Adolf Hamann (3 September 1885 – 30 December 1945) was a German general. He was executed for war crimes.

Early life and inter-war years

Hamann joined the Schwerin 89th Grenadier Regiment on 16 July 1901. In 1914, during the first year of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, he was twice awarded the

Iron Cross The Iron Cross (german: link=no, Eisernes Kreuz, , abbreviated EK) was a military decoration in the Kingdom of Prussia, and later in the German Empire (1871–1918) and Nazi Germany (1933–1945). King Frederick William III of Prussia est ...

. In the inter-war years, Hamann served in the

Reichswehr ''Reichswehr'' () was the official name of the German armed forces during the Weimar Republic and the first years of the Third Reich. After Germany was defeated in World War I, the Imperial German Army () was dissolved in order to be reshaped ...

and then the

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 previous ...

World War II

Immediately after the

German invasion of Poland The invasion of Poland (1 September – 6 October 1939) was a joint attack on the Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union which marked the beginning of World War II. The German invasion began on 1 September 1939, one week afte ...

, Hamann was given the command of a frontier defense zone on the Polish border, which he held until 8 January 1940. Afterwards, he commanded a reserve infantry battalion until 25 July 1941. From 4 August until 14 January the following year, he headed a regiment in the 239th Infantry Division. After the division was dissolved, he was transferred to the

Führerreserve The (“Leaders Reserve” or "Reserve for Leaders") was set up in the German Armed Forces during World War II in 1939 as a pool of temporarily unoccupied high-ranking military officers awaiting new assignments. The various military branches and ...

, where he remained until 1 April. Then he was posted as the commander of a regiment in the 370th Division, stationed at

Reims Reims ( , , ; also spelled Rheims in English) is the most populous city in the French department of Marne, and the 12th most populous city in France. The city lies northeast of Paris on the Vesle river, a tributary of the Aisne. Founded by ...

, in the French

Zone occupée The Military Administration in France (german: Militärverwaltung in Frankreich; french: Occupation de la France par l'Allemagne) was an interim occupation authority established by Nazi Germany during World War II to administer the occupied zo ...

. He was recalled to the reserve on 14 May. On 1 June 1942, he was promoted to major general and sent to serve as the military commander of

Oryol Oryol ( rus, Орёл, p=ɐˈrʲɵl, lit. ''eagle''), also transliterated as Orel or Oriol, is a city and the administrative center of Oryol Oblast situated on the Oka River, approximately south-southwest of Moscow. It is part of the Central Fed ...

, in the German-occupied area of the Soviet Union. During the

Battle of Kursk The Battle of Kursk was a major World War II Eastern Front engagement between the forces of Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union near Kursk in the southwestern USSR during late summer 1943; it ultimately became the largest tank battle in history. ...

, while still commandant of Oryol, he was the chief of ''Gruppe Hamann'' - a support formation which consisted mainly of the 3rd Brandenburg Regiment and existed from 20 July to 1 August as part of General

Lothar Rendulic Lothar Rendulic ( hr, Rendulić; 23 October 1887 – 17 January 1971)Rudolf Neck, Adam Wandruszka, Isabella Ackerl (ed.) (1980): ''Protokolle des Ministerrates der Ersten Republik, 1918–1938, Abteilung VIII, 20. Mai 1932 bis 25. Juli 1934''. ...

's XXXV Corps. On 4 August, after Oryol's liberation in

Operation Kutuzov Operation Kutuzov was the first of the two counteroffensives launched by the Red Army as part of the Kursk Strategic Offensive Operation. It commenced on 12 July 1943, in the Central Russian Upland, against Army Group Center of the German '' He ...

, he was made commandant of

Bryansk Bryansk ( rus, Брянск, p=brʲansk) is a city and the administrative center of Bryansk Oblast, Russia, situated on the River Desna, southwest of Moscow. Population: Geography Urban layout The location of the settlement was originally ass ...

. When it was retaken by the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, after ...

on 17 September, he became the military commander in

Bobruisk Babruysk, Babrujsk or Bobruisk ( be, Бабруйск , Łacinka: , rus, Бобруйск, Bobrujsk, bɐˈbruɪ̯s̪k, yi, באָברויסק ) is a city in the Mogilev Region of eastern Belarus on the Berezina River. , its population was 2 ...

, in

Belorussia Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by R ...

. On 20 June, he was given command of the 383rd Infantry Division, replacing General

Edmund Hoffmeister Edmund Hoffmeister (4 March 1893 – 20 February 1951) was an officer in the German Army, mainly notable for his service in World War II. Hoffmeister's military service began in 1914 in the Imperial German army. During the 1930s, Hoffmeis ...

, while retaining his position as commandant of what was now the Fortified Area Bobruisk.

Samuel W. Mitcham Samuel W. Mitcham Jr. is an American author and military historian who specializes in the German war effort during World War II and the Confederate war effort during the American Civil War. He is the author of more than 40 books and has collabo ...

: ''German Order of Battle, Volume Two: 291st 999th Infantry Divisions, Named Infantry Divisions, and Special Divisions in WWII''. . Page 85.

Surrender and trial

On 22 June 1944, the Red Army launched

Operation Bagration Operation Bagration (; russian: Операция Багратио́н, Operatsiya Bagration) was the codename for the 1944 Soviet Byelorussian strategic offensive operation (russian: Белорусская наступательная оп� ...

. The Soviet forces soon overwhelmed the German forces stationed near Bobruisk and encircled the city on the 27th. On 28 June 1944, Hamann, along with the rest of the Bobruisk garrison, was taken prisoner. On 17 July, he was paraded through the streets of Moscow with 50,000 other captured German soldiers, in the aftermath of Bagration. On 30 December 1945, a Soviet military tribunal convicted him of war crimes against the civilian populations of Bryansk and Bobruisk.Full transcript of the USSR state report ''Crimes of the Fascist German Invaders in Belorussia, 1941-1945''
Hamann was sentenced to death and hanged on the same day.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hamann, Adolf 1885 births 1945 deaths People from Ludwigslust-Parchim People from the Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin German Army personnel of World War I Recipients of the clasp to the Iron Cross, 1st class Recipients of the Military Merit Cross (Mecklenburg-Schwerin), 1st class Lieutenant generals of the German Army (Wehrmacht) German prisoners of war in World War II held by the Soviet Union Executed people from Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania German people convicted of war crimes People executed for war crimes Nazis executed by the Soviet Union by hanging