Ernst-Eberhard Hell

Call of the 50 generals
on December 8, 1944

Sheet 1 of the call

Sheet 2 of the call

Sheet 3 of the call

Sheet 4 of the call

Ernst-Eberhard Hell (born September 19, 1887 in Stade , † September 15, 1973 in Wiesbaden ) was a German officer , most recently general of the artillery in World War II .

Life

On March 1, 1906, Hell joined the 1st Kurhessische Feldartillerie-Regiment Nr. 11 of the Prussian Army in Kassel as a flag junior . After his promotion to lieutenant on August 16, 1907, he was sent to the Military Technical Academy in Charlottenburg for further training from October 1, 1909 to December 17, 1912 . This was followed by his transfer to the 1st Lorraine Field Artillery Regiment No. 33 . From February 19, 1914, Hell worked here as an adjutant of the 2nd department.

Hell remained in this function after the outbreak of World War I and took part in the fighting on the Western Front with the regiment . On October 8, 1914, Hell was promoted to first lieutenant . From May to mid-June 1915 he worked as a battery leader in the Argonne , before being transferred to the German military missions in the Ottoman Empire . There he received his promotion to captain on October 18, 1915 . On March 16, 1916, he was transferred back. From November 4, 1916 until the end of the war, Hell held various general staff assignments.

After the end of the First World War, Hell was accepted into the Reichswehr and initially used in the staff of Group Command 2. From there he was transferred to the staff of Infantry Leader VI in Hanover on April 1, 1922 . On October 1, 1924 Hell was finally appointed chief of the 11th battery of the 6th (Prussian) Artillery Regiment .

Before the start of World War II, Hell was appointed commander of the 269th Infantry Division , which he led in the western campaign . He was then from August 12, 1940 to January 7, 1942 commander of the 15th Infantry Division . Then he was assigned to lead the VII Army Corps . On February 28, 1942 Hell was finally promoted to general of the artillery with seniority of March 1, 1942 and on this date also appointed commanding general of the corps .

From August 1944 Hell was in Soviet captivity. There he was active in the National Committee for Free Germany and at the end of 1944 belonged to a group of 50 German generals in the USSR who signed the appeal to the people and the armed forces , dated December 8, 1944 , in which the German population and army separated from the Nazi leadership and to end the war.

On October 8, 1955, he was released from captivity.

Awards

Iron Cross (1914) 2nd and 1st class
Bavarian Order of Military Merit IV class with swords
Austrian Military Merit Cross III. Class with war decorations
Silver Liakat medal with sabers
Iron crescent
Clasp for the Iron Cross, 2nd and 1st class
German cross in gold on June 14, 1942
Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with oak leaves
- Knight's Cross on February 1, 1943
- Oak leaves on June 4, 1944 (487th award)
Mentioned in the Wehrmacht report on March 12, 1944

Individual evidence

↑ Text online at pkgodzik.de (PDF; 53 kB)
↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Ranking list of the German Imperial Army. Ed .: Reichswehr Ministry . Mittler & Sohn publishing house . Berlin 1924. p. 146.
↑ ^a ^b Veit Scherzer : The knight's cross bearers 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 , pp. 378 .
↑ Günter Wegmann: The Wehrmacht High Command announces ... The German Wehrmacht report. Complete edition of the texts published by the press and radio between 1939 and 1945 with a register of places, people and formations. Volume 3: 1944-1945 and register. Biblio Publishing House. Osnabrück 1982. ISBN 3-7648-1282-6 . P. 55.

literature

Dermot Bradley (Ed.): The Generals of the Army 1921-1945. The military careers of the generals, as well as the doctors, veterinarians, intendants, judges and ministerial officials with the rank of general. Volume 5: v. Haack-Hitzfeld. Biblio Publishing House. Osnabrück 1999. ISBN 3-7648-2538-3 . Pp. 277-278.

Web links

Commons : Ernst-Eberhard Hell - Collection of images, videos and audio files

personal data
SURNAME	Hell, Ernst-Eberhard
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	German officer, general of the artillery in World War II, member of the National Committee for Free Germany
DATE OF BIRTH	September 19, 1887
PLACE OF BIRTH	Stade
DATE OF DEATH	15th September 1973
Place of death	Wiesbaden

[1] Text online at pkgodzik.de (PDF; 53 kB)

[Rangliste1924-2] Ranking list of the German Imperial Army. Ed .: Reichswehr Ministry . Mittler & Sohn publishing house . Berlin 1924. p. 146.

[Scherzer-3] Veit Scherzer : The knight's cross bearers 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 , pp. 378 .

[4] Günter Wegmann: The Wehrmacht High Command announces ... The German Wehrmacht report. Complete edition of the texts published by the press and radio between 1939 and 1945 with a register of places, people and formations. Volume 3: 1944-1945 and register. Biblio Publishing House. Osnabrück 1982. ISBN 3-7648-1282-6 . P. 55.