Joachim Otto August Achatius von Kortzfleisch (3 January 1890 – 20 April 1945) was a German general in 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 ...

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 ...

. As the commander of the Military District III (Berlin), he played a role in the failure of the attempted coup following the

20 July Plot The 20 July plot, sometimes referred to as Operation Valkyrie, was a failed attempt to assassinate Adolf Hitler, the chancellor and leader of Nazi Germany, and overthrow the Nazi regime on 20 July 1944. The plotters were part of the German r ...

attempt to assassinate

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...

, which was led by Kortzfleisch's own distant cousin, Claus von Stauffenberg.

Biography

Von Kortzfleisch was born into an aristocratic

Westphalia Westphalia (; ; ) is a region of northwestern Germany and one of the three historic parts of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It has an area of and 7.9 million inhabitants. The territory of the region is almost identical with the h ...

n family in

Braunschweig Braunschweig () or Brunswick ( ; from Low German , local dialect: ) is a List of cities and towns in Germany, city in Lower Saxony, Germany, north of the Harz Mountains at the farthest navigable point of the river Oker, which connects it to the ...

Duchy of Brunswick The Duchy of Brunswick () was a historical German state that ceased to exist in 1918. Its capital city, capital was the city of Braunschweig, Brunswick (). It was established as the successor state of the Principality of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel ...

, the son of the

Prussia Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a Germans, German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussia (region), Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, ...

n Major General Gustav von Kortzfleisch (1854–1910) and Elsbeth ( Oppermann; 1862-1937). He joined the army in 1907 and after service 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 ...

in a machine gun

battalion A battalion is a military unit, typically consisting of up to one thousand soldiers. A battalion is commanded by a lieutenant colonel and subdivided into several Company (military unit), companies, each typically commanded by a Major (rank), ...

he was an officer in the

Reichswehr ''Reichswehr'' (; ) was the official name of the German armed forces during the Weimar Republic and the first two years of Nazi Germany. After Germany was defeated in World War I, the Imperial German Army () was dissolved in order to be reshaped ...

, reaching the rank of

Generalmajor is the Germanic languages, Germanic variant of major general, used in a number of Central Europe, Central and Northern European countries. Austria Belgium Denmark is the second lowest general officer rank in the Royal Danish Army and R ...

by 1937. He was a

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 ...

and commander of the 1st Infantry Division at the outbreak of

and 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 ...

on 1 September 1940 as commander of the XI Army Corps of the

20 July Plot

On 20 July 1944 as the commander of the Military District III (Berlin) Von Kortzfleisch was summoned to the Bendlerstrasse by General Friedrich Fromm. When he arrived, he was perplexed to see that Fromm was no longer in command, that

Ludwig Beck Ludwig August Theodor Beck (; 29 June 1880 – 20 July 1944) was a German general who served as Chief of the German General Staff from 1933 to 1938. Beck was one of the main conspirators of the 20 July plot to assassinate Adolf Hitler. ...

was now in control. He angrily refused to obey

Operation Valkyrie Operation Valkyrie () was a German World War II emergency Continuity of government, continuity-of-government operations plan issued to the Replacement Army, Territorial Reserve Army of Germany to implement in the event of a general breakdown in n ...

orders issued by one of the leading conspirators General

Friedrich Olbricht Friedrich Olbricht (4 October 1888 – 21 July 1944) was a German general during World War II. He is known for being one of the plotters involved in the 20 July Plot, an attempt to assassinate Adolf Hitler in 1944. Olbricht was a senior staff o ...

and kept shouting ‘the Führer is not dead’ and referring to the oath of loyalty to Hitler. He was arrested and put under guard by the plotters and said that he was not willing to take part in a coup as he was just a soldier interested only in going home and pulling weeds in his garden. He was replaced in his command by General Karl Freiherr von Thüngen and was later allowed to leave the

Bendlerblock The Bendlerblock () is a building complex in the Tiergarten (Berlin), Tiergarten district of Berlin, Germany, located on Stauffenbergstraße (formerly named ''Bendlerstraße''). Erected in 1914 as headquarters of several Imperial German Navy (''Ka ...

. He subsequently interrogated Major Hans-Ulrich von Oertzen, a supporter of the plot. Kortzfleisch was later shocked to learn that the officer leading the plot was his own distant cousin Claus von Stauffenberg, with whom he had attended a wedding the previous year.

Death

In March 1945, Von Kortzfleisch was commanding the Rhine Bridgehead in

Army Group B Army Group B () was the name of four distinct German Army Group, army group commands that saw action during World War II. The first Army Group B was created on 12 October 1939 (from the former Army Group North) and fought in the Battle of France ...

under Field Marshal

Walter Model Otto Moritz Walter Model (; 24 January 1891 – 21 April 1945) was a German during World War II. Although he was a hard-driving, aggressive panzer commander early in the war, Model became best known as a practitioner of defensive warfare. H ...

. Kortzfleisch and a handful of soldiers were attempting to move through enemy lines to reach

Berleburg Bad Berleburg (, earlier also Berleburg) is a town, in the district of Siegen-Wittgenstein, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is one of Germany's largest towns by land area. It is located approximately northeast of Siegen and northwest of ...

, when a patrol of the 737th Tank Battalion of the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

encountered them at Schmallenberg-Wulwesort,

Sauerland The Sauerland () is a rural, hilly area spreading across most of the south-eastern part of the States of Germany, German federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia, in parts heavily forested and, apart from the major valleys, sparsely inhabited. ...

. The general was surrounded by U.S. soldiers and told to put his hands up. Kortzfleisch refused to comply with this command and was promptly fatally shot in the chest by a U.S. soldier.

Awards and decorations

on 4 September 1940 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 ...

and commander of XI. ArmeekorpsScherzer 2007, p. 467.

References

Citations

Bibliography

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kortzfleisch, Joachim Von 1890 births 1945 deaths Military personnel from Braunschweig German Army generals of World War II German Army personnel of World War I Generals of Infantry (Wehrmacht) Recipients of the clasp to the Iron Cross, 1st class Recipients of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross Westphalian nobility German Army personnel killed in World War II Deaths by firearm in Germany Reichswehr generals