highest ranking german officer killed in ww2

[44], One of the theories was that some of the horsehair in the upholstery of Heydrich's car was forced into his body by the blast of the grenade, causing a systemic infection. A 2005 report by the German Red Cross put the death toll due to strategic bombing at 500,000. Of the army dead a total of 1,456,500 occurred on the battlefronts that Marshall's figures refer to (Southern Pacific,[111] Central Pacific,[112] India-Burma,[113] China[114] and Aleutians. Many of the Medals were awarded posthumously, in recognition of a life cut short. Page 262, The figure of 1,277,000 killed and missing from January1 1945 - April30 1945 was estimated by the U.S. Army in the 1947 report German Manpower[24], B. See also: German prisoners of war in northwest Europe, German prisoners of war in the Soviet Union and German prisoners of war in the United States, The fates of German prisoners of war have been a concern in post war Germany. The Japanese Relief Bureau's army dead figure for Sakhalin & Aleutian Islands is 8,200. As Gabk took the opportunity to run, Klein returned from his fruitless chase of Kubi to help his wounded superior. [9], By late 1941, Germany under Hitler controlled almost all of continental Europe, and German forces were approaching Moscow. Overall, Overmans estimates losses for the entire war on the Eastern front at 4 million and in the West 1 million. Nonetheless, the bomb severely wounded Heydrich when it detonated, its fragments ripping through the right rear fender and embedding fragmentation and fibers from the upholstery of the car into Heydrich, causing serious injuries to his left side, with major damage to his diaphragm, spleen, and lung, as well as a fractured rib. A [23], A. Heydrich received excellent medical care by the standards of the time. [108] Italian fascist forces fought in the Italian campaign until the end of the war with the Italian Social Republic. The research by Overmans concluded in 2000 that the total German military dead and missing were 5,318,000. A September 1942 declaration by the French National Committee suggested that the agreement was void ab initio as it had come about under threat of aggression and recognizing no changes in Czechoslovakia's borders since 1938.[72][73]. [50], Hitler ordered an investigation and reprisals on the day of the assassination attempt, suggesting that Himmler send SS General Erich von dem Bach-Zelewski to Prague. Comrades, surrender! He further argues (p.289) that about half of the 1,536,000 missing in the East between 1941 and 1945, according to his calculations, may well have died in Soviet captivity. They maintain that the figure is correct because it includes additional deaths from malnutrition and disease of those civilians subject to the expulsions. The last part covers projects and institutions providing e.g. Language links are at the top of the page across from the title. Of the children, 81 were later killed in gas vans at the Chemno extermination camp, In 1992 when Overmans began the project, German military dead in the war listed at the military search service Deutsche Dienststelle (WASt) were 4.3 million men (3.1 million confirmed dead and 1.2 missing and presumed dead). This caused delays in the mission as Kubi had not completed training, nor had the necessary false documents been prepared for him. -POW still held by Allies- 1,750,000 POW from Germany within in the 1937 borders were still held by the allies in October 1946. Kubi received a minor wound to his face from the shrapnel. The story of Operation Anthropoid is narrated in a short Czech comic book titled Atentt (The Assassination), created in 1976 by brothers Jan Saudek and Kja Saudek. WebPages in category "German military personnel killed in World War II" The following 140 pages are in this category, out of 140 total. MacDonald, C (1993), The Last Offensive: The European Theater of Operations.CENTER OF MILITARY HISTORY UNITED STATES ARMY WASHINGTON, D. C., 1993. (3) Erich Hampe "Der Zivile Luftschutz im Zweiten Weltkrieg" pp.138-142, The United States Strategic Bombing Survey gave three different figures for German air raid deaths, 1-The summary report of September 30, 1945 put total casualties for the entire period of the war at 305,000 killed and 780,000 wounded. Adolf Eichmann. By 1950 the Soviets reported that they had repatriated all German prisoners of war except a small number of convicted war criminals. Nineteen employees at Deutsche Dienststelle