Gottlob Berger (July 16, 1896 - January 5, 1975) was a German general during World War II. Events 622 - The beginning of the Islamic calendar. 1054 - Three Roman legates fractured relations between the Western and Year 1896 ( MDCCCXCVI) was a Leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Leap year Events 1477 - Battle of Nancy: Charles the Bold is killed and Burgundy becomes part of France. Year 1975 ( MCMLXXV) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany ( ˈbʊndəsʁepuˌbliːk ˈdɔʏtʃlant is a Country in Central Europe. World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including From 1940, he was Chief of Staff for the military SS and head of the SS main leadership office. The ( German for "Protective Squadron" abbreviated SS - or ( Runic)- was a major Nazi organization under Adolf Hitler and the He was born at Gerstetten, Württemberg, and served as Himmler's main recruiting officer in 1939. Gerstetten is a municipality in the district of Heidenheim in the German state of Baden-Württemberg. Württemberg, formerly known as Wirtemberg, is an area and a former state in Swabia, a region in southwestern Germany.
Berger volunteered for Army service at the beginning of WWI and rose to the rank of first lieutenant in the infantry by the time of his discharge in 1919. World War I (abbreviated WWI; also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All He received several wounds and decorations of the iron cross first and second class. For other meanings please see Iron Cross (disambiguation The Iron Cross ( was a Military decoration of the Kingdom of Prussia After joining the Nazi Party in 1922, he became a member of the SA and entered SS service in 1936. The, officially National Socialist German Workers' Party, ( abbreviated NSDAP) was a Political party in Germany between 1919 and 1945 He achieved the rank of major in the reserve by 1938, but his initial rank upon entering the SS was colonel, based upon his SA service through 1933.
He was a co-author of Heinrich Himmler's pamphlet Der Untermensch, and also promoted the pamphlet Mit Schwert und Wiege (With Sword and Cradle) for the recruitment of non-Germans. Heinrich Luitpold Himmler ( 7 October 1900 – 23 May 1945 was a Nazi German politician and head of the Schutzstaffel (SS. Untermensch ( German for under man, sub-man, sub-human; plural Untermenschen is a term from Nazi racial Ideology He was the father-in-law of SS-Sturmbannführer Karl Leib, the head of the Norwegian recruitment office at Drammensveien, Oslo. Karl Leib was a German officer in Norway during World War II. In SS ranks he was known as one of Himmler's 'Twelve Apostles' and was nicknamed 'der Allmaechtige Gottlob' - 'the Almighty Gottlob'. His organizational abilities contributed to the amazing expansion of the Waffen-SS in World War II, but he also became ensnared in typical in-fighting among the SS hierarchy.
He ran the main SS office in Berlin from 1940 and was involved in liasing with the so called 'Eastern Territories'. The ( German for "Protective Squadron" abbreviated SS - or ( Runic)- was a major Nazi organization under Adolf Hitler and the Berlin is the capital city and one of sixteen states of Germany. At the beginning of World War II, significant Polish areas were annexed by Nazi Germany in contrary to Hague Convention IV 1907 and put under German civil In August 1944 he was sent to deal with an uprising in Slovakia and immediately after this was put in control of all prisoner of war camps. Slovakia (long form Slovak Republic; Slovak:, long form, is a Landlocked country in Central Europe with a population of over five million [1]
After the war, he was arrested and put on trial in the Ministries Trial in 1947. The Ministries Trial (or officially The United States of America vs Year 1947 ( MCMXLVII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display full 1947 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. In 1949 there was an attempt to assign blame for the POW death marches against Berger and the indictment read:
"that between September 1944 and May 1945, hundreds of thousands of American and Allied prisons of war were compelled to undertake forced marches in severe weather without adequate rest, shelter, food, clothing and medical supplies; and that such forced marches, conducted under the authority of the defendant Berger, chief of Prisoner-of-War Affairs, resulted in great privation and deaths to many thousands of prisoners. " The March " refers to a series of Death marches during the final stages of the Second World War in Europe "[2]
