Instruct: Given a question, retrieve relevant passages that can help answer the question.
Query: Who was the highest commander of the German military during World War II?
Adolf Hitler was leader of Nazi Germany, first as Chancellor from 1933 until 1934. He later became Germany's Führer from 1934 until his suicide in 1945. Hitler came to power during Germany's period of crisis after the Great War. During his rule, Germany became a fascist state with a policy of anti-Semitism that led to the Holocaust. Hitler pursued an extremely aggressive foreign policy that triggered World War II. He committed suicide on April 30, 1945 along with Eva Braun his long term mistress whom he had married less than 24 hours before they committed suicide. Joseph Goebbels was Minister for Public Enlightenment and Propaganda from 1933 until 1945. An avid supporter of the war, Goebbels did everything in his power to prepare the German people for a large-scale military conflict. He was one of Hitler's closest associates and most devout followers. After Hitler's suicide, Goebbels and his wife Magda had their six children poisoned and then also committed suicide. He became Chancellor for one day before his death. Hermann Göring was Reichsmarschall and Prime Minister of Prussia. Within the short life of the Third Reich, Göring held a variety of public offices heaped upon him by Hitler. He was the commander-in-chief of the Luftwaffe, President of the Reichstag, Original Head of the Gestapo, Minister of Economics, Paramount Chief of the War Economy, Head of the Four Year Plan, Reichmarshall of the Greater German Reich, Minister of the Forests of the Third Reich and finally defendant Number 1 at the Nuremberg Trials. Hitler awarded Göring the Grand Cross of the Iron Cross for his successful leadership. Originally, Hitler's designated successor, and the second highest-ranking Nazi official. However, by 1942, with his power waning, Göring fell out of favor with the Führer, but continued to be the de jure second-in-command of the Third Reich. Göring was the highest-ranking Nazi official brought before the Nuremberg Trials. He committed suicide with cyanide before his sentence was carried out. Heinrich Himmler became the second-in-command of Nazi Germany following Göring's downfall after the repeated losses of the Luftwaffe which the Reichsmarshall commanded, as Supreme Commander of the Home Army and Reichsführer-SS. As commander of the Schutzstaffel (SS), Himmler also held overall command of the Gestapo. He was the chief architect of the "Final Solution" and through the SS was overseer of the Nazi concentration camps, extermination camps, and Einsatzgruppen death squads. He held final command responsibility for annihilating "subhumans" who were deemed unworthy of living. Shortly before the end of the war, he offered to surrender "Germany" to the Western Allies if he was spared from prosecution as a Nazi leader. Himmler committed suicide with cyanide after he became a captive of the British Army. Joachim von Ribbentrop was the German Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1938 to 1945. He was condemned to death at Nuremberg and hanged. Karl Dönitz was made Großadmiral of the Kriegsmarine on 30 January 1943 and was President for 23 days after Hitler's suicide. Under his command the U-boat fleet conducted unrestricted submarine warfare during the Battle of the Atlantic. After the war he was tried at Nuremberg and sentenced to ten years in prison. Lutz Graf Schwerin von Krosigk was Leading Minister of the German Reich in the short-lived Flensburg government in 1945. Martin Bormann was head of the Party Chancellery (Parteikanzlei) and private secretary to Adolf Hitler. He gained Hitler's trust and derived immense power within the Third Reich by controlling access to the Führer and by regulating the orbits of those closest to him. Rudolf Hess was Hitler's deputy in the Nazi Party. Hess hoped to score a stunning diplomatic victory by sealing a peace between the Third Reich and Britain. He flew to Scotland in an attempt to negotiate peace, but was arrested. He was tried at Nuremberg and sentenced to life imprisonment. Albert Speer was German Minister of Armaments from 1942 until the end of the war, in which position he was responsible for organizing most of the logistical aspects of Germany's war effort. He was tried at Nuremberg and sentenced to twenty years in prison. Alfred Rosenberg was a German philosopher and an influential ideologue of the Nazi Party. He is considered one of the main authors of key National Socialist ideological creeds, including its racial theory, persecution of the Jews, Lebensraum, abrogation of the Treaty of Versailles, and opposition to degenerate modern art. During the war he headed the NSDAP Office of Foreign Affairs and later the Reich Ministry for the Occupied Eastern Territories. After the war he was condemned to death at Nuremberg and hanged. Reinhard Heydrich was SS-Obergruppenführer (general) and General der Polizei, chief of the Reich Main Security Office (including the Gestapo, Kripo, and SD) and Stellvertretender Reichsprotektor (Deputy/Acting Reich-Protector) of Bohemia and Moravia (in what is now the Czech Republic). Heydrich served as president of the ICPC (later known as Interpol) and was one of the main architects of the Holocaust. He died of wounds from an assassination attempt in Prague 1942. Ernst Kaltenbrunner was an SS-Obergruppenführer. He was appointed by Himmler as chief of the SD (Sicherheitsdienst) in January 1943, the SiPo, (Sicherheitspolizei) made up of the combined forces of the Gestapo (secret state police) and the Kripo (Kriminalpolizei) and the RSHA (Reichssicherheitshauptamt); after Reinhard Heydrich's assassination. Further, Kaltenbrunner was in command of the Einsatzgruppen death squads. He was the highest-ranking SS leader to face trial at Nuremberg and be executed. Wilhelm Canaris was a German admiral, and chief of the Abwehr, the German military intelligence service, from 1935 to 1944. During the Second World War, he was among the military officers involved in the clandestine opposition to Adolf Hitler and the Nazi regime. He was executed in the Flossenbürg concentration camp for the act of high treason. Wilhelm Keitel was an army general and the chief of the OKW, the Oberkommando der Wehrmacht or High Command of the German Military, throughout the war. He was condemned to death at Nuremberg for the commission of war crimes and hanged. Alfred Jodl was an army general and operations chief of the OKW throughout the war. Like his chief, Keitel, he was condemned to death at Nuremberg and hanged. Franz Halder was a German general and the chief of the OKH, Oberkommando des Heeres, from 1938 until September 1942, when he was dismissed after frequent disagreements with Hitler Kurt Zeitzler was a German general and the chief of the OKH, from 1942 until July 1944. Walther von Brauchitsch was commander-in-chief of the army from 1940 until his dismissal in December 1941, when Hitler took personal command of the army. Erich Raeder was Großadmiral of the Kriegsmarine (Navy) from 1 April 1939 until 30 January 1943. Fedor von Bock served as the commander of Army Group North during the Invasion of Poland in 1939 and commander of Army Group B during the Invasion of France in 1940. Following the invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941, he was named commander of Army Group Center and commanded Operation Typhoon, the ultimately failed attempt to capture Moscow during the winter of 1941. His final command was that of Army Group South in 1942 before being dismissed by Hitler. He was killed by British aircraft on May 4, 1945. Albert Kesselring was a German Luftwaffe general. He served as commander of Luftflotte 2 for the early part of the war, commanding air campaigns in west and east, before being assigned as commander-in-chief of German forces in the Mediterranean, a position he would occupy for most of the war, commanding German forces in the defense of Italy. In March 1945, he became the last German commander-in-chief in the west. Gerd von Rundstedt was a Generalfeldmarschall (field marshal) in the German army and held some of the highest field commands in all phases of the war. He commanded large formations during the invasion of Poland and Battle of France. During Operation Barbarossa, he was named commander of Army Group South. In 1942 he was appointed commander of OB West. He retained this command (with several interruptions) until his dismissal by Hitler in March 1945. Erich von Manstein is credited with the drawing up of the Ardennes invasion plan of France. In the Soviet campaign, he also conquered Sevastopol in 1942 and was then made Generalfeldmarschall and took command of Army Group South. A command he held until he was dismissed by Hitler in March, 1944. He is often considered one of the finest German strategists and field commanders of World War II. Heinz Guderian was the principal creator of Blitzkrieg. He commanded several front line armies in the early years of the war, most notably Panzergruppe Guderian during Operation Barbarossa. Guderian later served as chief of staff of the army from July 1944 to March 1945. Erwin Rommel was the commander of the Afrika Korps in the North African campaign and became known by the nickname "The Desert Fox". Rommel was admired as a tactical genius by both Axis and Allied leaders during the war. He was subsequently in command of the German forces during the battle of Normandy. He was forced to commit suicide on October 14, 1944 for being implicated in the July 20th plot against Hitler. Walter Model was a general in the German army who became best known as a skilled practitioner of defensive warfare on both the Eastern and Western Fronts. Following the invasion of Normandy in June, 1944 he was reassigned to the west where he took command of Army Group B. He was also the principal architect of the Ardennes Offensive. He committed suicide on April 21, 1945. Hans-Jürgen von Arnim was a German colonel general and commander-in-chief of the Army Group Africa and de facto commander of the Afrika Korps from March 9, 1943 until his capture by the British Indian Army's 14th Infantry Division on May 12, 1943.
