Ferdinand Schaal

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Ferdinand Karl Erwin Schaal (born February 7, 1889 in Freiburg im Breisgau ; † October 9, 1962 in Baden-Baden ) was a German officer , most recently a general of the tank troops in World War II , and involved in the assassination attempt of July 20, 1944 on Adolf Hitler .

Life

In 1908, at the age of 19, Schaal joined the 3rd Baden Dragoon Regiment "Prince Karl" No. 22 as a flag junior . After the First World War he was taken over as Rittmeister in the cavalry force of the Reichswehr . Here he served from 1920 on the regimental staff of the 18th Cavalry Regiment in Bad Cannstatt and from 1922 on the staff of the 2nd Cavalry Division in Breslau . From 1925 he was employed for three years in Münster as chief of the 3rd squadron in the 15th (Prussian) cavalry regiment , then promoted to major . In 1929 he was transferred to the Reichswehr Ministry in Berlin, where he worked in the cavalry inspection department (In 3) for the next three years. Then he switched to the Army Personnel Office . In 1934 he was promoted to colonel and took over as commander of the cavalry regiment in Erfurt . In the following year he took over the leadership of the 1st tank brigade in the same position.

In August 1939 he was appointed lieutenant general commander of the 10th Panzer Division with which he took part in the attack on Poland . In the western campaign he led the successful siege of Calais and was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on July 13, 1940 . During the attack on the Soviet Union he continued to lead the 10th Panzer Division, but was relieved in early August 1941 and transferred to the Führer Reserve . On September 1, he then briefly took over the deputy leadership of the higher command z. b. V. XXXIV, before taking on the leadership of the LVI in the middle of the month . Army Corps (mot.) Was commissioned. On October 1, when he was promoted to General of the Armored Force, he also became the commanding general of the corps with which he took part in the Battle of Moscow .

On August 1, 1943, Schaal was reassigned to the Führer Reserve. From September 1, 1943, he served as commander in the military district of Bohemia and Moravia and authorized representative of the Wehrmacht with Reich Protector Wilhelm Frick .

His role in the Walküre company was the overthrow of the NSDAP , as well as the military control of Bohemia and Moravia. On the evening of July 20, 1944, he waited for a clarification from Colonel General Friedrich Fromm , a co-conspirator in Berlin, but after the failure of the assassination, Fromm decided to betray all the conspirators. Thereupon Schaal was arrested the next day on the orders of Heinrich Himmler . Unlike other members of the German resistance, he survived the war. At the end of April 1945 he was captured by the Allies, from which he was released in August.

Awards

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c 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. 653.
  2. ↑ a b c d Ranking list of the German Reichsheeres , Ed .: Reichswehrministerium , Mittler & Sohn Verlag , Berlin 1930, p. 124
personal data
SURNAME Schaal, Ferdinand
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Schaal, Ferdinand Karl Erwin (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German officer, most recently General of the Armored Force in World War II
DATE OF BIRTH February 7, 1889
PLACE OF BIRTH Freiburg in Breisgau
DATE OF DEATH October 9, 1962
Place of death Baden-Baden