General Friedrich Olbricht

Friedrich Olbricht (born 4 October 1888 in Leisnig, Saxony; died 21 July 1944 in Berlin) was a German general and one of the plotters involved in the attempt to assassinate Adolf Hitler at the Wolf's Lair in East Prussia on 20 July 1944. Image File history File links Olbricht. ... Image File history File links Olbricht. ... October 4 is the 277th day of the year (278th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1888 (MDCCCLXXXVIII) is a leap year starting on Sunday (click on link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar or a leap year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar. ... Leisnig is a small town in the district of Döbeln, federal state of Saxony in Germany. ... The Free State of Saxony (German: Freistaat Sachsen; Sorbian: Swobodny Stata Sakska) is at a land area of 18,413 km² and a population of 4. ... July 21 is the 202nd day (203rd in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 163 days remaining. ... 1944 (MCMXLIV) was a leap year starting on Saturday (the link is to a full 1944 calendar). ... For other uses, see Berlin (disambiguation). ... A General is an officer of high military rank. ... Claus von Stauffenberg The July 20 Plot was a failed coup détat and attempt to assassinate Adolf Hitler. ... One of larger bunkers in Wolfsschanze complex. ... East Prussia (German: Ostpreu en; Polish: Prusy Wschodnie; Russian: Восточная Пруссия — Vostochnaya Prussiya) was a province of Kingdom of Prussia, situated on the territory of former Ducal Prussia. ... July 20 is the 201st day (202nd in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 164 days remaining. ...

Life

Friedrich Olbricht was the son of the mathematics professor Richard Olbricht.

After his Abitur in 1907, Olbricht joined Infantry Regiment 106 in Leipzig as an ensign. He then fought in the First World War from 1914 to 1918, and afterwards, as a captain, was taken into the Reichswehr, which had been reduced in size under the terms of the Treaty of Versailles in 1919. Abitur (from Latin abire=go away, go off) is the word commonly used in Germany for the final exams young adults (aged 18 or 19) take at the end of their secondary education, usually after 12 or 13 years of schooling. ... 1907 (MCMVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Wednesday of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... Infantry of the Royal Irish Rifles during the Battle of the Somme in World War I. An infantry is a body of soldiers who fight primarily on foot with small arms in organized military units, though they may be transported to the battlefield by horses, ships, automobiles, skis, or other... [] (Sorbian/Lusatian: Lipsk) is the largest city in the Federal State (Bundesland) of Saxony in Germany. ... Ypres, 1917, in the vicinity of the Battle of Passchendaele. ... 1914 (MCMXIV) was a common year starting on Thursday. ... 1918 (MCMXVIII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar (see link for calendar) or a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. ... Captain is both a nautical term and a rank in various uniformed organizations. ... The Reichswehr (help· info) (literally National Defense or Imperial Defense) formed the military organization of Germany from 1919 until 1935, when the government rebranded it as the Wehrmacht (Defence Force). ... The Treaty of Versailles (1919) was the peace treaty which officially ended World War I between the Allied and Associated Powers and Germany. ... 1919 (MCMXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ...

Olbricht was married to Eva Koeppel. The couple would have a son and a daughter.

Olbricht's mistrust of the Nazis became apparent early on, particularly after the Beer Hall Putsch in 1923, when he stood together with Hans Oster, Erwin von Witzleben and Georg Thomas, who all distanced themselves from the growing rightwing movement, worried as they were at the allure that the Nazis seemed to have for a lot of military men. The Nazi party used a right-facing swastika as their symbol and the red and black colors were said to represent Blut und Boden (blood and soil). ... It has been suggested that Beer Hall Putsch Supporters be merged into this article or section. ... 1923 (MCMXXIII) was a common year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ... Hans Oster (August 9, 1887 – April 9, 1945) was a career officer in the Wehrmacht and a dedicated opponent of Adolf Hitler and Nazism. ... Job-Wilhelm Georg Erwin von Witzleben (born 4 December 1881 in Breslau; died 8 August 1944 in Berlin, executed) was a German army officer (by 1940 a Generalfeldmarschall) and in the Second World War an Army commander and a resistance fighter in the July 20 Plot. ... Georg Thomas Georg Thomas (born 20 February 1890; died 29 December 1946) was a German general and a resistance fighter in the Third Reich. ...

