Erwin von Witzleben: Resisting Field Marshal

Erwin von Witzleben

A German army officer whose final rank was Field Marshal. He fought on the Western Front during World War I and held key positions in the armed forces during the interwar period. In World War II, while serving as commander of the 1st Army and Commander-in-Chief West, among other roles, he joined the military resistance movement against the Nazi regime. From 1938 onward, he was involved in multiple plans aiming to overthrow the Hitler regime, and in the July 20, 1944 assassination and coup plan, he was slated to become the Commander-in-Chief of the Wehrmacht upon success. Arrested after the failure of the plan, he was sentenced to death by the People's Court and executed at Plötzensee Prison in Berlin.

Timeline

Category
Element

Year	Erwin von Witzleben
1881	Birth of Erwin von Witzleben (Period: December 4, 1881, Location: Wrocław (now Poland))
1890	Completion of Prussian Cadet Training (Erwin von Witzleben, Age: 8 years old, Period: 1890s–1901, Location: Liegnitz, Lichterfelde)
1907	Marriage (Erwin von Witzleben, Alma Else Margarete Kleberg, Age: 25 years old, Period: May 21, 1907, Location: Chemnitz (present-day Germany))
1914	World War I (Age: 32 years old, Period: 1914–1918, Location: Western Front, Belgium and France)
1915	Military service in World War I (Age: 33 years old, Period: 1914–1918, Location: Western Front)
1919	Military Service during the Weimar Republic (Age: 37 years old, Period: 1919–1933, Location: Various places in Germany)
1934	Command of the 3rd Infantry Division and III Corps (Age: 52 years old, Period: 1934–1938, Location: Potsdam / Berlin) Night of the Long Knives (Age: 52 years old, Period: June 30 – July 2, 1934, Location: Various places in Germany)
1937	Participation in the Oster Conspiracy (Age: 55 years old, Period: 1937–1938, Location: Various locations in Germany including Berlin)
1938	Sudeten Crisis (Age: 56 years old, Period: 1938, Location: Czechoslovakia, Germany, France, and United Kingdom)
1939	World War II (Age: 57 years old, Period: 1939–1945, Location: UK, France, North Africa, Mediterranean, Atlantic, etc.) 1939 Anti-Hitler Plot (Age: 57 years old, Period: 1939, Location: Berlin, Germany, etc.) Battle of France as Commander of the 1st Army (Age: 57 years old, Period: 1939–1940, Location: Western Germany / France)
1941	World War II / German-Soviet War (Age: 59 years old, Period: From 1941 onwards, Location: Eastern Front / Soviet Union direction) Appointment as Commander-in-Chief West (Erwin von Witzleben, Age: 59 years old, Period: May 1941 – March 1942, Location: Western Front including France)
1942	Transfer to the Reserve for Health Reasons (Age: 60 years old, Period: 1942, Location: Germany)
1944	July 20 Plot (Hitler Assassination and Coup Plan, Age: 62 years old, Period: July 20, 1944, Location: Wolf's Lair Headquarters in East Prussia, Berlin, etc.) Scheduled Designation as Supreme Commander of the Wehrmacht in the July 20 Plot (Age: 62 years old, Period: July 20, 1944, Location: Bendlerblock, Berlin, etc.) Arrest and Military Degradation of Witzleben (Age: 62 years old, Period: July 21 – Late July 1944, Location: Around Zossen, Germany / Berlin) Trial at the People's Court and Execution (Age: 62 years old, Period: August 7–8, 1944, Location: People's Court in Berlin, Plötzensee Prison) Death Sentence and Execution at the People's Court (Age: 62 years old, Period: August 7–8, 1944, Location: Berlin) Death of Erwin von Witzleben (Age: 62 years old, Period: August 8, 1944)

Map

Category
Element

Europe World

Related Links

Group	List
Nazi Germany	Adolf Hitler Paul von Hindenburg Hermann Göring Joseph Goebbels Heinrich Himmler Rudolf Hess Martin Ludwig Bormann Joachim von Ribbentrop Albert Speer Hermann Wilhelm Göring Paul Joseph Goebbels
Weimar Republic	Friedrich Ebert Gustav Stresemann Wilhelm Marx Heinrich Brüning Hermann Müller Friedrich Naumann Matthias Erzberger Walther Rathenau
German Anti-Nazis	Dietrich Bonhoeffer Claus Philipp Maria Justinian Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg Hans Oster Ludwig Beck Carl Friedrich Goerdeler Erwin von Witzleben Hans Scholl Sophie Scholl Alexander Schmorell Christoph Probst
Warsaw Ghetto	Mordechai Anielewicz Marek Edelman Tuvia Bielski Abba Kovner Henryk Goldszmit Emanuel Ringelblum
Arts & Music	Pablo Picasso Paul Klee Wassily Kandinsky Käthe Schmidt Oskar Kokoschka Egon Schiele Arnold Schoenberg Alban Berg Anton Webern

Other Languages

Erwin von Witzleben (Español) Erwin von Witzleben (Français) Erwin von Witzleben (Deutsch) 埃尔温·冯·维茨莱本 (中文) エルヴィン・フォン・ヴィッツレーベン (日本語)

People Timeline

Erwin von Witzleben: Resisting Field Marshal