assisted in the survey. (B) Includes 3,404,949 disarmed enemy forces. I HATE this guy. Nikdy se nevzdme! There are 473 Medal of Honor recipients from the war. Prisoners held during the war are listed in a separate schedule below. However, the declaration did not commit the UK to Czechoslovakia's pre-Munich borders and did not declare the Munich agreement void ab initio as Czechoslovakia wanted, thus the statement has been questioned as a full repudiation of the deal. OKW Casualty Figures Sept 1, 1939 to Jan 31, 1945, Source of Figures: Percy Schramm Kriegstagebuch des Oberkommandos der Wehrmacht: 19401945: 8 Bde. After the battle, urda confirmed the identity of the dead Czech resistance fighters, including Kubi and Gabk. According to Karl Hermann Frank's postwar testimony, Hitler knew Zelewski to be even harsher than Heydrich. WebLt. - Stuttgart: Verlag W. Kohlhammer, 1958 p. 14, Willi Kammerer; Anja Kammerer- Narben bleiben die Arbeit der Suchdienste - 60 Jahre nach dem Zweiten Weltkrieg Berlin Dienststelle 2005. World War II As Klein came towards him, Kubi recovered, jumped on his bicycle and pedaled away, scattering passengers spilling from the tram by firing in the air with his Colt M1903 pistol. Deutsche Kriegsgefangene des Zweiten Weltkriege. Deutsche Kriegsgefangene des Zweiten Weltkrieges. They were declared citizens of the Third Reich by law and therefore subject to drumhead court-martial in case of draft evasion. Based on information available in January 1946, the Metropolitan Life Insurance Co. put German military dead at 3,250,000. Japanese government figures from 2003 put their military war dead at 2.3 million. In 1949 he published an article in the newspaper Die Zeit, in which he listed OKW Casualty Figures[21] these figures also appeared in a multi-volume edition of the OKW diaries. WebVietnam (killed only) 10.9. Portrayals in literature and popular culture. [citation needed]. This figure includes 4.3 million military dead and missing, 500,000 killed by strategic bombing, 300,000 victims of Nazi political, racial and religious persecution, 2,251,500 civilian dead in expulsions and 24,300 Austrian civilians. The authors maintain that the German figures for 1940 through 1943 of 111,000 killed was generally correct and that their estimate of 311,000 dead for the years 1944 and 1945 was based on the tons of bombs dropped and the population size of the cities bombed. WebLt Gen Timothy Maude became the highest-ranking officer killed by foreign action since Gen Buckner when a passenger plane crashed into the Pentagon on 9/11. WebFor instance, Col. Gen. Alfred Jodl, one of the top officers at the negotiations for Germany's surrender, was later charged with a number of crimes, including supporting the use of The US military historian Stephen Ambrose was co-editor of the book Eisenhower and the German POWs in which he refutes Bacque's claims. [39] A German wartime report on the incident stated, "[d]eath occurred as a consequence of lesions in the vital parenchymatous organs caused by bacteria and possibly by poisons carried into them by bomb splinters". Archivalien und ausgewhlte Erlebnisberichte. Hitler attended the Berlin ceremony and placed the German Order and Blood Order medals on Heydrich's funeral pillow. Gubbins readily agreed to help mount the operation, although knowledge of it was restricted to a few of the headquarters and training staff of SOE. With an addition of this estimate of 1944 and 1945 unrecorded deaths, the final estimation gave in round numbers a half a million German civilians killed by Allied aerial attacks"[128], Historian Richard Overy in 2014 published a study of the air war The Bombers and the Bombed: Allied Air War Over Europe 1940-1945 in which he disputed the official German figures of air war dead. Bevlkerungsbilanzen fr die deutschen Vertreibungsgebiete 1939/50.Herausgeber: Statistisches Bundesamt - Wiesbaden. Bacque's book received wide attention when it was first published in 1989, since then his claims have been challenged by historians who have found his thesis to be unsubstantiated. On 2 June, during a visit by Himmler, Heydrich reconciled himself to his fate by reciting a part of one of his father's operas: The world is just a barrel-organ which the Lord God turns Himself. 