Friedrich Hoßbach

Infobox Military Person
name=Friedrich Hoßbach
lived=birth date|1894|11|22|df=y — death date and age|1980|9|10|1894|11|22|df=y
placeofbirth=Unna
placeofdeath=Göttingen


caption=
nickname=
allegiance=flagicon|German Empire German Empire (to 1918)
flagicon|Germany Weimar Republic (to 1933)
flagicon|Nazi Germany Nazi Germany
branch=Heer
serviceyears=1913-1945
rank=General der Infanterie
commands=Infanterie-Regiment 82
LVI Panzer Corps
4. Armee
unit=
battles=World War I
World War II
awards=Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves
laterwork=

Friedrich Wilhelm Ludwig Hoßbach (1894-1980) was a German staff officer who in 1937 was the military adjutant to the Fuehrer of the Third Reich, Adolf Hitler.

Early career

Hoßbach joined the "Reichsheer" in 1913, and served on the Eastern Front during World War I. His services were retained in the post-war "Reichswehr", where he was assigned to the General Staff. In 1934 he was appointed as Hitler's adjutant, though retaining his staff position.

The Hoßbach Memorandum

His most important contribution to history is his creation of the Hoßbach Memorandum. This was a report of a meeting held on November 5 1937 between Hitler and Feldmarshall von Blomberg, General von Fritsch, Admiral Dr. Raeder, GeneralOberst Herman Goering, Baron von Neurath and Hoßbach. His account was found among the Nuremberg papers, where it was an important piece of evidence. [Documents of German Foreign Policy, I, pp29-39]

In early 1938 Hoßbach was present when Hitler was presented by Goering with a file purporting to show that General von Fritsch, the Commander-in-Chief of the Army, was guilty of homosexual practices. In defiance of Hitler's orders Hoßbach took the file to von Fritsch to warn him of the accusations he was about to face. Fritsch gave his word as an officer that the charges were untrue, and Hoßbach passed this message back to Hitler. This did not, as it might have, cost Hoßbach his life, though he was dismissed from his post as Hitler's adjutant two days later.

World War II

Hoßbach rose to the rank of General of Infantry, commanding the 82nd Infantry Division, the LVI Panzer Corps, and latterly Fourth Army on the Russian front, until being dismissed on January 28 1945 for attempting to break out of East Prussia in defiance of Hitler's orders.

At the end of the war, Hoßbach was being treated for a minor illness in Goettingen when US troops approached the town. As a traditionalist conservative largely opposed to the Nazi regime, Hoßbach had been warned by friends to expect a visit from the Gestapo – who arrived at his house an hour before the Americans. Hoßbach, armed with his pistol, proceeded to engage the visitors in a firefight until they fled, and was taken into American custody.

Awards

* Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves
** Knight's Cross (7 October 1940)
** 298. Oak Leaves (11 September 1943)

Three different commanding officers recommended Hoßbach for the Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords during the course of 1944, nevertheless the request was turned down each time. [Berger 2006, p. 393] .

References

* Florian Berger (2006), "Mit Eichenlaub und Schwertern. Die höchstdekorierten Soldaten des Zweiten Weltkrieges". Selbstverlag Florian Berger. ISBN 3-9501307-0-5.
* Fellgiebel, Walther-Peer. "Die Träger des Ritterkreuzes des Eisernen Kreuzes 1939-1945". Friedburg, Germany: Podzun-Pallas, 2000. ISBN 3-7909-0284-5.