Johannes Blaskowitz
Johannes Albrecht Blaskowitz (b. 10 July 1883 in Paterswalde, Kreis Wehlau, East Prussia; d. 5 February 1948 in Nuremberg) was a German officer of the Prussian Army, the Imperial German Army, the Reichswehr and the Wehrmacht, finally Generaloberst (colonel general), commander-in-chief (Oberbefehlshaber) of the 25th Army (25. Armee) from 7 April 1945 until 6 May 1945 and commander-in-chief of the fortress Holland (Festung Holland) as well as recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords in WWII.
Contents
Life
Johannes Blaskowitz was born on 10 July 1883, in Paterswalde, Kreis Wehlau (East Prussia). He was the son of Protestant pastor Hermann Adam Friedrich Blaskowitz (1848–1919) and his wife Marie, née Kuhn (d. 1886). Widower Pastor Blaskowitz married later Louise Steiner (d. 28 November 1927 in Walterkehmen), born in Görlitz. They had two children, so all together Johannes had eight siblings. In 1894, Blaskowitz joined cadet school at Köslin and also afterwards at Berlin Lichterfelde.[1]
On 2 March 1901, he started his military career as a Fähnrich in the Infanterie-Regiment „von Grolman“ (1. Posensches) Nr. 18 in East Prussian in Osterode, where he should serve the next 11 years. 1906 he married his beautiful and rich fiancée Anna Emilie Mathilde Riege (b. 27 September 1879 in Libau; d. 18 September 1950 in Bommelsen), they had a son and a daughter. Anna was actually originally engaged to Johannes' brother Leutnant Kurt Blaskowitz, who died on 4 November 1901 near Gumbinnen due to a duell with Oberleutnant Hildebrand.[2]
WWII
Blaskowitz was Commander-in-Chief East in Lodz in occupied Poland in 1939–1940 (thus before the claimed start of the Holocaust). During this period, he is claimed to have protested against claimed SS war crimes, such as by the Einsatzgruppen. Together with Walter Petzel and Walter Petzel, Blaskowitz wrote to retired Generaloberst Ludwig August Theodor Beck and complained about the inhumane behavior of the Sicherheitsdienst in Poland, which Beck included in his memorandum to the High Command of the Wehrmacht (OKW) from 20 November 1939. Strangely, Blaskowitz continued to command Army Groups, was not part of the July 20 plot, and was not included in the large-scale SS repressions afterwards.
Reference in the Wehrmachtbericht
Date | Original German Wehrmachtbericht wording | Direct English translation |
---|---|---|
Wednesday, 27 September 1939 | Der Oberbefehlshaber des Heeres hat den General Blaskowitz beauftragt, die Übergabeverhandlungen zu führen.[3] | The Commander-in-Chief of the Army has instructed general Blaskowitz to lead capitulation negotiations. |
Nuremberg
At the Nuremberg trials, he was charged with war crimes, allegedly ordering the execution of two deserters after the German surrender, despite his earlier alleged protests against war crimes by the SS. Allegedly, he committed suicide. Both the indictment and the alleged suicide have been considered a mystery by scholars ever since, because he was later acquitted on all counts and had been told to expect to be acquitted by his defense. He was buried in Bommelsen, Gemeinde Bomlitz, Landkreis Soltau-Fallingbostel.