4-The figures for Army wounded add up to 4,219,211. [1][2] The German government reported that its records list 4.3 million dead and missing military personnel. by tigre 04 Apr 2008, 22:45, Post The total sample pulled for the research consisted of the files of 4,844 personnel dead or missing in military service during the war: The first group 4,137 from Army, Air Force and 172 from Waffen SS and paramilitary organizations including (3,051 confirmed dead from the Death Files and another 1,258 found to be dead or missing in the General Files) The Second Group of 535 men found to be dead or missing was selected from the separate Navy files. A Gestapo report suggested Lidice was the hiding place of the assassins, since several Czech army officers exiled in England were known to have come from there. [121] However, estimates from other sources tend to be lower, ranging from 305,000 to 500,000 persons killed by Allied bombing of German cities. Marshall's figure for the Aleutian Islands is 8,000. Wiesbaden, Distribution: F. Steiner, 1961, Page 32, Die deutschen Vertreibungsverluste. 2-These statistics include casualties of the volunteer forces from the Soviet Union. Ji ulc's novel Dva proti i (literally Two Men Against The Empire) describes the events long before the assassination, assassination itself, its consequences and a detailed look at the life of the Czech resistance and exiled paratroopers in the Protectorate. [12] Heydrich was chosen over Karl Hermann Frank as an assassination target due to his status as the acting Protector of Bohemia and Moravia as well as his reputation for terrorizing local citizens. In recent years there has been a joint Russian-German project to investigate the fate of POWs in the war. [169], Estimates indicate that at least 40,000 war casualties are found a year. It was installed in 1968 in the Jephson Gardens, Leamington Spa (UK). Monthly Field Army (Feldheer) casualties September 1939 to November 1944, Notes: Figures include Waffen SS, Austrians and conscripted ethnic Germans. The headquarters of the Czechoslovak military training camp during World War II were in Leamington.[77]. The missing (697,319) does not include confirmed deaths in captivity, however on page 288 Overmans mentions 400,000 missing in the East in 1945 and states that this figure of missing was based on his finding that two thirds of deaths during the "final battles" occurred in the East of Germany. [28], Overmans states that there is not sufficient data to break down the 1,230,045 deaths in the 1945 "final battles" in Germany between the Western Allied invasion of Germany and Eastern Front in 1945, although he estimates that 2/3 of these casualties can be attributed to the Eastern Front. [48], Heydrich's condition while hospitalized was not documented in detail, but he was not noted to have developed any of the distinctive symptoms associated with botulism, which have a gradual onset, invariably including paralysis, with death generally resulting from respiratory failure. [66] This, plus the fact that most surrenders occurred in April 1945, suggests that (unlike on the Eastern Front (World War II), where the number of German killed and wounded far exceeded the number of prisoners taken by the Soviets), most German soldiers who surrendered to the Western Allies did so without a fight. [57] On 9 June 1942, the Germans committed the Lidice massacre; 199 men were killed, 195 women were deported to Ravensbrck concentration camp, and 95 children taken prisoner. Oldenbourg 2000. The Japanese Relief Bureau's army dead figure for this battlefront is 163,000. The operation was given the codename Anthropoid, Greek for "having the form of a human", a term usually used in zoology. For instance, in the battle of the Ruhr Pocket, there were about 10,000 fatalities on the German side (including prisoners of war in German captivity, foreign forced laborers, Volkssturm militia and unarmed civilians),[67] whereas about 317,000 Germans surrendered. [161] Ingo Haar points out that of the 886,000 estimated civilian dead from east Europe only about 170,000 deaths have been confirmed; the balance are considered unsolved cases.