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{{Short description|German general (1888-1962)}}
'''Hans Eberhard Kurt von Salmuth''' ([[November 11]] [[1888]]–[[January 1]], [[1962]]) was a [[German army]] officer, serving in both [[World War I]] and [[World War II]]. He served as a junior officer in WWI, a staff officer in the inter-war period and early WWII, and an army level commander in WWII. General von Salmuth commanded the [[German Fifteenth Army|Fifteenth Army]] in [[France]] during the [[Battle of Normandy|D-Day]] invasion. He spent five years in prison after the war for war crimes.
{{refimprove|date=December 2015}}
{{Infobox military person
|name=Hans Eberhard Kurt von Salmuth
|birth_date={{Birth date|1888|11|11|df=y}}
|death_date={{Death date and age|1962|01|01|1888|11|11|df=y}}
|birth_place=[[Metz]], [[Elsass-Lothringen]], [[German Empire|Germany]]
|death_place=[[Heidelberg]], [[Baden-Württemberg]], [[West Germany]]
|image=File:Hans von Salmuth.jpg
|image_size =
|caption=
|nickname=
|allegiance=Germany
|branch=[[German Army (Wehrmacht)|Army]]
|serviceyears=1907–45
|rank=[[File:Generaloberst (Wehrmacht) 8.svg|25px]] [[Generaloberst]]
|commands=
|unit=Heeresgruppe B
|battles=[[World War I]]
----
[[World War II]]
|awards=[[Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross]]
|laterwork=}}


'''Hans Eberhard Kurt Freiherr von Salmuth''' (11 November 1888 – 1 January 1962) was a German general of the ''[[Wehrmacht]]'' during [[World War II]]. Salmuth commanded several armies on the [[Eastern Front (World War II)|Eastern Front]], and the [[15th Army (Wehrmacht)|Fifteenth Army]] in [[France]] during the [[Normandy Landings|D-Day invasion]]. Following the war, he was tried in the [[High Command Trial]], as part of the [[Subsequent Nuremberg Trials]]. He was found guilty of war crimes and [[crimes against humanity]] and sentenced to 20 years. He was released in 1953.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.casemateuk.com/blog/2019/05/31/countdown-to-d-day-von-salmuth/ | title=Countdown to D-Day: Von Salmuth - Casemate UK Books Blog | date=31 May 2019 }}</ref>
==Early life, the First World War and the inter-war period==
Born in 1888 in [[Metz]], [[Germany]] (now a part of [[France]]) into a [[Prussian]] military family, he joined the German army on [[September 19]] [[1907]]. He served in the First World War. By the war's end, he had reached the rank of captain.


==World War II==
He stayed in the army after the war. He was promoted to colonel on May 1, 1934 and served as [[chief of staff]], II Corps from 1934 to 1937. On [[August 1]] [[1937]] he was promoted to brigadier general. He was assigned chief of staff to 1st Army Group Command. In 1938 he was assigned as chief of staff for the [[German Second Army|Second Army]]. He was promoted to the rank of major general on [[August 1]], [[1939]].
Hans von Salmuth, son of Oberstleutnant Friedrich Ernst Werner Anton Freiherr von Salmuth (1853–1926), joined the [[Prussian Army]] in 1907 and served in the [[German Army (German Empire)|German Army]] in [[World War I]]. Salmuth remained in the army and served as [[Chief of staff (military)|chief of staff]] of II Corps from 1934 to 1937. He was assigned as chief of staff to the First Army Group Command. In 1938 he was transferred as Chief of Staff to the [[2nd Army (Wehrmacht)|Second Army]]. In 1939 he was Chief of Staff for Army Group North, commanded by General [[Fedor von Bock]], during the [[Invasion of Poland (1939)|invasion of Poland]]. Salmuth continued as Chief of Staff to Bock, when the latter was given command of [[Army Group B]] for the [[Battle of France|invasion of Belgium and France]], in May 1940. In July 1940 Salmuth was awarded the [[Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross]]. On 1 August 1940, he was promoted to lieutenant-general.