Promotions
- Fähnrich (2 March 1901)
- Leutnant (27 January 1902)
- Oberleutnant (27 January 1910)
- Hauptmann (17 February 1914)
Reichswehr
- Major (1 January 1922)
- Oberstleutnant (1 April 1926)
- Oberst (1 October 1929)
- Generalmajor (1 October 1932)
- Generalleutnant (1 December 1933)
Wehrmacht
- General der Infanterie (1 August 1936)
- Generaloberst (1 October 1939)
Awards and decorations
- Iron Cross (1914)
- Baden Order of the Zähringer Lion (Orden vom Zähringer Löwen), Knight's Cross 2nd Class with Swords, 1915 (BZ3b⚔)
- Oldenburg Friedrich-August-Kreuz, Second and First Class, 1916 (OK1)
- War Merit Cross (Brunswick), 2nd Class (BrK2)
- Bavarian Military Merit Cross 4th Class with Swords (BM4⚔), 1916
- Military Merit Cross (Austria-Hungary), 3rd Class with the War Decoration (ÖM3K)
- Prussian Knight's Cross of the Royal House Order of Hohenzollern with Swords (HOH3⚔) on 1 September 1917
- Gallipoli Star (Eiserner Halbmond; TH)
- Wound Badge (Verwundetenabzeichen 1918) in Black
- Honour Cross of the World War 1914/1918 with Swords
- Wehrmacht Long Service Award (Wehrmacht-Dienstauszeichnung), 4th to 1st Class
- Hungarian World War Commemorative Medal (Ungarische Kriegs-Erinnerungs-Medaille) with Swords on 11 December 1936
- Austrian War Commemorative Medal (Österreichische Kriegserinnerungsmedaille) with Swords
- Bulgarian War Commemorative Medal 1915–1918 with Swords
- Anschluss Medal (Medaille zur Erinnerung an den 13. März 1938)
- Sudetenland Medal with the Prague Castle Bar (Medaille zur Erinnerung an den 1. Oktober 1938 mit Spange „Prager Burg“)
- War Merit Cross Second and First Class
- 2nd Class on 11 September 1939
- 1st Class on 21 September 1939
- Mentioned in the Wehrmachtbericht (27 September 1939)
- Clasp to the Iron Cross (1939)
- Order of the Crown of Italy, Grand Cross (1941)
- German Cross in Silver on 30 October 1943 as Generaloberst and commander-in-chief of the 1. Armee[5]
- Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords
Writings
- German reaction to the invasion of southern France - (ASIN B0007K469O) - Historical Division, Headquarters, United States Army, Europe, Foreign Military Studies Branch, 1945
- Answers to questions directed to General Blaskowitz - (ASIN B0007K46JY) - Historical Division, Headquarters, United States Army, Europe, Foreign Military Studies Branch, 1945
Further reading
- Thomas, Franz (1997): Die Eichenlaubträger 1939–1945, Band 1: A–K (in German). Osnabrück, Germany: Biblio-Verlag. ISBN 978-3-7648-2299-6
- Patzwall, Klaus D. / Scherzer, Veit (2001): Das Deutsche Kreuz 1941 – 1945 Geschichte und Inhaber, Band II (in German). Norderstedt, Germany: Verlag Klaus D. Patzwall. ISBN 978-3-931533-45-8
- Scherzer, Veit (2007): Die Ritterkreuzträger 1939–1945 – Die Inhaber des Ritterkreuzes des Eisernen Kreuzes 1939 von Heer, Luftwaffe, Kriegsmarine, Waffen-SS, Volkssturm sowie mit Deutschland verbündeter Streitkräfte nach den Unterlagen des Bundesarchives (in German). Jena, Germany: Scherzers Miltaer-Verlag. ISBN 978-3-938845-17-2
References
- 1883 births
- 1948 deaths
- People from East Prussia
- Prussian Army personnel
- German military officers
- German military personnel of World War I
- Generals of the Reichswehr
- Wehrmacht generals
- German military personnel of World War II
- Recipients of the Iron Cross
- Recipients of the Military Merit Order (Bavaria)
- Recipients of the Military Merit Cross (Austria-Hungary)
- Recipients of the Order of the Zähringer Lion
- Recipients of the Gallipoli Star
- Recipients of the War Merit Cross (Brunswick)
- Recipients of the House Order of Hohenzollern
- Recipients of the Order of the Crown of Italy
- Recipients of the Cross of Honor
- Recipients of the clasp to the Iron Cross
- Recipients of the War Merit Cross
- Military personnel referenced in the Wehrmachtbericht
- Recipients of the German Cross
- Recipients of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords
- People indicted by the United States Nuremberg Military Tribunals