Hans Krebs | |
|---|---|
 Krebs in 1944 | |
| Chief of the General Staff of theGerman Army High Command | |
| In office 1 April 1945 – 2 May 1945 | |
| Leader | Adolf Hitler Karl Dönitz |
| Preceded by | Heinz Guderian |
| Succeeded by | Wilhelm Keitel (acting) |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Hans Otto Wilhelm Eugen Krebs 4 March 1898 |
| Died | 2 May 1945 (aged 47) |
| Cause of death | Suicide by gunshot |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance | Germany |
| Branch/service | Imperial German Army Reichswehr German Army |
| Years of service | 1914–1945 |
| Rank | General der Infanterie |
| Commands | Chief of General Staff of theOKH |
| Battles/wars | |
| Awards | Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves |
Hans Otto Wilhelm Eugen Krebs (4 March 1898 – 2 May 1945)[a] was aGerman Armygeneral of infantry who served duringWorld War II.[1] A career soldier, he served in theImperial German ArmyReichswehr and theWehrmacht’sHeer. He served as the last Chief of Staff of theOberkommando des Heeres (OKH) for theOKW (Wehrmacht High Command) during the final phase of the war in Europe (1 April to 1 May 1945). Krebs tried to open negotiations to surrender with theRed Army, which failed; he committed suicide in theFührerbunker during the early hours of 2 May 1945, two days afterAdolf Hitler killed himself.
Krebs was born inHelmstedt. He volunteered for service in the Imperial German Army in 1914, becoming an officer in 1915.
In 1931, Krebs worked in the Defence Ministry, where he maintained contacts with theRed Army in the context of joint military exercises conducted by the two countries. Krebs held strongantisemitic and anti-communist views, as evidenced by his description of the members of aSoviet military delegation that visited Berlin in 1932: "a sly and cunning Jew ... [and] a Jewish half-breed ... insincere, with a suspicious and treacherous nature, apparently a fanatic Communist."[2]
In 1936, Krebs was posted to the German embassy inMoscow as a military attaché; he held this position up to the invasion of the Soviet Union. As such, he played a role in theWehrmacht's faultyintelligence regarding the capabilities of the Red Army.[3]
He held the position of deputy military attaché in 1941.[4] On 1 May 1941, the German military delegation, including Krebs andErnst August Köstring, attended the Sovietmilitary parade in Moscow in honour ofInternational Workers' Day.[5]
During World War II, Krebs had various staff positions.[4] While serving on theEastern Front, Krebs was promoted to the rank ofGeneralmajor when Chief of Staff of the 9th Army in February 1942. In March 1943, he was made Chief of Staff of Army Group Centre. In April 1943, he was promoted toGeneralleutnant and became aGeneral of Infantry in August 1944. Krebs served as Chief of Staff of Army Group B on theWestern Front from September 1944 to February 1945, when he was appointed Deputy Chief of the Army General Staff.[6]
On 1 April 1945, Krebs was appointed Chief of the Army General Staff (OKH). Krebs was in theFührerbunker below theReich Chancellery garden during theBattle of Berlin.[6]
On 28 April 1945, Krebs made his last telephone call from theFührerbunker. He called Field MarshalWilhelm Keitel at the new Supreme Command Headquarters inFürstenberg. He told Keitel that if relief did not arrive within 48 hours, all was lost. Keitel promised to exert the utmost pressure on GeneralWalther Wenck, who commanded theGerman 12th Army, and GeneralTheodor Busse, who commanded theGerman 9th Army. The 12th Army was attacking towards Berlin from the west and the 9th Army was attacking from the south.Adolf Hitler had ordered both armies to link up and to come to the relief of Berlin. In addition, forces under GeneralRudolf Holste were to attack towards Berlin from the north.
Later on 28 April, when it was discovered thatHeinrich Himmler was trying to negotiate a backdoor surrender to the westernAllies via CountFolke Bernadotte, Krebs became part of a military tribunal ordered by Hitler tocourt-martial Himmler'sSS liaison officerHermann Fegelein.[7] Fegelein was by that timeEva Braun's brother-in-law. SS-GeneralWilhelm Mohnke presided over the tribunal which, in addition to Krebs and Mohnke, included SS-GeneralJohann Rattenhuber and GeneralWilhelm Burgdorf. However, Fegelein was so drunk that he was crying, vomiting and unable to stand up; he even urinated on the floor. It was the opinion of the judges that he was in no condition to stand trial. Therefore, Mohnke closed the proceedings and turned Fegelein over to Rattenhuber and his security squad instead.[8]
On 29 April, Krebs, Burgdorf,Joseph Goebbels, andMartin Bormann witnessed and signed thelast will and testament of Adolf Hitler.[9] Hitler dictated the document to his personal private secretary,Traudl Junge. Bormann was head of theParty Chancellery (Parteikanzlei) and private secretary to Hitler.[10] Late that evening, Krebs contacted GeneralAlfred Jodl (Supreme Army Command) by radio and made the following demands: "Request immediate report. Firstly, of the whereabouts ofWenck's spearheads. Secondly, of time intended to attack. Thirdly, of the location of the9th Army. Fourthly, of the precise place in which the 9th Army will break through. Fifthly, of the whereabouts of GeneralHolste's spearhead."
