Ferdinand Heim

Infobox Military Person
name=Ferdinand Heim
lived=27 February 1895 – 14 November 1977
placeofbirth=Reutlingen
placeofdeath=Ulm


caption=
nickname=
allegiance=flagicon|German Empire German Empire (to 1918)
flagicon|Germany Weimar Republic (to 1933)
flagicon|Nazi Germany Nazi Germany
branch=Heer
serviceyears=1914-1945
rank=Generalleutnant
commands="14. Panzer-Division"
unit=
battles=World War I
World War II
awards=Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross
laterwork=

Ferdinand Heim (27 February 1895, Reutlingen, Germany – 14 November 1977, Ulm, Germany) was a World War II German general.

Heim is particularly noted as being the "scapegoat of Stalingrad" to deflect criticism away from Adolf Hitler, who from the warmth and ease of Rastenburg had (against the prevalent advice of Wehrmacht commanders) ordered the Stalingrad campaign and refused to permit withdrawal. The German Sixth Army was surrounded by Russian forces at Stalingrad. Heim commanded the XXXXVIII Panzer Corps, with two weak Panzer Divisions and a much weaker Romanian Panzer Division. The corps was unable to stop the formidable Russian attack against the Romanian Army which covered the Sixth Army left flank. After the failure of XXXXVIII Panzer Corps, Heim was arrested and placed in solitary confinement, finally being released in April 1943, where he was transferred to a military hospital. He was informed his dismissal from the German army had been revoked, and that he had been classified as retired.

In August 1944, Heim returned to command German forces at Boulogne, where he surrendered to the 3rd Canadian Infantry Division on 23 September 1944 and sent to a POW camp and subsequently repatriated on 12 May 1948.

Quote

"We must uphold the principle of only having carried out orders [...] We must stick to that principle if we are to create a more or less effective defence"——spoken in secret while prisoner to his inmates regarding German atrocities in WW2 [http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/femail/article.html?in_article_id=469883&in_page_id=1879] .

References

*"Stalingrad" (1999) by Antony Beevor.
*"The German Army 1939-45 (5)" by Nigel Thomas and Stephen Andrew.