Ernst Ulrich Hans von Leyser () (18 November 1889 – 23 September 1962) 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 World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

who commanded several army corps. After the war, in 1947, Leyser was tried for war crimes committed in the

Balkans The Balkans ( ), also known as the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throughout the who ...

and sentenced to ten years of imprisonment during the Hostages Trial; his sentence was commuted to time served and he was released in 1951.

Life

World War II

During the invasion of France, Leyser commanded a regiment. In April 1941 he was appointed commander of the 269th Infantry Division. As part of the Army Group North, the division fought in northern

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...

after the launching of

Operation Barbarossa Operation Barbarossa (german: link=no, Unternehmen Barbarossa; ) was the invasion of the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany and many of its Axis allies, starting on Sunday, 22 June 1941, during the Second World War. The operation, code-named afte ...

. On 18 September 1941 he was awarded the

Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross (german: Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes), 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. The Knight' ...

and command of the XXVI Army Corps during the

siege of Leningrad The siege of Leningrad (russian: links=no, translit=Blokada Leningrada, Блокада Ленинграда; german: links=no, Leningrader Blockade; ) was a prolonged military blockade undertaken by the Axis powers against the Soviet city of ...

. On 1 December 1942 Leyser assumed command of the XXVI Army Corps. Almost a year later, he was assigned to lead the XV Mountain Army Corps, which was fighting against

Yugoslav partisans The Yugoslav Partisans,Serbo-Croatian, Macedonian, Slovene: , or the National Liberation Army, sh-Latn-Cyrl, Narodnooslobodilačka vojska (NOV), Народноослободилачка војска (НОВ); mk, Народноослобод� ...

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = " Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capi ...

. On 20 July 1944 (coincidentally, the day of the failed assassination of Adolf Hitler) he switched command with General

Gustav Fehn __NOTOC__ Gustav Fehn (21 February 1892 – 5 June 1945) was a German general during World War II. Fehn served in the Afrika Korps from November 1942 to January 1943, LXXVI Panzer Corps from July–August 1943, the XXI Army Corps from October 19 ...

, commander of the XXI Mountain Army Corps (Germany) in the

. On 29 April 1945, he was relieved of command. Leyser was arrested by the United States forces on 8 May.

Trial and conviction

Defendants in the dock and their lawyers during Hostages Trial USHMM 16806

Leyser was tried, as subordinate to General Lothar Rendulic, along with 12 other high-ranking German officers in the Hostages Trial, from 13 May 1947 to 19 February 1948. He was found guilty on two charges of

crimes against humanity Crimes against humanity are widespread or systemic acts committed by or on behalf of a ''de facto'' authority, usually a state, that grossly violate human rights. Unlike war crimes, crimes against humanity do not have to take place within the ...

and war crimes: murder and mistreatment of POWs and murder and mistreatment of civilians. Leyser was sentenced to 10 years of imprisonment in December 1947. On 31 January 1951,

John J. McCloy John Jay McCloy (March 31, 1895 – March 11, 1989) was an American lawyer, diplomat, banker, and a presidential advisor. He served as Assistant Secretary of War during World War II under Henry Stimson, helping deal with issues such as German sa ...

, the US High Commissioner in Germany, revised his sentence to time served.

Death

Leyser died in Garstedt on 23 September 1962, at the age of 73.

Awards

Iron Cross The Iron Cross (german: link=no, Eisernes Kreuz, , abbreviated EK) was a military decoration in the Kingdom of Prussia, and later in the German Empire (1871–1918) and Nazi Germany (1933–1945). King Frederick William III of Prussia es ...

(1914) 2nd and 1st Class * House Order of Hohenzollern, Knight's Cross with swords * Baltic Cross * The Honour Cross of the World War 1914/1918 with swords * Clasp to the Iron Cross (1939) 2nd and 1st Class * Johanittenorden (Ehrenritter) *

on 18 September 1941 as

Generalmajor is the Germanic variant of major general, used in a number of Central and Northern European countries. Austria Belgium Denmark is the second lowest general officer rank in the Royal Danish Army and Royal Danish Air Force. As a two-s ...

and commander of the 269. Infanterie-DivisionFellgiebel 2000, p. 290. * German Cross in Gold on 14 April 1943 as General der Infanterie and commanding general of the XXVI. Armeekorps

References

Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Leyser, Ernst Von 1889 births 1962 deaths Military personnel from Berlin People from the Province of Brandenburg Recipients of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross Recipients of the Gold German Cross German people convicted of crimes against humanity People convicted by the United States Nuremberg Military Tribunals German Army generals of World War II Generals of Infantry (Wehrmacht) Reichswehr personnel People from Steglitz-Zehlendorf