Erhard Milch in the Nuremberg Trials (1945)

The Nuremberg trial of German Luftwaffe Generalfeldmarschall Erhard Milch in 1945. Milch (30 March 1892 – 25 January 1972) served as State Secretary in the Reichsluftfahrtministerium from 1933 to 1944 and Inspector General of the Luftwaffe from 1939 to 1945, playing a central role in the rearmament and wartime expansion of German air power through mass production of aircraft such as the Messerschmitt Bf 109 and oversight of the Jägerstab (Fighter Staff) initiative launched in March 1944 alongside Albert Speer to dramatically increase fighter output amid mounting Allied bombing. Captured by British forces on 4 May 1945 near the Baltic coast, Milch was indicted on 14 November 1946 and tried before United States Military Tribunal II in the Milch Trial (officially United States of America v. Erhard Milch), the second of the twelve Subsequent Nuremberg Trials held at the Palace of Justice in Nuremberg from 2 January to 17 April 1947. The three-count indictment charged him with war crimes for participating in the planning and execution of the ill-treatment, enslavement, and use of forced labor involving prisoners of war and deported foreign civilians to support Luftwaffe production (often sourced from concentration camps via SS cooperation under inhumane conditions); with crimes against humanity encompassing similar acts against civilians and German nationals; and specifically with involvement in fatal high-altitude and freezing medical experiments on unwilling subjects (Count II). Defended by his brother Werner Milch and other counsel, with the prosecution presenting 34 witnesses and 212 exhibits over 39 trial days, Milch was acquitted on the medical experiments charge but found guilty on the war crimes and crimes against humanity counts related to slave labor exploitation; he was sentenced to life imprisonment on 17 April 1947 and initially held at Rebdorf Prison near Munich (later transferred to Landsberg). In 1951 U.S. High Commissioner John J. McCloy commuted the sentence to fifteen years, leading to Milch’s parole in June 1954; he lived out his remaining years quietly in Düsseldorf as the last surviving Generalfeldmarschall of the Luftwaffe, having been central to the Nazi regime’s aircraft production efforts that relied heavily on the systematic exploitation of forced labor.

Source :
https://pixpast.wordpress.com/?query-10-page=3&cst&str=428&id_parent=7898&items=12&vd=downloaded&category=7902&flow=1

Alfred Jodl in the Nuremberg Trials (1946)

Generaloberst Alfred Jodl, former Chief of the Operations Staff of the Armed Forces High Command, at the Nuremberg Trials in 1946. Jodl was arrested by British forces on 23 May 1945 along with the remnants of the Flensburg Government, he was transferred to Nuremberg and became one of the 24 major defendants tried before the International Military Tribunal (IMT) starting in November 1945, facing charges of conspiracy to commit crimes against peace, planning, initiating, and waging wars of aggression, war crimes, and crimes against humanity. The prosecution's case against him centered heavily on his personal responsibility for issuing or transmitting directives such as the Commando Order, which mandated the summary execution of captured Allied commandos, and the Commissar Order, which called for the shooting of Soviet political commissars, alongside his central role in planning aggressive campaigns including the invasions of Poland, France, the Soviet Union, and Yugoslavia, as well as reprisals and scorched-earth policies in occupied territories. During the trial, Jodl mounted a vigorous defense, testifying at length about his duties, claiming he had often acted as a professional soldier merely following superior orders while sometimes attempting to moderate Hitler's more extreme demands, and asserting his personal opposition to certain violations of international law, yet the tribunal rejected these arguments, emphasizing his high-level involvement and knowledge in the criminal enterprise. On 1 October 1946, Jodl was convicted on all four counts and sentenced to death by hanging; he was executed on the morning of 16 October 1946 at Nuremberg Prison, where, showing visible nervousness as he ascended the gallows in his Wehrmacht uniform, he uttered his final words, "My greetings to you, my Germany," before his body was cremated and ashes scattered. His conviction and execution remain subjects of historical debate, particularly regarding the application of superior orders as a defense and the tribunal's judgment of military leaders for state-directed policies.

Source :
https://pixpast.wordpress.com/?query-10-page=3&cst&str=428&id_parent=7898&items=12&vd=downloaded&category=7902&flow=1

The Surrender of Theodor Tolsdorff

Second from left is Generalleutnant Theodor Tolsdorff (Kommandierender General LXXXII. Armeekorps), with the M43 feldmütze and StuG wrap, surrenders to Colonel Robert Sink (in helmet), near Stockklaus, Austria, 7 May 1945. Unfortunately, I could not find any building near the bridge that showed the same configuration as the building in the photo above - this building must have changed over the years, or perhaps it is no longer there. The photo on the right shows the picturesque village of Hirschbichl, on the border.

By: Geoff Walden

NOTE:  The following story is from "Rendezvous with Destiny - A History of the 101st Airborne Division", by Leonard Rapport and Arthur Northwood, Jr. (Washington, Infantry Journal Press, 1948). As I researched this story I began to assume it was apocryphal, as some of the details did not ring true after visiting the reported site of these actions. However, I was able to match up one of the 1945 photos to its current location, proving (to me) the veracity of this story.

   "Three paratroopers and a fire engine figured in another surrender. The paratroopers, S/Sgt. William H. Bowen, Jr. and Pvts. Harry A. Barker and McFarlan Barnson, late in the afternoon of May 6 [1945] found a big oil-burning fire engine, 'with all the gadgets ever invented for fighting fires.' ... Starting out - they were several miles southwest of Berchtesgaden - they drove down the highway hunting diesel oil. Finally, seventeen miles from Berchtesgaden and just over the Austrian border near the settlement of Hirschbichl they came to a blown bridge. Sergeant Bowen started on foot across the foundations; in the dark he felt something poke him in the ribs and heard a German command to put his hands up. In a moment all three paratroopers were facing the burp gun and trying, unsuccessfully, to convince its holder that the war was over.

   "The German prodded the Americans toward a farmhouse. ... They asked if they could be taken to a higher-ranking German officer ... Barnson, who could speak some German, was taken to the ranking officer, Lt. Gen. Theodor Tolsdorf, commander of the German LXXXII Corps. [Tolsdorff's name was actually spelled with two fs.]

   "General Tolsdorf, whose corps had shrunk to about 1,200 men from the 36th, 416th, and 256th Volksgrenadier Divisions with a few scattered Wehrmacht, Luftwaffe and SS units, was an interesting character. Thirty-five years old, a Prussian, he had in his eleven years in the army almost set a record for advancement. He had been wounded eleven times, had most of the German awards for bravery, and had earned among his troops the nickname 'Tolsdorf the Mad' because of his recklessness with their lives and his own. ... ["Toller Tolsdorff" was one of the most highly decorated officers in the Wehrmacht, having been awarded the Knight's Cross with Oakleaves, Swords, and Diamonds.]

   "Tolsdorf sent Barnson and Barker back to Berchtesgaden to bring out a surrender party; the ranking man, Sergeant Bowen, was kept as a hostage. The two privates crossed the bridge and tried to start the fire engine; it wouldn't. So they hit the road at double-time and double-time they went all the way to Berchtesgaden. At 1040 a jeep came up to the bridge. ... As they came in sight a German colonel standing with Sergeant Bowen said in English: 'Looks like we can all go home now.'

   "The initial negotiations were entered into without formality by General Tolsdorf (who thought he deserved somebody higher than a captain) and Captain Doughty. Later in the morning Colonel Sink [CO of the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment] arrived and accepted the corps surrender, to be effective at 1200 the 8th of May. He ordered Tolsdorf to collect his weapons and ammunition and leave them at designated spots. Tolsdorf was then to form his troops and ... march them to Melleck, a German border town to the north. ...

   "The style in which the Germans expected to surrender was made clear when Tolsdorf and his staff came down in thirty-one vehicles, loaded with personal baggage, liquor, cigars and cigarettes. There were also plenty of accompanying girl friends. One officer even tried to trade his own pistol for an American .45. That day began what must have been a series of disillusioning days for these troops."

As I tried to find the location of these events, I naturally traveled to Hirschbichl, and then I began to question this account. Hirschbichl straddles the border in the mountains west of Berchtesgaden. Today, normal automobile traffic cannot drive there from either the German side (part of the Berchtesgaden National Park) or the Austrian side - the road is closed to normal traffic - but one can ride the Post bus up the hill from either side and visit the charming village of Hirschbichl.

   All well and good ... except the hilly road on either side of the border has a 24% grade - one of the steepest found anywhere in the Bavarian Alps. I just could not picture the 101st Airborne paratroopers driving a diesel fire engine up these steep inclines and back down. In addition, I could find no bridge that fit this description near Hirschbichl.

   However, while traveling back to Berchtesgaden on the Austrian side, suddenly the exact vista of the mountains as seen in the period photo came into view, and it was right at a small bridge.

8 May 1945, Colonel Robert Sink (center), accepts the surrender of the German LXXXII Armeekorps, led by Generalleutnant General Theodor Tolsdorff (2nd from right).

In the TV Miniseries 'Band of Brothers', The German General was a Heer officer serving in Austria. Following the surrender of Germany in 1945, he gave a speech to his troops thanking them for their courageous service. According to some sources, the general was Theodor Tolsdorff. Quote from Wikipedia: "Private Edward Heffron took Tolsdorff's Luger pistol and a briefcase containing Iron Cross medals and a stash of pornographic pictures. The surrender of Tolsdorff is dramatized in the HBO TV series Band of Brothers in which a German general played by Wolf Kahler surrenders to Lipton played by Donnie Wahlberg."

Source :
https://www.thirdreichruins.com/hirschbichl.htm
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VcMk85ZsBh0

Heinrich von Vietinghoff after Surrender

Generaloberst Heinrich von Vietinghoff (Oberbefehlshaber Südwest und Oberbefehlshaber Heeresgruppe C) is questioned by U.S. Captain Ralph C. Opperman, interpreter for Lieutenant-General Lucian K. Truscott, after the capitulation of all German forces in Italy. At the end of April 1945, Vietinghoff made contact with the Allied forces and on 29 April, his representative SS-Obergruppenführer Karl Wolff signed on his behalf at the Royal Palace in Caserta the instrument of surrender on 2 May 1945 at noon. Afterwards he spent two and a half years in British captivity at Bridgend Island Farm (Special Camp XI) among high-ranking German prisoners. He was released in September 1947.

Source :
Corbis Historical photo collection
https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/295913361631
https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/german-general-heinrich-von-vietinghoff-schiel-is-news-photo/615311736
https://www.keymilitary.com/article/ve-day-75th-last-100-days-war-europe
https://www.topfoto.co.uk/asset/13592/

The Surrender of Albert Kesselring

The day after his official surrender, German Generalfeldmarschall Albert Kesselring (center, Oberbefehlshaber Heeresgruppe Süd) poses with American Major-General Maxwell D. Taylor (right, Commander of 101st Airborne Division) and Brigadier-General Gerald J. Higgins (left, Assistant Commander 101st Airborne Division) at Berchtesgaden, Germany, May 10, 1945. Kesselring surrendered to an American major at Saalfelden, near Salzburg, in Austria on 9 May 1945. He was taken to see Major General Taylor, who treated him courteously, allowing him to keep his weapons and field marshal's baton, and to visit the Eastern Front headquarters of Heeresgruppe Mitte and Süd at Zeltweg and Graz unescorted! Taylor then arranged for Kesselring and his staff to move into a hotel at Berchtesgaden. Photographs of Taylor and Kesselring drinking tea together created a stir in the United States. Kesselring then met with Lieutenant General Jacob L. Devers, commander of the Sixth United States Army Group, and gave interviews to Allied newspaper reporters.

Generalfeldmarschall Albert Kesselring (Oberbefehlshaber West) walks with Major-General Maxwell D. Taylor (Commanding General of the U.S. 101st Airborne Division). They were photographed at Berchtesgaden, Germany, the day after Kesselring's 9 May 1945 surrender.



Generalfeldmarschall Albert Kesselring (left), the last Commander in Chief of the German Western Front, went into American captivity on 9 May 1945. This picture shows Kesselring with General Jacob L. Devers (right, Commanding General of the 6th U.S. Army Group) in the "Große Empfangshalle" (Large Entry Hall) of "Berchtesgadener Hof" in Berchtesgaden, 10 May 1945. With him is his Chief of Staff, General der Kavallerie Siegfried Westphal, while the Heer officer facing the camera is Generalmajor Franz Haas (Chef des Generalstabes des Bevollmächtigten Generals der Deutschen Wehrmacht in Italien).

Source :
https://www.alexautographs.com/auction-lot/albert-kesselring_E58455698E
https://www.bridgemanimages.com/en/sammlung-megele/kesselring-after-his-capture-in-berchtesgaden/photograph/asset/5169608
https://www.thirdreichruins.com/bgadenerhof.htm
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6A9giR4dcBU
http://ww2colorfarbe.blogspot.com/2015/02/albert-kesselring-and-maxwell-taylor-at.html