John Albrecht Blaskowitz (born on July 10, 1883, Father Forest District Wehlau (East Prussia); died on 5 February in Nuremberg) was a German army officer (Colonel-General since 1939). During the Second World War, he was the Army commander in Poland and France and also the commander of the occupying troops.
He was the author of several memoranda of atrocities committed by the Einsatzgruppen. Later, he was commander of several Army groups; after the war, he was accused in the “process of the Armed Forces High Command” and committed suicide on the first day of hearings.
Empire And The First World War
John Blaskowitz, on 10 July 1883, was originally the son of Protestant minister Hermann Blaskowitz, whose family came from Slovenia, and Marie Blaskowitz, Kuhn was born in the forest, Father born. John had three sisters, with whom he, after the death of his mother in 1886 and the remarriage of his father, grew up in East Prussia until the eleventh year. He attended elementary school in Walterkehmen (Gumbinnen County), then in Milluhnen (Stalluponen County) has a higher private school.
His military career started at the age of ten years or three years he spent as a cadet in Koszalin and four more years at the leading military academy in an immense light field near Berlin. On 2 March 1901, he joined after high school graduation and nearly eighteen years as a cadet in the Prussian army. He was the infantry regiment “of Grolmann” (1 poses Sches) #18 finasteride in East Prussia granted, of which he was the next eleven years.
Blaskowitz attended the Military Academy Passengers on the Rhine; she graduated as the second best and was on 27 January 1902 promoted to lieutenant. He took part in a course of military-turn facility in Berlin and then spent eighteen months working as an assistant teacher at this institution.
Commanded from 1908 to 1911 the Prussian War Academy in Berlin, he passed the examination as a French interpreter and then, as a lieutenant, came to the 3rd Company of the 9th Baden Infantry Regiment No. 170 toOffenburg. On 1 April 1914, he was transferred to the staff of Infantry Regiment “Margrave Ludwig Wilhelm” (3rdBaden) No. 111.
During the First World War, Blaskowitz took the position as a captain and company commander initially only at the front, where he participated in the battles in Lorraine and Flanders, as well as at the forefront of the fighting in Tyrol and in the campaign against Serbia. From April 1916, he was employed as as General Staff Officer transported in the battles of Kovel and Riga. Then, additional missions followed on the Western Front. During the war, Blaskowitz was awarded, among other things, with two classes of the Iron Cross and the Knight’s Cross of the Royal House Order of Hohenzollern with swords.
Weimar Republic
After the war, came back to Blaskowitz Offenburg but a short time later to Hanover to the headquarters of the Tenth Army Corps. In the spring of 1919, Blaskowitz assumed as a staff officer in the center of the Military District V in Stuttgart service. During the Kapp Putsch fled the Cabinet farmer from DresdentoStuttgart, where he was supported by Blaskowitz's commanding officer, General Walter von Bergmann. After the failed coup attempt, Blaskowitz was involved in the suppression of the uprising.
On 1 October 1924, he took over as commander of the III—a battalion of the 13th (Wurttemberg) Infantry Regiment in Ulm. Blaskowitz was there in 1926, was promoted to lieutenant colonel in 1928, and returned to Stuttgart, where he served as Chief of Staff of the 5th Division. After promotion to Colonel in the first October 1929, he was also at the same time to 31 January 1933.
End of 1930, he was appointed commander of the 14th Blaskowitz Appointed (Baden) Infantry Regiment (“sea hare”) in Konstanz, and on 1 October 1932, he was promoted to Major General.
Period Of National Socialism - Pre-war
On 1 February 1933, he was transferred to the Defense Ministry in Berlin and was appointed inspector of schools and weapons. On 1 December 1933 promoted to lieutenant general. 1935 appointment as Commanding General of II was in the military district in Szczecin, and in 1936 was promoted to General of Infantry. In 1938, he was Commander in Chief (s) of the Army Group 3 in Dresden. He participated in the invasion of the Armed Forces in Austria (gasoline companies). He led his troops in the occupation of the Sudetenland and the Czech part of former Czechoslovakia in the autumn of 1938 and spring of 1939.