Albrecht Brandi (20 June 1914 – 6 January 1966) was a German U-boat commander in Nazi Germany's "Kriegsmarine" during World War II. Together with Wolfgang Lüth, he was the only "Kriegsmarine" sailor who was awarded with the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves, Swords and Diamonds. The Knight's Cross (), and its variants were the highest awards in the military and paramilitary forces of Nazi Germany during World War II. Brandi is credited with the sinking of eight merchant ships for a total of , one auxiliary warship of , and three warships of .
Walter Wolfrum (23 May 1923, Schmölz, Küps, Germany – 26 August 2010, Schwabach) was a German military aviator who served in the Luftwaffe during World War II. As a fighter ace, he flew 424 combat missions and claimed 137 aerial victories—that is, 137 aerial combat encounters resulting in the destruction of the enemy aircraft. This ties him for 43rd place among highest scoring fighter aces. He was also a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross, the highest award in the military and paramilitary forces of Nazi Germany during World War II.
Ivan Khristoforovich Bagramyan (; ), also known as Hovhannes Khachaturi Baghramyan (; ) ( – 21 September 1982), was a Soviet military commander and Marshal of the Soviet Union of Armenian origin. During World War II, Bagramyan was the first non-Slavic military officer to become a commander of a Front. He was among several Armenians in the Soviet Army who held the highest proportion of high-ranking officers in the Soviet military during the war.
Major General Fred Livingood Walker (June 11, 1887 – October 6, 1969) was a highly decorated senior United States Army officer who served in both World War I and World War II and was awarded with the second highest military decorations in both wars, the Distinguished Service Cross. During World War I he commanded a battalion on the Western Front, fighting with distinction in the Second Battle of the Marne in July 1918. During World War II, Walker commanded the 36th (Texas) Infantry Division throughout its service in the Italian Campaign, from September 1943 until June 1944.
Otto Schultze (11 May 1884 – 22 January 1966) was a "Generaladmiral" with the "Kriegsmarine" during World War II and a recipient of the "Pour le Mérite" during World War I. The "Pour le Mérite" was the Kingdom of Prussia's highest military order for German soldiers until the end of World War I. As a U-boat commander during World War I, he was credited with the sinking of 53 merchant ships for a total of 132,567 gross register tons, and of displacement.
The rank of "Reichsmarschall" was originally created before the 12th century, during the time of the Holy Roman Empire. Historically, holding the rank of "Reichsmarschall" was neither unique nor as prestigious as it was during World War II. During the time of the German Empire and World War I, no one in the German armed forces held this rank.
Statistics for German World War II military casualties are divergent and contradictory. The wartime military casualty figures compiled by German High Command, up until January 31, 1945, are often cited by military historians when covering individual campaigns in the war. A recent study by the German historian Rüdiger Overmans found that the German High Command statistics are not reliable, he estimated German military dead at 5.3 million, including 900,000 men conscripted from outside of Germany's 1937 borders, in Austria and in east-central Europe. The German government still maintains that its records list 4.3 million dead and missing military personnel. Civilian deaths during the war include air raid deaths, estimates of German civilians killed only by Allied strategic bombing have ranged from around 350,000 to 500,000.
Civilian deaths, due to the flight and expulsion of Germans and the forced labor of Germans in the Soviet Union are disputed and range from 500,000 to over 2.0 million. According to the German government "Suchdienste" (Search Service) there were 300,000 German victims (including Jews) of Nazi racial, political and religious persecution. This statistic does not include 200,000 German people with disabilities who were murdered in the Action T4 and  Action 14f13 euthanasia programs.
Engelbert Endrass () (2 March 1911 – 21 December 1941) was a German U-boat commander in World War II. He commanded the Type VIIB U-boat and the Type VIIC , being credited with sinking twenty-two ships on ten patrols, for a total of of Allied shipping, to purportedly become the 23rd highest scoring U-boat commander of World War II. He was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves of Nazi Germany. It was Germany's highest military decoration at the time of its presentation to Endrass.
