Hitler's Commanders (12 page)

General von Sponeck soon ran afoul of Hermann Goering because of his support of Colonel General Baron Werner von Fritsch, the former commander-in-chief of the army, who was dismissed on trumped-up charges of homosexuality. Sponeck even went so far as to serve as a character witness for Fritsch at his court-martial, for which he was severely reprimanded by the
Reichsmarschall
, who was also president of the court-martial. On March 11, Sponeck was transferred out of Berlin to Munich, where he assumed command of Luftgau VII.

Shortly after moving to Bavaria, Sponeck married Gertrud Konitzer, another Berliner, on April 7, 1938. She would give him one child, Hans-Christof, who was born in August 1939, just as her husband marched off to war. Meanwhile, Sponeck was transferred to Bremen, where he assumed command of the 22nd Infantry Division on November 11, 1938. He was given the task of converting it into an air landing unit. Perhaps he was given this mission because of his familiarity with the Luftwaffe; in any case, he was promoted to lieutenant general on February 1, 1940.

The 22nd Air Landing was held in reserve behind the Western Front during the Polish campaign of 1939. In the Western campaign of 1940, however, it and the 7th Air Division (Germany’s first parachute division) were heavily engaged from the first day. They had the task of capturing key positions in the Netherlands and holding them until help arrived. Sponeck was supposed to capture The Hague, the capitol, and the Royal Family. The Dutch reaction, however, was too prompt, and Sponeck failed in all three missions; in addition, he was severely wounded and almost captured. He was nevertheless awarded the Knight’s Cross by Adolf Hitler.

After the fall of France and the Low Countries, the 22nd remained in the Netherlands, preparing for the invasion of Great Britain, which never came. At the beginning of 1941, it was sent back to Germany, and that spring it was transferred to Rumania and placed in the 11th Army’s reserve. It fought in the battles of southern Russia and southern Ukraine and pushed all the way to the entrance of the Crimea. In September, it pushed across the Perekop Isthmus, despite heavy resistance; helped overrun the western Crimea; and took part in the first, unsuccessful attempts to capture Sevastopol, the main Soviet naval fortress on the Black Sea. On October 10, Sponeck was given command of the XXXXII Corps, covering the 11th Army’s eastern flank on the Kerch peninsula. With only two German “marching infantry” divisions (the 46th and 170th), a few infantry battalions from the 72nd and 73rd Infantry divisions, some corps units (most notably the 107th Artillery Command), and a few marginal Rumanian mountain formations, it was in an exposed and dangerous position.

On November 21, Army Group South’s 1st Panzer Army captured the vital city of Rostov, north of the Crimea. They were almost immediately faced with massive Soviet counterattacks. Hitler ordered that the city be held at all costs. Rather than lose most of the 1st Panzer Army, Field Marshal Gerd von Rundstedt, the commander-in-chief of Army Group South, retreated anyway. Hitler sacked him on November 30.

On December 6, Stalin unleashed his huge winter offensive all along the line, from Leningrad to the Mius. Hitler responded by commanding that the German Army hold where it was, all along the front, even if it meant encirclement. Soon 103,000 men were needlessly surrounded at Demyansk, and another 5,500 were trapped at Kholm. But several senior German commanders—faced with the annihilation of their divisions and the needless sacrifice of their men—acted responsibly and retreated anyway. Among these was Colonel General Heinz Guderian, the commander of the 2nd Panzer Army and the “father of the Blitzkrieg.” He was fired on December 26. But still, brave generals retreated. Others simply resigned or went on sick leave and left the decision to their successors. It became clear to the Fuehrer that some of the army generals were going to act in accordance with the tactical situation and were not prepared to obey his senseless orders without question. To bend them to his will and force him to accept his amateurish micromanagement of the Eastern Front, harsher measures would be required.

On December 26, the Reds launched an amphibious invasion of the Kerch peninsula. Their plan included the establishment of two major beachheads and several secondary landings. By December 28, Sponeck had wiped out one of the two major beachheads near the city of Kerch, but, since his infantry was non-motorized and he had no panzers, he was unable to defeat them all, and several of the landings were behind his fronts and were being reinforced by the Soviet Navy. Seeing that he would eventually be cut off and destroyed, Sponeck signaled Erich von Manstein, the commander of the 11th Army, and requested permission to retreat. In accordance with Hitler’s orders, permission was denied. Sponeck’s second and third appeals—each stronger and more desperate than the last—were also rejected.

