Ferdinand Schoerner

June 12, 1892 (age 81)

Munich, Bayern, Germany

A commissioned officer during World War I, he was awarded the Pour le Mérite for bravery at Caporetto. Entering the Reichswehr in 1919 as a Lieutenant-Colonel, Schoerner did not obtain command of a mountain division until the outbreak of World War II, when he was already over forty years old. A sympathizer with Nazism from his early years, Schoerner was promoted rapidly after 1939 and two years later served as Major General in the Greek campaign - in May 1941 he was awarded the Knight’s Cross. In 1942-3 he commanded a mountain regiment in Lapland and a Panzer Army Corps on the eastern front. In February 1944 he received the Oak Leaves of the Knight's Cross and in April he was promoted to General and made Commander-in-Chief of Army Group South in the Ukraine. At the end of July he was transferred to the supreme command of Army Group North on the eastern front. From the beginning of 1944 Schoerner had been Chief of the National Socialist Political Guidance Staff of the Armed Forces and his combination of ideological fanaticism and brutality impressed Hitler, who promoted him at the end of the war to General Field Marshal. ‘The Bloodhound', or The People’s General' as he was sometimes known, was Supreme Commander of the vital Silesian front at the beginning of 1945 and expected by Hitler to perform miracles in relieving Berlin from approaching Russian forces. His drumhead court-martials and ruthless disciplinary measures - he shot privates and colonels with equal zeal for the smallest infractions - were, however, unable to prevent the disintegration of German defences. Schoerner himself fled to the American zone in Austria, was handed over to the Russians and spent ten years in prison as a war criminal. He returned to West Germany from Soviet Russia at the beginning of 1955, only to be charged with the murder of German soldiers during the last months of the war on the eastern front. He was found guilty of manslaughter by a Munich court in 1957 and sentenced to four-and-a-half years’ imprisonment. Schoerner died in Munich on 6 July 1973.

Ferdinand Schoerner Edit Profile

military General Field Marshal

Background

Ferdinand Schoerner was born in Munich on 12 June 1892, the son of a police official.

Career

A commissioned officer during World War I, he was awarded the Pour le Mérite for bravery at Caporetto. Entering the Reichswehr in 1919 as a Lieutenant-Colonel, Schoerner did not obtain command of a mountain division until the outbreak of World War II, when he was already over forty years old. A sympathizer with Nazism from his early years, Schoerner was promoted rapidly after 1939 and two years later served as Major General in the Greek campaign - in May 1941 he was awarded the Knight’s Cross. In 1942-3 he commanded a mountain regiment in Lapland and a Panzer Army Corps on the eastern front. In February 1944 he received the Oak Leaves of the Knight's Cross and in April he was promoted to General and made Commander-in-Chief of Army Group South in the Ukraine.

At the end of July he was transferred to the supreme command of Army Group North on the eastern front. From the beginning of 1944 Schoerner had been Chief of the National Socialist Political Guidance Staff of the Armed Forces and his combination of ideological fanaticism and brutality impressed Hitler, who promoted him at the end of the war to General Field Marshal. ‘The Bloodhound', or The People’s General' as he was sometimes known, was Supreme Commander of the vital Silesian front at the beginning of 1945 and expected by Hitler to perform miracles in relieving Berlin from approaching Russian forces. His drumhead court-martials and ruthless disciplinary measures - he shot privates and colonels with equal zeal for the smallest infractions - were, however, unable to prevent the disintegration of German defences.

Schoerner himself fled to the American zone in Austria, was handed over to the Russians and spent ten years in prison as a war criminal. He returned to West Germany from Soviet Russia at the beginning of 1955, only to be charged with the murder of German soldiers during the last months of the war on the eastern front. He was found guilty of manslaughter by a Munich court in 1957 and sentenced to four-and-a-half years’ imprisonment.

Schoerner died in Munich on 6 July 1973.

Main Photo