Heinrich Kreipe
Karl Heinrich Georg Ferdinand Kreipe (born June 5, 1895 in Niederspier , † June 14, 1976 in Northeim or Hanover ) was a German major general in the Wehrmacht in World War II .
Life
Kreipe grew up as the 13th of 15 children of Protestant pastor Friedrich Kreipe and his wife Maria, née Pfannschmidt. He attended high school in Sondershausen and joined the army a few days after the outbreak of World War I on August 11, 1914 . During the war he was used at Verdun , among others . He last served as a lieutenant in the Reserve Infantry Regiment No. 237 and received, in addition to both classes of the Iron Cross, the Cross of Honor of Schwarzburg III. Class with swords and the wound badge in black. In the Weimar Republic he remained as an officer in various troop assignments in the infantry, including as a teacher at the Hanover War School. On October 1, 1938, he was promoted to lieutenant colonel and from August 26, 1939, Kreipe was in command of the 909 Infantry Regiment.
During World War II Kreipe was involved in the siege of Leningrad . He was promoted to colonel on October 1, 1941 and awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on October 13, 1941 . From June 10 to October 24, 1943, he commanded the 79th Infantry Division on the Eastern Front. On September 1, 1943, he was appointed major general. On February 15, 1944 he became the commander of the 22nd Infantry Division in Crete ( Greece ).
kidnapping
On the evening of April 26, 1944 he was kidnapped in a spectacular action by Patrick Leigh Fermor and William Moss on behalf of the British Special Operations Executive (SOE) and Cretan Andartis ( Andartis, Greek Αντάρτης , “partisan” , “resistance fighter” ) near Archanes . He was first brought via Cairo and London to the Trent Park prison camp in England, where he stayed from May 25 to August 23. Then he was brought to Canada and released from captivity to Germany in October 1947 . The purpose of kidnapping Kreipes was the attempt to strengthen the morale and perseverance of the Cretans and to weaken the morale of the Wehrmacht. Furthermore, a gain in prestige for the Allies was bet.
On the day of the kidnapping, after dark, Kreipe left his headquarters in Ano Archanes to go to his apartment in Knossos ("Villa Ariadne", also known as the Evans Villa). On the drive from Archanes onto the road towards Knossos and Iraklio , he was stopped at a - supposedly German - checkpoint and quickly overwhelmed along with his driver. The driver, a 30-year-old non-commissioned officer from Bremen, was separated from Kreipe and murdered by the kidnappers when they feared he might attract the attention of approaching German soldiers.
Kreipe was taken by his kidnappers in his company car via Heraklion to the vicinity of Anogia, from there on foot and, in parts, with a mule over the Ida Mountains to the south of the island. They passed dozens of checkpoints by car, but were not even stopped at any because the vehicle was flying the general's flag. Later we went to the mountains on foot. Since the somewhat plump general was increasingly mining here, he was transported by mule. The kidnappers and crews were picked up from Crete by a British motorboat near Rodakino. The march through Crete lasted until May 15, technical problems with radio contact with Cairo and search operations by the German occupation forces forced unwanted detours and breaks.
In order to protect the Cretan civilian population from retaliation, the German Wehrmacht was to be deceived into believing that only British and regular Greek soldiers were involved in the kidnapping. British cigarettes and a British book were placed on the vehicle. However, these measures were unsuccessful. The Wehrmacht nevertheless made the Cretan population jointly responsible, since the paths and hiding spots used could not have been used without the Cretans.
Several villages, including Anogia , were plundered and destroyed by the German occupiers in “atonement” and numerous residents were murdered. Hans Prescher names six villages with 176 murdered.
Originally General Friedrich-Wilhelm Müller (Kreipe's predecessor as commander of the 22nd Infantry Division in Crete) was supposed to be kidnapped because he was responsible for several war crimes committed by the Wehrmacht against the civilian population in Crete (including the destruction of several villages near Viannos ). Surprisingly, however, he was recalled and replaced by Kreipe.
After Kreipe's kidnapping, Müller was ordered back to Crete and appointed in command of the "Fortress Crete". Lieutenant General Helmut Friebe became the commander of the 22nd Infantry Division . Müller continued his brutal approach and, like Bruno Bräuer, was executed for his war crimes in 1947.
post war period
After his release from captivity, Kreipe returned to Germany. Until his death he lived with his wife Ilse, geb. Behrens, withdrawn in Hanover. He is buried in Hanover-Ricklingen.
Kreipe did not comment publicly on the events in Crete. However, he met his former kidnappers in Athens in May 1972 for a television program.
A memorial by the Cretan artist Manolis Tsombanakis stands at the site of the kidnapping near Kato Archanes . Every year on May 20th, wreaths are laid there for the Cretans murdered by the Germans "as punishment for helping Kreipe's kidnapping".
Assessment by superiors and the British
Superiors judged Kreipe to be a strong, energetic personality of steadfast character. Unlike other soldiers, Kreipe's attitude to National Socialism is not mentioned in his assessments. Employees of the secret service CSDIC in Trent Park considered Kreipe to be an unimportant and unimaginative opponent of the Nazi regime with a weak character.
Others
The writer Klaus Modick recounted the kidnapping in chapter 9 of his 2005 novel The Cretan Guest .
literature
- Eberhard Fohrer: "Crete" travel guide. 16th revised and updated edition, Michael-Müller-Verlag, Erlangen 2006, ISBN 3-89953-303-8 .
- George Harokopos: The Abduction of General Kreipe . Kouvidis Manouras, Iraklio 2002, ISBN 960-86883-4-5 .
- W. Stanley Moss : Ill Met by Moonlight. George G. Harrap & Co., London 1950, (reprint: Folio Society, London 2001; 1957 also processed as a feature film under this title).
- Hans Prescher: General Kreipe is kidnapped. Balistier, Mähringen 2007, ISBN 978-3-937108-11-7 , ( Sedones 9).
- Sönke Neitzel : bugged. German generals in British captivity 1942–1945. 2nd edition, Propylaen, Berlin 2006, ISBN 978-3-549-07261-5 .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Reichswehr Ministry (Ed.): Ranking list of the German Reichsheeres. ES Mittler & Sohn , Berlin 1930, p. 153.
- ↑ 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. 473.
- ↑ Excerpt from the broadcast from 1972
- ↑ Klaus Modick: The Cretan Guest , Munich-Zurich, 8th edition 2011, chapter IX, subsection 8-10.
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Kreipe, Heinrich |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Kreipe, Karl Heinrich Georg Ferdinand (full name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German major general in World War II |
| DATE OF BIRTH | June 5, 1895 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Niederspier |
| DATE OF DEATH | June 14, 1976 |
| Place of death | Northeim or Hanover |