In 1926, Olbricht was called into the Reich Defence Ministry as leader of the "Foreign Armies Bureau". In 1933, he became chief of staff of the Dresden Division. 1926 (MCMXXVI) was a common year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1933 (MCMXXXIII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ...

In 1934, Olbricht managed to save several men from being shot in the wake of the Röhm affair by having them assigned to military-political duties under army protection. They had already been arrested, and would have been put to death in fairly short order. 1934 (MCMXXXIV) was a common year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ... The Night of the Long Knives (June 30 and Sunday July 1, 1934) (German, Nacht der langen Messer), also known as Reichsmordwoche, Operation Hummingbird or the Blood Purge, was a lethal purge of Adolf Hitlers potential political rivals in the Sturmabteilung (SA; also known as storm troopers or brownshirts). ...

In 1935 came his appointment as chief of staff of the Fourth Army Corps stationed in Dresden. In 1938, he took over leadership of the 24th Infantry Division. That same year, he unsuccessfully advocated the rehabilitation of Werner von Fritsch, who had been disgraced as a result of an accusation of homosexuality (see Blomberg-Fritsch Affair). 1935 (MCMXXXV) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ... From left to right: Brühls Terrace; the Hofkirche and the castle; the Semper Opera House. ... 1938 (MCMXXXVIII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar). ... Werner Freiherr von Fritsch (1880-1939) was a prominent Wehrmacht officer prior to 1938. ... The Blomberg-Fritsch Affair (also known as Blomberg-Fritsch-Krise or Blomberg-Fritsch crisis) were two scandals that resulted in the subjugation of the German Wehrmacht to Adolf Hitler. ...

When the Second World War broke out in 1939, he took part in the Polish September Campaign, which ended with his being awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross. On 15 February 1940, Olbricht was promoted to General of the Infantry. He was assigned the leadership of the General Army Office (Allgemeines Heeresamt) in the Army Leadership High Command (Oberkommando der Heeresleitung). He was furthermore made leader of the Recruiting Office (Wehrersatzamt) at the Oberkommando der Wehrmacht. Mushroom cloud from the nuclear explosion over Nagasaki rising 18 km into the air. ... 1939 (MCMXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ... Combatants Poland Germany Soviet Union Slovakia Commanders Edward Rydz-Śmigły Fedor von Bock (Army Group North) Gerd von Rundstedt (Army Group South) Ferdinand Čatloš (Field Army Bernolak) Strength 39 divisions 16 brigades 4,300 guns 880 tanks 400 aircraft Total: 1,000,000[1] 56 German divisions, 33+ Soviet... A stylized version of the Iron Cross, the emblem of the German Armed Forces The Iron Cross (German: Eisernes Kreuz) is a military decoration of the Kingdom of Prussia, and later of Germany, which was established by King Friedrich Wilhelm III of Prussia and first awarded on 10 March 1813. ... February 15 is the 46th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1940 (MCMXL) was a leap year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1940 calendar). ... The command flag for the Chief of the High Command of the German Armed Forces (1938 - 1941) The command flag for a Generalfeldmarschall as the Chief of the High Command of the German Armed Forces (1941 - 1945) The Oberkommando der Wehrmacht or OKW (Wehrmacht High Command, Armed Forces High Command...

