Army Group South

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The Army Group South was a major unit of the Army of the Wehrmacht during the Second World War . She was high command of changing armies and numerous special troops.

General

Army Group South was set up on August 24, 1939 for the attack on Poland through the restructuring of Army High Command 12. Under the leadership of General Field Marshal Gerd von Rundstedt, it attacked from September 1, 1939 with the bulk of the armored and fast divisions of the Army from Silesia ( 8th Army in Lower Silesia, 10th Army - here focus - in Upper Silesia ), Moravia and Slovakia ( 14th Army ) out south Poland. After the 10th Army had successfully breached Warsaw, the Polish troops flowing back from western Poland were crushed by the 8th Army in the Battle of the Bzura . While the 10th Army then established contact with the Army Group North attacking from the north near Warsaw , the 14th Army attacked Lemberg and Lublin through southern Poland . After the attack on Poland was over, the Army Group Command was transferred to the Western Front and renamed “ Army Group A ”.

Army Group South was reorganized on June 22, 1941, the day of the German attack on the Soviet Union (" Operation Barbarossa ") by renaming Army Group A. It attacked the Soviet south-west and south front from its staging area from southern Poland via Slovakia, Hungary and Romania . Their strategic goals were the advance to the Dnepr and the conquest of Kiev as well as the further advance into the Donets Basin . Several Soviet armies were wiped out in two major battles near Uman and Kiev between July and September 1941. After the capture of Odessa in October, parts of the army group advanced into the Crimea and began the siege of Sevastopol , while other parts succeeded in taking Kharkov and, for a time, Rostov-on-Don . The withdrawal from Rostov at the end of November 1941 led to Rundstedt's replacement by Field Marshal Walter von Reichenau , who was replaced by Field Marshal Fedor von Bock after his death in January . In the winter of 1941/42, the Army Group had taken defensive positions along the Mius and Donets rivers .

In January 1942 the Donets section between Isjum and Balakleja was lost, and the Soviets succeeded in building a strong western bridgehead. Marshal Tymoshenko renewed his offensive with double attack arms on Kharkov on May 12, but was badly defeated by a surprising German counter-offensive in the Battle of Kharkov . This success was a prerequisite for the preparation of the German summer offensive in 1942 (" Fall Blau "). In July 1942, the Army Group was divided into Army Groups A and B as a result of the expansion of the operational area .

On February 12, 1943, after the sinking of the 6th Army in Stalingrad and the separation of Army Group B from the command structure of the Eastern Front, the Don (formerly 11th Army ) was renamed Army Group South under the command of Field Marshal Erich von Manstein . Subordinate to her in the spring of 1943 were the 1st and 4th Panzer Army as well as the army departments Hollidt (renamed a new 6th Army in March) and Kempf (renamed 8th Army in August ).

Southern Ukraine (December 1943)

From the beginning of 1943 to spring 1944, Army Group South bore the brunt of the fighting on the Eastern Front. After the front was stabilized by the counterattack by Mansteins (castling of the 1st Panzer Army from the Caucasus to the Ukraine ) in February / March 1943, the initiative was finally lost to the Red Army in July 1943 after the failed operation of the Citadel near Kursk . In September the industrial area in the Donets Basin had to be evacuated, in November 1943 the attempt to hold the Dnepr line failed (see Panther position ). Until April 1944, the Army Group fought its way back to Galicia intact, with heavy losses, among other things caused by the Dnepr-Carpathian operation .

On April 1, 1944, the name was changed to Army Group Northern Ukraine with Walter Model as the new Commander-in-Chief.

In September 1944, Army Group South Ukraine in Eastern Hungary was renamed Army Group South . She fought in western Hungary until March 1945 and withdrew to Austria at the end of the Second World War , where she was renamed Army Group Ostmark on April 2, 1945 .

Commander in chief

date Commander in chief
September 1 to October 26, 1939
June 22 to December 3, 1941 		Field Marshal General Gerd von Rundstedt
December 1, 1941 to January 12, 1942 Field Marshal General Walter von Reichenau
January 12 to July 9, 1942 Field Marshal General Fedor von Bock
February 12, 1943 to March 30, 1944 Field Marshal General Erich von Manstein
September 23 to December 28, 1944 Colonel General Johannes Frießner
December 28, 1944 to April 6, 1945 General of the Infantry Otto Wöhler
April 7, 1945 until renaming Colonel General Lothar Rendulic

Subordinate major associations

date Subordinate units
September 1939 8th Army , 10th Army , 14th Army
October 1939 Border section north, center and south
June 1941 6th Army , Panzer Group 1 , 17th Army , 11th Army
February 1942 2nd Army , 6th Army, Army Group v. Kleist, 11th Army
June 1942 2nd Army, 6th Army, 1st Panzer Army, 17th Army, Group v. Wietersheim, 11th Army
July 1942 Army group v. Weichs, 6th Army, 1st Panzer Army , 17th Army, Group v. Wietersheim, 11th Army
March 1943 Kempf Army Division, 4th Panzer Army , 1st Panzer Army, Hollidt Army Division
April 1943 Army division Kempf, 6th Army, 1st Panzer Army, 4th Panzer Army
July 1943 Army Department Kempf, 6th Army, 8th Army, 1st Panzer Army
September 1943 4th Panzer Army, 8th Army, 1st Panzer Army, 6th Army
October 1943 4th Panzer Army, 8th Army, 1st Panzer Army
November 1943 4th Panzer Army, 8th Army, 1st Panzer Army, Wehrmacht Commander in Ukraine
January 1944 4th Panzer Army, 8th Army, 6th Army, 1st Panzer Army, Wehrmacht Commander in Ukraine
February 1944 4th Panzer Army, 1st Panzer Army, 8th Army, 6th Army
October 1944 Wöhler Army Group, 6th Army, 3rd Hungarian Army
November 1944 Wöhler Army Group, Fretter-Pico Army Group, 2nd Hungarian Army
December 1944 Wöhler Army Group, 6th Army, 3rd Hungarian Army
January 1945 Balck Army Group, 8th Army, 2nd Panzer Army
April 1945 8th Army, 6th Panzer Army , 6th Army, 2nd Panzer Army

structure

Army group troops

  • Army Group Information Regiment 570 (1st and 2nd line-up)
  • Army Group News Regiment 558 (3rd lineup)
  • Army Group Intelligence Regiment 530 (4th line-up)

ARLZ measures

On September 11, 1943, von Manstein issued an order for the implementation of so-called ARLZ measures . These measures resulted from an instruction of the Economic Staff East of February 21, 1943, which included measures to loosen up, clear, paralyze and destroy during the evacuation of occupied areas, which were to be carried out by the Wehrmacht on their withdrawal.

In the order, Manstein points out that the population often does not withdraw voluntarily with the troops, so that large amounts of labor, cattle and food would fall into the hands of the enemy. In addition to already issued orders, he again pointed out the following points:

  • The agricultural population must be induced by all means to migrate westwards with horses and large cattle. In the event of a refusal, cattle and horses should be driven away, the cattle should be used for feeding the troops or shot.
  • The men fit for military service should be gathered together and transported away, otherwise the Russians would immediately accept them into the army. If possible, they should be transported in joint ventures, with the indication that they will be relocated to the Dnieper.
  • The evacuation of those capable of military service should take place before the start of the destruction, whereby they could take their relatives with them.
  • The destruction of all economic goods is to be carried out by all means if they cannot be transported away.

See also

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ See Helma Kaden (Ed.): Documents of crime: From files of the Third Reich 1933–1945. Volume 1, Dietz, Berlin 1993. ISBN 3-320-01799-3 .