__NOTOC__ General Fritz Lindemann (11 April 1894 – 22 September 1944) was a German officer in 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 ...

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

and member of the resistance to

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...

. Lindemann served as commander of the 132nd Infantry Division from January 1942 to August 1943, before appointment as

Chief of Staff The title chief of staff (or head of staff) identifies the leader of a complex organization such as the armed forces, institution, or body of persons and it also may identify a principal staff officer (PSO), who is the coordinator of the supporti ...

of the Artillery

Oberkommando des Heeres The (; abbreviated OKH) was the Command (military formation), high command of the German Army (1935–1945), Army of Nazi Germany. It was founded in 1935 as part of Adolf Hitler's German rearmament, rearmament of Germany. OKH was ''de facto'' t ...

. Lindemann developed contacts with conspirators against

including General

Helmuth Stieff Hellmuth Stieff (6 June 1901 – 8 August 1944) was a German general and a member of the OKH (German Army Headquarters) during World War II. He took part in attempts by the German resistance to assassinate Adolf Hitler on 7 and 20 July 1944. C ...

, and following the assassination of Hitler it was proposed that he would read the conspirators’ proclamation to the German people over the radio, but he did not appear at the

Bendlerblock The Bendlerblock is a building complex in the Tiergarten district of Berlin, Germany, located on Stauffenbergstraße (formerly named ''Bendlerstraße''). Erected in 1914 as headquarters of several Imperial German Navy (''Kaiserliche Marine'') off ...

on 20 July 1944 in order to do so. After the failure of the

20 July plot On 20 July 1944, Claus von Stauffenberg and other conspirators attempted to assassinate Adolf Hitler, Führer of Nazi Germany, inside his Wolf's Lair field headquarters near Rastenburg, East Prussia, now Kętrzyn, in present-day Poland. The ...

coup attempt he went into hiding. He was seriously wounded during his arrest by the

Gestapo The (), abbreviated Gestapo (; ), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe. The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of Prussia into one organi ...

in September 1944 and died in hospital from his injuries. After standing trial for helping him at the Nazi People's Court, Erich and Elisabeth Gloeden, Elisabeth Kuznitzky, Hans Sierks and Carl Marks were all sentenced to death. They were executed by

guillotine A guillotine is an apparatus designed for efficiently carrying out executions by beheading. The device consists of a tall, upright frame with a weighted and angled blade suspended at the top. The condemned person is secured with stocks at th ...

Plötzensee Prison Plötzensee Prison (german: Justizvollzugsanstalt Plötzensee, JVA Plötzensee) is a juvenile prison in the Charlottenburg-Nord locality of Berlin with a capacity for 577 prisoners, operated by the State of Berlin judicial administration. The d ...

in September 1944.

Awards and decorations

Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross (german: Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes), or simply the Knight's Cross (), and its variants, were the highest awards in the military and paramilitary forces of Nazi Germany during World War II. The Knight' ...

on 4 September 1941 as

Oberst ''Oberst'' () is a senior field officer rank in several German-speaking and Scandinavian countries, equivalent to colonel. It is currently used by both the ground and air forces of Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Denmark, and Norway. The Swedish ...

and commander of Arko 138.

References

Citations

Bibliography

* Bauer, Frank (1995). ''Sie gaben ihr Leben: Unbekannte Opfer des 20. Juli 1944, General Fritz Lindemann und seine Fluchthelfer''; Chronos Publ. * Bidermann, Gottlob Herbert (2000). ''In Deadly Combat: A German Soldier's Memoir of the Eastern Front''; Univ. Press of Kansas Publ. *

External links

dhm.de Biography of Fritz Lindemann
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lindemann, Fritz 1894 births 1944 deaths People from Charlottenburg German Army personnel of World War I Prussian Army personnel German Army generals of World War II Generals of Artillery (Wehrmacht) Members of the 20 July plot Recipients of the Gold German Cross Recipients of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross Recipients of the clasp to the Iron Cross, 1st class 20th-century Freikorps personnel Military personnel from Berlin People executed by Nazi Germany by guillotine Executed members of the 20 July plot