Berger claimed that it was in fact the Germans' duty under the Geneva Convention to remove POWs from a potential combat zone, as long as it did not put their lives in even greater danger. The Geneva Conventions consist of four Treaties formulated in Geneva, Switzerland, that set the standards for International law for humanitarian He also claimed that the rapid advance of the Red Army had surprised the Germans, who had planned to transport the POWs by train. The Red Army ( Russian: Рабоче-Крестьянская Красная Армия R aboche- K rest'yanskaya K rasnaya A rmiya He claimed that he had protested about the decision, made by Hitler, according to him, but he was "without power or authority to countermand or avoid the order". The case failed due to these claims and the lack of eyewitness evidence - most ex-POWs were completely unaware of the trial taking place. [3]
He was however convicted in 1949 for his role in the genocide of European Jews and sentenced to 25 years in prison. Year 1949 ( MCMXLIX) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. The Holocaust (from the Greek el ''ὁλόκαυστον'' (el-Latn holókauston holos, "completely" and kaustos, "burnt" also known as The sentence was reduced to 10 years in 1951 because of his refusal to kill the Prominente in Oflag IV-C at Colditz Castle, despite direct orders from Adolf Hitler. Year 1951 ( MCMLI) was a Common year starting on Monday. Events of 1951 January Oflag IV-C (Oflag is the abbreviation for Offizierslager, "officers camp" (often referred to as Colditz Castle because of its location was one of the most Colditz Castle is a Castle in the town of Colditz near Leipzig, Dresden, and Chemnitz in the state of Saxony Hi and welcome to Wikipedia! Please understand that this article is frequently vandalized and vandalism is reverted immediately He had helped these prisoners escape by moving them to Bavaria and then onto Austria where he met up with them twice before they were returned to American forces. Bavaria ( German:, with an area of 70553 Km² (27241 square miles and almost 12 Austria (Österreich ( officially the Republic of Austria (Republik Österreich He claimed that he had saved the Prominente as the head of the Gestapo, Ernst Kaltenbrunner, had sent a group of extremists to try and kill them. The ( contraction of ge heime Sta ats' po' lizei: "Secret State Police" was the official Secret police of Nazi Germany Ernst Kaltenbrunner (4 October 1903 &ndash 16 October 1946 was a senior Nazi official during World War II. [4]
After the war he claimed that Hitler had wanted more shootings of prisoners and more punishments, but that he had resisted this. In 1948 Berger gave details to an American judge in Nuremberg of Hitler's plans to hold 35,000 Allied prisoners hostage in a 'last redoubt' in the Bavarian mountains. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the If a peace deal was not forthcoming, Hitler had ordered that the hostages were to be executed. Berger claimed that on 22 April 1945 Hilter had signed orders to this effect and these were passed to him by Eva Braun but he decided to stall and not carry out the order. Eva Anna Paula Braun, died Eva Anna Paula Hitler ( 6 February 1912 – 30 April 1945) was the longtime companion of [5]
After WWII Berger also claimed that there was a plan, proposed by the Luftwaffe and approved by Hilter, to set up special POW camps for British and American airmen in the centre of large German cities to act as human shields against Allied bombing raids. World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including ( German 'luftvafe is a generic German term for an Air force. Hilter is a municipality in the district Osnabrück, Lower Saxony, Germany. Human shield is a military and political term describing the presence of civilians in or around combat targets to deter an enemy from attacking those targets Berger realised that this would contravene the Geneva Convention and argued that there was not enough barbed wire - as a result this plan was not implemented. The Geneva Conventions consist of four Treaties formulated in Geneva, Switzerland, that set the standards for International law for humanitarian [6]
After his release from prison in 1951, he worked on the staff of the right wing journal Nation Europa based in Coburg, and died 5 January 1975 in his city of birth. Nation Europa (now called Nation und Europa) is a monthly magazine published in Germany, that was originally established in support of Pan-European nationalism Coburg is a town located on the Itz River in Bavaria, Germany
References
- ^ The Last Escape - John Nichol, Tony Rennell - 2002 Penguin UK
- ^ Trials of War criminals before the Nuernberg Military Tribunals under Control Council Law No 10, Vol. XIII (Washington DC: US Government Printing Office, 1952)
- ^ The Last Escape - John Nichol, Tony Rennell - 2002 Penguin UK
- ^ The Last Escape - John Nichol, Tony Rennell - 2002 Penguin UK
- ^ The Last Escape - John Nichol, Tony Rennell - 2002 Penguin UK
- ^ Berger statement to Allied intelligence officers, Nuremberg, 19 October 1945
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