrika Korps, which was originally attached to help the Italian troops, who were defeated by the British. Instead of strengthening the defenses, as ordered by the order, Rommel went on the offensive with small forces and won important victories. He acted in the same way 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 defeat. Subsequently, he fought in Italy and tried, together with von Rundstedt, with whom he had serious disagreements that affected the combat capability of the troops, to stop the Allied landings in Normandy.

In 1944, Rommel took part in a conspiracy of senior officers against Hitler, or at least knew about him. A few days before the planned assassination attempt on the Fuhrer, he was seriously wounded. After the failure of the assassination attempt and the disclosure of the network of conspirators, Rommel, popular among the troops, unlike other participants in the conspiracy, was given the opportunity to commit suicide. It was officially reported that the Field Marshal died from his wounds, and the day of his funeral was declared a day of national mourning in Germany.

No matter how important the Black SS Order is for understanding the nature of Nazism, nevertheless, Germany and its armed forces were represented, first of all, by the Wehrmacht, which therefore disliked the Waffen-SS because it considered itself the age-old and only defender of the honor of Germany. We will never penetrate into the spirit, nature and springs of the dead war with Germany, if we do not touch, albeit briefly, the fate of three outstanding generals of the Wehrmacht.

We do not mean such a famous tank general as Field Marshal Walter Model, nicknamed "The Lion of Defense". The soldiers loved him, because Model himself, with a pistol in his hands, led them on the attack more than once. Not wanting to capitulate, Model committed suicide in 1945. We are not talking about the already familiar tank general Geppner, whom Hitler hanged in 1944. We will not touch on the famous, with an eagle profile, Hermann Goth, whose tanks were never able to release Paulus in Stalingrad. Remained in the memory and tank general Walter Wenck, Hitler's last hope in besieged Berlin. Even the "fast Heinz" - Guderian - on whose tanks Hitler allowed the Gothic letter "G" to be written in recognition of his merits, will not reveal to us in its entirety the secret of the Wehrmacht and Germany, in the battles with which the Russian tank nation was born.

All the famous German commanders of the Nazi era, without a single exception, were officers of the Second Reich, founded by Prince Bismarck and Count Moltke, led by the favorite of the Russian army, Wilhelm I Hohenzollern, who died in 1888, he was the same age as Nicholas I and two years older than Pushkin.

In the 18th and 19th centuries, the flower of German youth flocked to the lectures of Russian thinkers. After 1870 and the defeat of France, the youth began to react sensitively to the words of politicians like Bismarck, military men like Moltke, Bernhardi, Hindenburg. The religious energy of the Germans spilled over into the military sphere, where they now sought solutions to their national aspirations among a world that seemed to them hostile to them, led by the insidious Albion.

Therefore, given the golden era of the Hohenzollerns, the fate of Germany and tank battles will be best illuminated for us by three commanders: the one-armed tank general Hans Hube, the general most beloved by the Wehrmacht soldiers, awarded from them the enthusiastic nickname "der Mensch" - "Man"; Baron Hasso von Manteuffel, whose grandfather was Minister of War in the time of Wilhelm I; and the legendary Erwin Rommel, perhaps the only German commander who did not cross the Russian border in World War II.

Of all the German tank generals, we singled out these three in particular, because all three, on the rise of their career, as a special favor, asked the Fuhrer to command a tank division and be sent to the front. All three achieved outstanding results, received a "full bow" to Knight's cross and vigorously educated and trained their divisions themselves. This irresistible desire of the most talented officers of the Wehrmacht and the Waffen-SS to master tank weapons and a passion for active combat were the most intimate and main feature of German life between the wars. This manifested Hohenzollern's desire to take Germany's rightful place in the world. Fichte believed that this was the duty of the Germans to mankind. Frederick the Great was sure that God was in the bravest battalion. The tank battalions became the bravest and fastest battalions. The hour of tanks has struck in the world.

Hans Hube. Hitler loved him, perhaps even more than his soldiers. At the head of the tank corps, Khyube got into the Stalingrad "cauldron". When the Fuhrer realized that the situation of the besieged was hopeless, he demanded that Hans Hube leave Stalingrad by plane. This path from the encirclement was a longed-for dream for many officers. But Hube flatly refused to leave his soldiers. All attempts by the Fuhrer to rescue Hube and save him for Germany were in vain. Hitler, who considered Huebe one of the three greatest commanders of the Second World War, went to extremes. He sent his plane with personal bodyguards to Stalingrad with the order to remove Khübe from Stalingrad by force.