Olbricht took part in the planning for the attempt on Hitler's life together with the resistance circles around Colonel General Ludwig Beck, Carl Friedrich Goerdeler and Major General Henning von Tresckow. In 1943, he asked that Colonel Claus Graf Schenk von Stauffenberg, who would later be the key man in the assassination attempt with the job of actually planting the bomb near Hitler, come to work at his office. Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (April 20, 1889 – April 30, 1945, standard German pronunciation in the IPA) was the Führer (leader) of the National Socialist German Workers Party (Nazi Party) and of Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1945. ... Ludwig Beck General Ludwig Beck (June 29, 1880- July 21, 1944) was Chief of Staff of the German Armed forces during the early years of the Nazi regime in Germany before World War II. Born in Biebrich in the Rhineland, he was educated in the conservative Prussian military tradition. ... Carl Friedrich Goerdeler Carl Friedrich Goerdeler (July 31, 1884 – February 2, 1945) was a conservative German politician and opponent of the Nazi regime. ... Henning von Tresckow (January 10, 1901 – July 21, 1944) was a Major General in the German Wehrmacht. ... 1943 (MCMXLIII) was a common year starting on Friday (the link is to a full 1943 calendar). ... Claus von Stauffenberg Claus Philipp Maria Graf Schenk von Stauffenberg (15 November 1907 – 21 July 1944) was a German aristocrat and army colonel during World War II. He was one of the leading figures of the July 20 Plot to assassinate Adolf Hitler. ...

On the day of the attempted coup d'état, 20 July 1944, Olbricht and Colonel Albrecht Ritter Mertz von Quirnheim initiated Operation Valkyrie – originally conceived as a plan to deal with an uprising within Germany – thereby mobilizing the Reserve Army (Ersatzheer). It soon became known, however, that Stauffenberg's briefcase bomb had failed to kill the Führer. The consequences were dire. A coup détat (pronounced ), or simply a coup, is the sudden overthrow of a government through unconstitutional means by a part of the state establishment that mostly replaces just the top power figures. ... Albrecht Ritter Mertz von Quirnheim Albrecht Ritter Mertz von Quirnheim (born 25 March 1905 in Munich; died 20 July 1944 in Berlin) was a German officer and a resistance fighter in Nazi Germany who was involved in the July 20 Plot against Hitler. ... The July 20 Plot was a failed coup détat which involved an attempt to assassinate Adolf Hitler. ... Uprising is another word for rebellion. ...

After a hastily arranged court martial on the night of 20-21 July led by Colonel General Friedrich Fromm, Friedrich Olbricht, Albrecht Mertz von Quirnheim, Werner von Haeften, and Claus von Stauffenberg were all led out into the courtyard of the Bendlerblock where they were shot by firing squad. A court-martial (plural courts-martial) is a military court that determines punishments for members of the military subject to military law. ... July 21 is the 202nd day (203rd in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 163 days remaining. ... Friedrich Fromm (October 8, 1888 - 1945) was a German army officer, best known as the main person responsible for the executions of the conspirators to assassinate Adolf Hitler. ... Werner Karl von Haeften (9 October 1908 - 20 July 1944) was an Oberleutnant in the Wehrmacht, who took part in the military-based conspiracy against Hitler known as the July 20 Plot. ... The Bendlerblock is a building in Berlin, near Tiergarten. ... Execution by firing squad is a method of capital punishment, especially in times of war. ...

Literature

• Friedrich Georgi, Soldat im Widerstand. General der Infanterie Friedrich Olbricht; 2. Aufl., Berlin u. Hamburg 1989 (ISBN 3489501349)
• Helena P. Page, General Friedrich Olbricht. Ein Mann des 20. Juli; 2. Aufl., Bonn u. Berlin 1994 (ISBN 3416025148)
• Report from Olbricht's son-in-law Friedrich Georgi about the talk on 20 July, in which Olbricht explained his motivations, just before he was arrested.

See also: List of members of the July 20 plot, Widerstand

External links

• Works of and about Friedrich Olbricht in the DDB catalogue
• Friedrich Olbricht at "Joric"