Johannes Blaskowitz

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Johannes Blaskowitz
10 July 1883(1883-07-10) — 5 February 1948 (aged 64)
Johannes von Blaskowitz
Place of birth	Peterswalde, Kreis Wehlau (East Prussia)
Place of death	Nuremberg
Allegiance	German Empire (to 1918) Weimar Republic (to 1933) Nazi Germany
Years of service	1901 - 1945
Rank	Generaloberst
Commands held	8. Armee 9. Armee 1. Armee Heeresgruppe G Heeresgruppe H
Battles/wars	World War I World War II
Awards	Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords

Johannes von Blaskowitz (10 July 1883 - 5 February 1948) was a German general during World War II.

[edit] Early years

Johannes Blaskowitz was born on February 5, 1883, in Peterswalde, Kreis Wehlau (East Prussia). His father was a Lutheran pastor. In 1894, von Blaskowitz joined cadet school at Köslin (Koszalin) and also afterwards at Berlin Lichterfelde. In 1899, he started his military career as a Fähnrich in an East Prussian regiment in Osterode (Ostróda). During the First World War, he served at the Eastern and the Western Front and was employed in the Generalstab. After the war he continued his service in the Reichswehr during the Weimar Republic. His attitude towards the Nazi's Machtergreifung was reportedly indifferent because he believed that the armed forces should be "politically neutral".

[edit] Poland 1939

During the Invasion of Poland that began World War II, he commanded the German Eighth Army which participated Battle of the Bzura. Due to poor performance during the battle he was the only German army commander not awarded by Hitler with Marshal rank after the Polish Campaign. He was Commander-in-Chief East (Oberbefehlshaber Ost) in Poland beginning October 20, 1939. Von Blaskowitz was outraged by the atrocities committed by the SS and the Einsatzgruppen against Polish and Jewish people and issued detailed memoranda to Commander-in-Chief Walther von Brauchitsch on these war crimes.

Hitler was reportedly infuriated by Blaskowitz's "childish attitude", and he was relieved of his command on May 14, 1940. However, his military skills would be repeatedly further utilized.

[edit] French Campaign 1940 and the occupation of France

During the French campaign, von Blaskowitz was transferred to command 9th Army in the west. In early June 1940 he became Military Governor of Northern France, a positon he held until October 1940, when he was transferred to the command of the First Army. He remained in this post until May 1944 when he was named commander-in-chief of Army Group G.

[edit] Campaign in the West 1944-45

He was relieved of command of Army Group G in late September 1944 after officially protesting about SS atrocities in Poland, and reinstated on 24 December 1944. On 28 January 1945 he was appointed commander-in-chief of Army Group H. This command was redesignated in early April 1945 and von Blaskowitz became commander-in-chief in the Netherlands.

On May 5 Blaskowitz was summoned to the Hotel de Wereld ("Hotel of the World") in Wageningen by General Charles Foulkes (commander of I Canadian Corps) to discuss the surrender of the German forces in the Netherlands. Prince Bernhard, acting as commander-in-chief of the Dutch Interior Forces, attended the meeting as well. von Blaskowitz agreed with all proposals by Foulkes. However, nowhere in the building - some sources claim: nowhere in the whole town - could a typewriter be found. Thus, the surrender document could not be typed. The next day, both parties returned and, in the presence of both General Foulkes and Prince Bernhard, von Blaskowitz signed the surrender document which, in the meantime, had been typed. [1].

[edit] Post war

Von Blaskowitz was charged with war crimes and tried before a U.S. military court in the High Command Trial, but committed suicide during the trial on February 5, 1948 by jumping out of a window of Nuremberg prison. Rumors spread by cell mates, that he may have been murdered by SS men, have never been substantiated.

[edit] Summary of his military career

[edit] Dates of rank

• Fähnrich: March 2, 1901
• Leutnant: January 27, 1902
• Oberleutnant: January 27, 1910
• Hauptmann: February 17, 1914
• Major: January 1, 1922
• Oberstleutnant: April 6, 1926
• Oberst: October 1, 1929
• Generalmajor October 1, 1932
• Generalleutnant: December 1, 1933
• General der Infanterie: August 1, 1936
• Generaloberst: October 1, 1939

[edit] Notable decorations

• Iron Cross Second (1914) and First (1915) Classes
• Clasp to the Iron Cross Second (1939) and First (1939) Classes
• Knight's Cross (1939)
• Oak Leaves (1944)
• Swords (1945)
• Anschluss Medal (1938)
• Sudetenland Medal (1938) with Prague Castle bar (1938)
• Wound Badge- 1918 type (?)
• Cross of Honor (1934)
• Bavarian Military Merit Cross 4th Class with Swords (1916)
• German Cross in Silver (1943)
• Prussian Knight's Cross of the Royal House Order of Hohenzollern with Swords (1917)
• Baden Knight's Cross 2nd Class of the Order of the Zähringen Lion with Swords(1915)
• Oldenburg Friedrich August Cross Second (1916) and First (1916) Classes
• War Merit Cross Second (?) and First (?) Classes
• Order of the Crown of Italy, Grand Cross (1941)
• Mentioned in the Wehrmachtbericht (27 September 1939)

[edit] See also

• List of rulers of the Protectorate Bohemia and Moravia
• Lublin Voivode

[edit] References