Walther von Seydlitz-Kurzbach

Walther von Seydlitz-Kurzbach
Seydlitz-Kurzbach (left) and Friedrich Paulus in Russia, 1942
Born	(1888-08-22)22 August 1888 Eppendorf, Hamburg, German Empire
Died	28 April 1976(1976-04-28) (aged 87) Bremen, West Germany
Allegiance	German Empire (to 1918) Weimar Republic (to 1933) Nazi Germany (to 1942)
Service/branch	Heer
Years of service	1908–1945
Rank	General der Artillerie
Commands held	12. Infanterie-Division
Battles/wars	World War I World War II
Awards	Knight’s Cross with Oak Leaves

Walther Kurt von Seydlitz-Kurzbach (22 August 1888 – 28 April 1976) was a German general. He was born in Hamburg, Germany, into the noble Prussian Seydlitz family. He was also a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves (German: Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes mit Eichenlaub). The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross and its higher grade Oak Leaves was awarded to recognise extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership.

Career

During World War I he served on both fronts as an officer. During the Weimar Republic, he remained a professional officer in the Reichswehr; from 1940 to 1942 he commanded the 12th Infantry Division of the German army. When the division was encircled in the Demyansk Pocket, Seydlitz was responsible for breaking the Soviet cordon and enabling German units to escape from encirclement; for this action he was promoted to General of the Artillery (General der Artillerie) and appointed commander of the LI Corps.

The corps was subordinated to the Sixth Army during the Battle of Stalingrad. When the entire Army was trapped in the city in the course of the Soviet Operation Uranus, Seydlitz was one of the generals who argued most forcefully in favor of a breakout, in contravention of Hitler’s orders. On the surrender of the remaining forces in Stalingrad, Seydlitz was taken into Soviet custody, where he was interrogated by Captain Nikolay Dyatlenko.

As a POW he became the leader of the anti-Nazi organization, the League of German Officers (German: Bund deutscher Offiziere) and a prominent member of the National Committee Free Germany (German: Nationalkomitee Freies Deutschland). He was condemned by many of his fellow generals for his anti-Nazi activities and was sentenced to death in absentia. His idea of creating an anti-Nazi force of some 40,000 German POWs to be airlifted into Germany was not considered credible, while in Germany his family was taken into Sippenhaft, detention for the crimes of a family member. Seydlitz was ultimately exploited by both Soviet and German propaganda: he was used by the former in broadcasts and literature to encourage German soldiers to surrender, while the latter cultivated the idea of “Seydlitz troops” (German: Seydlitztruppen). His figure in the German propaganda was largely equivalent to the one of Andrey Vlasov in the Soviet one.

In 1949 Seydlitz, who showed little inclination to cooperate with Soviet authorities after the war, requested release into the Soviet occupation zone of Germany. This was refused, and he was charged with atrocities committed against Soviet POWs and the civilian population while in Wehrmacht service. In 1950, a Soviet tribunal sentenced him to 25 years’ imprisonment, but in 1955 he was released to West Germany, where in 1956 his Third Reich death sentence was nullified.

Seydlitz died on 28 April 1976 in Bremen. On 23 April 1996 a posthumous pardon was issued by Russian authorities.

Awards and decorations

• Iron Cross (1914)
  • 2nd Class (19 September 1914)
  • 1st Class (21 October 1915)
• Wound Badge (1914)
  • in Black
  • in Silver
• Knight's Cross of the Royal House Order of Hohenzollern with Swords (16 October 1918)
• Hanseatic Cross of Hamburg
• Cross of Honor
• Wehrmacht-Dienstauszeichnung IV. bis I. Class
• Iron Cross
  • 2nd Class (17 May 1940)
  • 1st Class (22 May 1940)
• Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves
  • Knight's Cross on 15 August 1940 as Generalmajor and commander of 12. Infanterie-Division
  • 54th Oak Leaves on 31 December 1941 as Generalmajor and commander of 12. Infanterie-Division

Ribbon bar

Iron Cross with 1939 Clasp

Knight's Cross of the Royal House Order of Hohenzollern with Swords

Hamburg Hanseatic Cross

The Honour Cross of the World War 1914/1918

Wehrmacht Long Service Award 1st Class

Wehrmacht Long Service Award 3rd Class

References

This article incorporates information from the revision as of 2005-07-30 of the equivalent article on the German Wikipedia.

Citations

Bibliography

• Fellgiebel, Walther-Peer (2000). Die Träger des Ritterkreuzes des Eisernen Kreuzes 1939–1945 (in German). Friedburg, Germany: Podzun-Pallas. ISBN 3-7909-0284-5.
• Scherzer, Veit (2007). Ritterkreuzträger 1939–1945 Die Inhaber des Ritterkreuzes des Eisernen Kreuzes 1939 von Heer, Luftwaffe, Kriegsmarine, Waffen-SS, Volkssturm sowie mit Deutschland verbündeter Streitkräfte nach den Unterlagen des Bundesarchives (in German). Jena, Germany: Scherzers Miltaer-Verlag. ISBN 978-3-938845-17-2.

External links

Media related to Walter von Seydlitz-Kurzbach at Wikimedia Commons

• Walther von Seydlitz-Kurzbach in the German National Library catalogue
• (German) Walther v. Seydlitz-Kurzbach, General der Artillerie, a biography on the website of the Seydlitz family.

Military offices
Preceded by Generalleutnant Ludwig von der Leyen	Commander of 12. Infanterie-Division March 10, 1940 – January 1, 1942	Succeeded by Oberst Karl Hernekamp