In 1941, Salmuth was assigned to the [[Eastern Front (World War II)|Eastern Front]] and given command of [[XXX Army Corps (Wehrmacht)|XXX Corps]]. He participated in [[Operation Barbarossa]] and took part in the [[Battle of Sevastopol]]. As all German corps on the Eastern Front, Salmuth's corps implemented the criminal [[Commissar Order]].{{sfn|Stahel|2015|p=28}} In 1942, he was made acting commander of the Seventeenth Army (20 April 1942 to 1 June 1942). For a short time, 6 June 1942 to 15 July 1942, he was assigned to command the [[4th Army (Wehrmacht)|Fourth Army]], replacing the former commander, [[Gotthard Heinrici]], who went on leave. In mid-July 1942 he was given command of the [[2nd Army (Wehrmacht)|Second Army]].
==The Second World War==
In 1939 he was chief of staff for Army Group North, commanded by General [[Fedor von Bock]], and served in the successful [[Polish September Campaign|invasion of Poland]].


In January 1943 Salmuth was promoted to [[Generaloberst]], the second highest German officer rank in the [[Wehrmacht]]. At that time, he was faced with the Soviet [[Battle of Voronezh (1943)|Voronezh-Kastornensk Operation]], in which the Second Army was almost destroyed. On 3 February 1943, he was given command of the Fourth Army until July 1943. In August 1943, Salmuth was reassigned to command the [[15th Army (Wehrmacht)|Fifteenth Army]] stationed at [[Pas-de-Calais]], France. Salmuth was relieved of his command, in late August 1944, following the disintegration of the German front line, after the Allied breakout from Normandy ([[Operation Cobra]]), receiving no further command.
Von Salmuth continued as chief of staff to General von Bock when the latter was given command of Army Group B for the next big operation, the invasion of [[Belgium]] and France in May of 1940. After the crushing defeat of the [[Allies of World War II|Allies]] in the west, Von Salmuth was awarded the [[Iron Cross|Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross]] on [[July 19]], [[1940]]. On [[August 1]], [[1940]] he was promoted to lieutenant general.


==Trial and conviction==
In 1941 Von Salmuth was assigned to the [[Eastern Front (World War II)|Eastern Front]] and on May 10 given command of the [[German XXX Corps|XXX Corps]]. He participated in [[Operation Barbarossa]] and saw service in the Crimea. In 1942 he was made acting commander of the Seventeenth Army. For a short time, June 6, 1942 to July 15, 1942 he was assigned command of the [[German Fourth Army|Fourth Army]]. In mid July 1942 he was made commander of the [[German Second Army|Second Army]].
Salmuth was tried in the [[High Command Trial]], as part of the [[Subsequent Nuremberg Trials]]. Salmuth was found guilty of [[war crimes]] and [[crimes against humanity]], including [[German mistreatment of Soviet prisoners of war|murder and mis-treatment of Soviet prisoners of war]], and of murder, deportation, and hostage-taking of civilians in occupied countries. He was sentenced to 20 years imprisonment. His sentence was reviewed in 1951, commuted to 12 years and backdated to June 1945. Salmuth was released in July 1953.{{sfn|Hébert|2010|pp=209, 218}} He died in 1962.


==Service record==
Von Salmuth was promoted to full general in January 1943. On February 3, 1943 he turned over command of Second Army to General Walter Weiss and was again given command of the Fourth Army, giving it up in July 1943.
;Commissions
* XXX Corps - 10 May 1941 - 27 December 1941
* Seventeenth Army - 20 April 1942 - 1 June 1942
* Fourth Army - 6 June 1942 - 15 July 1942
* Second Army - 15 July 1942 - 3 February 1943
* Fourth Army - [[Wiktionary:circa|c.]] June 1943 - 31 July 1943
* Fifteenth Army - 1 August 1943 - 25 August 1944