By December 29, Sponeck’s forward units—the 46th Infantry Division and a few smaller formations—were down to 10,000 men. Despite heavy casualties, the Soviets had more than 40,000 men ashore north and south of Kerch, on the eastern extremity of the Crimea. Then came the news of fresh Russian landings on the southern coast, in the vicinity of Theodosia. With all of Sponeck’s reserves committed, it was clear that there was no way XXXXII Corps could defeat this new threat, and that it was only a matter of time before the 46th Infantry was cut off and destroyed. It took General von Sponeck only 30 minutes to decide. In disobedience to the Fuehrer’s orders, he commanded his men to fall back to the Parpach neck, where the Kerch peninsula narrowed and a defensible position might be established.

The retreat from Kerch lives on in the minds of the old men who survived it because of its horror. The temperature was minus 22 degrees Fahrenheit, but it felt much colder because of the strong winds that were blowing ice and snow. Unprepared for winter, the column was soon strung out for 80 miles, and most of the trucks and motorized vehicles broke down or slipped off the icy roads and had to be abandoned. Horses, which were mostly without food, collapsed and had to be shot. This meant that the division’s artillery and Arko 107’s guns had to be abandoned, because they were horse-drawn. The retreat through this frozen hell lasted 46 hours. Most of the men who fell asleep in the snow never woke up, and there were thousands of cases of frostbite, often resulting in amputations. Most of the division’s heavy weapons and equipment were lost. The 46th Infantry Division was crippled in a movement that did not involve enemy contact.

Sponeck was right in his assessment of the defensive value of the Parpach neck, where he established his defensive line. The next day, the pursuing Soviet tanks attacked and, with the help of some timely reinforcements from Manstein, were beaten off with serious losses. Later that day, January 1, 1942, Sponeck received orders to turn over command of the XXXXII Corps to Lieutenant General Franz Mattenklott, the commander of the 72nd Infantry Division. He was to report to Berlin for court-martial proceedings. The trial began on January 23.

Sponeck was charged with disobeying the orders of a superior officer. The outcome of the trial was preordained, as the president of the court-martial was Hermann Goering, the number two Nazi and a man who had clashed with General Sponeck before. Sponeck contended that, as a Prussian officer, he had been taught to act on his own initiative—even against orders—if the tactical situation demanded it in order to save his men. This defense was brushed aside, and General von Manstein did not lift a finger to help him. He was found guilty and sentenced to death.

Having found his example and made his point to the other generals, Hitler commuted Sponeck’s sentence to six years in prison. He was sent to the Germersheim Fortress, where he enjoyed a privileged life for a prisoner. He was allowed an occasional visit to town, where he could buy books and cigarettes. His wife was allowed to visit him one week per month, and his youngest son (who turned three in 1942) could visit as well. Then came the Stauffenberg assassination attempt of July 20, 1944. In the aftermath, Heinrich Himmler acquired vast new powers. One of his first acts was to order the execution of Hans von Sponeck.

On July 23, Lieutenant General Count von Sponeck faced the firing squad. He was allowed to take Holy Communion and his request to be neither bound nor blindfolded was honored. He was shot at 7:13 a.m.

Both of Sponeck’s wives were present at his execution and jointly asked for his body, which was given to them. They buried him in a local cemetery. No speeches or eulogies were allowed at his funeral, but the Lord’s Prayer was said. After the war, his remains were moved to the Soldiers’ Cemetery at Dahn, in the Palatinate, where they still lie.

Anneliese, Sponeck’s first wife, died in Berlin in 1961. His second wife was still alive at last report. Hans-Curt, his oldest son, became a fighter pilot in Norway and over Germany, and ended the war as a captain and chief of operations of the 3rd Fighter Division of Air Fleet Reich. He died in 1999.

Count Hans Wilhelm von Sponeck, the general’s second son, also became a captain, but in the cavalry. He was killed on the Don sector of the Russian Front in 1943.

Hans-Christof von Sponeck, the general’s youngest son, was only five years old when his father was shot. He became a conscientious objector and had a career as a diplomat, retiring recently as assistant secretary general of the United Nations. In the 2000s, he headed the Oil-for-Food Program in Iraq. He held a requiem at his father’s grave on the 55th anniversary of his death.

