Johannes Blaskowitz

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Johannes Blaskowitz
Johannes Blaskowitz I.png
Birth name Johannes Albrecht Blaskowitz
Birth date 10 July 1883(1883-07-10)
Place of birth Paterswalde, Kreis Wehlau, Province of East Prussia, Kingdom of Prussia, German Empire
Death date 5 February 1948 (aged 64)
Place of death Nuremberg, Allied-occupied Germany
Allegiance  German Empire
 Weimar Republic
 National Socialist Germany
Service/branch War and service flag of Prussia (1895–1918).png Prussian Army
Iron Cross of the Luftstreitkräfte.png Imperial German Army
War Ensign of Germany (1921–1933).png Reichswehr
Balkenkreuz.jpg Heer
Years of service 1901–1945
Rank Generaloberst
Commands held 8th Army
9th Army
1st Army
Army Group G
Army Group H
Battles/wars World War I
World War II
Awards Iron Cross
House Order of Hohenzollern
German Cross in Silver
Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords
Relations ∞ 1906 Anna Riege

Johannes Albrecht Blaskowitz (10 July 1883 – 5 February 1948) 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.

Life

PERS 6 20, Johannes Blaskowitz II.jpg
Johannes Blaskowitz II.jpg

Johannes Blaskowitz was born on 10 July 1883 in Paterswalde, Kreis Wehlau (East Prussia). In 1894, Blaskowitz joined cadet school at Köslin and then attended the Royal Prussian Main Cadet Institute (Hauptkadettenanstalt in Groß-Lichterfelde) near Berlin from 1897 to 1901.[1] On 2 March 1901, after having achieved his Abitur, 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. He was sworn-in on 13 March 1901 and attended war school in Engers from April to December 1901. In January 1902, he was commissioned. In 1910, he passed the French oral and written interpreter examination. On 20 July 1912, he was transferred to the 9. Badisches Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 170 and on 1 April 1914 to the Infanterie-Regiment "Markgraf Ludwig Wilhelm" (3. Badisches) Nr. 111 in Rastatt, Grand Duchy of Baden.

  • 16 August 1915 Appointed leader of the Mountain Machine Gun Company/Jäger-Regiment Nr. 3
  • 20 October 1915 Appointed leader of the I. Battalion/Jäger-Regiment Nr. 3
  • 4 April 1916 Transferred to the General Staff of the X. Armee-Korps
  • 11 October 1916 Appointed General Staff Officer with the 75. Reserve-Division
  • 4 December 1918 Transferred to the General Staff of the X. Armee-Korps
  • September 1919 Newly sworn-in
  • 23 September 1919 Transferred to the General Staff of the Military District Command V
  • 12 May 1921 General Staff Officer with the Infantry Leader V
  • 1 October 1924 Appointed commander of the III. Battalion/13. (Württembergisches) Infanterie-Regiment in Ludwigsburg
  • 1 February 1928 Appointed Chief of Staff of the 5th Division
    • 14 October 1930 to 31 January 1933 simultaneously State Commandant in Baden
  • 1 December 1930 Appointed commander of the 14. (Badisches) Infanterie-Regiment in Konstanz
  • 1 February 1933 Appointed Inspector of the Inspection of Weapons Schools (In 1) in the Reichswehr Ministry (RWM) as successor to Lieutenant General Hilmar Ritter von Mittelberger
  • 2 August 1934 Newly sworn-in
  • 1 April 1935 Appointed commander of Military District II in Stettin as successor to Lieutenant General Fedor von Bock
    • his successor as Inspector of the Inspection of Weapons Schools was Major General Georg von Küchler.
  • 21 June 1935 Commanding General of the Generalkommando II. Armeekorps (the renamed Military District II)
  • 10 November 1938 Appointed Commander-in-Chief of Army Group 3 in Dresden
  • 1 August 1939 Appointed Commander-in-Chief of the 8th Army

WWII

From left to right: Johannes Blaskowitz, Erwin Rommel and Gerd von Rundstedt in Paris, May 1944
  • 14 October 1939 Appointed Commander-in-Chief of the 2nd Army (the renamed 8th Army)
    • 20 October 1939 Commander-in-Chief East
  • 14 May 1940 Appointed Commander-in-Chief of the 9th Army
  • 25 October 1940 Appointed Commander-in-Chief of the 1st Army

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 stated to have protested against alleged SS war crimes, such as by the Einsatzgruppen. Together with Walter Petzel and Wilhelm Ulex, 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.

