Gottfried von Erdmannsdorff

Gottfried von Erdmannsdorff (25 April 1893 – 30 January 1946) was a German general during World War II. He was convicted by a Soviet military tribunal for war crimes at the Minsk Trial and executed in 1946.

Gottfried von Erdmannsdorff
Born25 April 1893
Kamenz, German Empire
Died30 January 1946(1946-01-30) (aged 52)
Minsk, Byelorussian SSR, Soviet Union
Allegiance German Empire (to 1918)
 Weimar Republic (to 1933)
 Nazi Germany
Service/branchArmy (Wehrmacht)
Years of service1913–33
1934–45
RankGeneralmajor
Commands held465th Division
"Fortress Mogilev"
Battles/warsWorld War I

World War II

AwardsKnight's Cross of the Iron Cross
RelationsWerner von Erdmannsdorff (brother)

Minsk Trial
Main article: Minsk Trial

Erdmannsdorff, who was at that time commander of the so-called "Fortress Mogilev" surrendered to the Soviet troops in late June 1944 during the Mogilev Offensive. He was tried by a Soviet tribunal (the Minsk Trial) for crimes committed in Belarus along with 18 other defendants, 14 of whom, including Erdmannsdorff, were sentenced to death on 29 January 1946. The officers were hanged in public (with over 100,000 civilian spectators) in the horse racing venue of Minsk, on 30 January 1946.[1] He was the younger brother of General der Infanterie Werner von Erdmannsdorff.[2]

Awards and decorations

References

Citations
  1. Heer 1995.
  2. Genealogisches Handbuch des Adels, Adelige Häuser A Band XXVII, Band 132 der Gesamtreihe, C. A. Starke Verlag, Limburg (Lahn) 2003, p. 318–319
  3. Fellgiebel 2000, p. 147.

Bibliography
  • Fellgiebel, Walther-Peer (2000) [1986]. Die Träger des Ritterkreuzes des Eisernen Kreuzes 1939–1945 [The Bearers of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross 1939–1945] (in German). Friedberg, Germany: Podzun-Pallas. ISBN 978-3-7909-0284-6.
  • Heer, Hannes (1995). "Der Minsker Prozess". Hannesheer.de.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
Military offices
Preceded by
none		 Commander of Division Nr. 465
29 September 1942 – 1 March 1944		 Succeeded by
Generalleutnant Kurt Hoffmann
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