Heinrich Remlinger (Major General)

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Heinrich Remlinger (born March 19, 1882 in Poppenweiler (Ludwigsburg) , † January 5, 1946 executed in Leningrad ) was a German major general in the Wehrmacht who was executed for war crimes in the Soviet Union .

Life

Remlinger was the son of a foreman. It was one of the very few generals in the Wehrmacht whose father belonged to the working class. In 1902 he joined a Uhlan regiment, with which he fought as a sergeant in the First World War. In 1916 he acquired the officer's license. His other units were cavalry regiments, first mainly in Württemberg , then in Neustettin . On April 15, 1936, he became the commandant of the Torgau military prison in Fort Zinna , and on November 10, 1938, the commandant of the renamed Torgau Wehrmacht prison . The military career in the Reichswehr and Wehrmacht went smoothly: since 1919 lieutenant, since 1921 first lieutenant, since 1923 Rittmeister , since 1933 major, since 1936 lieutenant colonel, since August 1, 1938, colonel and promoted to major general on December 1, 1942.

As the commander of the prison, he was considered a staunch National Socialist and was particularly brutal and sadistic in his behavior towards the inmates.

On February 1, 1943 he was transferred to the Führerreserve of the OKH and on February 15 to the staff of the military commander in France. In May 1943 he became field commander, on September 21, 1943 site commander in Pleskau , in 1944 site commander in Budapest . There he experienced the final battles for the city in the Battle of Budapest as a fortress commander and was taken prisoner by the Soviets in Budapest on February 12, 1945 .

In December 1945, as the highest ranking officer, a trial was opened against him with ten other soldiers before a Soviet military court in Leningrad, which sentenced him to hang on January 4, 1946 . He was executed a day later. The indictment also accused the officers collectively of participating in the Katyn massacre in 1940, which Stalin wanted to blame the German Wehrmacht on in order to exonerate the Stalinist Soviet Union from the Allies. Remlinger hadn't even stayed there in 1940. The death sentence did not specifically refer to Katyn, but to war crimes against the Soviet population in general, but was appropriately exploited in the reporting.

Awards

  • June 1, 1941 War Merit Cross II with swords
  • December 11, 1942 KVK I with swords
  • September 25, 1943 Clasp for the Iron Cross II

Works

  • Hermann Harttmann: Practical tips for the company (squadron, battery) chief of the Reichsheer . With the assistance of Heinrich Remlinger, Verlag Offene Zeiten , Charlottenburg 1925.

literature

  • Ottomar Krug: German Generals 1867–1945 , Federal Archives.
  • Norbert Haase, Brigitte Oleschinski : The Torgau taboo: Wehrmacht penal system , NKVD special camp, GDR penal system , Forum 1993 ISBN 978-3-86151-046-8 .

Web links

Single receipts

  1. ↑ Reinhard Stumpf : The Wehrmacht Elite Structure of rank and origin of the German generals and admirals 1933-1945. (Military history studies), Harald Boldt Verlag, Boppard am Rhein 1982, ISBN 3-7646-1815-9 , p. 272.
  2. ↑ Bernd Ziesemer: A private against Hitler: In search of my father . Hoffmann and Campe, 2012, ISBN 978-3-455-85030-7 ( google.de ).
  3. ^ Franz Kadell : Katyn: The twofold trauma of the Poles, Langen Mueller Herbig, 2012, p. 111 [1] .
  4. ↑ Mike Schmeitzner: In camera? For the prosecution of Nazi crimes by the Soviet special justice system . In: Clemens Vollnhals, Jörg Osterloh (ed.): Nazi trials and the German public: Occupation, early Federal Republic and GDR . Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 2012, ISBN 978-3-647-36921-1 , p. 159–161 ( google.de ).
personal data
SURNAME Remlinger, Heinrich
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Remmlinger, Heinrich (other spelling)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German major general in World War II
DATE OF BIRTH March 19, 1882
PLACE OF BIRTH Poppenweiler (Ludwigsburg)
DATE OF DEATH January 5, 1946
Place of death Leningrad