Ernst Dehner

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Dehner when he was sentenced in 1948

Ernst Dehner (born March 5, 1889 in Hersbruck ; † September 13, 1970 in Königstein im Taunus ) was a German officer , most recently a general of the infantry in World War II . For his responsibility for the shooting of hostages in Yugoslavia in 1943, he was sentenced to seven years in prison in the 1948 hostage murder trial , one of the follow -up trials in Nuremberg .

Life

First World War

Dehner joined the Bavarian Army on October 1, 1908 and was a volunteer in the 14th Infantry Regiment "Hartmann" for a year . He was then transferred to the reserve, from which he was reactivated a year later. Again in the same unit, he attended the Munich War School until 1911 . After the outbreak of World War I , Dehner was wounded at the front in September 1914, which is why he was in hospital until December. From 1915 he was company commander in the 23rd Bavarian Reserve Infantry Regiment. A year later he was taken prisoner by the French , where he was from August 12, 1916 to December 15, 1917. He was then interned in Switzerland until August 8, 1918 , and finally returned to Germany. Before the end of the war, he was promoted to captain on March 22, 1918 .

Between the world wars

After the end of the war, Dehner was accepted into the Reichswehr and worked as a company commander in various regiments. In January 1929 he was transferred to the staff of the 6th Division in Military District VI. There he was promoted to major on February 1, 1931 . In 1934 he became the commander of the 2nd Battalion of the 18th Infantry Regiment and later of the 2nd Battalion of the Münster Infantry Regiment. In July 1934 he was promoted to lieutenant colonel. A year later he attended an army sports school for battalion commanders in Wünsdorf. In October 1936 he was promoted to colonel .

Second World War

Dehner (5th from right) in the dock in Nuremberg

At the beginning of the Second World War, Dehner was (since October 1, 1936 Colonel) commander of the 87th Infantry Regiment in the 36th Infantry Division ( Military District XII (Wiesbaden) ).

On October 1, 1940, Dehner was promoted to major general and on November 22, 1940 was given command of the newly established 106th Infantry Division (Military District VI) of the 12th wave of deployment. His division was trained at the Wahn military training area near Cologne until June 1941 and then transferred to Army Group Center in Smolensk in central Russia. Dehner and his division took part in the Taifun operation, the attack on Moscow. As part of Panzer Group 4, later 4th Panzer Army, he experienced the winter battle off Moscow and the heavy retreat fighting of the German army. From May 1942, the 106th Infantry Division, reduced to a combat group, was refreshed in France in the association of the 15th Army. There Ernst Dehner was promoted to lieutenant general on October 1, 1942 . From November 6, 1942, Ernst Dehner took over the management of the LXXXII. Army Corps within the 15th Army and was promoted to General of the Infantry on December 1, 1942. With effect from July 15, 1943 he was transferred to the south-east area and received command of the LXIX there. Reserve Army Corps in Croatia, which he led until March 31, 1944.

After some time in the Army Reserve Reserve, Ernst Dehner succeeded General of the Infantry Theodor Geib on August 5, 1944 , who fell victim to an attack by French partisans on July 30, 1944 and died as a result of November 26, 1944 , appointed Commander of the Army Territory of Southern France. Dehner played a key role in organizing the Wehrmacht's retreat from southern and western France, which began shortly thereafter . On November 17, 1944, his office was formally dissolved and Dehner was reassigned to the Führerreserve. From January 22, 1945 he was transferred to Army Group A (later in the middle) as "General for Special Orders", but without leading any major missions. On May 8, 1945, he was taken prisoner by the Americans, from which he was released in 1947.

In the Generals Trial in Southeastern Europe (hostage murder trial) he had to answer for his role in Yugoslavia . He was sentenced to seven years in prison on February 19, 1948. In the course of the intensified discussion of the West German rearmament after the outbreak of the Korean War from the summer of 1950, High Commissioner John McCloy changed Dehner's sentence to the time already served on January 31, 1951 on the recommendation of the Advisory Board on Clemency for War Criminals (Peck Panel) . Dehner was released on February 3, 1951, along with 32 other inmates from the Landsberg War Crimes Prison .

Awards

Others

Peter Lieb quoted in his book 'Conventional War or Nazi Weltanschauungskrieg?' (P. 57 f.) An instruction from Dehner. It says: All measures taken against unarmed civilians must retain the character of justice and must remain free from feelings of hatred and revenge.

literature

  • Ernst Klee : The Personal Lexicon for the Third Reich - Who Was What Before and After 1945 , Frankfurt am Main, 2nd edition: June 2007, p. 104.

Web links

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

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Norbert Frei: Politics of the Past . Beck, Munich 1996, pp. 222-223.
  2. ↑ a b c Ranking list of the German Imperial Army , Mittler & Sohn Verlag, Berlin, p. 131.
  3. ↑ Veit Scherzer : 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 , p. 268.
  4. ↑ [1]
personal data
SURNAME Dehner, Ernst
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German officer, most recently General of the Infantry in World War II
DATE OF BIRTH March 5, 1889
PLACE OF BIRTH Hersbruck
DATE OF DEATH September 13, 1970
Place of death Königstein im Taunus