In the early morning of 30 April, Jodl replied to Krebs: "Firstly, Wenck's spearhead bogged down south ofSchwielow Lake. Secondly, 12th Army therefore unable to continue attack on Berlin. Thirdly, bulk of 9th Army surrounded. Fourthly, Holste's Corps on the defensive."[11] Later that afternoon, Hitler andEva Braun committedsuicide.[12]
.jpg)
On 1 May, after Hitler's suicide on 30 April, Goebbels sent Krebs and ColonelTheodor von Dufving, under awhite flag, to deliver a letter he had written to GeneralVasily Chuikov. Dufving wasHelmuth Weidling's Chief of Staff. The letter contained surrender terms acceptable to Goebbels. Chuikov, as commander of theSoviet 8th Guards Army, commanded the Soviet forces in central Berlin. Krebs arrived shortly before 4:00 a.m.[13] Krebs, who spokeRussian, informed Chuikov that Hitler andEva Braun, his wife, had killed themselves in theFührerbunker.[13] Chuikov, who was not aware that there was a bunker complex under theReich Chancellery or that Hitler was married, calmly subterfuged that he already knew all that. Chuikov was not, however, prepared to accept the terms in Goebbels' letter or to negotiate with Krebs. The Soviets were unwilling to accept anything other thanunconditional surrender, as had been agreed with the other Allies. Krebs was not authorized by Goebbels to agree to such terms and so the meeting ended with no agreement.[14][15] According to Traudl Junge, Krebs returned to the bunker looking "worn out, exhausted". Krebs' surrender of Berlin was thus impeded as long as Goebbels was alive.
At around 8:30 p.m. on 1 May, Goebbels removed this impediment by committing suicide.[16] After Goebbels' death, Krebs himself became suicidal. The responsibility for surrendering the city fell to GeneralHelmuth Weidling, the commander of the Berlin Defense Area. On 2 May, with Krebs in no condition to do it himself, Weidling contacted Chuikov to again discuss surrender. Weidling and Chuikov met and had the following conversation in which Chuikov asked about Krebs:
Chuikov: "You are the commander of the Berlin garrison?"
Weidling: "Yes, I am the commander of theLVI Panzer Corps."
Chuikov: "Where is Krebs?"Weidling: "I saw him yesterday in theReich Chancellery. I thought he would commit suicide. At first he (Krebs) criticized me because unofficial capitulation started yesterday. The order regarding capitulation has been issued today."[11]
As the Soviets advanced on the Reich Chancellery, Krebs was last seen by others, including Junge, in theFührerbunker when they left to attempt to escape. Junge relates how she approached Krebs to say goodbye and how he straightened up and smoothed his uniform before greeting her for the last time. Krebs and GeneralWilhelm Burgdorf, along with SS-ObersturmbannführerFranz Schädle of theFührerbegleitkommando, stayed behind with the intention of committing suicide. Sometime in the early morning hours of 2 May, Krebs and Burgdorf committed suicide together by gunshot to the head.[1] Their bodies were later found when Soviet personnel entered the bunker complex.[17] Schädle also committed suicide by gunshot on 2 May 1945.[18]
Thereafter, the corpses of Krebs, the Goebbels family along with the remains ofHitler's dogs were repeatedly buried and exhumed by the Soviets.[19][20][21] The last burial was at theSMERSH facility in Magdeburg on 21 February 1946. In 1970,KGB chiefYuri Andropov authorised an operation to destroy the remains.[22] On 4 April 1970, a Soviet KGB team with detailed burial charts secretly exhumed five wooden boxes. The remains from the boxes were thoroughly burned and crushed, with the ashes then thrown into the Biederitz river, a tributary of the nearbyElbe.[23]
His last decade saw the following appointments:
| Military offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Chief of Staff of theOKH April 1945 – May 1945 | Succeeded by |
Media from Commons| International | |
|---|---|
| People | |