;Awards
Von Salmuth was then re-assigned from the Eastern Front, and sent to France, where on [[August 8]] [[1943]] he was given command of the important [[German Fifteenth Army|Fifteenth Army]] stationed in the [[Pas-de-Calais]] area of France. The Pas-de-Calais area was that part of the [[Atlantic Wall]] believed by [[Adolph Hitler]] to be where the [[Allies of World War II|Allies]] would choose for the [[Battle of Normandy|D-Day]] invasion, and Fifteenth Army was given 17 divisions, the most forces of any German army-sized formation on the western front. The Allies did everything in their power to encourage Hitler in his belief (see [[Operation Bodyguard]]) as they had picked [[Normandy]] as the site of the invasion, an area defended by the smaller [[German Seventh Army]].
* [[Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross]] on 19 July 1940 as [[Generalleutnant]] and Chief of the general staff of Heeresgruppe B<ref>Scherzer 2007, p. 649.</ref>


==References==
Von Salmuth wrote this anecdote in his diary about the morning of the D-Day invasion, June 6,1944;


===Citations===
:''“At 6 A.M., since it had been daylight for an hour and a half, I had my Chief of Staff telephone Seventh Army again to ask if the enemy had landed anywhere yet. The reply was, ‘Fleets of troop transports and warships big and small are lying at various points offshore, with masses of landing craft. But so far no landing has yet taken place.’ Thereupon I went back to sleep with a calm mind, after telling my Chief of Staff ‘—So their invasion has miscarried already !"''
{{Reflist|25em}}


===Bibliography===
Von Salmuth was relieved of his command by Hitler on [[August 24]] [[1944]] following the disintegration of the German front line after the Allied breakout from Normandy ([[Operation Cobra]]). He was replaced by General [[Gustav-Adolf von Zangen]]. Von Salmuth was given no further commands in the war.
{{Refbegin}}
* {{Cite book
|last=Hébert
|first=Valerie
|authorlink=
|year=2010
|title=[[Hitler's Generals on Trial: The Last War Crimes Tribunal at Nuremberg]]
|url=
|location=Lawrence, Kansas
|publisher=[[University Press of Kansas]]
|isbn=978-0-7006-1698-5
}}
* {{Cite book
|last=Scherzer
|first=Veit
|year=2007
|title=Die Ritterkreuzträger 1939–1945
|trans-title=The Knight's Cross Bearers 1939–1945
|language=German
|location=Jena, Germany
|publisher=Scherzers Militaer-Verlag
|isbn=978-3-938845-17-2
}}
* {{Cite book
|last=Stahel
|first=David
|authorlink=David Stahel
|year=2015
|title=The Battle for Moscow
|language=
|location=Cambridge, UK
|publisher=Cambridge University Press
|isbn=978-1-107-08760-6
}}
{{Refend}}


==External links==
== Post-World War Two, Nuremberg trials, and retirement==
* {{cite web
After the war, von Salmuth was held as a prisoner of war until 1948, when he was one of 185 defendants prosecuted in the [[Nuremberg Military Tribunals]] under [[Allied Control Council]] (ACC) Law No. 10. Von Salmuth was tried in the [[High Command Trial]] and found guilty of war crimes against prisoners of war and enemy belligerents, and crimes against humanity involving civilians in occupied countries and was sentenced to twenty years in prison. However, he was released early after serving only five years, in 1953. He died in Heidelberg, West Germany, in 1962. He was buried in the Nordfriedhof cemetary located in Wiesbaden, Germany.
| website=
| url = http://werle.rewi.hu-berlin.de/High%20Command%20Case.pdf
| title = High Command Trial, Judgment of 27 October 1948
| author = US Military Tribunal Nuremberg
| date = 1948
| access-date = 30 May 2016
}}
{{S-start}}
{{S-mil}}
{{succession box|
before=Generalleutnant [[Eugen Ott (general)|Eugen Ott]]|
after=General der Artillerie [[Maximilian Fretter-Pico]]|
title=Commander of [[XXX Army Corps (Wehrmacht)|XXX. Armeekorps]]|
years=May 10, 1941 – December 27, 1941
}}
{{Succession box|
before=Generaloberst [[Hermann Hoth]]|
after=Generaloberst [[Richard Ruoff]]|
title= Commander of [[17th Army (Wehrmacht)|17. Armee]]|
years=April 20, 1942 – May 31, 1942
}}
{{Succession box|
before=Generaloberst [[Gotthard Heinrici]]|
after=Generaloberst [[Gotthard Heinrici]]|
title= Commander of [[4th Army (Wehrmacht)|4. Armee]]|
years=June 6, 1942 - July 15, 1942
}}
{{Succession box|
before=General [[Maximilian von Weichs|Maximilian Reichsfreiherr von Weichs]]|
after=General [[Walter Weiß]]|
title= Commander of [[2nd Army (Wehrmacht)|2. Armee]]|
years=July 14, 1942 - February 3, 1943
}}
{{Succession box|
before=Generaloberst [[Gotthard Heinrici]]|
after=Generaloberst [[Gotthard Heinrici]]|
title= Commander of [[4th Army (Wehrmacht)|4. Armee]]|
years=June 1943 - July 31, 1943
}}
{{Succession box|
before=General [[Heinrich von Vietinghoff]] gennant Scheel|
after=General [[Gustav-Adolf von Zangen]]|
title= Commander of [[15th Army (Wehrmacht)|15. Armee]]|
years=August 8, 1943 - August 24, 1944
}}
{{S-end}}


