Notable_recipients Bribery_of_senior_Wehrmacht_officers

1 notable recipients

1.1 august von mackensen
1.2 walter von brauchitsch
1.3 heinz guderian
1.4 wilhelm ritter von leeb
1.5 other officers

notable recipients
august von mackensen

the first officer bribed loyalty old world war hero field marshal august von mackensen, criticized nazi regime murder of general kurt von schleicher in speech before general staff association in february 1935. silence him, hitler gave mackensen free estate of 1,250 hectares later same year in exchange promise never criticize nazi regime again, either publicly or privately. agreement worked part. mackensen never criticized nazi regime in public again, though hitler offended, in february 1940, when mackensen mentioned walter von brauchitsch view army had disgraced committing massacres during recent campaign in poland. hitler felt violation of agreement of 1935, though mackensen not punished losing estate.

walter von brauchitsch

in 1938, brauchitsch decided divorce wife marry younger woman happened 2 hundred per cent rabid nazi . divorce court had less kind view of brauchitsch s decision end marriage did political master, , awarded first frau von brauchitsch substantial settlement. hitler earned brauchitsch s eternal gratitude agreeing use german tax-payers money pay entire divorce settlement, said have been between 80,000 , 250,000 reichsmark. brauchitsch had been promoted army commander replace fritsch, had resigned following false allegations of homosexuality, , compromise candidate army had refused accept hitler s first choice of walther von reichenau fritsch s successor.

heinz guderian

as money, in 1943, general heinz guderian informed if wanted estate in poland, tell hitler land wanted, , it. resulted in him making several visits poland find right estate steal. caused problems ss, had designs on of estates guderian desired before deal worked out estate take. bribe of 937 hectares estate, confiscated polish owner, tax-free entire life-time. historian norman goda wrote after guderian received polish estate, doubts had been expressing since late 1941 hitler s military leadership ceased, , became 1 of hitler s ardent military supporters, or, joseph goebbels described him in diary, glowing , unqualified follower of führer .

before receiving gift of polish estate, guderian, inspector general panzers, had been opposed plans unternehmen zitadelle, lead battle of kursk, 1 of germany s worst defeats of war; after receiving estate, guderian did 180° turn wisdom of operation. instead of criticizing zitadelle openly, guderian approached goebbels ask him if talk hitler out of it, behavior goda described atypical. guderian known brash, blunt, outspoken style, rudeness disliked, (in notorious incident later in 1943, guderian refused shake hand of field marshal kluge because told him face not worthy of shaking hands), , using vulgar, profanity-ridden language describe plan if believed bad one.

during 20 july plot of 1944, guderian ordered panzer units berlin crush putsch, , sat on court of honor had responsibility of expelling officers involved in tried before volksgerichtshof, duty performed zeal. after january 1945, when guderian s estate fell behind soviet lines, began disagree once more hitler. these disagreements intense hitler fired guderian chief of general staff in march 1945.

much of fury guderian expressed in 1950 memoir erinnerungen eines soldaten regarded unjust border changes after war in poland s favor, seemed related intensely held private view poles had no right take away polish estate hitler had given him.

wilhelm ritter von leeb

in 1943, retired field marshal wilhelm ritter von leeb managed have german state buy him entire district of prime forest land in bavaria, valued @ 638,000 reichsmark, on build estate. in late june-early july 1941 leeb, commander of army group north, had witnessed first-hand massacres committed einsatzgruppen, lithuanian auxiliaries, , men of 16th army, outside kaunas. leeb described being moderately disturbed after seeing killing fields, , sent in mildly critical reports massacres. leeb approved of killing of lithuanian jewish men, claiming justified crimes supposed have committed during soviet occupation of lithuania; killing of women , children might have been taking things far. in response, hitler s aide general rudolf schmundt told leeb out of line criticizing massacres @ kaunas, , should co-operate ss in special tasks in future.

schmundt asked if leeb appreciated monthly payments konto 5, , reminded him birthday coming in september; führer planning give him 250,000 reichsmark cheque present reward loyalty. leeb never said word in protest of final solution again, , duly received 250,000 reichsmark cheque in september 1941. in september 1941, franz walter stahlecker, commander of einsatzgruppe a, in report berlin, had nothing praise leeb s army group north, reported had been exemplary in co-operating men in murdering jews in baltic states. historian norman goda used leeb all-too typical example of wehrmacht officer greed overwhelmed sort of moral revulsion might have felt holocaust.

other officers

in general, officers in way critical of hitler s military, if not political leadership, such leeb, raeder, , field marshal gerd von rundstedt received (and accepted) larger bribes officers known convinced national socialists such general walter model, admiral karl dönitz , field marshal ferdinand schörner. success of hitler s bribery system backfired in officers, such raeder, had proven himself greedy, came regarded hitler serious annoyance because of endless demands more money, , more free land estates. raeder s demand in 1942 that, on top of life-time exemption paying income taxes, hitler cancel taxes on interest earned 4,000 reichsmarks month payment konto 5, viewed outrageous. in 1944, wolfram von richthofen wrote okw argue since stationed in italy, @ least 1,000 reichsmarks of 4,000 reichsmarks deposited in bank account every month should in lire compensate effects of rampant inflation in italy. demand regarded unreasonable wilhelm keitel did not reject providing financial rewards service führer.