Erich Dethleffsen

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Erich Dethleffsen (born August 2, 1904 in Kiel , † July 4, 1980 in Munich ) was a German officer and member of the Federal Intelligence Service (BND).

Life

Dethleffsen joined the Reichswehr on November 1, 1923 . On December 1, 1927 he became a lieutenant in the 8th (Prussian) Infantry Regiment . After various posts in the Reichswehr and Wehrmacht and his transfer to the General Staff , his last assignment was as Chief of Staff of the Glogau fortress commandantur from April 1, 1939, with the rank of captain .

The mobilization provision for Dethleffsen on the occasion of World War II was First General Staff Officer in the Higher Command XXXV from August 26, 1939. On December 15, 1939 he was transferred to the General Staff of the Army and on October 1, 1940 he was promoted to major . With effect from January 15, 1942, he became first general staff officer of the newly formed 330th Infantry Division , but had to retire on February 4, 1942 due to an injury. After a long time in the Führerreserve , Dethleffsen became a lieutenant colonel on April 1, 1942 and became a tactics instructor on August 1, 1942. On April 1, 1943, he was promoted to colonel and on June 1, 1943, he was appointed Chief of the General Staff of the XXXIX. Panzer Corps with Army Group Center . From May 5, 1944 to February 15, 1945 Dethleffsen was Chief of the General Staff of the 4th Army and in this function became Major General on November 9, 1944 . His transfer to the Army General Staff as head of the command group took place on March 23, 1945. There he was Reinhard Gehlen's immediate superior . Dethleffsen managed to get out of Berlin , was in charge of the General Staff of Army Group Vistula for a few days from April 29, 1945 and from May 4, 1945 had his last position in the Wehrmacht Command Staff of the High Command of the Wehrmacht (OKW) in the Flensburg enclave under Colonel General Alfred Jodl . On May 23, 1945 Dethleffsen was in Flensburg together with the other members of the last German Reich government and the High Command in captivity taken and remained until 1948 in various US detention centers, even beginning with Karl Doenitz , Hermann Goering and Joachim von Ribbentrop in Camp Ashcan in Bad Mondorf .

After his release from captivity, Dethleffsen became managing director of the Economic Political Society of 1947 (WIPOG), the aim of which was to spread a pro-Western attitude in Germany. In this function Dethleffsen held numerous lectures and speeches on military topics, including a. the European Defense Community (EDC). Since 1949 Dethleffsen was an active "special connection" (J-1805) of the Gehlen organization and worked for the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung . In the 1950s he played an important role in the German rearmament debate . He was considered close to the government and had distinguished himself as a moderate voice within the organized Wehrmacht veterans. Since 1953 he had repeatedly been in discussion for uses in the Blank Office and in the Federal Ministry of Defense . In 1956 he received a positive result from the personnel appraisal committee , but he was not employed in the Bundeswehr . Instead, Dethleffsen was hired by the Federal Intelligence Service (BND) under the service name “Degenhardt” and immediately afterwards, in July 1958, replaced Heinz Herre as overall manager of the evaluation . He was one of the few lateral entrants who came into Gehlen's service late, but who immediately got a management post. His attitude to the BND is seen as an example of the well-known courtesy service of the BND boss Gehlen for comrades, friends and family members. Dethleffsen remained responsible for evaluating the BND until at least 1968.

Dethleffsen was married to the daughter of Colonel General Nikolaus von Falkenhorst and after the Second World War lived first in Frankfurt am Main and last in Munich, where he died on July 4, 1980.

Awards

Fonts

  • The risk of freedom. 1952
  • Soldier existence tomorrow. 1953
  • Dedicated to artillery. 1975
  • Robert Martinek: General of the artillery, life picture of a soldier. 1975

literature

  • Wolfgang Keilig : The generals of the army. Podzun-Pallas-Verlag, Friedberg 1983, p. 68.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Thomas Wolf: The emergence of the BND. Structure, financing, control (=  Jost Dülffer , Klaus-Dietmar Henke , Wolfgang Krieger , Rolf-Dieter Müller [eds.]): Publications of the Independent Commission of Historians for Research into the History of the Federal Intelligence Service 1945–1968 . Volume 9 ). 1st edition. Ch. Links Verlag, Berlin 2018, ISBN 978-3-96289-022-3 , pp. 396 f, 557 .
  2. ^ Armin Müller: Wellenkrieg - agent radio and radio reconnaissance of the Federal Intelligence Service 1945-1968 . Ed .: Jost Dülffer et al. (=  Publications of the Independent Historical Commission for Research into the History of the Federal Intelligence Service 1945–1968 . Volume 5 ). Ch. Links Verlag, Berlin 2017, ISBN 978-3-86153-947-6 , pp. 47 .
  3. ↑ a b Veit Scherzer : Knight's Cross bearer 1939–1945. The holders of the Iron Cross of the Army, Air Force, Navy, Waffen-SS, Volkssturm and armed forces allied with Germany according to the documents of the Federal Archives. 2nd Edition. Scherzers Militaer-Verlag, Ranis / Jena 2007, ISBN 978-3-938845-17-2 , p. 270.
personal data
SURNAME Dethleffsen, Erich
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German major general
DATE OF BIRTH 2nd August 1904
PLACE OF BIRTH Kiel
DATE OF DEATH 4th July 1980
Place of death Munich