Hans Hübe was from Naumburg, where in the Middle Ages the crusaders lit their swords in the cathedral. He began serving in 1909 and became a lieutenant the following year. Hube lost his hand in the Verdun meat grinder, but remained at the front, ending the First World War as a captain. He was distinguished by determination, tact, energy, method and openness to new trends. In 1934, after 25 years of service, he is still a lieutenant colonel and commander of a motorized experimental battalion. The Reichswehr did not make a career. All four thousand military officers recruited by 1920 felt like members of a special officer order in the disinterested service of Germany.

In 1935, Hans Hübe was appointed commandant of the Olympic Village for outstanding organizational skills. He was also responsible for the safety of athletes. In this field, he impressed Hitler with his intelligence and energy. The Fuhrer gave him Oberst shoulder straps. When the war broke out in the West, Hitler asked Hube what he would like to receive from the Fuhrer. In the old days, the almighty lord asked a successful subject like that. Hans Huebe asked for command of a tank division and to be sent to the front lines. He was given the 16th Panzer Division, which he himself patiently trained and gave it the features of his own outstanding personality. For brilliant operations in France, he was promoted to major general.

After Stalingrad, Khübe will talentedly command the 1st tank army under the most seemingly hopeless circumstances. On April 20, 1944, in addition to the Oak Leaves and Swords, he also added Diamonds to the Knight's Cross. Hube was waiting for the appointment to the post of commander of the army group, what we called the "front". He, undoubtedly, was waiting for the marshal's baton in due course. But the next day, Hans Valentin Huebe's plane crashed near Hitler's Headquarters in Berchtsgoden. The main "Man" of the Wehrmacht was gone.

Hasso von Manteuffel was born in Potsdam in 1897. His father died when Hasso was seven years old. His mother will raise him and his three sisters. Little Baron Hasso graduated in Naumburg (Saale) cadet corps, then the privileged military school Berlin-Lichterfelde. As befits, the more aristocratic the school, the stricter and more modest the life of the junkers. With the rank of fenrich (candidate for officers), Hasso von Manteuffel entered the war as a cavalryman in 1916. Manteuffel was short, thin, incredibly agile, and possessed obvious pedagogical abilities. As soon as Baron Hasso was enrolled in the Reichswehr, he proposed to the pretty blonde Armgard von Kleist, the niece of the future Field Marshal Ewald von Kleist. At the same time, he participates in the suppression of the rebellions of the communist "Spartacists".

Guderian, with the sharp eye of a tank apostle, discerned in the cavalry officer von Manteuffel the outstanding talents of the builder of armored forces. In 1939, he became commandant of the tank officer training school in Potsdam-Krampnitz.

The cavalryman Manteuffel was a born tanker, managed to convey the spirit of tank tactics to the cadets, taught the students to be extremely active in battle and emphasized the ability of each tank crew to both fight in the ranks and wage their own single war, adapting to the landscape. When the victorious troops returned from Paris, Hasso von Manteuffel asked for the 7th Panzer Division before the invasion of Russia, even if it was the commander of a rifle battalion. The regimental commander was killed, and Baron Manteuffel took his place. His regiment was in hell all the time and at the forefront of the 7th tank division, with which Rommel became famous in the West in 1940. For the battle near Moscow at Yakhroma, Colonel von Manteuffel is awarded the Knight's Cross.

At the beginning of 1943 he was already in Africa. The fame of the tireless Manteuffel, who emerges from the most hopeless circumstances, reached the Fuhrer. Major General Manteuffel, extremely surprised by the attention to his person, appeared at the Fuhrer's Headquarters. Hitler asked the fighting baron what his desires were. Manteuffel, without hesitation, asked for the 7th Panzer Division and received it. In the autumn of 1943, Manteuffel received the Oak Leaves to the Knight's Cross for the capture of Zhytomyr by his division. Hitler liked the successes of the active and courageous baron, and he invited him to Headquarters for Christmas and presented him with 50 tanks. Noticing the delight in the eyes of the little Prussian, Hitler realized that for the defending Wehrmacht, people with such a psyche as Manteuffel's were worth their weight in gold. And he immediately appointed him commander of one of the most famous formations - the volunteer tank division "Grossdeutchland" ("Great Germany"). Soon for success, he received the Swords to the Knight's Cross.

