Franz Böhme

Franz Böhme
Franz Böhme
Born	15 April 1885 Zeltweg, Duchy of Styria, Austria-Hungary now Austria
Died	29 May 1947 (aged 62) Nuremberg, Bavaria, Allied-occupied Germany
Buried at	St. Leonhard-Friedhof, Graz, Austria
Allegiance	Austria-Hungary (to 1918) First Austrian Republic (to 1938)  Nazi Germany
Service/branch	Bundesheer Wehrmacht
Years of service	1900–1938 (Austria) 1938–1945 (Germany)
Rank	Generalmajor (Austria) General der Gebirgstruppe (Germany)
Commands held	32nd Infantry Division XVIII Mountain Corps 20th Mountain Army
Battles/wars	World War I World War II
Awards	Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross

Franz Friedrich Böhme (15 April 1885, Zeltweg, Styria, Austria-Hungary – 29 May 1947) was an Austrian military officer. He served in the Austro-Hungarian army during World War I, and later as a General der Gebirgstruppe in the German Army, serving as Commander of the XVIII Mountain Corps, Hitler's 'Plenipotentiary Commanding General' in the Balkans, and Commander-in-Chief in German-occupied Norway during World War II. Böhme stood trial in Nuremberg for having massacred thousands of Serbian civilians. He committed suicide in prison.

Personal life

Böhme's father, Ernst Friedrich, died in 1902, when Franz was 17 years old, and his mother, the former Maria Ludmilla (née Stremayr), died the following year. In 1929, Böhme married Romana Maria Hüller von Hüllenried, the daughter of Generalmajor Karl Rudolf Hüller von Hüllenried.

World War I and interwar years

From 1914 to 1918, Böhme served in the army in the World War I. Böhme served in the Austrian army during the interwar years. The Berchtesgaden agreement (12 February 1938) stipulated in paragraph 8 that the Austrian chief of staff, Alfred Jansa, who favoured a military response in case of a German attack, had to be replaced by Franz Böhme.

Second World War

During the opening years of World War II, Böhme held command of the 30th Infantry Division and 32nd Infantry Division, taking part in the invasions of Poland in September 1939 and of France in May and June 1940. On 29 June 1940, he was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross.

Between 16 September 1941 and 2 December 1941, as Commanding General and Commander of Serbia, Böhme ordered the reprisal executions of 2,000 communists and Jews in Topola after a partisan assault on 22 soldiers of the 421 Korps-Nachrichten-Abteilung.^[1]

In December 1943, Böhme was appointed Deputy Commanding General of the XVIII Corps and Commander of Wehrkreis [Military District] XVIII, Salzburg. O4 June 1944, he was delegated with the leadership of the Second Panzer Army in the Balkans, Böhme succeeding Generaloberst Dr. jur. Lothar Rendulic.

In July 1944, Böhme was transferred to the Army's High Command Leader Reserve, giving up control of the 2nd Panzer Army to General Maximilian de Angelis. Between 8 January 1945 and 7 May 1945, he was Armed Forces Commander of Norway and Commander-in-Chief of the 20th Mountain Army.

Trial and suicide

After being captured in Norway, he was brought before the Hostages Trial, a division of the Subsequent Nuremberg Trials, and charged with war crimes committed in Serbia during his control of the region in 1941. He had upped the ante of retaliatory strikes against Serbs, killing a hundred Serbs for every German killed, and fifty for every German wounded; this resulted in the massacre of thousands of civilians.^[2] When his extradition to Yugoslavia seemed imminent, Böhme committed suicide by jumping from the 4th story of the prison in which he was being held. His body was interred at St. Leonhard-Friedhof in Graz.

Awards and decorations

• Iron Cross (1914)
  • 2nd Class (1916)
  • 1st Class (12 June 1917)
• Karl Troop Cross
• Honour Cross of the World War 1914/1918
• Iron Cross (1939)
  • 2nd Class (12 September 1939)
  • 1st Class (25 September 1939)
• Order of the Cross of Liberty 1st Class with Oak leaves and Swords (Finland)
• German Cross in Gold on 10 February 1944 as General der Infanterie in the XVIII. (Gebirgs)Armeekorps^[3]
• Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 29 June 1940 as Generalleutnant commander of 32. Infanterie-Division^[4]

References

Citations

1. http://www.akademediasrbija.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=251:massacres-and-reprisals-during-the-german-occupation-of-yugoslavia&catid=45:english&Itemid=59
2. Weiner, Ofer and Barber 1996, pp. 145–152
3. Patzwall & Scherzer 2001, p. 49.
4. Fellgiebel 2000, p. 137.

Bibliography

• Fellgiebel, Walther-Peer (2000) [1986]. Die Träger des Ritterkreuzes des Eisernen Kreuzes 1939–1945 — Die Inhaber der höchsten Auszeichnung des Zweiten Weltkrieges aller Wehrmachtteile [The Bearers of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross 1939–1945 — The Owners of the Highest Award of the Second World War of all Wehrmacht Branches] (in German). Friedberg, Germany: Podzun-Pallas. ISBN 978-3-7909-0284-6.
• Patzwall, Klaus D.; Scherzer, Veit (2001). Das Deutsche Kreuz 1941 – 1945 Geschichte und Inhaber Band II [The German Cross 1941 – 1945 History and Recipients Volume 2] (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 [The Knight's Cross Bearers 1939–1945 The Holders of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross 1939 by Army, Air Force, Navy, Waffen-SS, Volkssturm and Allied Forces with Germany According to the Documents of the Federal Archives] (in German). Jena, Germany: Scherzers Miltaer-Verlag. ISBN 978-3-938845-17-2.
• Weiner, Hana; Ofer, Dalia; Barber, Anne (1996). Dead-end Journey: the Tragic Story of the Kladovo-Šabac Group. University Press of America. ISBN 0-7618-0199-5.