Erwin von Witzleben

Erwin von Witzleben (4 December 1881 in Breslau - 8 August 1944 in Berlin) was a German field marshal during World War II. He was one of the most notable conspirators against Hitler in the plans for a coup in the autumn of 1938 and in the plot of July 20, 1944, where he was destined for the post of commander-in-chief of the army.

You can hand us over to the executioner, but within three months the people, disgusted and vetoed, will hold you accountable and drag you all into the filth of the streets.

Erwin von Witzleben to Judge Roland Freisler, after his death sentence

Beginnings

Witzleben was born in Breslau (now Wrocław, Poland) into a family with a long military tradition. His father, Joachim Albein, was a renowned military man. He attended the Wahlstatt and Lichterfelde cadet schools. He entered the German army in March 1901 as a lieutenant in the 7th Grenadier Regiment.

World War I

At the outbreak of World War I, Witzleben was commissioned as an adjunct to the 19th Reserve Brigade. He served on the Western Front, earning the Iron Cross for it. In 1917 he assumed command of a battalion of the 6th Infantry Regiment. The following year he became a staff officer in the 108th Infantry Division.

Interwar

After the war, Witzleben remained in the Reichswehr and in January 1921 was given command of the 8th Machine Gun Company. He was in the General Staff of the Wehrkreis IV (1922-1925), the 12th Cavalry Regiment (1925-1926) and the 3rd Infantry Command (1926-1928). Later he was appointed chief of the General Staff of the Wehrkreis IV (1929-1931) and commander of the 8th Infantry Regiment (1931-1933).

In 1934, Witzleben was promoted to brigadier general and appointed commander of Wehrkreis III, replacing General Werner von Fritsch, who had been appointed commander-in-chief of the army.

A strong opponent of Adolf Hitler and his government in Nazi Germany, Witzleben joined Erich von Manstein, Wilhelm Leeb and Gerd von Rundstedt in calling for a military investigation into the murder of Kurt von Schleicher on the Night of the Long Knives. However, Defense Minister Werner von Blomberg refused to carry out such an investigation.

Witzleben was infuriated when his friend General Werner von Fritsch was relieved as commander-in-chief of the army on charges of homosexuality. He became an anti-Nazi fanatic, beginning to consider the possibility, together with other opponents of the regime such as Ludwig Beck, Franz Halder, Wilhelm Canaris, Wolf von Helldorf, Kurt Hammerstein-Equord or Erich Hoepner, of carrying out a military coup against Hitler..

The Gestapo learned of these plans, and in 1938 Witzleben was forced to accept a premature retirement from active duty.

World War II

At the start of World War II, von Witzleben was again called to the front and placed in command of the German First Army in 1939, entrusted with the invasion of France in May 1940. His troops crossed the Maginot Line in June of that same year, quickly occupying Alsace and Lorraine. He was promoted to field marshal on 19 July 1940 at the Field Marshal Ceremony, along with twelve other senior German officers who had been prominent in the recent campaigns in France and Poland. Witzleben remained in France as a major. Commander of Army Group D, in charge of the western theater of operations.

In 1942, after the failure of Operation Barbarossa, he began again to conspire against Hitler. The Gestapo, again informed of such activities, informed the Führer, who relieved him of his post and ordered him to return to Germany. For the next two years, Witzleben took refuge in his country house.

July 20, 1944 attack and execution

Erwin von Witzleben during the trial.

Witzleben maintained contact with the other Wehrmacht conspirators and in 1944 actively participated in Operation Valkyrie, the attack carried out by Claus von Stauffenberg on July 20. After von Stauffenberg planted the bomb and the conspirators believed Hitler was dead, Witzleben, who would have been commander-in-chief of the Wehrmacht in the planned post-coup government, arrived at the Oberkommando des Heeres headquarters on Bendlerstraße. (today Stauffenbergstraße) in Berlin, on July 20, 1944, to assume command of the coup forces.

He was arrested the next day and tried by the Volksgerichtshof (people's court) on August 8, 1944, being humiliated during the trial by being forbidden to wear a belt and dentures by the Nazi judge Roland Freisler.

He was sentenced to death and hanged naked with piano wire that same day, in the Plötzensee prison in Berlin.