__NOTOC__ Erwin Jaenecke (22 April 1890 – 3 July 1960), was a general 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 previo ...

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 ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

who commanded the 17th Army. Jaenecke served on the Eastern Front as commander of the 389th Infantry Division and later the IV Army Corps. He was wounded at the Battle of Stalingrad and flown out as one of the last higher officers. In April 1943 he commanded the LXXXII Army Corps, and from 25 June the 17th Army in the

Caucasus The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, mainly comprising Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia (country), Georgia, and parts of Southern Russia. The Caucasus Mountains, including the Greater Caucasus range ...

and later the

Crimean Peninsula Crimea, crh, Къырым, Qırım, grc, Κιμμερία / Ταυρική, translit=Kimmería / Taurikḗ ( ) is a peninsula in Ukraine, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, that has been occupied by Russia since 2014. It has a pop ...

. In a 29 April 1944 meeting with Adolf Hitler in Berchtesgaden, Jaenecke insisted that

Sevastopol Sevastopol (; uk, Севасто́поль, Sevastópolʹ, ; gkm, Σεβαστούπολις, Sevastoúpolis, ; crh, Акъя́р, Aqyár, ), sometimes written Sebastopol, is the largest city in Crimea, and a major port on the Black Sea ...

should be evacuated. He was relieved of his command afterward. Later, he was held responsible for the loss of Crimea, arrested in Romania and court-martialed.

Heinz Guderian Heinz Wilhelm Guderian (; 17 June 1888 – 14 May 1954) was a German general during World War II who, after the war, became a successful memoirist. An early pioneer and advocate of the "blitzkrieg" approach, he played a central role in th ...

was appointed as a special investigator in the case. Guderian proceeded slowly and eventually Jaenecke was quietly acquitted in June 1944. Jaenecke was dismissed from the army on 31 January 1945. On 15 June 1945 he was arrested by the Soviet authorities and sentenced to 25 years of hard labor for war crimes committed under his army command in 1942. He was released in 1955.

Awards

* Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 9 October 1942Scherzer 2007, p. 416.

References

Citations

Bibliography

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Jaenecke, Erwin 1890 births 1960 deaths German Army generals of World War II Colonel generals of the German Army (Wehrmacht) German Army personnel of World War I Recipients of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross Recipients of the Gold German Cross German prisoners of war in World War II held by the Soviet Union Military personnel from Lower Saxony Recipients of the Order of Michael the Brave, 2nd class German military personnel of the Spanish Civil War People from Emsland Nazis convicted of war crimes