Hermann Foertsch (4 April 1895 – 27 December 1961) was a German general during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

who held commands at the divisional, corps and army levels. He was a recipient of the

Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross (), 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. While it was order of precedence, lower in preceden ...

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...

. Foertsch was tried at the Hostages Trial in 1947. The trial resulted in Foertsch's acquittal because he was a staff officer at the time that the criminal orders were transmitted.

Hostages trial

As a chief of staff for several generals commanding Wehrmacht forces in occupied

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

and

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

, Foertsch passed on orders to subordinate units to take hostages or conduct reprisals. These orders were deemed criminal by the Tribunal, but staff officers were not considered culpable unless they drafted such criminal orders or made a special effort to distribute them to the troops that carried them out. Citing a lack of evidence of a commission of an unlawful act, the Tribunal acquitted Foertsch of war crimes.

Later life

After his acquittal, Foertsch collaborated with

Hans Speidel Hans Speidel (28 October 1897 – 28 November 1984) was a German military officer who successively served in the armies of the German Empire, Nazi Germany and West Germany. The first general officer of the '' Bundeswehr'', he was a key player in ...

in the development of concepts for Germany's rearmament many years before the official foundation of the

Bundeswehr The (, ''Federal Defence'') are the armed forces of the Germany, Federal Republic of Germany. The is divided into a military part (armed forces or ''Streitkräfte'') and a civil part, the military part consists of the four armed forces: Germ ...

, the German army, in 1955. In 1950, Foertsch was the leading member of the select group of former Wehrmacht high-ranking officers invited by Chancellor

Konrad Adenauer Konrad Hermann Joseph Adenauer (5 January 1876 – 19 April 1967) was a German statesman and politician who served as the first Chancellor of Germany, chancellor of West Germany from 1949 to 1963. From 1946 to 1966, he was the first leader of th ...

to take part in the conference to discuss

West Germany West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...

's rearmament ''(

Wiederbewaffnung West German rearmament () began in the decades after World War II. Fears of another rise of German militarism caused the new military to operate within an alliance framework, under NATO command. The events led to the establishment of the ''Bund ...

''). The conference resulted in the Himmerod memorandum that contributed to the myth of the "

clean Wehrmacht The myth of the clean ''Wehrmacht'' () is the negationist notion that the regular German armed forces (the ''Wehrmacht'') were not involved in the Holocaust or other war crimes during World War II. The myth, heavily promoted by German author ...

". Foertsch was involved in the establishment of the European anti-communist organisation Interdoc.

Awards and decorations

on 27 August 1944 as ''

Generalleutnant () is the German-language variant of lieutenant general, used in some German speaking countries. Austria Generalleutnant is the second highest general officer rank in the Austrian Armed Forces (''Bundesheer''), roughly equivalent to the NATO ...

'' and commander of 21. Infanterie-Division Fellgiebel 2000, p. 154.

Works

* ''York. Das Leben eines altpreußischen Generals.'', Verlag: Coleman, Lübeck, 1932 * ''Wehrmacht und öffentliche Meinung'', Verlag nicht ermittelbar, 1933 * ''Der deutsche Soldat.'' - Leipzig: Seemann, 1934 * ''Im gleichen Schritt und Tritt! Das tönende Buch vom deutschen Heer'', Verlag: Knorr & Hirth, München, 1934 * ''Die Wehrmacht im nationalsozialistischen Staat.'' Broschek, 1935 * ''Unsere deutsche Wehrmacht.'' - Berlin: Zeitgeschichte-Verl., 1935 * ''Der Offizier der neuen Wehrmacht - Eine Pflichtenlehre.'' - Berlin: Eisenschmidt, 1936. * ''Wehrpflicht-Fibel.'', Verlag "Offene Worte", 1937 * ''Schuld und Verhängnis – Die Fritsch-Krise im Frühjahr 1938 als Wendepunkt in der nationalsozialistischen Zeit.'' DVA, 1951 * ''Grundzüge der Wehrpolitik.'', Hanseatische Verlagsanstalt, 1938 * ''Kriegskunst heute und morgen.'' - Berlin: Zeitgeschichte-Verl., 1939 * ''Der Offizier der deutschen Wehrmacht.'' - Berlin: Eisenschmidt, 1940 * ''Psychologische Kriegführung: Vortrag'', Evang. Akademie, 1953 English: * ''The Art of Modern Warfare'', Veritas Press, 1940 * ''My Opinions with Regard to Reports 1'', Historical Division, Headquarters United States Army, 1947 * ''Basic Concepts and Organization for the Conduct of War Prior to World War II'', United States, Department of the Army, 1948 Italian: * ''L'arte della guerra di oggi e di domani.'', Nicola Zanichelli Editore, Bologna, 1940

References

Citations

Bibliography

* * * Scott-Smith, Giles. ''Interdoc and West European Psychological Warfare: The American Connection''. Intelligence and National Security Vol. 26, Nos. 2–3, 355–376, April–June 2011. * {{DEFAULTSORT:Foertsch, Hermann 1895 births 1961 deaths People from Człopa Military personnel from West Prussia Generals of Infantry (Wehrmacht) Prussian Army personnel German Army personnel of World War I 20th-century Freikorps personnel Reichswehr personnel German Army generals of World War II Himmerod meeting participants Yugoslavia in World War II German prisoners of war in World War II held by the United States People acquitted by the United States Nuremberg Military Tribunals 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