Career
Rothkirch und Trach commanded Army Group Centre Rear Area starting in 1943. Between 18 April and 27 October 1944, he was '' Wehrmachtbefehlshaber Weißruthenien'' (Military commander in Belarus). In November 1944, he was appointed to command the LIII Army Corps. On 6 March 1945 Rothkirch, still commanding officer of LIII Corps, wandered into U.S. lines and was taken prisoner west of Coblenz, Germany. He was interned at Trent Park, an English prison camp in North London for high-ranking German officers.Knowledge of the Holocaust
While stationed in"Many Wehrmacht soldiers became witnesses to the Holocaust because they happened to be present or were invited to take part in a mass shooting. In one cell conversation, army General Edwin Graf von Rothkirch und Trach talks about his time in the General Government town of Kutno: ''"I knew an SS leader pretty well, and we talked about this and that, and one day he said: 'Listen, if you ever want to film one of these shootings? …I mean, it doesn't really matter. These people are always shot in the morning. If you're interested, we still have a few left over, and we could also shoot them in the afternoon if you like."'' It takes some sense of routine to be able to make such an offer. The fact that the people involved did not try to keep their activities a secret demonstrates how much the perpetrators took for granted the "mass shootings of Jews," as one of the POWs in Trent Park called it."Jan Fleischhauer (April 08, 2011),Rothkirch und Trach died in 1980.
Rape, Murder and Genocide: Nazi War Crimes as Described by German Soldiers
'. Retrieved on Nov 9, 2015
References
Citations
Bibliography
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rothkirch und Trach, Edwin Graf von 1888 births 1980 deaths People from Milicz People from the Province of Silesia Prussian nobility German Army generals of World War II Generals of Cavalry (Wehrmacht) Recipients of the Gold German Cross Officers Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany