Michael Kitzelmann

Michael Kitzelmann (born January 29, 1916 in Horben, today part of Gestratz, Westallgäu; died June 11, 1942 in Orel, Orel today in Central) was a lieutenant in the German Army during World War II, who was executed for undermining military strength.

Life

Aspiring theologian

Kitzelmann came from a strict Catholic family. With the support of his teacher and his pastor in 1928 he joined the Gymnasium in Dillingen an der Donau. He graduated from the Catholic minor seminary in 1936 with the Abitur. In the same year he completed six months of the Reich Labor Service in Pfronten-Ried and began September 1936 with a three-semester study at the Theological Academy of St. Stephen in Augsburg with the aim of becoming a priest.^[1]

In 1937 he applied for an additional teacher at the Hochschule in Munich-Passing. They rejected his request because he was not willing to enter into the prescribed Nazi organizations.^[2]

Officer in the army

To do his military service Kitzelmann moved in the summer of 1937 to 20 Infantry Regiment in Lindau, but then as a volunteer and officer candidate in the 91st Infanterie-Regiment. Infantry Regiment.

He was however not inspired by the life of a soldier

So for two years I have this terrible yoke ridiculous and desolate military drill stand. I think it's pretty soul-destroying after a few weeks.^[3]

Before the two years were around, the war began. In March 1938 Kitzelmann was involved in the German invasion of Austria and 1939 in the German attack on Poland.

He was promoted to corporal. He wrote to his parents:

The horrific images that I had to watch on the field with corpses have so deeply engraved in my soul that I shall never forget.^[4]

In June 1941 the attack on the USSR began with Operation Barbarossa. In July 1941 he took part in the Battle of Smolensk, and the early stages of the Battle of Leningrad. In letters to the parents and in discussions with army comrades, he spoke about his Christian critique of war and destruction of those responsible:

The only thought and desire of each person is only that the war end, and leave Russia to return to the homeland." ^[5]

In the winter of 1941 he was assigned to a unit fighting partisans. In the period January to May 1942, he was witness to atrocities that the Einsatzgruppen committed on the Russian population and crimes against the Jews. Traumatized and shocked by these experiences Kitzelmann began after an examination of his conscience, to hate the Nazis and openly criticize commands. His attitude resulting from a Christian rejection of war and the Nazi leaders responsible was apparent in his letters home and interviews with fellow soldiers de:Michael Kitzelmann#cite note-Schweizer-1:

The end

A comrade in the Soviet Orel denounced him in March 1942, when he was being treated for an injury in a hospital. He returned to his division and was arrested in early April. On Good Friday 1942, the court-martial sentenced him to death for undermining military force.

Michael Kitzelmann was shaken by the tragic absurdity of his sentence, but not particularly surprised. He was company commander at twenty-four, was awarded as the Iron Cross Second Class for bravery in battle, and the Wound Badge in Gold for seven stays in field hospitals. He had put his life countless times for his country and his people at risk and was convicted for mere words.

His mother, a peasant woman Allgäu, tried to save him. She hurriedly went to Berlin and tried to file a petition to the Supreme Court, but was dismissed.

He was executed on June 11, 1942 in the prison of Orel. Before the execution he forgave the sergeant who had betrayed him.

The Bundestag has at its last session of the legislature on September 8, 2009 rehabilitated him 64 years after the war. The Legal Committee of the Bundestag had on 26 August 2009 unanimously adopted a recommendation to that decision be adopted by parliament.

In May 1986, at the Johann-Michael-Sailer-school in Dillingen an der Donau dedicated this plaque:

Michael Kitzelmann, graduate of the 1936, executed on 11 June 1942. June 1942. He died for the freedom of thought and belief.

References

1. ^ de:Michael Kitzelmann#cite note-Leber-0
2. ^ de:Michael Kitzelmann#cite note-Schweizer-1
3. ^ Kitzelmann letter dated 9 January 1938 to a friend
4. ^ Kitzelmann from Osiec on the Vistula, letter to his parents
5. ^ Letter dated 28 September 1941 from Priluki (Ukraine) back home

Persondata
Name	Kitzelmann, Michael
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	January 29, 1916
Place of birth
Date of death	June 11, 1942
Place of death