- Hans Refior
Hans Refior was an officer in the German Army ("
Wehrmacht Heer ") duringWorld War II .On
18 March 1945 , Colonel Refior became theChief of Staff for Lieutenant General ("Generalleutnant")Helmuth Reymann during theBattle for Berlin . Reymann was named the commander of theBerlin Defense Area on6 March . From the beginning, it was clear to Refior that Reymann's predecessor, GeneralBruno Ritter von Hauenschild , had left them nothing.By early April, Refior and Reymann confirmed to themselves that Berlin had no chance of holding out with the forces at their disposal. They recommended to
Joseph Goebbels , the Minister of Propaganda, that civilians be allowed to leave. Refior and Reyman indicated that this was especially important for women and children. Goebbels' feeble response made it clear to Refior and Reymann that he had never considered nor had he any idea of the logistics required for such a mass evacuation. [Beevor, Antony. "Berlin: The Downfall 1945", Penguin Books, 2002, ISBN 0-670-88695-5, p. 177]In an attempt to determine how many soldiers and how many weapons could be counted on, Refior and Reymann attempted to make an accounting for what was available to them in the "Berlin Defense Area." They soon discovered that the title "Berlin Defense Area" carried no significance. "Berlin Defense Area" was just another phrase, like "Fortress" ("
Festung "), coined by German dictatorAdolf Hitler . [Beevor, Antony. "Berlin: The Downfall 1945", Penguin Books, 2002, ISBN 0-670-88695-5, p. 178]On
22 April , Reymann was replaced by GeneralHelmuth Weidling as the commander of the Berlin Defense Area. Weidling kept Refior and made him his "civil" Chief-of-Staff.Early on the morning of
26 April , Refior was awoken from a brief sleep in Weidling's headquarters, theBendlerblock . What woke him was a rapid sequence of ranging shells (what the Soviets called "framing"). Refior noted that these were "old frontline hares." He knew from experience that these were the "greeting" before a salvo of katyusha rockets. [Beevor, Antony. "Berlin: The Downfall 1945", Penguin Books, 2002, ISBN 0-670-88695-5, p. 320]On
2 May 1945 , along with Weidling,Theodor von Dufving , Weidling's "military" Chief-of-Staff, and other members of Weidling's staff, Refior surrendered to the Soviets.References
* Beevor, Antony. "Berlin: The Downfall 1945", Penguin Books, 2002, ISBN 0-670-88695-5
Footnotes
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