General von Sponeck had several grandchildren, at least one of whom now lives in the United States.

gotthard heinrici
was born in Gumbinnen, East Prussia (now Gusev, Russia) on December 21, 1886. His father, Paul, was the local Lutheran minister, and he instilled a sense of religious values in Gotthard that lasted all of his life. Even after the Nazis told him it was in the best interests of his career to stop attending church every Sunday, he continued to do so, and in full uniform—much to their annoyance. The Prussia military tradition was also in his blood, since members of his family had served in the Kaiser’s army since the 12th century. Gotthard entered the Imperial Army as a Fahnenjunker in the 95th (6th Thuringian) Infantry Regiment on March 8, 1905. He attended the War School at Hanover and was commissioned second lieutenant on August 18, 1906. He served as adjutant of the II Battalion, was promoted to first lieutenant in early 1914, and was regimental adjutant when World War I began. Initially he saw action with the 3rd Army in the Belgian Ardennes and in the capture of Namur. His division (the 38th Infantry) was then ordered to turn around and head back to Germany, because the Czar’s armies had invaded East Prussia. Heinrici fought in the Battle of Tannenberg and then in Poland, as the Russians retreated toward Moscow. By 1915, he was a company commander in the II Battalion. He did his job so well that he was named acting battalion commander, despite his very junior rank. His generals remedied this situation with a special accelerated promotion to captain. It is safe to conclude that Heinrici’s performance did not go unnoticed at higher headquarters. In the spring of 1916, he was named adjutant of the 83rd Infantry Brigade, which was also part of the Thuringian 38th Division, and was recommended for General Staff training.

Meanwhile, in September 1915, the 38th was transferred from the Eastern to the Western Front. After fighting in the trenches, it was committed to the Battle of Verdun, where it held Hill 304 for five months, despite serious casualties. One of them was Lieutenant Heinrici, who was severely wounded in a poisonous gas attack. When he recovered that fall, he was assigned to the staff of the XXIV Reserve Corps, to begin his General Staff training. His on-the-job training continued when he was assigned to the staff of the 115th Infantry Division, with which he took part in the conquest of Rumania. He was temporarily assigned to the General Staff of the army in March 1917 and attended the abbreviated General Staff course at Sedan in September and October. Following graduation, he was named Ib (second General Staff officer and chief supply officer) of the VII Corps. After serving with the VIII Corps, Heinrici was named chief of operations (Ia) of the 203rd Infantry Division in February 1918.

Heinrici’s division (which was previously considered only mediocre), was full of new recruits, and it played an important role in the Ludendorff Offensives. By the end of the war, it was decimated and exhausted.
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After the armistice, Heinrici returned to East Prussia, where he joined the staff of the I (Eastern Prussian) Military District. He was named Ia of Volunteer Division von Tschischwitz, which defended the border areas from Polish incursions. In the fall of 1920, after the Treaty of Versailles, he became a tactics instructor for the 1st Infantry Division in Koenigsberg. Four years later, he became a company commander in the 14th Company of the 13th Infantry Regiment at Schwaebisch-Gmuend in eastern Wuerrtemberg (1924–1927). He then returned to General Staff assignments as a group leader in the Army Organization Department in Berlin (1927–1930). From 1930 to 1932, he commanded the III Battalion of the Prussian 3rd Infantry Regiment at Osterode (now Ostroda, Poland). Heinrici became Ia of Group Command 1 (one of Weimar Germany’s two army-level headquarters) in Berlin in 1932, and the following year he became a department chief in the Defense Ministry. In this post, he was promoted to major general on January 1, 1936. He had previously been promoted to major (1926), lieutenant colonel (1930), and colonel (1933).

Heinrici continued his advancement on October 12, 1937, when he became commander of the 16th Infantry Division at Muenster, Westphalia. Promoted to lieutenant general on March 1, 1938, he took his unit to the northern sector of the Western Front when World War II began. The Western campaign had not yet begun, however, when Heinrici was promoted again, this time to commander of the XII Corps.
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A general of infantry as of June 1, he was part of the 1st Army during the fighting against the Maginot Line. Before the conquest of France was completed, however, Heinrici was given command of the recently formed XXXXIII Corps, which he led while Hitler’s Wehrmacht finished off the French Army. He prepared his corps for the invasion of Great Britain and, after Operation Sea Lion was cancelled, took it to Poland in the spring of 1941.