Georg von Küchler | |
|---|---|
 Küchler in 1943 | |
| Birth name | Georg Carl Wilhelm Friedrich von Küchler |
| Born | (1881-05-30)30 May 1881 |
| Died | 25 May 1968(1968-05-25) (aged 86) |
| Allegiance | |
| Branch | |
| Years of service | 1900–1944 |
| Rank | Generalfeldmarschall |
| Commands | |
| Battles / wars | |
| Awards | See awards |
| Signature |  |
Georg Carl Wilhelm Friedrich von Küchler (30 May 1881 – 25 May 1968) was a GermanGeneralfeldmarschall (Field Marshal) of theWehrmacht during theSecond World War, who was subsequently convicted of war crimes. He commanded the18th Army andArmy Group North during theSoviet-German war of 1941–1945.
After the end of the war, he was tried in theHigh Command Trial, as part of theSubsequent Nuremberg trials. On 27 October 1948 he was sentenced to 20 years in prison for war crimes andcrimes against humanity committed in theSoviet Union. He was released in 1953.
Born on 30 May 1881 at Schloss Philippsruhe, Küchler's family werePrussian Junker. He entered theImperial Army in 1900 as an officer cadet in the artillery. He was posted to the 25th Field Artillery Regiment and the following year was commissioned as aLeutnant (second lieutenant). He remained in his regiment until 1907, when he was assigned to Military Riding School. He received a promotion toOberleutnant (first lieutenant) in 1910 and studied at thePrussian Military Academy for three years. He joined the GreaterGeneral Staff inBerlin after his graduation from the academy in 1913.[1]
WhenWorld War I commenced, Küchler was sent to theWestern Front. Now aHauptmann (captain), he was given command of an artillery battery.[1] He participated in the battles at theSomme andVerdun and later in theChampagne Province.[2] Within months of arriving on the Western Front, he had been awarded both the first and second classes of theIron Cross.[3]
After serving on the frontlines, Küchler performed staff duties at IV Corps and later VIII Corps. By the end of 1916 he was the 'Staff Officer, Operations' with the206th Infantry Division. He returned to Germany later in the war to take a similar post with 8th Reserve Division. By the end of the war he was serving of the staff ofRüdiger von der Goltz, commander of theBaltic Sea Division. After the armistice and still in the Baltics, he joined theFreikorps and fought theRed Army inPoland.[2]
After the war, Küchler was retained in the postwarReichswehr. He initially served in the East Prussian military district (Wehrkreis I) before being given command of a battery in the 5th Artillery Regiment. Promoted tomajor in 1924, he was appointed Commandant of Münster for a time, before serving with the Defence Ministry as inspector of schools. By 1931 he had reached the rank ofOberst (colonel) and the following year was deputy commander of what was to become the1st Infantry Division. By 1934 he was commander of the division having been promoted toGeneralmajor[Note 1] that October. He received a further promotion the next year, toGeneralleutnant and a new posting, Inspector of Army Schools.[2]
In 1938 Küchler supportedAdolf Hitler in his removal ofWerner von Blomberg andWerner von Fritsch from power. At this stage of his career, Küchler was aGeneral of Artillery and commander of the 1st Military District. This was a challenging post as it was cc East Prussia and largely surrounded by Poland. Much of his work was in improving the defences of the area but in March 1939, his troops marched into the Lithuanian city of Memel (nowKlaipėda).[2][Note 2]
On the outbreak ofWorld War II, Küchler's district headquarters was designated as the Wehrmacht's3rd Army. He now controlled seven infantry divisions, thePanzer Division Kempf plus four commands of brigade size.[2] During theinvasion of Poland, some of Küchler's troops capturedDanzig while the bulk of his forces advanced against the PolishModlin Army. Having taken some ten thousand prisoners, Panzer Division Kempf was within fifty miles nearWarsaw but, along with the rest of the 3rd Army, Kempf was diverted to the east of Poland. Küchler's forces defeated the Polish units in the area and then linked up with Soviet troops. At the conclusion of the Polish campaign, Küchler, still based in Poland, was designated commander of Army Frontier Command North.[5]
Küchler refused to use his soldiers to persecute Jewish and Polish civilians, explaining to theGauleiter of East PrussiaErich Koch that the "German army is not a supplier for a killer gang".[6] This made Himmler furious and Küchler was removed from command.[7][8] In November 1939, Commander in Chief of the ArmyWalther von Brauchitsch appointed Küchler commander of the 18th Army, then being organised in northern Germany. It comprised five infantry divisions, as well as a motorized division and the9th Panzer Division, and was intended for operations against Holland.[5]
On the morning of 10 May 1940, the German armed forces commenced the implementation of theFall Gelb plan for the invasion of theLow Countries and France. The order for the invasion was issued by Army Commander-in-ChiefBrauchitsch, without the attack being preceded by adeclaration of war.[9] TheLuftwaffe started bombing Dutch airfields and other targets, with the city ofRotterdam in particular suffering adevastating assault that ended after four days with the old-city center entirely destroyed. The German ground forces entered the country as soon as the bombardments were concluded, led byparatrooper landings.[10]
Küchler, fighting under GeneralFedor von Bock and commanding the18th Army, engaged the Dutch ground forces atMoerdijk, Rotterdam, and the Hague.[11] After several days of fighting in the country, after the German Luftwaffe destroyed Rotterdam and threatened to do the same to other major cities, on May 14, Dutch Army Commander-in-Chief GeneralHenri Gerard Winkelman surrendered the armies north and east of the riverSchelde, an area encompassing almost all of the Netherlands. Küchler, as the ranking German officer in the area, met the Dutch military delegation led by Winkelman at the village ofRijsoord and witnessed on behalf of the Wehrmacht the document of Dutch capitulation.[12]
Küchler's troops then moved into theKingdom of Belgium where they occupiedAntwerp on 18 May 1940.
