Franz Friedrich Böhme (15 April 1885 – 29 May 1947) was an Army officer who served in succession with the

Austro-Hungarian Army The Austro-Hungarian Army, also known as the Imperial and Royal Army,; was the principal ground force of Austria-Hungary from 1867 to 1918. It consisted of three organisations: the Common Army (, recruited from all parts of Austria-Hungary), ...

, the Austrian Army and the German Wehrmacht. He rose to the rank of 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 ...

, serving as Commander of the XVIII Mountain Corps, Hitler's Plenipotentiary Commanding General () in the Balkans, and commander-in-chief in German-occupied Norway during World War II. After the war, Böhme was transferred to U.S. custody as a defendant in the Hostages Trial on charges of having massacred thousands of Serbian civilians. He committed suicide in prison.

Biography

Early career

Franz Böhme was born in

Zeltweg Zeltweg () is a town in Styria, Austria. It is located in the Aichfeld basin of the Mur River in Upper Styria. Larger municipalities in the vicinity are Judenburg, Knittelfeld and Fohnsdorf. History Some farms were recorded at Zeltweg in the Du ...

Styria Styria ( ; ; ; ) is an Austrian Federal states of Austria, state in the southeast of the country. With an area of approximately , Styria is Austria's second largest state, after Lower Austria. It is bordered to the south by Slovenia, and cloc ...

, Austria on 15 April 1885. He entered the

in October 1900 as a cadet and was commissioned as a lieutenant in an infantry regiment in 1905. He served in

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

and remained in the Austrian Bundesheer after 1918, transferring to the

Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the German Army (1935–1945), ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmac ...

on the

Anschluss The (, or , ), also known as the (, ), was the annexation of the Federal State of Austria into Nazi Germany on 12 March 1938. The idea of an (a united Austria and Germany that would form a "German Question, Greater Germany") arose after t ...

with Germany in 1938, replacing Alfred Jansa as the Austrian Chief of Staff. During the opening years of World War II, Böhme held command of the 30th Infantry Division and 32nd Infantry Division, taking part in the

invasion of Poland The invasion of Poland, also known as the September Campaign, Polish Campaign, and Polish Defensive War of 1939 (1 September – 6 October 1939), was a joint attack on the Second Polish Republic, Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany, the Slovak R ...

in September 1939 and in the

Battle of France The Battle of France (; 10 May – 25 June 1940), also known as the Western Campaign (), the French Campaign (, ) and the Fall of France, during the Second World War was the Nazi Germany, German invasion of the Low Countries (Belgium, Luxembour ...

in May and June 1940. On 29 June 1940, he was awarded 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 ...

In Serbia

Between 16 September 1941 and 2 December 1941, as Commanding General and Commander of

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

, Böhme ordered the reprisal executions of 2,000 civilians in

Kragujevac Kragujevac ( sr-Cyrl, Крагујевац, ) is the List of cities in Serbia, fourth largest city in Serbia and the administrative centre of the Šumadija District. It is the historical centre of the geographical region of Šumadija in central Se ...

after a partisan assault on 22 soldiers of the 421 Korps-Nachrichten-Abteilung. On the suggestion of Harald Turner, head of the German military administration's staff in occupied Serbia, Böhme ordered the Mačva operation of September-October 1941 to "cleanse Podrinje" as retaliation to the Uprising in Serbia of July to November 1941. Böhme ordered that all villages that shot at the German Army or that had weapons found in them should be razed, and the male population between 15 and 60 arrested. On September 25, 1941, he issued an additional order: that the operation had to be ruthless to show an example to the rest of Serbia. In response to the death of 21 German soldiers near Topola on October 2, Böhme ordered that 100 prisoners be shot for every dead German soldier. From concentration camps in

Šabac Šabac ( sr-Cyrl, Шабац, ) is a List of cities in Serbia, city and the administrative centre of the Mačva District in western Serbia. The traditional centre of the fertile Mačva region, Šabac is located on the right banks of the river ...

and

Belgrade Belgrade is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin, Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. T ...

2000 prisoners were selected (mostly Jews and communists) and executed on locality between Jabuka and

Pančevo Pančevo (Serbian Cyrillic: Панчево, ; ; ; ; ) is a list of cities in Serbia, city and the administrative center of the South Banat District in the autonomous province of Vojvodina, Serbia. It is located on the shores of rivers Timiș (ri ...

on October 9. On October 14 Böhme issued an order to arrest family-members of insurgents - wives and male relatives over the age of 15. Böhme was replaced by

Paul Bader Paul Bader (20 July 1883 – 28 February 1971) was a ''General der Artillerie'' (lieutenant general) of the Wehrmacht during World War II who commanded the 2nd Motorized Infantry Division in the invasions of Poland and France then served as ...

as commander of Serbia on December 5, 1941.