{{Generaloberst of the Third Reich}}
==Portrayed in film==
{{High Command Trial defendants}}
{{Authority control}}
{{Subject bar
| portal1=Biography
}}


{{DEFAULTSORT:Salmuth, Hans Von}}
In the 1962 film, "[[The Longest Day (film)|The Longest Day]]", von Salmuth was portrayed by actor [[Ernst Schröder (actor)|Ernst Schröder]].
[[Category:1888 births]]

[[Category:1962 deaths]]
== References ==
[[Category:Military personnel from Metz]]
"Salmuth, Hans von." Encyclopædia Britannica from Encyclopædia Britannica Premium Service. <http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9344629> [Accessed March 25, 2006].
[[Category:Military personnel from Alsace-Lorraine]]

[[Category:German untitled nobility]]
Biography of Colonel-General Hans von Salmuth http://www.generals.dk/general/von_Salmuth/Hans/Germany.html
[[Category:German Army personnel of World War I]]

[[Category:German Army generals of World War II]]
Graves of Famous WWII Personalities
[[Category:Colonel generals of the German Army (Wehrmacht)]]
http://www.xs4all.nl/~ejnoomen/wwgrave.html
[[Category:Recipients of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross]]

[[Category:Recipients of the clasp to the Iron Cross, 1st class]]
[[David Irving]]: Hitler's War,Germany 1939-1945, ch. 36 (D-Day quote)
[[Category:German people convicted of war crimes]]
http://www.fpp.co.uk/books/Hitler/1977/html_chapter/36.html
[[Category:German people convicted of crimes against humanity]]

[[Category:People convicted by the United States Nuremberg Military Tribunals]]
[[Category:German generals|Salmuth]]
[[Category:Reichswehr personnel]]

Latest revision as of 08:26, 20 December 2024

Hans Eberhard Kurt von Salmuth
Born(1888-11-11)11 November 1888
Metz, Elsass-Lothringen, Germany
Died1 January 1962(1962-01-01) (aged 73)
Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, West Germany
AllegianceGermany
Service / branchArmy
Years of service1907–45
Rank Generaloberst
UnitHeeresgruppe B
Battles / warsWorld War I
World War II
AwardsKnight's Cross of the Iron Cross

Hans Eberhard Kurt Freiherr von Salmuth (11 November 1888 – 1 January 1962) was a German general of the Wehrmacht during World War II. Salmuth commanded several armies on the Eastern Front, and the Fifteenth Army in France during the D-Day invasion. Following the war, he was tried in the High Command Trial, as part of the Subsequent Nuremberg Trials. He was found guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity and sentenced to 20 years. He was released in 1953.[1]

World War II

[edit]

Hans von Salmuth, son of Oberstleutnant Friedrich Ernst Werner Anton Freiherr von Salmuth (1853–1926), joined the Prussian Army in 1907 and served in the German Army in World War I. Salmuth remained in the army and served as chief of staff of II Corps from 1934 to 1937. He was assigned as chief of staff to the First Army Group Command. In 1938 he was transferred as Chief of Staff to the Second Army. In 1939 he was Chief of Staff for Army Group North, commanded by General Fedor von Bock, during the invasion of Poland. Salmuth continued as Chief of Staff to Bock, when the latter was given command of Army Group B for the invasion of Belgium and France, in May 1940. In July 1940 Salmuth was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross. On 1 August 1940, he was promoted to lieutenant-general.