Desiderius Hampel (20 January 1895 – 11 January 1981) was a "SS-Brigadeführer und Generalmajor der Waffen-SS" during World War II who commanded the 13th "Waffen" Mountain Division of the SS "Handschar" (1st Croatian) and was possibly awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross ("Ritterkreuz"), the highest award in the military and paramilitary forces of Nazi Germany during World War II. After the war the Yugoslavian government asked for his extradition to charge him with war crimes, but he managed to escape from a British internment camp.
During his Army service in Germany, Melvin learned German and developed an interest in German military history. The product of this was his 2010 biography of Erich von Manstein. Manstein is widely regarded as the most gifted German commander of World War II, but he was also a convicted war criminal who never acknowledged his own or the German Army's responsibility for the crimes committed on the Eastern Front while he held major commands there. In his prologue to the book, Melvin writes:
Günther Scholz (8 December 1911 – 24 October 2014) was a German Luftwaffe military aviator and wing commander during World War II, and was the last surviving member of the Condor Legion during the Spanish Civil War. He later participated in the Battle of Britain and commanded "Jagdgeschwader" 5 (JG 5—5th Fighter Wing) during World War II. He had accumulated at least 33 "kills" during his time of service. His memoirs are documented in the book "In the Skies over Europe."
Franz Schall (born 1 June 1918 – 10 April 1945) was a German military aviator who served in the Luftwaffe during World War II. As a fighter ace, he flew approximately 550 combat missions and claimed 137 aerial victories—that is, 137 aerial combat encounters resulting in the destruction of the enemy aircraft. He was also a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross, the highest award in the military and paramilitary forces of Nazi Germany during World War II.
During World War II, about 18,500 Armenians served in the armed forces of the United States. A number of them were decorated for their service, including Col. Ernest Dervishian, a native of Virginia, who was awarded the Medal of Honor. US Marine Harry Kizirian is considered the most decorated soldier of the state of Rhode Island. Another Marine Captain, Victor Maghakian is considered one of the most decorated American soldiers of the war. The highest-ranking Armenian-American during World War II was Brigadier General Haig Shekerjian (who had previously served in the Pancho Villa Expedition and as an American military attache in the Middle Eastern theater of World War I). He was appointed Commanding General of Camp Sibert, Alabama, which was used extensively as the main training camp for chemical warfare troops, and remained in that position until 1945. Shekerjian also gave numerous speeches during the war encouraging Americans of Armenian descent to enlist.
Kurt Renner was a German general (Generalleutnant) in the Wehrmacht during World War II who commanded the 211th Infantry Division and the 174th Reserve Division. He was killed whilst in command of the 174th Reserve Division on 26 August 1943 by Polish underground forces becoming the highest ranking German officer killed by the Polish resistance during the war.
Carl-Heinrich von Stülpnagel (2 January 1886 – 30 August 1944) was a German general in the Wehrmacht during World War II who was an army level commander. While serving as military commander of German-occupied France and as commander of the 17th Army in the Soviet Union during Operation Barbarossa, Stülpnagel was implicated in war crimes, including authorising reprisal operations against civilian population and closely cooperating with the Einsatzgruppen in their mass executions of Jews.
Friedrich "Fritz" Rumpelhardt (19 June 1920 – 20 January 2011) was a German air officer during World War II. He was also a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross, the highest award in the military and paramilitary forces of Nazi Germany during World War II.
Marcelino Serna an undocumented Mexican immigrant who became the most decorated soldier from Texas in World War I. Serna was the first Hispanic to be awarded the Distinguished Service Cross. Guy Gabaldon a United States Marine who, at age 18, captured or persuaded to surrender Japanese soldiers and civilians during the battles for Saipan and Tinian islands in 1944 during World War II. Marcario Garcia was the first Mexican immigrant to receive the Medal of Honor, the United States' highest military decoration. He received the award for his heroic actions as a soldier during World War II. Major Oscar F. Perdomo a recipient of the Distinguished Service Cross, was a United States Air Force officer who was the last "ace in a day" for the United States in World War II. Everett Alvarez, Jr. is a former U.S. Navy Commander who endured one of the longest periods as a prisoner of war (POW) in American military history. Alvarez was the first U.S. pilot to be downed and detained during the Vietnam War and spent over eight years in captivity. Robert Cardenas is a retired brigadier general of the United States Air Force. He served in World War II and the Vietnam War Richard E. Cavazos became the U.S. Army's first Hispanic Four Star General Alfred Valenzuela is a retired United States Army major general who commanded United States Army South (USARSO) at Fort Buchanan, Puerto Rico. Ronald J. Rábago, the first Hispanic to be promoted to Rear Admiral (lower half) in the United States Coast Guard
Wilhelm Marschall (30 September 1886 – 20 March 1976) was a German admiral during World War II. He was also a recipient of the "Pour le Mérite" which he received as commander of the German U-boat during World War I. The "Pour le Mérite" was the Kingdom of Prussias highest military order for German officers until the end of World War I.