Hitler, exhausted by that time by the hail of bad news raining down on him from the fronts, apparently felt the need to see the lucky baron from time to time. In early 1944, the Grossdeutschland division broke out of the Russian pocket without losing a single tank. In the fall of 1944, Hitler again summoned von Manteuffel to Headquarters and appointed him commander of the 5th Panzer Army on the Western Front. Von Manteuffel's army was assigned one of the main roles in the offensive in the Ardennes, where the Germans overtook the Yankees with fear. For the Ardennes, Hasso von Manteuffel received Diamonds to the Knight's Cross from the Fuhrer's trembling hands.

In the spring of 1945, Manteuffel would command the 3rd Panzer Army. The 3rd Panzer retreated, snarling with all its might, when Field Marshal Wilhelm Keitel appeared at the command post and, tapping his hand nervously with a stack, demanded on behalf of the Fuhrer to advance. Manteuffel and General Heinritz said that without reinforcements this was unthinkable. There was a quarrel. Having exhausted the arguments, Keitel blurted out: "You will answer for this before history." To which the baron replied: "The Manteuffels have been serving Prussia for two hundred years and have always been responsible for their actions." Depressed and angry, Keitel left for Headquarters.

The days of the Third Reich were running out. Manteuffel, maintaining battle formations and avoiding panic, led his army to the West and surrendered to Montgomery. From 1953 to 1957, Manteuffel was even elected to the Bundestag, and lectured at West Point (USA).

Von Manteuffel was a real soldier. In 1917, Manteuffel, having received a portion of shrapnel in his leg and not recovering, escaped from the hospital, for which he fell under House arrest. In Africa, from exhaustion, he fainted right at his command post. Later, having been injured by a grenade explosion, Manteuffel did not leave the position. Historians note his exceptional respect for every ordinary soldier. This fighting selflessness of the commander impressed the soldiers, and they loved the baron for the fact that he never left his sense of humor in any hell.

Erwin Rommel was called the "Desert Fox". It is difficult to find a more unfortunate nickname in history. Judging by the wounds he inflicted on the British, Rommel's desert habits were more like those of a lion than a fox. Courage, military cunning, swiftness and originality prevailed in his handwriting.

Erwin Rommel's father and grandfather were peaceful teachers - an honorable occupation in Germany, as nowhere else in the world. In 1910, 18-year-old Rommel entered the army and in 1912 was promoted to lieutenant. In the war, according to a military historian, as soon as the young lieutenant Rommel came under fire, "a predator woke up in him: cold-blooded, treacherous, ruthless and extremely fearless." Rommel was born to fight. Commanding a company, Rommel showed "sacred zeal", and as a captain he was awarded the highest military award "Pour le Merite". In the winter of 1917, he took a vacation and got married between battles. In marriage, Rommel was happy. Having ended the war as a captain, he received the rank of major only in 1930.

In 1935, Rommel became a teacher at the Military Academy and showed hereditary teaching abilities. He builds his lectures on personal military experience, and then publishes them as a separate book - "The Infantry Attacks." To his surprise, the book became a bestseller and made a strong impression on Hitler. The Fuhrer drew him close to him. During the Polish campaign, he was already a major general and head of the Fuhrer's guard battalion. Rommel closely and excitedly follows the defeat of Poland. When the Führer, who was kind to him, asked him what he wanted, Rommel, like Hube and Manteuffel, asked for a panzer division.

At the end of 1940, the British "Western Desert Forces" led by General Sir Richard O "Connor once again disheveled and dispersed Mussolini's "iron legions", distinguished by their invincible peacefulness and irresistible aversion to the sounds of gunshots. The British captured Egypt, Libya, Cyrenaica with the cities of Bardia, Tobruk and Benghazi. The Italians missed, as usual, one hundred and thirty soldiers, one and a half thousand guns and 400 tanks. To save his unlucky ally, Hitler sent Rommel to Africa with two tank divisions. Thus rose the star of the "Afrika Korps" and his legendary commander. The British forces outnumbered the Germans, but Rommel rushed at them with such reckless courage and skill that he defeated the British utterly - captured Benghazi and captured the very winner of the Italians, Sir Richard O "Connor and Lieutenant General Sir Philip Neame.

