Gustav Heistermann von Ziehlberg

Gustav Dietrich Adolf Heistermann von Ziehlberg
Born	10 December 1898 Inowrazlaw, Province of Posen, German Empire
Died	Berlin–Charlottenburg, Nazi Germany
Allegiance	German Empire (to 1918) Weimar Republic (to 1933) Nazi Germany
Service/branch	Heer
Years of service	1914–45
Rank	Generalleutnant
Commands held	65. Infanterie-Division 28. Jäger-Division
Battles/wars	World War I World War II Demyansk Pocket Italian Campaign Operation Bagration Bobruysk Offensive Belostock Offensive Osovets Offensive
Awards	Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross

Gustav Dietrich Adolf Heisterman(n) von Ziehlberg (10 December 1898 – 2 February 1945) was a highly decorated Generalleutnant in the German Wehrmacht armed forces during World War II. He was also a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross, awarded to recognise extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership. Convicted as a member of the German Resistance to Nazism, he was sentenced to death and executed by firing squad.

Life and career

Born in the Prussian town of Inowrazlaw (renamed Hohensalza in 1904, present-day Inowrocław, Poland), the son of a German Army officer attended the Lyceum Hosianum at Braunsberg and the Gymnasium secondary school at Königsberg, before he joined the Cadet Corps (Kadettenanstalt) at Köslin in 1911. In World War I he served in the II Army Corps at Stettin, promoted to the rank of a Leutnant on 8 May 1915. He fought at the Eastern Front and was awarded the Iron Cross.

After the war, Heisterman was employed by the Reichswehr army of the Weimar Republic, and from 1931 served at the Reichswehr Ministry in Berlin to train as a General Staff officer. After two years as a company commander (Kompaniechef) at Landsberg an der Warthe, he joined the Oberkommando des Heeres of the Wehrmacht armed forces under Generaloberst Werner von Fritsch in 1936. Here he worked with Oberst Friedrich Hoßbach and Kurt von der Chevallerie and witnessed the 1938 Blomberg–Fritsch Affair as well as the struggle of General Ludwig Beck and his successor Franz Halder against Adolf Hitler's war preparation, which materialised in the Polish Campaign of 1939.

From January 1943, Heisterman commanded a grenadier regiment of the 12th Infantry Division under General Kurt-Jürgen Freiherr von Lützow at the Eastern Front during the retreat from the Demyansk Pocket. On May 31, he took over the command of the 65th Infantry Division, from August in the rank of a Generalmajor. Heisterman Von Ziehlberg is alleged to have committed war crimes while headquartered at Ponzaga Magra in September 1943, by ordering the execution of captured British prisoners of war Warrant Sergeant William Foster, Corporal James Shortall, Captain Patrick Dudgeon and Gunner Bernard Brunt. Upon the overthrow of Benito Mussolini's government and the Allied invasion of Italy, Heisterman's division fought against the Allied 17th Indian Infantry Brigade forces in the Italian Campaign, whereby he was severely wounded and lost his left arm.

After recovery, Heisterman from 28 April 1944 commanded the 28th Jäger Division at the Eastern Front, fighting against the Soviet Operation Bagration offensive, promoted to the rank of a Generalleutnant on June 1. The whole operation turned out to be a disaster for the German 4th Army division, nevertheless Heisterman's unit was able to escape, wherefore he received the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on July 27.

July 20 Plot, Arrest and Execution

File:Denkzeichen 3 Murellenberg Berlin.JPG

firing grounds and memorial in Berlin.

On the same day, Gustav Heisterman von Ziehlberg was ordered to arrest his Ia staff officer Major Joachim Kuhn for his involvement in the July 20 Plot. Kuhn together with his friend Lieutenant Albrecht von Hagen had arranged for the explosive delivered by Helmuth Stieff to Claus von Stauffenberg. On 21 July he had accompanied General Henning von Tresckow to the front near Królowy Most, where Tresckow committed suicide. Confronted with the warrant, Kuhn denied any entanglement. Instead of arresting him, Heisterman told Kuhn to transfer his official duties and to proceed to Berlin in order to clear things up. Kuhn used that opportunity to flee towards the forces of the Soviet 2nd Belorussian Front, according to his own reports not to defect but to seek death by the Russian troops. Nevertheless, he was captured and interrogated by the SMERSH counter-intelligence agency.

Heisterman was charged with negligent disobedience and in September 1944 was condemned to nine months in prison by the Reichskriegsgericht, however he was pardoned for his previous service. He returned to his division, but was again summoned to Berlin on 30 October. Hitler, suspecting him of collaboration with Generaloberst Ludwig Beck, revoked his sentence and Heisterman was again arrested and had to face another trial. On November 21, he was sentenced to death by the Reichskriegsgericht, dishonourably discharged and stripped of all honors, ranks and titles. The judges openly stated that they had to follow the Führer's instructions.

Heisterman was executed on 2 February 1945 by a Wehrmacht firing squad at a proving ground near Olympic Stadium in the Charlottenburg (present-day Westend) district of Berlin.

Awards and decorations

• Iron Cross (1914)
  • 2nd Class
  • 1st Class
• Honour Cross of the World War 1914/1918
• Iron Cross (1939)
  • 2nd Class
  • 1st Class
• Wound Badge (1939)
  • in Silver
• Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 27 July 1944 as Generalleutnant and commander of 28. Jäger-Division

Notes

Footnotes

External links

• Gustav Heistermann von Ziehlberg @ Ostdeutsche-Biographie.de
• Gustav Heistermann von Ziehlberg @ Axis Biographical Research at the Wayback Machine (archived December 9, 2010)

Military offices
Preceded by Generalleutnant Wilhelm Rupprecht	Commander of 65. Infanterie-Division 31 May 1943 – 1 December 1943	Succeeded by Generalleutnant Hellmuth Pfeifer
Preceded by General der Infanterie Hans Speth	Commander of 28. Jäger-Division 28 April 1944 – 19 November 1944	Succeeded by Generalmajor Ernst König