Where the Iron Crosses Grow

Marshal of the Soviet Union Fyodor I. Tolbukhin (1894–1949). Followed up the liberation of the Crimea with spearheading an invasion of Romania in August 1944 that caused that country to switch sides. Tolbukhin’s forces eliminated much of the German presence in the Balkans and played a major role in the German defeat on the Eastern Front. However, after the war Tolbukhin was sent to command the backwater Transcaucasus Military District – a very minor post for a Marshal – where he died in 1949.

General Ivan E. Petrov (1896–1958). Given command of the 2nd Belorussian Front and later the 4th Ukrainian Front in 1944–45, but his career continued to suffer from ups and downs. He ended the war as a full general and was awarded the Hero of the Soviet Union, but only after the war was over. Like Tolbukhin, he was sent to a backwater posting in the Turkestan Military District from 1945–52. Petrov held a number of senior but supervisory-type assignments until his death in 1958. He was fortunate to keep his head after the debacles in the Crimea in 1941–42, and his role in the liberation of the Crimea restored his reputation somewhat, but he was still pigeonholed as a military mediocrity.

Admiral of the Fleet Sergei G. Gorshkov (1910–88). Despite remaining the commander of the second-string Azov Flotilla throughout much of the war, Gorshkov did very well in the post-war Soviet Navy. In 1956, Khrushchev appointed him commander-in-chief of the Soviet Navy, a post he held until 1985. Gorshkov had no experience of leading great fleets into battle, but he was an astute observer of naval strategy and operations. He was responsible for building up Soviet naval power, and after the humiliation in the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, he was determined to build a balanced fleet with aircraft carriers. However, the Soviet Union lacked the economic resources to build Gorshkov’s ideal fleet, and by the time that he retired, Soviet power was in decline.

Marshall of the Soviet Union Petr K. Koshevoi (1904–76). Koshevoi was awarded the HSU for his leadership of the 63rd Rifle Corps in the capture of the Sapun Heights. He was awarded another HSU for his role in the capture of Königsberg in April 1945. After the war, he pointedly avoided taking senior positions in Moscow and preferred duty in East Germany and Siberia. In 1965, Koshevoi was given command of the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany (GSFG) and was promoted to Marshal of the Soviet Union in August 1968. Six days later, he led the invasion of Czechoslovakia. However, Koshevoi was relieved of command in the next year and was in reserve until his death in 1976. Despite his distinguished military record, Koshevoi was not buried in the Kremlin wall, as is customary for Soviet marshals.

General der Kavallerie Erik Hansen (1889–1967). Hansen remained in command of LIV Armeekorps on the Leningrad front until January 1943. Despite his excellent performance as a corps commander, Hansen was never given an army-level command and instead was sent to be the senior German officer in Romania during 1943–44. When Romanian dictator Ion Antonescu was overthrown in a coup in August 1944, Hansen was in the German embassy in Bucharest, which was quickly surrounded by Romanian troops. Soon, Hansen was handed over to the troops of Tolbukhin’s advancing 3rd Ukrainian Front. He spent a decade in Soviet captivity, but returned to Germany in 1955.

Oberst Rudolf Buhse (1905–97). After the fall of Sevastopol in July 1942, Buhse was sent three months later with his regiment to join the DAK in North Africa. When Anglo-American forces defeated Axis forces in Tunisia in May 1943, Buhse was captured and spent 12 years in captivity. Upon returning to West Germany, Buhse joined the Bundeswehr in 1956 and served in several positions, including command of a Panzergrenadier brigade, until his retirement in 1962.

General der Infanterie Otto Hitzfeld (1898–1990). The intrepid commander of Infanterie-Regiment 213 of the 73. Infanterie-Division, who was later known as “the Lion of Sevastopol,” rose rapidly after the Crimean campaign. Soon he became a division commander, then a corps commander, and finally in 1945 an army commander. Hitzfeld spent the last year of the war on the Western Front and was captured by American troops in 1945. He was released after only two years and eventually became the director of a chemical company.