[144]. Like 2 Comments. We all have to dance to the tune which is already on the drum. A. OKW figures from 9/1/1939 to 12/31/1944, Source: Statistisches Jahrbuch fr die Bundesrepublik Deutschland 1960, Page78, B. WebWW2 Mysteries. Overmans maintains that his research project taking a statistical sample of the records of the Deutsche Dienststelle (WASt) found that the German military casualty reporting system broke down during the war and that losses were understated. Below is a list of American general officers and flag officers who have been killed in In early 1945 the German High Command (OKW) prepared a summary of total losses up to January 31, 1945. Erika Steinbach, the current President of the Federation, provoked outrage when she supported the statements of other members of the expellee organization claiming that Hitler's attack on Poland was a response to Poland's policy. This figure was to remain unchallenged until the 1990s when some German historians put the actual death toll in the expulsions at 500,000 confirmed deaths listed in a 1965 German Red Cross study. [69], The assassination of Heydrich was one of the most significant moments of the resistance in Czechoslovakia. In particular, Bene felt that a dramatic action displaying a Czech contribution to the Allied cause would make it politically harder for the British to forge any possible peace agreement with Germany that would undermine Czech national interests. information on burial sites and memorials of both wars. Later, it underwent significant reconstruction and the extended exposition was reopened in 2010. Note: This category is intended solely for those members of the German armed forces killed as a result of their military service and not those executed during internal purges, or those who died in Allied custody post-war. Page 264, C. Field Army (Feldheer) casualties September 1939 to November 1944, Source: Mller-Hillebrand Das Heer 19331945 Vol.3 Page 265, Source:Geschichte des Zweiten Weltkreiges, A.G Ploetz verlag -Wrzburg 1960 pp. What He's Infamous For: The worlds most wanted Nazi, Eichmann was the architect of Neither the Czech government-in-exile nor the British SOE likely foresaw the possibility that the Germans would apply the principle of Sippenhaft (collective responsibility) on the scale they did in avenging Heydrich's assassination. - The Statistisches Bundesamt defined the others as "emigrated Germans, POW remaining abroad voluntarily, and German concentration camp deaths" (deutsche KZ-Opfer). Source of figures-Rdiger Overmans, Soldaten hinter Stacheldraht. Orthodox Cathedral of Saints Cyril and Methodius, Learn how and when to remove this template message, List of rulers of the Protectorate Bohemia and Moravia, "Decision Making in Using Assassinations in International Relations", "Top Nazi Mercedes ends in Danish museum was the center of mortal attack", "Pro vsadk Gabk nevystelil? Das Deutsche Reich und der Zweite Weltkrieg, Bd. [29], Heydrich and Klein leapt out of the shattered Mercedes with drawn pistols; Klein ran towards Kubi, who had staggered against the railings, while Heydrich went to Gabk, who stood paralyzed holding the Sten. [163] The German government currently places the ultimate blame for the mass flight and expulsion on the wartime policy of the Nazis in Eastern Europe. Marshall's figure for the Central Pacific is 273,000. [110] Of these 1,647,200 were in the army and 473,800 were in the naval forces. Currently, the commission runs an online database in which soldiers' family can search for the missing relatives. Civilian bombing deaths (not including refugees) of 436,000 include 350,000 dead, 54,000 died of wounds and 32,000 missing and presumed dead. Marshall's figure is 128,000. [58][59], The Western Allies also took 134,000 German soldiers prisoner in North Africa[60] The Anthropoid pair landed near Nehvizdy east of Prague. Roughly 200 German resisters participated in Operation Valkyrie, the failed July 20, 1944, plot to assassinate Adolf Hitler and overthrow the Nazi regime. He believes that the previous studies by the German government should be subject to critical revision and new research is needed to establish the actual number of expulsion deaths.[138]. -Emigrated & murdered Jews- The Statistisches Bundesamt (German government Statistical Office) gave a total of 200,000 Jews who had emigrated or were murdered, they did not estimate those actually who were murdered. [61], urda betrayed several safe houses provided by the Jindra group, including that of the Moravec family in ikov. [17] WebOn 9 June 1942, the Germans committed the Lidice massacre; 199 men were killed, 195 women were deported to Ravensbrck concentration camp, and 95 children taken prisoner. Suddenly, Heydrich doubled over and staggered to the side of the road in pain. We will never surrender, you hear? He believes that in addition to the 363,000 confirmed POW dead in the USSR. Ullstein Taschenbuch vlg., 2002 Pages 272-273, Overmans has made the following points in Deutsche militrische Verluste im Zweiten