Saucken, Dietrich von

GENERAL (GERMANY)
BORN 16 May 1892, Fischhausen, Ostpreussen - DIED 27 Sep 1980, Pullach, Bayern
BIRTH NAME Saucken, Dietrich Friedrich Eduard Kasimir von
GRAVE LOCATION München, Bayern: Waldfriedhof Solln (17-1-125)

Aristocratic German general who had joined the German army in 1910. He tried to defend Minsk in 1944 and assisted retreating German soldiers. In March 1945 he was ordered to take the command of the Second Army and when he met Hitler he wore his sword and monocle and didn't say 'Heil Hitler'. When Hitler told him to take orders from Albert Forster, the Gauleiter of Danzig he informed Hitler that he had no intentions of taking orders from a Gauleiter without adressing him as Mein Führer. To everybody's surprise Hitler agreed that Von Saucken would take to command himself as dismissed him.

He led the Second Army during the last days of the war. After the German forces surrendered on 8 May 1945 he surrendered his army on 9 May 1945. He was captured by the Russians and sentenced to 25 years in prison. He was molested so badly by the Russians at the Orjol prison that he was forced to use a wheelchair after his release in 1955. He didn't associate with other nazis afterwards and became an artist in Munich.

Images

The grave of Dietrich von Saucken at the Waldfriedhof Solln, Munich.
Picture by Androom (19 Aug 2012)

 

Sources
Dietrich von Saucken - Wikipedia


Saulys, Jurgis

Published: 08 Nov 2015
Last update: 12 Mar 2022