Adolf Friedrich Theodor von Kleist

Adolf Friedrich Theodor von Kleist (born April 24, 1886 in Spandau ; † July 14, 1957 ) was a German lieutenant general in World War II .

Life

Adolf Friedrich Theodor von Kleist came from the Muttrin line of his Pomeranian family, which was widespread in Prussia . He was the second son of the Prussian Lieutenant General Paul von Kleist

Like his father, Kleist chose the soldier profession and became a cavalryman . In 1906 he became a lieutenant in the Uhlan Regiment No. 10 of the Prussian Army in Züllichau , came to the Military Equestrian Institute in Hanover in 1912 and then returned to his regiment in Züllichau in 1913 as a first lieutenant .

When the First World War broke out , he took part in the advance on Paris in 1914. After retreating on the Marne , his unit was moved to the Eastern Front, where the Uhlans took part in the Battle of Łódź and fought on the Hungarian-Polish border in the winter of 1914/15. On July 4, 1915, he was wounded in fighting north of Lemberg . Restored in September, he returned as captain to his regiment back and excelled in the position battles in Pinsk especially from. In 1916 he became head of a machine gun squadron that was transferred to the Western Front at the end of 1917 . In 1918 he became a general staff officer on the staff of the 86th Infantry Division .

After the end of the war, he initially served in the border guard on the eastern border. He was wounded again in street fighting in Wollstein , Posen Province . In 1919, Kleist was taken over by the Reichswehr in the 10th Reiter Regiment in Züllichau. In 1928 he came to Berlin as a staff officer for the cavalry inspection of the Reichswehr Ministry . In 1934 he became a colonel and commander of the 12th Cavalry Regiment in Dresden , then in 1935 he took over the 18th Cavalry Regiment in Stuttgart.

After he had become the commandant of Hanover as major general in 1938 , he became lieutenant general in 1942 during the Second World War . During the occupation of Poland in 1943/44 he was in command of Warsaw . After a broken thigh , he was transferred to the reserve and was taken prisoner of war on April 11, 1945, from which he was released on June 28, 1947. He spent the last years of his life in Leveste near Hanover and died on July 14, 1957.

Individual evidence

1. ^ Genealogical handbook of the nobility. Volume AA XIII, p. 310, CA Starke-Verlag, 1975.
2. ^ Gustav Kratz: History of the Kleist family. Volume III, Amendment 2007, No. 942.
3. ↑ ^{a b c} Gustav Kratz: History of the Kleist family . Volume III, Amendment 2007, No. 1019.