Kurt Zeitzler

Kurt Zeitzler (June 9, 1895 – September 25, 1963) was an officer in the German Reichswehr and its successor the Wehrmacht, most prominent for being the Chief of the Army General Staff from 1942 to 1944.

World War I and after

Zeitzler, the son of a pastor, was born in Cossmar-Luckau, Province of Brandenburg. Zeitzler joined the German Army on March 23, 1914, and fought in World War I. He was promoted to officer because of outstanding bravery and was placed in command of an infantry battalion. Between 1919 and 1937 he served as a staff officer in the Reichswehr, and in 1937 he found himself working as a staff officer for the Oberkommando des Heeres (OKH).

In September 1939 he became Chief of Staff for the XXII. Corps of the 14. Army, serving under General Siegmund List in the German invasion of Poland. In March 1940 he became the Chief of Staff for Panzergruppe A, serving under General von Kleist in the Invasion of France. Zeitzler also served under Von Kleist in the German invasions of Yugoslavia, Greece and the Soviet Union in 1941. On May 18 1941 he was awarded the Knight's Cross.

During his tenure as Chief of Staff to Army group D in France in 1942 he was part of the German force that successfully resisted the Dieppe raid on August 19, 1942.

Chief of Staff of the OKH

After a short tour as Chief of Staff of Army Group D under General von Rundstedt he was promoted to General of the Infantry and simultaneously appointed Chief of Staff of the Army General Staff on September 24, 1942 as a replacement for Franz Halder. Hitler had been impressed by his optimistic and vigorous reports. Zeitzler was chosen though he was far from the top of the General Staff's list. It is probable that Hitler believed Zeitzler would be a more pliable and optimistic OKH chief than his immediate predecessor, Franz Halder. He was also thought to be a master of logistics, with solid organizational skills.

Zeitzler was never considered a brilliant commander, though his performance at the head of the General Staff was very respectable. His drive and initiative was eventually paralyzed by Hitler's constant and increasingly unreasonable demands. Zeitzler had advocated the immediate breakout and withdrawal of General Paulus' Sixth Army after it had been surrounded in Stalingrad.

After the war Zeitzler claimed that as soon as he saw what was happening he urged Hitler to permit the Sixth Army to withdraw from Stalingrad to the Don bend, where the broken front could be restored. The mere suggestion threw the Fuehrer into a tantrum. 'I won't leave the Volga! I won't go back from the Volga!' he shouted, and that was that. ["William L. Shirer, The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich (1959)] The Fuehrer personally ordered the Sixth Army to stand fast around Stalingrad: "Stalingrad simply must be held. It must be; it is a key position. By breaking traffic on the Volga at that spot, we cause the Russians the greatest difficulties." ["Albert Speer, Inside the Third Reich (1970)]

Zeitzler was urged by his military colleagues to give the breakout order himself, but refused to act on his own, deferring to Hitler's authority as Commander-in-Chief. On hearing that Goering had told Hitler that the supply situation in Stalingrad was "not so bad", Zeitzler wrote in his diary: "Apart from the fact that it would do his (Goering's) figure a power of good to spend a little time in the "Kessel", I can only assume that my reports either are not read or are given no credence." [Citation needed] Zeitzler, in a gesture of solidarity with the starved troops in Stalingrad, reduced his own rations to their level. Having lost 26 pounds in two weeks, Hitler (after being told by Martin Bormann of the diet) ordered Zeitzler to stop the diet and return to normal rations. As Hitler refused to even consider the idea of withdrawal the German Sixth Army was eventually surrounded and annihilated.

Dismissal

After the annihilation of the Sixth army in Stalingrad Zeitzler's relations with Hitler became more and more strained. At the end of his tether after a series of violent rows with Hitler he suddenly left the Berghof on July 1 1944. He had suffered a nervous breakdown. Hitler never spoke to him again, and even had him dismissed from the Army in January 1945, refusing him the right to wear a uniform.

At the end of World War II, Zeitzler found himself a British POW until the end of February 1947. He died in 1963 in Hohenaschau in Upper Bavaria.

Positions in World War II

References

*Beevor, Antony Stalingrad (1998)
* cite web
title = Kurt Zeitzler at Schoolnet.co.uk
url=http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/GERzeitzler.htm
accessdate = 2006-11-08
* cite web
title = Kurt Zeitzler at Generals.dk
url=http://www.generals.dk/general/Zeitzler/Kurt/Germany.html
accessdate = 2006-11-08
* cite web
title = Kurt Zeitzler at Dieppe
url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/ww2/A1152244
accessdate = 2006-11-09
* Shirer, William L. The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich (1959)

Footnotes