In 1941, Salmuth was assigned to the Eastern Front and given command of XXX Corps. He participated in Operation Barbarossa and took part in the Battle of Sevastopol. As all German corps on the Eastern Front, Salmuth's corps implemented the criminal Commissar Order.[2] In 1942, he was made acting commander of the Seventeenth Army (20 April 1942 to 1 June 1942). For a short time, 6 June 1942 to 15 July 1942, he was assigned to command the Fourth Army, replacing the former commander, Gotthard Heinrici, who went on leave. In mid-July 1942 he was given command of the Second Army.

In January 1943 Salmuth was promoted to Generaloberst, the second highest German officer rank in the Wehrmacht. At that time, he was faced with the Soviet Voronezh-Kastornensk Operation, in which the Second Army was almost destroyed. On 3 February 1943, he was given command of the Fourth Army until July 1943. In August 1943, Salmuth was reassigned to command the Fifteenth Army stationed at Pas-de-Calais, France. Salmuth was relieved of his command, in late August 1944, following the disintegration of the German front line, after the Allied breakout from Normandy (Operation Cobra), receiving no further command.

Trial and conviction

[edit]

Salmuth was tried in the High Command Trial, as part of the Subsequent Nuremberg Trials. Salmuth was found guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity, including murder and mis-treatment of Soviet prisoners of war, and of murder, deportation, and hostage-taking of civilians in occupied countries. He was sentenced to 20 years imprisonment. His sentence was reviewed in 1951, commuted to 12 years and backdated to June 1945. Salmuth was released in July 1953.[3] He died in 1962.

Service record

[edit]
Commissions
  • XXX Corps - 10 May 1941 - 27 December 1941
  • Seventeenth Army - 20 April 1942 - 1 June 1942
  • Fourth Army - 6 June 1942 - 15 July 1942
  • Second Army - 15 July 1942 - 3 February 1943
  • Fourth Army - c. June 1943 - 31 July 1943
  • Fifteenth Army - 1 August 1943 - 25 August 1944
Awards

References

[edit]

Citations

[edit]
  1. ^ "Countdown to D-Day: Von Salmuth - Casemate UK Books Blog". 31 May 2019.
  2. ^ Stahel 2015, p. 28.
  3. ^ Hébert 2010, pp. 209, 218.
  4. ^ Scherzer 2007, p. 649.

Bibliography

[edit]
[edit]
Military offices
Preceded by
Generalleutnant Eugen Ott
 Commander of XXX. Armeekorps
May 10, 1941 – December 27, 1941 		Succeeded by
General der Artillerie Maximilian Fretter-Pico
Preceded by
Generaloberst Hermann Hoth
 Commander of 17. Armee
April 20, 1942 – May 31, 1942 		Succeeded by
Generaloberst Richard Ruoff
Preceded by
Generaloberst Gotthard Heinrici
 Commander of 4. Armee
June 6, 1942 - July 15, 1942 		Succeeded by
Generaloberst Gotthard Heinrici
Preceded by Commander of 2. Armee
July 14, 1942 - February 3, 1943 		Succeeded by
General Walter Weiß
Preceded by
Generaloberst Gotthard Heinrici
 Commander of 4. Armee
June 1943 - July 31, 1943 		Succeeded by
Generaloberst Gotthard Heinrici
Preceded by
General Heinrich von Vietinghoff gennant Scheel
 Commander of 15. Armee
August 8, 1943 - August 24, 1944 		Succeeded by
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/enwiki/w/index.php?title=Hans_von_Salmuth&oldid=1264076224"