Karl von Dewitz-Krebs

Karl Wilhelm Dietrich Ernst von Dewitz called von Krebs (born August 6, 1887 in Berlin , † April 19, 1945 in Torgau ) was a German major general in World War II .

Life

Karl was the son of the Prussian major Ernst von Dewitz-Krebs (* 1851) and his wife Sabine, née von Puttkamer from the Hettin family (* 1864). He attended high schools in Hanau and Gotha . After he had passed the Abitur in Gotha in the spring of 1905 , he studied law at the University of Lausanne and the Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg . In 1906 he was reciprocated in the Corps Saxo-Borussia Heidelberg .

Military career

In the spring of 1907 Dewitz joined the Guard Jäger battalion of the Prussian Army in Potsdam as a flag boy . There he was promoted to lieutenant in March 1908 and served as an adjutant from the end of January 1913 . With his battalion he broke through to Ostend in Belgium at the beginning of the First World War . After that he fought in the Vosges . On November 21, 1914, he was promoted to first lieutenant . At the end of 1915 Dewitz was wounded and had to spend a long time in the hospital . After returning to the field, he returned to his battalion on February 23. There he was promoted to captain on April 18, 1916 and shortly afterwards he became company commander . At the end of September 1916 he was transferred to the staff of the newly formed 222nd Infantry Division as an orderly officer . However, Dewitz only stayed there for just under three weeks and was then transferred to the General Staff of the VIII Army Corps . This was followed by further general staff assignments, in the 18th Infantry Division , in the General Staff of the Army and in the General Commands of the VI. , the XVIII. , the XIV. and the III. Army Corps . Most recently Dewitz was on the staff of the 75th Reserve Division . For his work during the war he was next to both classes of the Iron Cross with the Wound Badge in black, the Knight's Cross II. Class of the Albrecht Order with Swords, and the Hanseatic Cross Hamburg and from the Allied Austrians with the Military Merit Cross III. Class with war decoration and was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Military Merit by the Bulgarians .

After the end of the war, Dewitz was briefly assigned to the General Staff of the 43rd Reserve Division and on January 16, 1919, transferred back to the main battalion, which was being demobilized . He then joined the Freikorps Potsdam and was accepted into the Provisional Reichswehr on May 1, 1920 . First he was company commander in Reichswehr Jäger Battalion 3, then in Reichswehr Infantry Regiment 5. When the 100,000-man army was formed, Dewitz was company commander in the 9th (Prussian) Infantry Regiment . On April 1, 1927, he was assigned to the commandant's office in Berlin and after his transfer there on February 1, 1928, he served on their staff. In this position Dewitz was promoted to major on February 1, 1929 and as such was transferred back to the 9th Infantry Regiment on March 1, 1929. After a use in the staff of III. Battalion, Dewitz was transferred to Gumbinnen on October 1, 1930 , where he commanded III until March 31, 1934. Battalion of the 1st (Prussian) Infantry Regiment . There he was promoted to lieutenant colonel on June 1, 1933 . Subsequently, Dewitz belonged from April 1 to September 30, 1934 and from October 15, 1935 to April 30, 1936 on the staff of the Küstrin command and the Küstrin border section command . On April 30, 1936, Dewitz retired from active service as a colonel and was subsequently entrusted with the position of training manager Berlin I as an electric officer .

At the beginning of the Second World War , Dewitz was given command of the 323rd Infantry Regiment. The regiment fought in the Vosges and took part with its division in the ceremonial entry into Berlin in 1940. Subsequently, Dewitz no longer had any front commands. He was reactivated on June 1, 1941 and promoted to major general on August 1, 1941 . He was in the Führerreserve from March 1 to April 5, 1943 and was then commanded as Commander-in-Chief West . From August 1st he was in command of the Brod military training area in Croatia . During the retreat of the German troops in October 1944, he was taken prisoner by Yugoslavia . Under duress, he wrote to an officer subordinate to him to vacate his position. This reported the incident.

In March 1945 Dewitz was exchanged for other prisoners and brought before a court martial . In order to defend himself, he should have made a commitment to Adolf Hitler . He refused because he was convinced of Hitler's personal guilt for the military defeat and the collapse of the Reich. The Reich Court Martial sentenced him to death, but sent a pardon for Dewitz to Field Marshal Wilhelm Keitel . This refused. On April 19, 1945, when the American troops were within earshot, Dewitz was shot dead by members of the Hitler Youth in Torgau .

He was a legal knight of the Order of St. John .

family

Since January 3, 1927, Dewitz was married to Erika von Bauer. With her he had a son and a daughter.

literature

• Dermot Bradley (Ed.): The Generals of the Army 1921-1945. The military careers of the generals, as well as the doctors, veterinarians, intendants, judges and ministerial officials with the rank of general. Volume 3: Dahlmann – Fitzlaff. Biblio Verlag, Osnabrück 1994, ISBN 3-7648-2443-3 , pp. 110-111.
• Karl von Drewitz called von Krebs . In: Marcelli Janecki , Deutsche Adelsgenossenschaft (Hrsg.): Yearbook of the German nobility . First volume. WT Bruer's Verlag, Berlin 1896, p. 462 ( dlib.rsl.ru ).

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Kösener Corpslisten 1960, 66/1178.
2. ↑ Reichswehr Ministry (Ed.): Ranking list of the German Reichsheeres. Mittler & Sohn Verlag, Berlin 1924, p. 148.