After Serbia

In December 1943, Böhme was appointed Deputy Commanding General of the XVIII Corps and Commander of Wehrkreis XVIII,

Salzburg Salzburg is the List of cities and towns in Austria, fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020 its population was 156,852. The city lies on the Salzach, Salzach River, near the border with Germany and at the foot of the Austrian Alps, Alps moun ...

. On 4 June 1944, he was delegated with the leadership of the Second Panzer Army in the Balkans, succeeding ''

Generaloberst A ("colonel general") was the second-highest general officer rank in the German '' Reichswehr'' and ''Wehrmacht'', the Austro-Hungarian Common Army, the East German National People's Army and in their respective police services. The rank w ...

Lothar Rendulic Lothar Rendulic (; 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''. Vienna: Verlag ...

. In July 1944, Böhme was transferred to the Army's High Command Leader Reserve, giving up control of the

2nd Panzer Army The 2nd Panzer Army () was a German armoured formation during World War II, formed from the 2nd Panzer Group on October 5, 1941. Organisation Panzer Group Guderian () was formed on 5 June 1940 and named after its commander, general Heinz Gude ...

to General

Maximilian de Angelis __NOTOC__ Maximilian de Angelis (2 October 1889 – 6 December 1974) was a general in the Wehrmacht of Nazi Germany during World War II. He was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves. On 4 April 1946 Angelis was ext ...

. Between 8 January 1945 and 8 May 1945, he served as Armed Forces Commander of Norway and Commander-in-Chief of the 20th Mountain Army.

Trial and suicide

After being captured in

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

, he was brought before the Hostages Trial, a division of the Subsequent Nuremberg Trials, and charged with war crimes committed in Serbia during his control of the region in 1941. At that time, he had increased the scale of retaliatory strikes against Serbs, killing a hundred Serbs for every German soldier killed, and fifty for every German soldier wounded; this resulted in the massacre of thousands of civilians. When his extradition to

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 ...

seemed imminent, Böhme committed suicide by jumping from the fourth storey of the prison in which he was being held. His body was interred at St. Leonhard-Friedhof in

Graz Graz () is the capital of the Austrian Federal states of Austria, federal state of Styria and the List of cities and towns in Austria, second-largest city in Austria, after Vienna. On 1 January 2025, Graz had a population of 306,068 (343,461 inc ...

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

Awards and decorations

Iron Cross The Iron Cross (, , abbreviated EK) was a military decoration in the Kingdom of Prussia, the German Empire (1871–1918), and Nazi Germany (1933–1945). The design, a black cross pattée with a white or silver outline, was derived from the in ...

(1914) ** 2nd Class (1916) ** 1st Class (12 June 1917) *

(1939) ** 2nd Class (12 September 1939) ** 1st Class (25 September 1939) * Order of the Cross of Liberty 1st Class with Oak leaves and Swords (Finland) *

German Cross The War Order of the German Cross (), normally abbreviated to the German Cross or ''Deutsches Kreuz'', was instituted by Adolf Hitler on 28 September 1941. It was awarded in two divisions: in gold for repeated acts of bravery or military leade ...

in Gold on 10 February 1944 as ''

General der Infanterie General of the infantry is a military rank of a General officer in the infantry and refers to: * General of the Infantry (Austria) * General of the Infantry (Bulgaria) * General of the Infantry (Germany) ('), a rank of a general in the German Impe ...

'' in the XVIII. (Gebirgs) Armeekorps *

on 29 June 1940 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 ...

'' commander of 32. Infanterie-Division

References

Citations

Bibliography

* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bohme, Franz 1885 births 1947 suicides 1947 deaths Austrian generals Austrian Nazis Austro-Hungarian Army officers Austro-Hungarian military personnel of World War I Austrian mass murderers Austrian military personnel of World War II Austrian military personnel who died by suicide Austrian people who died in prison custody Austrian war criminals Gebirgsjäger of World War II Generals of Mountain Troops Genocide of Serbs in the Independent State of Croatia perpetrators German Army generals of World War II Heads of government who were later imprisoned Recipients of the clasp to the Iron Cross, 1st class Recipients of the Gold German Cross Recipients of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross Recipients of the Order of the Cross of Liberty, 1st Class People indicted by the United States Nuremberg Military Tribunals People from Zeltweg Nazis who died by suicide in prison custody Nazis who died by suicide in Germany Prisoners who died in United States military detention Suicides by jumping in Germany