Johannes Blaskowitz

Johannes Albrecht Blaskowitz
Johannes Blaskowitz
Birth name	Johannes Albrecht Blaskowitz
Born	10 July 1883 Paterswalde, Province of East Prussia, Kingdom of Prussia, German Empire now Bolshaya Polyana, Kaliningrad Oblast, Russian Federation
Died	5 February 1948 (aged 64) Nuremberg, Bavaria, Allied-occupied Germany
Allegiance	German Empire (to 1918)  Weimar Republic (to 1933)  Nazi Germany
Service/branch	Wehrmacht
Years of service	1901–45
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 Albrecht Blaskowitz (10 July 1883 – 5 February 1948) was a German general during World War II and recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords.

Commander in Chief in the Occupied Poland in 1939–1940, he had written several memoranda for the German High Command protesting the SS atrocities. He was dismissed, but then re-appointed, no longer calling Nazi policies into question. Charged with war crimes in the High Command Trial at Nuremberg, he committed suicide on 5 February 1948.^[1]

Poland 1939

As a traditional soldier, Blaskowitz kept a firm control on the men under his command in their dealings with civilians and was opposed to the Army participation war crimes by the SS and Einsatzgruppen. Between November 1939 and February 1940 he wrote several memoranda to higher military officials, in which he detailed SS atrocities in Poland, their negative effects on Wehrmacht soldiers and the insolent attitude of the SS toward the army. However, his protests failed to produce results, and merely earned him the enmity of Hitler, Hans Frank, Reinhard Heydrich and Heinrich Himmler, while Chief of Staff Alfred Jodl dismissed them as naive and "uncalled for".^[2]

Commander-in-Chief Walther von Brauchitsch forwarded Blaskowitz's first memorandum to Hitler on 18 November, who launched a tirade against Blaskowitz, denouncing his concerns about due process as "childish" and poured scorn on his "Salvation Army attitude."^[3] Blaskowitz was relieved of his command on 29 May 1940.

Postwar

Blaskowitz was charged with war crimes during the Nuremberg Trials in the High Command Trial (Case No. XII). He committed suicide on 5 February 1948: after breaking away from his guards, he threw himself off a balcony into the inner courtyard of the court building.^[1]

Decorations

• Iron Cross (1914)
  • 2nd Class (27 September 1914)^[4]
  • 1st Class (2 March 1915)^[4]
• Clasp to the Iron Cross (1939)
  • 2nd Class (11 September 1939)^[4]
  • 1st Class (21 September 1939)^[4]
• German Cross in Silver on 30 October 1943 as Generaloberst and commander-in-chief of the 1. Armee^[5]
• Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords
  • Knight's Cross on 30 September 1939 and General der Infanterie and commander-in-chief of the 8. Armee^[6][7][8]
  • 640th Oak Leaves on 29 October 1944 as Generaloberst and commander-in-chief of the Heeresgruppe G^[6][9][10]
  • 146th Swords on 25 April 1945 as Generaloberst and commander-in-chief of the Netherlands^[6][11][12]
• Anschluss Medal (1938)
• Sudetenland Medal (1938) with Prague Castle bar (1938)
• Wound Badge- 1918 type (?)
• Honour Cross of the World War 1914/1918 (1934)
• Bavarian Military Merit Cross 3rd Class with Swords (1916)
• 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 Zähringer 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)

See also

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

References

Citations

1. Fest 1997, p. 380.
2. Kane 2002, p. 161.
3. Kitchen 2008, p. 247.
4. Thomas 1997, p. 49.
5. Patzwall & Scherzer 2001, p. 537.
6. Scherzer 2007, p. 224.
7. Fellgiebel 2000, pp. 134, 487.
8. Von Seemen 1976, p. 87.
9. Fellgiebel 2000, p. 91.
10. Von Seemen 1976, p. 51.
11. Fellgiebel 2000, p. 48.
12. Von Seemen 1976, p. 20.

Bibliography

• Blaskowitz, Johannes - German reaction to the invasion of southern France - (ASIN B0007K469O) - Historical Division, Headquarters, United States Army, Europe, Foreign Military Studies Branch, 1945
• Blaskowitz, Johannes - Answers to questions directed to General Blaskowitz - (ASIN B0007K46JY) - Historical Division, Headquarters, United States Army, Europe, Foreign Military Studies Branch, 1945
• 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.
• Fest, Joachim (1997). Plotting Hitler's Death. London: Phoenix House. ISBN 978-1-85799-917-4.
• Giziowski, Richard - The Enigma of General Blaskowitz (Hardcover) (ISBN 0-7818-0503-1) - Hippocrene Books, November 1996
• Kane, Robert B. (2002). Disobedience and conspiracy in the German Army, 1918-1945. McFarland. ISBN 0-7864-1104-X.
• Kemp, Anthony (1990 reprint). German Commanders of World War II (#124 Men-At-Arms series). Osprey Pub., London. ISBN 0-85045-433-6.
• Kitchen, Martin (2008). The Third Reich: Charisma and Community. Pearson Education. ISBN 1-4058-0169-7.
• Information on his death - The New York Times, February 6, 1948, p. 13
• Information on his death - The Times, February 8, 1948, p. 3
• 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.
• Schaulen, Fritjof (2003). Eichenlaubträger 1940 – 1945 Zeitgeschichte in Farbe I Abraham – Huppertz [Oak Leaves Bearers 1940 – 1945 Contemporary History in Color I Abraham – Huppertz] (in German). Selent, Germany: Pour le Mérite. ISBN 978-3-932381-20-1.
• 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.
• Thomas, Franz (1997). Die Eichenlaubträger 1939–1945 Band 1: A–K [The Oak Leaves Bearers 1939–1945 Volume 1: A–K] (in German). Osnabrück, Germany: Biblio-Verlag. ISBN 978-3-7648-2299-6.
• Ueberschär, Gerd R. (2011). "Generaloberst Johannes Blaskowitz". In Friedrich-Christian, Stahl. Hitlers militärische Elite (in German). Primus Verlag. pp. 20–27. ISBN 978-3-89678-727-9.
• Von Seemen, Gerhard (1976). Die Ritterkreuzträger 1939–1945 : die Ritterkreuzträger sämtlicher Wehrmachtteile, Brillanten-, Schwerter- und Eichenlaubträger in der Reihenfolge der Verleihung : Anhang mit Verleihungsbestimmungen und weiteren Angaben [The Knight's Cross Bearers 1939–1945 : The Knight's Cross Bearers of All the Armed Services, Diamonds, Swords and Oak Leaves Bearers in the Order of Presentation: Appendix with Further Information and Presentation Requirements] (in German). Friedberg, Germany: Podzun-Verlag. ISBN 978-3-7909-0051-4.
• Die Wehrmachtberichte 1939–1945 Band 1, 1. September 1939 bis 31. Dezember 1941 [The Wehrmacht Reports 1939–1945 Volume 1, 1 September 1939 to 31 December 1941] (in German). München, Germany: Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag GmbH & Co. KG. 1985. ISBN 978-3-423-05944-2.