Moritz von Drebber

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Moritz Otto Wilhelm Heinrich von Drebber (born February 12, 1892 in Oldenburg (Oldenburg) ; † May 30, 1968 there ) was a German officer , most recently major general in World War II . He joined the National Committee for Free Germany and on December 8, 1944, signed the appeal to the people and the armed forces .

family

His father was apparently the Prime Lieutenant Otto von Drebber, who, according to the address book of the city of Oldenburg, was registered in Oldenburg at 17 Grünen Strasse in 1892/93. He himself was married to Ilse, geb. Goering (born August 12, 1901 (?); † April 30, 1965 Oldenburg). He was also an honorary knight of the Order of St. John .

Empire

Moritz von Drebber joined the Oldenburg Infantry Regiment 91 on March 14, 1911 as an ensign and was promoted to lieutenant on May 22, 1912 .

With the outbreak of World War I and the mobilization his transfer followed on August 2, 1914 as platoon leader in the MG - Company Reserve Infantry Regiment 79. With this he participated in the advance through Belgium to France and was there on the 30th. Wounded September 1914. After hospital stay and recovery, Drebber returned to his unit on November 17, 1914. There he was promoted to first lieutenant on December 18, 1915 and was transferred on September 24, 1916 as a machine gun officer to the staff of the Reserve Infantry Regiment No. 79. From January 22, 1917 to September 3, 1918, Drebber then acted as a leader of the MG Sturm Battalion No. 14 and then came to the staff of the 19th Division as an orderly officer . Drebber remained in this position beyond the end of the war until December 20, 1918. He was transferred back to his regular regiment, where he was initially employed as battalion leader and from June 15, 1919 as deputy regimental adjutant. From November 9, 1919, he was part of the liquidation office of his regiment under Major Oskar Wantke (1872–1940). On 27 March 1920, gave Drebber the character as captain and dismissed him with that date from the military service.

Police of the Free State of Oldenburg

From the processing office of the Oldenburg Infantry Regiment No. 91, Wantke set up the Oldenburg Order Police in October 1919 by order of the government of the Free State of Oldenburg under Prime Minister Theodor Tantzen . The Order Police consisted of three squadrons , the first stationed in the center of Oldenburg, but from 1924 deployed were (first hundred in Oldenburg, second hundred in Rüstringen , third hundred in Delmenhorst ). Drebber was the leader of the 1st Hundred from 1920 to December 31, 1933. He was police captain from February 22, 1920 and was promoted to police major on November 1, 1932 . After its commander Wantke and his deputy, Major Hermann Sassenberg, Drebber was the highest-ranking officer in the regulatory police.

On October 23, 1923 Drebber led a good 50-strong order police command to Berne , where members of the KPD and sympathizers of the party , coming from Bremen in the context of the Hamburg uprising , had set sail across the Weser in boats and began to search for secret arms stores of the Reichswehr in the Office Elsfleth to look for, which they rightly suspected there. There was a brief skirmish between the police and the poorly armed insurgents, 46 of whom were subsequently arrested for breach of the peace and transported to Oldenburg.

In 1926/27 Drebber attended an advanced training course at the Prussian Higher Police School Potsdam -Eiche. On March 29, 1930, together with the police officers Jensen and Oeltjen, he founded the "Association of Police Officers Oldenburg", which joined the "Reich Association of German Police Officers". Apparently in connection with the conversion of the Ordnungspolizei into the Landespolizei Oldenburg in 1933/34, von Drebber seems to have joined the Prussian police force. From January 1, 1934 Drebber worked as a tactics teacher at the Higher Police School in Potsdam-Eiche.

Wehrmacht

Drebber joined the Reichswehr on October 1, 1934 and was used as a company commander in the Osnabrück infantry regiment. As a lieutenant colonel (since June 1, 1935) he was appointed commander of the 2nd battalion of the 58th Infantry Regiment of the newly founded Wehrmacht on October 15, 1935 . Effective January 1, 1938, Drebber was transferred to the supplementary officer corps and head of training in Cosel .

Shortly before the outbreak of World War II , Drebber took over the 327th Infantry Regiment on August 26, 1939. On June 1, 1941, he was promoted to colonel and on December 26, 1941 was awarded the German Cross in Gold for his services . With the dissolution of the regiment, Drebber was transferred to the Führer Reserve on December 27, 1941 and at the same time he was assigned to the headquarters of Army Group South . Drebber was then given command of the 523rd Infantry Regiment on January 20, 1942. On June 30, 1942 he was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross . On January 1, 1943 he was promoted to major general and took over the 297th Infantry Division on January 22nd during the Battle of Stalingrad . Three days later he surrendered to the Red Army because, according to a quote from the New York Times on February 2, 1943, he considered further resistance to be senseless and criminal .

During the Soviet captivity , Drebber joined the National Committee for Free Germany and on December 8, 1944, together with other high Wehrmacht officers, signed the appeal to the people and the Wehrmacht . On October 21, 1949 Drebber was released from Soviet captivity.

retirement

After his release, Drebber returned to his hometown of Oldenburg. The family lived in his mother-in-law's house at Lindenallee 23. There is no publicly available data about the last 20 years of his life. The only thing that is certain is that he was neither politically nor journalistic. He died on May 30, 1968 in Oldenburg at the age of 76. The funeral service took place on June 6th in the Gertrudenkapelle (Oldenburg) , he was buried in the local cemetery.

literature

  • Dermot Bradley : The Generals of the Army 1921-1945 Volume 3: Dahlmann-Fitzlaff. Biblio Verlag, Osnabrück 1994, ISBN 3-7648-2443-3 , pp. 201-202.
  • Udo Elerd (Ed.): From the vigilante to the armed forces . On the history of the garrison and the military in the city of Oldenburg. Oldenburg 2006.
  • Address book of the city of Oldenburg 1892/93. Oldenburg 1893.
  • Obituary in the Nordwest-Zeitung . of May 31, 1968, p. 14.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Text online at pkgodzik.de (PDF file; 52 kB)
  2. ↑ a b Veit Scherzer : Knight's Cross bearer 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. 279.
personal data
SURNAME Drebber, Moritz von
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Drebber, Moritz Otto Wilhelm Heinrich von
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German officer, most recently major general in World War II
DATE OF BIRTH February 12, 1892
PLACE OF BIRTH Oldenburg (Oldenburg)
DATE OF DEATH May 30, 1968
Place of death Oldenburg (Oldenburg)