During World War II, the fort was used as an interrogation center called P. O. Box 1142 where captive German officers were kept and questioned. Fort Hunt is the site of the death of Lieutenant Commander Werner Henke, the highest-ranking German officer to be shot while in American captivity during World War II.
Friedrich Wilhelm was the eldest son of Kaiser Wilhelm II and the last crown prince of the German Empire and the Kingdom of Prussia. Crown Prince Wilhelm abdicated around the same time as his father in 1918. A military commander, he was second in command to his Commander in Chief father, with "Generalfeldmarschall" Crown Prince Rupprecht of Bavaria and "Generalfeldmarschall" Albrecht, Duke of Württemberg, at German military headquarters during World War I until the armistice of 11 November 1918. As such, Wilhelm II and Crown Prince Wilhelm directly commanded their Chief of the General Staff, General Paul von Hindenburg, throughout the war.
Although his private life was rather controversial, Prince Bernhard was still generally regarded as a popular figure by the majority of the Dutch for his performance as a combat pilot and his activities as a liaison officer and personal aide to the Queen during World War II, and for his work during post-war reconstruction. During World War II, he was part of the London-based Allied war planning councils. He saw active service as a Wing Commander (RAF), flying both fighter and bomber planes into combat. He was a Dutch general and Supreme Commander of the Dutch Armed forces, involved in negotiating the terms of surrender of the German Army in the Netherlands. For proven bravery, leadership and loyalty during his wartime efforts, he was appointed a Commander of the Military William Order, the Netherlands' oldest and highest honour. After the war he was made Honorary Air Marshal of the Royal Air Force by Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom. In 1969, Bernhard was awarded the Grand Cross (Special Class) of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany.
During World War II, Schramm volunteered again for service in the Wehrmacht and, given the rank of major, served in various staff positions until he was selected as the official staff historian, or diarist, for the German High Command Operational Staff ("Wehrmachtführungsstab"), replacing Helmuth Greiner, whose removal was orchestrated by Martin Bormann, the head of the Nazi Party chancellery. Schramm's duties involved keeping detailed records about the day-to-day activities and decisions of the General Staff, which included the top military field commanders in the German Army. This allowed Schramm unprecedented access to the highest echelons of the German military and its inner workings.
Australians took part in all of Bomber Command's major offensives and suffered heavy losses during raids on German cities and targets in France.[62] The Australian contribution to major raids was often substantial, and the Australian squadrons typically provided about 10percent of the main bomber force during the winter of 1943–44, including during the Battle of Berlin.[63] Overall, the Australian squadrons in Bomber Command dropped 6percent of the total weight of bombs dropped by the command during the war.[64] Australian aircrew in Bomber Command had one of the highest casualty rates of any part of the Australian military during World WarII. Although only two percent of Australians enlisted in the military served with Bomber Command, they incurred almost 20percent of all Australian deaths in combat; 3,486were killed and hundreds more were taken prisoner.[65]
When World War II began, Hitler appointed himself to the unique title "First Soldier of the German Reich" ("Erster Soldat des Deutschen Reiches") and began wearing a gray military jacket with swastika eagle sewn on the upper left sleeve (contrary to depictions in movies and popular culture, Hitler very rarely wore his brown Nazi party uniform during World War II). Throughout the war, the only military decorations Hitler displayed were his Wound Badge and Iron Cross from World War I and the Nazi Golden Party Badge. Hitler's position in World War II was essentially supreme commander of the German Armed Forces ("Oberbefehlshaber der Deutschen Wehrmacht").