Gustav Heisterman von Ziehlberg

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Gustav Dietrich Adolf Heisterman von Ziehlberg (born December 10, 1898 in Hohensalza , † February 2, 1945 in Berlin-Spandau ) was a German lieutenant general and resistance fighter from July 20, 1944 .

Life

He was the son of the Prussian captain Georg Heistermann von Ziehlberg and his wife Helene, née Goecke. From 1908 he went to high school in Braunsberg ( Lyceum Hosianum ) and Königsberg . He then attended the cadet institute and on August 10, 1914, after the outbreak of World War I, he joined the grenadier regiment "King Friedrich Wilhelm IV." (1st Pomeranian) No. 2 in Stettin . Promoted to lieutenant on May 8, 1915, he was used as a company commander and battalion adjutant on the Eastern Front. He got the Iron Cross 2nd and 1st class awarded.

After the end of the war, Heisterman von Ziehlberg was deployed in the Eastern Border Guard until March 1919 . It was taken over by the Reichswehr and used in the 5th (Prussian) Infantry Regiment . He then worked mainly in the General Staff, from 1939 to 1942 in the Central Department of the General Staff of the Army, most recently as head of this department. In January 1943 he was given command of the 48th Grenadier Regiment on the Eastern Front . This was followed in May 1943 as commander of the 65th Infantry Division and in August he was promoted to major general . In November 1943, Heisterman von Ziehlberg was seriously wounded in Italy and his left arm had to be amputated. But only six months later he took over as commander of the 28th Jäger Division on the Eastern Front. On June 1, 1944, he was promoted to lieutenant general and awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on July 27, 1944 .

On July 27, 1944, Heisterman von Ziehlberg received the written order that Major i. G. Joachim Kuhn , First General Staff Officer (Ia) of his division, to be arrested immediately and brought under escort to the central prison in Berlin. Ziehlberg gave Kuhn the letter to read and asked him about any involvement in the assassination attempt on Hitler of July 20, 1944 , which Kuhn denied. Then he ordered Kuhn to hand over the business to the new first general staff officer and to get ready to march. Kuhn took advantage of the arrest that was not carried out and ran over to the Soviet troops. Because of his behavior, Heisterman von Ziehlberg was sentenced on October 2nd by the Reich Court Martial for “negligent disobedience” to nine months in prison, which was however suspended “for probation” in the old office. He was still in command of his division until the end of October. The following command over the XXVII. Army corps was short-term because it was made available to the Army High Command on October 30th . On November 1, Hitler overturned the ruling of the Reich Court Martial; on November 19, an arrest warrant was issued. After another hearing, the Reich Court Martial sentenced him on November 21, 1944 "for disobedience in the field to death and loss of military worth".

The words of the presiding judge General Staff Judge Karl Schmauser at the end of the trial are noteworthy : “ The court could understand his actions, the court also saw that there was no disreputable act ”, but that “ as sorry as everyone, the Führer and Supreme warlord is the representative of the prosecution and this has recognized the death penalty by hanging , unfortunately nothing can be done about it, the court must agree with this judgment. “On February 2, 1945, Heisterman von Ziehlberg was shot in Berlin-Spandau in the Wehrmacht shooting range in Ruhleben ( Murellenberge ) . After evaluating the files and witness reports, it was only long after the war that it became clear that Ziehlberg's collaboration with Colonel General Beck during their time together in the Army High Command was the real burden for Ziehlberg and that the incident with Major i. G. Joachim Kuhn was used as a welcome occasion.

Gustav Heisterman von Ziehlberg was married to Anneliese von Tschischwitz from 1928 and had four daughters and a son with her.

See also

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Gothaisches genealogical pocket book of the letter aristocratic houses. Justus Perhes, Gotha 1908, p. 449.
  2. ↑ 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. 139.
  3. ↑ Vierteljahrshefte für Zeitgeschichte, 1991, p. 400 (PDF; 8.1 MB)
  4. ↑ Peter Hoffmann: Stauffenberg's friend. P. 77
  5. ↑ Bengt von zur Mühlen (ed.): The defendants of July 20 before the People's Court. Here: Judgment of the Reich Court Martial against Lieutenant General Gustav Heisterman von Ziehlberg (November 21, 1944). P. 381.

Remarks

  1. ↑ According to Genealogical Handbook of the Adels Volume 46, Pages 204 and 205, he is said to have had two sons (entry IP 78.54.124.248).
personal data
SURNAME Heisterman von Ziehlberg, Gustav
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Heisterman von Ziehlberg, Gustav Dietrich Adolf (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German lieutenant general and resistance fighter
DATE OF BIRTH December 10, 1898
PLACE OF BIRTH Hohensalza
DATE OF DEATH February 2, 1945
Place of death Berlin-Spandau