  • 14 February 1942 Delegated with the leadership of the Army Group D for Erwin von Witzleben who had fallen ill
  • 10 May 1944 Delegated with the deputy leadership of the new Army Group G in Southern France
  • 21 September 1944 Führerreserve (OKH)/Army High Command Leader Reserve
  • 24 December 1944 Return to the Army Group G and officially appointed Commander-in-Chief
  • 20 January 1945 Appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Army Group H in the Netherlands
  • 5 May 1945 Surrender to the Canadians

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.[2] The Commander-in-Chief of the Army has instructed general Blaskowitz to lead capitulation negotiations.

Death in Nuremberg

Alleged suicide

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.

"Regarding Generaloberst Johannes Blaskowitz, I should add that during my research I met Johannes Köpke, the son of the general's orderly from the First and Second World Wars. From him I received several pictures and documents which I incorporated into my research. According to his testimony, as well as that of other individuals, fellow prisoners, and a pastor named Froese, who also served in Paterwalde, all of whom spoke to the general shortly before his death, it is hard to believe that General Blaskowitz committed suicide. In letters to his wife and his orderly, General Blaskowitz wrote that he was optimistic about being released soon, and Johannes Köpke intended to submit a request for his release. One simply doesn't write something like that when contemplating suicide, especially as the son of a pastor."[3]

Family

Johannes was the son of Protestant pastor Hermann Adam Franz Blaskowitz (1848–1919) and his wife (∞ 1874) Marie, née Kuhn (1852–1886). His father had studied philosophy (1869), then theology (1869/70) at the University of Königsberg. In 1889, widower Pastor Blaskowitz married Louise Steiner (d. 28 November 1927 in Walterkehmen), born in Görlitz. They had two children, so all together Johannes had six siblings.

Marriage

On 20 March 1906, he received permission to marry. On 7 April 1906 in Dresden, 2nd Lieutenant Blaskowitz married his beautiful and rich Baltic German fiancée Anna Emilie Mathilde Riege (b. 27 September 1879 in Libau, Courland Governorate, Russian Empire; d. 18 September 1950 in Bommelsen, Lower Saxony, West Germany). Anna, daughter of the architect and building contractor in Libau Johann Wilhelm Christoph Ludwig Riege, was actually originally engaged to Johannes' brother 2nd Lieutenant Kurt Blaskowitz, who was killed on 4 November 1901 near Gumbinnen during a duel with 1st Lieutenant Hildebrandt.[4] They would have two children:

  • Annemarie Margarete Elvira (b. 8 February 1907 in Berlin-Halensee)
  • Hans Wilhelm Kurt Hermann (b. 28 March 1911 in Charlottenburg; d. 30 April 1912 in Wiesbaden)

Promotions

  • 2 March 1901 Fähnrich (Officer Cadet)
  • 27 January 1902 Leutnant (2nd Lieutenant) with Patent from 10 July 1900
  • 27 January 1910 Oberleutnant (1st Lieutenant)
  • 17 February 1914 Hauptmann (Captain)

Reichswehr

  • 23 December 1921 Major with effect from 1 January 1922
    • 20 March 1922 received Rank Seniority (RDA) from 1 June 1921 (10)
  • 6 April 1926 Oberstleutnant (Lieutenant Colonel) with effect and RDA from 1 April 1926 (3)
  • 1 October 1929 Oberst (Colonel) with RDA from 1 October 1929 (15)
  • 1 October 1932 Generalmajor (Major General) with RDA from 1 October 1932 (6)
  • 1 December 1933 Generalleutnant (Lieutenant General) with RDA from 1 December 1933 (1)

Wehrmacht

  • 2 August 1936 General der Infanterie (General of the Infantry) with effect and RDA from 1 August 1936 (2)
    • 10 November 1938 received new RDA from 1 December 1935
  • 30 September 1939 Generaloberst with effect and RDA from 1 October 1939 (1)

Awards and decorations

Writings (excerpt)

  • 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

Sources

  • German Federal Archives: BArch PERS 6/20 and RW 59/2894

References

  1. ↑ Blaskowitz, Johannes Albrecht, Landesarchiv Baden-Württemberg, 2022
  2. ↑ Die Wehrmachtberichte 1939–1945 Band 1, p. 40.
  3. ↑ General Johannes Blaskowitz, ostpreussen.net
  4. ↑ General Johannes Blaskowitz
  5. ↑ Patzwall and Scherzer 2001, p. 537.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Scherzer 2007, p. 224.
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