In 1940 he was supportive of Nazi racial policy and ordered on 22 February a halt to any criticism of "ethnic struggle being carried out in the General Government, for instance, that of the Polish minorities, of the Jews and those regarding Church matters". His order explained that the "final ethnic solution" required unique and harsh measures.[13]
Küchler was an active supporter of the planned war of annihilation(Vernichtungskrieg) against the Soviet Union. After meeting Hitler in March 1941 to plan forOperation Barbarossa, Küchler told his divisional commanders on 25 April 1941:
"We are separated from Russia, ideologically and racially, by a deep abyss. Russia is, if only by the mass of her territory, an Asian state...TheFührer does not wish to palm off responsibility for Germany's existence on to a later generation; he has decided to force the dispute with Russia before the year is out. If Germany wishes to live in peace for generations, safe from a threatening danger in the East, this cannot be a case of pushing Russia back a little-or even hundreds of kilometers-but the aim must be to annihilate European Russia, to dissolve the Russian state in Europe".[14]
Küchler went on to call Red Army commissars "criminals" who should all be shot.
DuringOperation Barbarossa, the 18th Army forced its way toOstrov andPskov after the Soviet troops of theNorthwestern Front retreated towards Leningrad. On 10 July 1941, both Ostrov and Pskov were captured and the 18th Army reachedNarva andKingisepp, from where advance toward Leningrad continued from theLuga River line. This had the effect of creating siege positions from theGulf of Finland toLake Ladoga, with the eventual aim of isolating Leningrad from all directions.[15]
Küchler was directly involved in the murder of mentally disabled people in the occupied Soviet Union. In December 1941, with his express consent, units of theSD shot 240 mental patients in the Russian town of Makaryevo.[16]
On 17 January 1942, Küchler succeeded Field MarshalWilhelm Ritter von Leeb as commander ofArmy Group North after the latter was relieved of command. Küchler commanded Army Group North from December 1941 through January 1944, maintaining thesiege of Leningrad. On 30 June 1942 Hitler promoted Küchler toGeneralfeldmarschall.
Brought back to Hitler's headquarters on 31 January 1944, Küchler was relieved of his command and replaced byGeneraloberst Model. Although Model stabilised the situation by March, this was only by withdrawing what was left of 18th Army to the west of Lake Peipus. Küchler in the meantime went into retirement. He declined an invitation fromCarl Goerdeler andJohannes Popitz to join the anti-Hitler movement.[17]
At the end of World War II, Küchler was arrested byAmerican occupation authorities. He was tried in theHigh Command Trial, as part of theSubsequent Nuremberg Trials. In his testimony regarding thecrimes against the Soviet prisoners of war, Küchler admitted that the conditions in the POW camps were harsh, but insisted that the main cause of that was the winter conditions of 1941–42, which he called an "act of God" and insisted that the army exaggerated POW mortality in their reports in an effort to receive more supplies for the prisoners.[18]
On 27 October 1948 Küchler was sentenced to twenty years' imprisonment forwar crimes andcrimes against humanity committed in theSoviet Union. His sentence was reviewed by the "Peck Panel" and reduced to 12 years in 1951.[19] He was released in February 1953 and lived with his wife in the Garmisch region. He died inGarmisch-Partenkirchen on 25 May 1968.[20]
Footnotes
Citations
| Military offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by none | Commander of1st Infantry Division 1 October 1934 – 1 April 1935 | Succeeded by GeneralleutnantWalther Schroth |
| Preceded by none | Commander of3rd Army 1 September 1939 – 5 November 1939 | Succeeded by none |
| Preceded by none | Commander of18th Army 5 November 1939 – 16 January 1942 | Succeeded by GeneraloberstGeorg Lindemann |
| Preceded by GeneralfeldmarschallWilhelm Ritter von Leeb | Commander ofArmy Group North 17 January 1942 – 9 January 1944 | Succeeded by GeneralfeldmarschallWalter Model |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| People | |
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