biography
| name: |
Witzleben, Erwin von
|
pronunciation:
[vitslayben]
| sex:
| male
|
| lived:
| (1881–1944)
|
| biography:
| German field marshal, born in Wrocław, SW Poland (formerly Breslau, Germany). Appointed field marshal in 1940, before and during the Sudetenland crisis he was involved in plans to topple Hitler, and joined General Ludwig Beck in the military resistance movement (Kreisauer Kreis). Commander-in-chief on the Western Front (1941–2), he was dismissed from this position in 1942. He was envisaged as Oberbefehlshaber of the Wehrmacht should the attempt on Hitler's life (20 Jul 1944) be successful. He was sentenced to death by the Volksgerichtshof under Roland Freisler and hanged at Berlin-Plötzensee on 8 August 1944. |
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