In July 1941, Rommel once again beat the British to smithereens, although they outnumbered him twice. In the same year he was promoted to general of the tank troops.

In November-December 1941, the British 8th Army attacked Rommel's Afrika Korps with five motorized infantry divisions, one armored division, three armored brigades and two more motorized brigades. The British had 748 tanks against 249 German ones - a threefold superiority. The British again could not do anything and were defeated, although the lack of forces, the lack of fuel and ammunition did not allow Rommel to develop success. The British, happy that they had avoided complete defeat, later even began to dispute the deplorable results of these months for them.

On November 21, 1941, near Tobruk, the British broke through the sector of the Italian division "Africa", and the situation of the German-Italian troops worsened. The Italians were "manna from heaven" for the British. If not for the Italians, their track record for the entire Second World War would not have had a single full-fledged victory either on land or at sea. And then, on November 21, Rommel himself led the troops and, at the head of the reconnaissance detachment, moved against the British. He pushed the enemy back, knocking out half a dozen tanks.

While the commander of the Afrika Korps, General Kruvel, repelled all attempts by the 30th British Corps to come to the aid of the besieged Tobruk, Rommel defeated the British 7th Armored Division, which was marching to the aid of Tobruk, at Sidi Rezeg on November 23 at Sidi Rezeg. The next day, Rommel stood at the head of the 21st Panzer Division and rushed forward at top speed. He rushed with such speed that the "Afrika Korps" stretched behind him across the desert in clouds of dust for fifty kilometers. The remnants of the 7th Armored and 1st South African Divisions fled in a hurry from the frantic Rommel. General Cunningham, with the 30th Corps, decided to flee and take refuge in Egypt. But General Auchinleck, who rushed to the headquarters of the 8th Army, ordered to hold on at all costs. On November 27, another battle takes place at Sidi Rezegh.

By the end of 1941, the British decided that Rommel was left without equipment, fuel and ammunition and was exhausted. But in January 1942, he split the 201st British guards brigade, badly battered the 1st Armored Division and again entered Benghazi, pushing the British back to the Gazala line. In the same January, for these successes, Rommel was awarded the rank of colonel general.

The British fought bravely, but, in fact, without leadership and combat control. Their generals did not like the advanced orders, but they received more high-profile titles than all the belligerents. If anyone prevented the British from waging war in Africa, it was also the ebullient slacker Churchill, who continuously interfered in all the actions of the commanders, replacing five people in this post in a year. Not participating in a single battle, Churchill fancied himself a commander since the First World War. Under no prime minister in its history has England suffered so many defeats as under him.

And Erwin Rommel confidently entered the rank national heroes Germany. The lonely "Afrika Korps" in the distant desert acquired a romantic halo. Rommel himself fought like on the first day of creation, as if there were no wars before him. Some primal freshness emanated from his actions, which simply enchanted the soldiers. With any numerical superiority of the enemy, Rommel always rushed into the fray first.

Hitler hoped that in the summer of 1942, Rommel's tanks would reach the Tigris and Euphrates through Egypt and Syria, and von Kleist's tanks would reach the same place through the Caucasus, as the Russian Corps had in 1916. The idea is not so crazy. Only for its implementation it was necessary first to capture Malta and not get involved in street fighting in Stalingrad. Only Churchill understood the reality of this plan and trembled. For Dunkirk and for this thrill, he will force the British air force to raze the German cities to the ground from the air.

In May 1942, Rommel defeated the British at El Gazala, despite a threefold superiority of the British in tanks (900 British against 333 German) and tenfold in armored vehicles. Rommel skillfully outwitted the British and, at the risk of being surrounded, almost destroyed the entire 8th Army of Foggy Albion. Despite the extreme overwork of his troops, Rommel drove the enemy all the way to Tobruk and, having gathered his last strength, decided to storm.

German tank generals, in accordance with the Charter, moved at the head of their divisions. The then commander of the Afrika Korps, General Nerang, took charge of the 15th division, since its commander, General von Furst, was wounded at El Ghazala. The commander of the 21st Division, a cheerful and hot general, Prince von Bismarck raced between his lead tanks in a motorcycle sidecar and personally scouted the minefields before allowing the tanks to follow him. Rommel himself could not lag behind his commanders and was also at the head of the advancing column.