Weltkrieg. Nikdy!" His post mortem examination showed none of the usual signs of sepsis, although infection of the wound and areas surrounding the lungs and heart was reported. These figures are based on the West German government figures from the 1960s . [13] Moravec personally briefed Brigadier Colin Gubbins, who at the time was the Director of Operations in the British Special Operations Executive (SOE) and who had responsibility for the Czech and Polish "country" sections of the organisation. Nothing happened to me either.) Occupation of the whole country had begun in 1939, and the initial betrayal, with the subsequent terror of the German Reich seemed to break the will of the Czechs for a period. Reinhard Heydrich, the commander of the German Reich Security Main Office (RSHA), the acting governor of the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia, and a principal architect of the Holocaust,[1] was assassinated during World War II in a coordinated operation by the Czechoslovak resistance. On 4 September 1942, the bishop, the church's priests and senior lay leaders were taken to Kobylisy Shooting Range in a northern suburb of Prague and shot. Heydrich's facial expression as he died betrayed an "uncanny spirituality and entirely perverted beauty, like a renaissance Cardinal" according to Bernhard Wehner, a Kriminalpolizei police official who investigated the assassination. Many civilians were indeed wary and fearful of further reprisals, making hiding information much longer increasingly difficult. The highest ranking officer I know to have been killed in action during the war would be British Secretary of State for War Field Marshal Herbert Horatio Kitchener, who was aboard the cruiser Hampshire on a diplomatic mission to Arkhangelsk, Russia, when it struck a mine laid by German submarine U-75 (Curt Beitzen, captain) and sunk volali parautist ped smrt", "Zprvy SS a gestapa o dobvn kostela sv. We are Czechs! The following studies were published by the West German government estimating expulsion deaths. A zde stli Gabk s Kubiem", "Kulka pro Heydricha (TV film) (2013 TV movie) | Galerie", "Fifty Shades Star Jamie Dornan to Play Czech Soldier", "Assassination Operation Anthropoid, 19411942", Ministry of Defence of the Czech Republic, National Memorial to the Heroes of the Heydrich Terror, Radio Prague: Exhibitions mark 60th anniversary of assassination of Nazi governor Heydrich, Exhibition on Operation Anthropoid at the Slovak Nation Museum, The Prague Daily Monitor: Experts find wartime paratroopers' grave, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Assassination_of_Reinhard_Heydrich&oldid=1149609805, Military operations of World War II involving Germany, World War II operations and battles of Europe, People killed in United Kingdom intelligence operations, Short description is different from Wikidata, Articles with unsourced statements from July 2018, Articles needing additional references from May 2019, All articles needing additional references, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, Heydrich succumbs to wounds on 4 June; Nazis order reprisals, Estimated 13,000 arrested and interrogated; estimated 5,000 executed, This page was last edited on 13 April 2023, at 09:06. Like his father, Gerhardt pursued a career as an army officer, graduating in the West Point class of 1917. He was driven by SS-Oberscharfhrer Johannes Klein. The German historian Rdiger Overmans in 2000 published the study Deutsche militrische Verluste im Zweiten Weltkrieg (German Military Casualties in the Second World War), which has provided a reassessment of German military war dead based on a statistical survey of German military personnel records. Postoperative care included administration of large amounts of morphine. The decorated serviceman and heroic leader died within months of the wars end. Based on his own research Bacque claims that documents from the US Archives show that there were 800,000 German POW who did not survive US captivity. Heydrich's death led to a wave of reprisals by SS troops, including the destruction of villages and mass killings of civilians. 3-Included in these statistics are 322,807 POWs held by the US and UK. -Population May 1939 Census- These figures are for Germany in 1937 borders, they do not include Austria or the ethnic Germans of East Europe. English language sources have put the death toll at 2 to 3 million for the flight and expulsion of the Germans.

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