World War II - Poland
During the Polish campaign, he participated in its operational planning. Blaskowitz commanded the 8th Army. Although he had highly successful and a Polish attempt to break through on 9 Strip the 8th of September in the battle Army by a decisive counter-attack prevented, by which he contributed significantly to the rapid victory, Adolf Hitler was in a front-visit with the leadership of the army by Blaskowitz extremely dissatisfied.
As Hitler’s adjutant, Major Gerhard Engel, according to Christopher Clark (p. 33), reported in his diary that Hitler had always cherished a deep aversion to this Blaskowitz and never trusted.
On 27 September 1939, the surrender of Warsaw Blaskowitz was accepted. After the end of hostilities, he was promoted to colonel general of Hitler and one of the first German soldiers to the Knight’s Cross of the Iron Cross. A short time later, he was commander of the German occupying army in Poland.
In this capacity, he has repeatedly protested against the mistreatment and murder of Jewish and non-Jewish Poles by SS-Einsatzgruppen and police units. He also imposed death sentences on members of the SS for crimes against the civilian population, which were, however, abolished by Hitler.
“The attitude of the troops to the SS and police varies between disgust and hatred. Every soldier feels disgusted and appalled by this crime, the members of the Kingdom of Poland and representatives of state authority committed. ”
Blaskowitz protested in the fall and winter of 1939/40 against the implementation of radical orders by Hitler, “racial land consolidation.” His protest is not founded solely on moral arguments but also on concern for the discipline of the troops and anger about the arrogance of an independent police force. Blaskowitz formulated the pragmatic observation: “With violent action alone is the safety and peace of the country does not produce.”
In his memoranda to the Commander of the Army, Walther von Brauchitsch, he put in writing the population of Warsaw and Lodz, rape, looting, killings, and other atrocities committed by the German occupying forces against Poles and Jews documented. Blaskowitz was fired by Hitler, who criticized his approach as childish, in May 1940 at the instigation of Hans Frank as armed forces commander in Poland. Even with the appointment of new marshals, Blaskowitz was not only in 1940 but was passed over on a regular basis.
At least his first two reports were not without effect if ignored by the leadership. Yet, the intelligence officer Helmuth Groscurth informed during a business trip on 18 December 1939 the staff of the three army groups on the Western Front by the Blaskowitz reports of the events in Poland. The second report was widely copied and distributed widely dispersed. Sun broke the news of massive outrage – especially when combined with the fact that the reported facts should go unpunished.
France
After he, as commander of the 9th Army in the first phase of the campaign, had taken part, he was on 9 June 1940 to temporarily “military commander in northern France,” appointed. In this capacity, he decreed on 20 June 1940:
On 11 November 1942, the associations of his army occupied the formerly free areas of southern France without encountering any resistance (“Anton case”). The first three and a half years of the occupation of France proceeded relatively quietly. In May 1944, Blaskowitz was in command of the newly formed Army Group G in the South of France (September 1944 Army Group G), the first from 19 Army.
At the same time, however, took the military activities of the French Resistance threatening forms. These were fought at the time of Blaskowitz with all means available under international law.
As the Australian historian Christopher Clark emphasized particularly to Blaskowitz distanced his general order of 17 June 1944 before the soldiers of his armies clearly from those SS units of the 2nd SS Panzer Division “Das Reich” who had murdered a week earlier in the massacre of Oradour-sur-Glane, six hundred men, women and children, and for its army units were not responsible (Clark, p.43).
In contrast, he responded as French departments complained about the actions of the SS. He recommended responding to the French authorities that it “must necessarily happen that sometimes innocent people fall victim to the ball. Against such a struggle [i.e., by the partisans of the Resistance] needs and the army will defend at its disposal all the instruments of power.”