As soon as the Afrika Korps appeared under the walls of Tobruk in clouds of dust, Rommel moved to the most dangerous positions in a staff car to personally lead the assault.

At dusk on June 20, 1942, von Bismarck's division broke through to Tobruk. Colonel Kraseman's 15th Panzer Division on the Pilastrino Ridge defeated the 1st Sherwood Regiment and the 3rd Coldstream Guards Regiment and captured the brigade headquarters. The 2nd Cameron Regiment fought in the citadel until evening and surrendered when the entire fortress capitulated. During the night, Rommel telegraphed to Berlin about the fall of Tobruk and the capture of 33,000 prisoners. It seemed that the nightmare of Dunkirk was henceforth the fate of the British.

After the assault, Rommel had only 44 serviceable tanks left. But they did not stand still. The temperamental General von Bismarck, on the remnants of armored vehicles, rushed after the scattered British to Gatutu itself and crossed the border of Egypt. There were sixty kilometers to the Nile. Only a tank throw separated Rommel from El Alamein from ancient Alexandria. Without his own tanks, Rommel fought in vehicles taken from the British. Of the available Vehicle 85 percent were made in England or the USA. On the evening of June 21, 1942, Rommel heard on the radio that he had been promoted to field marshal. He then wrote to his wife: "Hitler made me a field marshal, but instead I would have preferred another division." Rommel was sincere. He understood that if he did not capture Alexandria and Cairo now, then the allies with their innumerable resources would gather strength. Between 5 and 27 July, Rommel fought off ten British counterattacks.

The British unloaded fuel and ammunition day and night and sent troops. Rommel ran out of fuel. He has gasoline for 80 miles of travel and 259 patched tanks against 700 English ones. Again, the ratio of forces is one to three.

In less than a year, Rommel had already defeated four commanders of the 8th British Army. Now a fifth has been sent - Bernard Law Montgomery, who was severely beaten at Dunkirk, where he led a division. Dunkirk taught Montgomery to respectful caution, especially since before him was the youngest and, perhaps, the most talented of the German field marshals, whom Churchill himself called "the great general."

When Montgomery launched the offensive on October 2, 1942, Rommel was on vacation and medical treatment in Germany. A year and a half of continuous fighting in the desert broke him. Hitler called Rommel and asked him to return to Africa.

Under El Alamein, which the heroes of Dunkirk would extol over Stalingrad, Montgomery had an indecent advantage over the remnants of the Afrika Korps. In manpower, the ratio was 4:1, and in tanks - 5:1, and the same ratio in aircraft. In this case, El Alamein, in a purely military sense, must be recognized as a personal victory for Rommel. He skillfully and courageously repulsed all attacks until 35 tanks with empty tanks remained in the Afrika Korps. Not a single tank remained in the 15th Panzer Division, only seven guns. Rommel ordered a retreat.

Hitler from afar demanded to stand to the death to the end. Rommel managed to withdraw the army from Egypt. Montgomery was wary of even approaching the wounded Desert Lion. Montgomery preferred to carefully and respectfully push the formidable enemy to retreat. Once, when Montgomery was active, Rommel snapped so hard that the future "Duke of El Alamein" barely swept away. The Italians allowed the British to "keep face" - after El Alamein, four Italian divisions surrendered to the British.

Rommel's thousand-mile retreat with rearguard battles, with full battle formations, became, in fact, victorious march Rommel with an honorary escort of the heavily armed English 8th Army, whose officers demanded that the supply of hot water to shaving positions be equated with the supply of ammunition. Between crossings they bought short polo horses. In the meantime, at the end of this withdrawal, some parts of Rommel, having exhausted all their gasoline supplies, were forced to fill their cars with Tunisian wine.

At the end of February 1943, the indomitable Rommel inflicted another defeat on the Allies at the Kasseran Pass. Returning from Africa, he received Diamonds to the Knight's Cross. Hitler will entrust him with the troops guarding the Atlantic coast. In 1944, after the assassination attempt on Hitler, Rommel, somehow implicated in the conspiracy, was offered to shoot himself in order to save his family.

The battles in Africa, due to the absence of SS troops and the peculiarity of the theater of operations, were perhaps the last "gentleman's" battles on earth, because, despite the bitterness and stubbornness, they were devoid of hatred and lynching. In Africa, the desert was, as it were, created by God Himself for tank battles. No cover and blue sky especially increased the role of aviation.