Where the Iron Crosses Grow

General der Infanterie Dietrich von Choltitz (1894–1966). After his outstanding performance as a regimental commander at Sevastopol in 1941–42, he rose very rapidly and was made commander of XXXXVIII Panzerkorps in May 1943. Nevertheless, Choltitz became disillusioned with Hitler and the Nazis and he was approached by Oberst Claus von Stauffenberg in his efforts to organize an anti-Hitler resistance. Choltitz was sympathetic to the resistance but believed that Stauffenberg was too indiscrete and did not openly join the conspiracy. In early 1944, Choltitz was transferred to the Western Front and served famously as the last German commander of the Paris garrison, where he ignored Hitler’s orders to destroy the city. After his surrender to the Allies in August 1944, he spent the next three years in relatively comfortable captivity in England and the United States. While a prisoner, Choltitz’s conversations with other German senior prisoners were secretly taped and he unwittingly revealed that, “the worst job I ever carried out – which, however, I carried out with great consistency – was the liquidation of the Jews.”[1] In arguments with pro-Nazi officers, Choltitz labeled the “scorched earth” tactics used by the retreating Wehrmacht as war crimes and said that Hitler was a criminal. After his release, Choltitz suffered from poor health – he had been wounded several times in the Crimea – and settled into a quiet retirement. Yet if any German officer learned something positive from his experiences in the Crimea, it was Dietrich von Choltitz.

Generalmajor Erich Bärenfänger (1915–45). After being evacuated from the Crimea in January 1944, Bärenfänger was awarded the swords to his Ritterkreuz, but due to his multiple wounds it was decided that he would not be sent back to the front. Instead, he was sent to train Hitler Youth recruits. During the battle of Berlin in April 1945, Hitler decided to promote Bärenfänger two ranks to Generalmajor and put him in charge of the defenses around the Reichstag. Bärenfänger led a Kampfgruppe, which took part in fierce counterattacks, but all he could do was prolong the agony. On May 1, the 30-year-old Bärenfänger and his wife committed suicide in the ruins of Berlin.

SS-Gruppenführer Ludolf-Hermann von Alvensleben (1901–70). After directing the ethnic cleansing of the Crimea in 1941–43, Alvensleben returned to Germany once the Crimea was isolated by the Red Army’s advance. Although he was captured by British forces in April 1945, he managed to escape and make his way to Argentina, where he lived as a fugitive for the rest of his life. He was tried and sentenced to death in absentia by a Polish court for war crimes he committed in Poland in 1939, but was never held accountable for his crimes in the Crimea.

SS-Gruppenführer Otto Ohlendorf (1907–51). After murdering at least 90,000 people in and around the Crimea, Ohlendorf returned to staff positions in Germany in 1943. He remained close to Himmler and was captured with him in April 1945. He was tried and convicted for crimes against humanity by a US military tribunal and hanged in June 1951. Much of what we know today about Einsatzgruppe D’s activities is based upon Ohlendorf’s frank testimony, and he remained unapologetic about his actions.

General der Infanterie Karl Allmendinger (1891–65). Allmendinger was placed in reserve after the loss of the Crimea and received no further assignments. He was captured by US troops in 1945 but was released two years later.

Generalleutnant Johannes Zuckertort (1886–1969). Zuckertort continued to command HArko 306 until November 1942, at which point he was transferred to France. In May 1944 he was retired from the Wehrmacht and later died in East Germany.

Korvettenkapitän Karl-Heinz Birnbacher (1910–91). Commander of 1. Schnellbootsflottille until August 1942. In December 1943, he took command of the destroyer Z-24 at Bordeaux and survived when the ship was sunk by British bombers in August 1944. Afterwards, he commanded a naval battalion in the defense of the Fortress-South Gironde, which did not surrender to French troops until April 1945. Birnbacher was released from captivity in 1947 and joined the newly formed Bundesmarine in 1956. In 1959, he took command of the destroyer Z-1, West Germany’s first major warship. He continued to serve in senior naval positions until his retirement in 1970.