Gerhard Bechly

	Gerhard Bechly Gerhard Bechly (born 1898) was a lieutenant colonel in the Wehrmacht (German Army) who helped to establish the League of German Officers in September 1943 as a part of the German resistance to Nazism. Career Gerhard Bechly was a professional soldier who rose to the rank of lieutenant colonel and adjutant in the 295th Infantry Division of the German Army.''Die getarnte Armee: Geschichte der Kasernierten Volkspolizei der DDR, 1952-1956'', by Torsten Diedrich & Rudiger Wenzke, Hrsg. vom Militargerchichtlichen Forschungsamt, Berlin, 2003, page 892, ''Die 295. Infanterie-Division van 1940 bis 1945'', by Wolfgang Kirstein, 2004, page 13, In 1942, Lieutenant-Colonel Bechly was captured at the Battle of Stalingrad by the Soviet Army and became a prisoner-of-war at Lunjowo POW Camp 27, in Krasnogorsk, Moscow Oblast. As a prisoner-of-war, he worked to establish the National Committee for a Free Germany (NKFD) on 12 July 1943.''The Free Germany movement: a case of patriotism or treason?'' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu]
picture info	Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmacht''" replaced the previously used term and was the manifestation of the Nazi regime's efforts to rearm Germany to a greater extent than the Treaty of Versailles permitted. After the Nazi rise to power in 1933, one of Adolf Hitler's most overt and audacious moves was to establish the ''Wehrmacht'', a modern offensively-capable armed force, fulfilling the Nazi régime's long-term goals of regaining lost territory as well as gaining new territory and dominating its neighbours. This required the reinstatement of conscription and massive investment and defense spending on the arms industry. The ''Wehrmacht'' formed the heart of Germany's politico-military power. In the early part of the Second World War, the ''Wehrmacht'' employed combined arms tactics (close-cover ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu]
picture info	National Committee Free Germany The National Committee for a Free Germany (german: Nationalkomitee Freies Deutschland, or NKFD) was a German anti-Nazi organization that operated in the Soviet Union during World War II.The Russians in Germany: A History of the Soviet Zone of Occupation, By Norman M. Naimark Published 1995 Harvard University Press Communism and culture/ Germany (East) 586 pages History The rise of the Nazi Party to power in Germany in 1933 led to the outlawing of the Communist Party of Germany (KPD) and persecutions of its members, many of whom fled to the Soviet Union. With the German invasion of the Soviet Union in Operation Barbarossa, German prisoners of war began to fall into Soviet hands. Attempts to establish an anti-Nazi organization from these POWs met with little success, since most of them still believed in the final victory of the Wehrmacht. With the German defeat at the Battle of Stalingrad, the number of German POWs increased and their belief in a victorious Germany weakened, hen ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu]