Blaskowitz, Johannes (1883-1948)
Career officer of the old school. Commander in chief of the German occupation forces in Poland. Wrote two memoranda to Walther von Brauchitsch about the atrocities in Poland and the horrified reaction of the troops. Relieved of his command on several occasions during the battle of France. Later, however, took other commands, no longer calling Hitler’s policies into question. In January 1945 assigned command of an army group in Holland, where he capitulated to the British on May 5, 1945. Committed suicide on February 5, 1948, by jumping out a window of Nuremberg prison.
Blomberg, Werner von (1878-1946)
Appointed minister of defense in 1933. From 1935 until 1938 minister of war and commander in chief of the Wehrmacht. Became a field marshal in 1936. Nicknamed “the rubber lion” by fellow officers for his ability to adapt. Believed that the Night of the Long Knives was justified because public order was threatened by insurgents; issued a “muzzle edict” forbidding all criticism within the army. Following the death of President Hindenburg on August 2, 1934, facilitated a virtual putsch by ordering all soldiers to swear allegiance to the “Führer Adolf Hitler.” Discredited by the Nazis in January 1938, and forced to resign within a few weeks. Died in American custody.
Blumentritt, Günther (1892-1967)
Appointed colonel on the army general staff in 1938. On the general staff of Army Group South during the Polish and French campaigns and appointed chief of staff to the Fourth Army in 1940. Posted to Army Group Center during the Soviet campaign. Became quartermaster general on the army general staff in July 1942. Appointed chief of general staff to the commander in chief in the West. Thanks to his diplomatic skill, the Wehrmacht, the SS, and the SD were able to agree on how to word an official version of events in Paris on the night of July 20-21, 1944. In 1945 was named commander in chief of the Twenty-Fifth Army and then of the First Parachute Army. On April 10, 1945, became commander in chief of the army named after him.
Bock, Fedor von (1880-1945)
Career officer. Promoted to field marshal in 1940. Commander in chief of army groups in Poland, France, and the Soviet Union (Army Group Center). After the attack on Moscow ground to a halt, was posted to Army Group South in January 1942. Dismissed on July 15, 1942, for lack of success. At war’s end, placed himself at the disposal of the Dönitz government. Killed during an air raid in early May 1945.
Despite his outrage at the anti-Semitic violence of November 9, 1938, later refused to participate actively in the resistance.
Bonhoeffer, Dietrich (1906-45)
A prominent Protestant theologian, son of the well-known psychiatrist and neurologist Karl Bonhoeffer. Pastor in London between 1933 and 1935. For a time, private lecturer at the university in Berlin. A leading representative of the Confessional Church. In 1940 drafted into the OKW Military Intelligence Office. Helped draft memoranda on the future democratic government of Germany and compiled files on crimes committed by the SS. Important foreign contacts with A. W. Visser ’t Hooft–the secretary-general of the provisional World Council of Churches in Geneva-and Bishop George Bell. Arrested on April 5, 1943, for undermining the war effort. Hanged on April 9, 1945, after a summary trial in the Flossenbürg concentration camp.
Brauchitsch, Walther von (1881-1948)
Appointed field marshal in 1940. In 1938 succeeded Werner von Fritsch as commander in chief of the army. Attempted in vain to have Fritsch rehabilitated. Dismissed after the first setbacks on the eastern front in December 1941. Knew about the opposition to Hitler and was critical of his policy of aggression but nevertheless went along with the Führer, largely out of personal weakness. Described the attempted assassination of July 20 as “the mad act of a small number of men who have forgotten all about honor.”
Bussche-Streithorst, Baron Axel von dem (1919-93)
Career officer with the rank of major. Witnessed the mass shooting of Jews in Dubno in 1942. Declared thereafter that there were only three ways for an officer to preserve his honor: die in battle, desert, or rebel. Planned in early 1944 to kill both Hitler and himself by detonating a bomb at a public ceremony. Failed when chance events prevented Hitler from coming. Avoided arrest in July 1944. Studied law after 1945. Counselor at the German embassy in Washington from 1954 to 1958.
Canaris, Wilhelm (1887-1945)
Career officer with the rank of admiral. Sympathized with Hitler’s resentment of the conditions imposed at Versailles and his anti-Communism but after 1933 came to despise the brutality of the Nazis. Was chief of OKW Military Intelligence from 1935 to 1944. Began to oppose the Nazis actively after the Fritsch affair. Grew resigned, though, after the Munich agreement. In 1939 he and Hans Oster asked Josef Müller, a lawyer, to attempt through the Vatican to sound out the possibilities for maintaining peace.
In late May 1940, when it was discovered that the German offensive in the West had been betrayed, Canaris managed to allay the suspicions directed at his office by portraying them as mere rumor. The SS continued, however, to monitor the group around Canaris and in the spring of 1943 arrested some of his closest collaborators. Dismissed as chief of Military Intelligence in February 1944 and arrested after July 20, 1944. Hanged on April 9, 1945, in the Flossenbürg concentration camp after his diaries were discovered. A controversial personality because he socialized with Heydrich, played a two-faced role as chief of the military secret service, and protected the resistance. Maintained to the end that he was not a traitor.
Dohnanyi, Hans von (1902-45)
In 1929 became personal assistant to the minister of justice, then head of the Bureau of Ministers. Systematically gathered information about the crimes and atrocities of the Nazi regime. Established contacts as early as 1938 with people in the military who opposed the Nazis. Played a leading role in planning the attempted coup of September 1938. As a result of pressure from Nazi Party headquarters in 1938, was transferred to the federal court in Leipzig. Became a special project chief in OKW Military Intelligence in August 1939. Forwarded reports from his brother-in-law, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, about the deportation of Jews to senior military leaders in the hope of spurring them to do something. Helped Jews threatened with deportation to escape. Arrested on April 5, 1943, for alleged currency violations. After July 20, 1944, some of the information he had collected about Nazi crimes and the coup attempts discovered by the Gestapo. Murdered on April 8, 1945, in the Sachsenhausen concentration camp.
Falkenhausen, Alexander von (1878-1966)
General in the infantry. From 1935 to 1938 a military adviser in China. Appointed military commander in Belgium and northern France in 1940. Dismissed on July 18, 1944, on a number of charges and arrested after July 20, 1944. Sent on the odyssey of prominent prisoners from one concentration camp to another in 1945 and then freed. Sentenced in Belgium in 1951 to twelve years of forced labor for the execution of hostages and the deportation of Jews. Released after three weeks when it was revealed he had saved many Belgian citizens from the SS.