After the Allied landing in Normandy on 6 June 1944, those on the French Mediterranean coast (Operation Dragoon) on 15 August 1944 had to go to Blaskowitz on 16 August after being released by Adolf Hitler to withdraw his army in Alsace. For his “effective leadership” (Heuer), Blaskowitz received on 28 October 1944 Oak Leaves to the Knight’s Cross.
On 21 September, he was again deprived of his command, and he was put on reserve leadership and was succeeded by Hermann Balck. On 24 December 1944, he was turned the power of Army Group G on the southern flank of the western front. Still, three weeks later, he was replaced again, this time by Paul Hausser, and took over the Army Group H in the Netherlands; for their leadership, on the 25th of January 1945, the swords awarded the Knight’s Cross was given.
He successfully negotiated with the Allies over the food supply of the Dutch population. Nevertheless, it came in the winter of 1944/45 to a famine that killed some 18,000 Dutch to the victim. On 6 April 1945, he handed over his command and took over control of the 25th Army, which he simultaneously declared a commander in chief of “Fortress Holland.” On 5 May 1945, he surrendered with the remnants of the 25th Army in Wageningen before the British and the Canadians under General Charles Foulkes.
The Post-war Period Was A Prisoner Of War
From 1945 to 1948, Blaskowitz was a prisoner at Dachau, near Marburg Allendorf, and most recently in Nuremberg. Blaskowitz against allegations from Poland, Czechoslovakia, and the United States were collected. TheNetherlandswithdrew their accusations. Czechoslovakia Blaskowitz is responsible for incidents that occurred long after his work in the occupation of the Sudetenland and the “rest of Czechoslovakia” in the autumn of 1938 and spring of 1939.
After transfer to Dachau on 30 April 1946, he had sought to enter Poland Blaskowitz's list of the UN War Crimes Commission for murder as number 8. He was not deported to Poland. Blaskowitz was accused of abuse and murder of Polish prisoners of war. In several other historical records in which Polish charges against German criminals are documented, Blaskowitz is not mentioned.
In connection with a British military court in Wuppertalprison Blaskowitz was first drawn in late 1947 as a potential defendant by Telford Taylor considered. Here, he was accused of the command of the LXXX. Corps on 18 passed in October 1942. In addition, he was accused as the then commander of Army Group G for the murder of 31 British paratroopers atPoitierson 7 July 1944, the LXXX.
To Corps under General Kurt Gallenkamp be responsible. Furthermore, the suspension was made by Blaskowitz, a prisoner of war, for the construction of fortifications on 2 to have contracted in February 1945. Finally, he was also the passing on of a deportation order issued during the first and 10 August 1944 accused.
Accused was Blaskowitz finally for crimes against peace, war crimes in the narrower sense in Polandand France, crimes against humanity, and for the waging of aggressive war (because of its role in the occupation of the Sudetenland, the Polish campaign, and the attack on France). Finally, Blaskowitz was accused of participating in a “common plan or conspiracy” because of his membership in the General Staff.
Death
Blaskowitz has pleaded not guilty. “Exculpatory documents were the defense that time is not available so that he assessed his situation pessimistically.” He took on 5th February just before the start of his trial at Nuremberg (Case XII: Process High Command of the Armed Forces) by jumping into the rotunda of the courthouse life surprised suicide because – according to Clark (p. 45) – Blaskowitz with an acquittal could have been expected.
For officer Blaskowitz, writes Christopher Clark, in his life, the respect of his subordinates was more important than that of his superiors. This came after his death his wife and daughter also benefited: both have been through the moorland farmers John Köpcke well received in Bommelsen. Köpcke was in World War I with fellow horse Blaskowitz and was faithful to family life Blaskowitz. Therefore, there is Blaskowitz's grave in the cemetery of the parish Bommelsen, Bomlitz municipality,countyHeidekreis(Clark, pp.45f.).