The Nuremberg trials are the most famous postwar proceedings against Nazi leaders, but they were not the only courts to deliver justice. Following Germany’s surrender, many high-ranking generals faced execution for war crimes committed during World War II.
Some of these men were tried by Soviet tribunals, others by Allied or Yugoslav courts. Their cases raise difficult questions about obedience, responsibility, and the brutal nature of warfare on the Eastern Front and beyond.
Here are the stories of several German generals who were executed after the war.
Johann Richert
Johann Richert was born on April 14, 1890, and served as a general in the Wehrmacht. He commanded the 286th Security Division, which operated in German-occupied territories of the Soviet Union. The division was stationed in the Army Group Center rear area and committed numerous large-scale atrocities.
Under Richert’s command, the division carried out mass executions of civilians, plundered local resources, and systematically persecuted Jews and other minority groups. His unit was implicated in several massacres and reprisal actions against partisan resistance.
From November 1943 to April 1944, Richert commanded the 35th Infantry Division. In early 1944, during a German retreat, the division conducted an operation in the GOL region of Belarus. That operation forced the expulsion of 40,000 civilians from their homes, leading to the deaths of approximately 9,000 people.
Richert was captured by Soviet troops on May 8, 1945. In 1946, he was put on trial by a Soviet Military Tribunal in Minsk. The court sentenced him to death, and he was publicly hanged on January 30, 1946, in front of an audience of over 100,000 people.
Anton Dostler
Anton Dostler was born on May 1, 1891. He served in World War I and later rose through the ranks of the German military. During World War II, he held several important commands as a general of the Infantry.
By 1944, Dostler was commanding the 75th Army Corps in Italy. In March 1944, 15 soldiers from the U.S. 2677th Special Reconnaissance Battalion were captured by Italian fascist soldiers and German Army troops. The soldiers had been on a mission to sabotage Italian railways and harbors.
Acting under orders from Field Marshal Albert Kesselring, Dostler commanded that the prisoners be executed. This was a direct violation of the Geneva Convention, which mandates the humane treatment of prisoners of war. The 15 American soldiers were shot.
After Germany’s defeat, Dostler was captured by Allied Forces and faced a military tribunal. He claimed he had not issued the order but merely relayed it from Kesselring. The tribunal rejected his defense of superior orders and found him guilty.
On December 1, 1945, Dostler was executed by firing squad in Aversa, Italy. The execution was captured on black-and-white still and movie cameras.
Gottfried Von Erdmannsdorff
Gottfried Von Erdmannsdorff was born on April 12, 1893. He was a highly decorated general major and a recipient of the Knight’s Cross of the Iron Cross. His military career included involvement in the Mogilev offensive in 1944.
By 1944, German forces had transformed Mogilev into a heavily fortified defensive position. The Soviet offensive, part of the larger Operation Bagration, used overwhelming firepower to break through German lines. By June 28, 1944, the Red Army captured Mogilev, and Erdmannsdorff was taken prisoner.
Von Erdmannsdorff had co-signed the “Call of the Generals to the Army and People,” a public declaration made by 50 high-ranking German military officers in March 1944. The declaration expressed loyalty to Hitler and called for total war effort.
He was tried in the Minsk trial for crimes committed in Belarus. He was convicted of deporting 10,000 individuals, destroying villages, schools, and churches, and executing disabled people during fortification construction. He also faced charges for using people as human shields and organizing reprisal operations against civilians.
Von Erdmannsdorff was sentenced to death and hanged on January 30, 1946, in Minsk.
Helmuth Von Pannwitz
Helmuth Von Pannwitz was known for commanding the 15th SS Cossack Cavalry Corps. The unit was initially tasked with anti-partisan operations in the Balkans and on the Eastern Front. It was notorious for its brutal methods.
Von Pannwitz led a highly diverse unit that included Russian Cossacks who chose to fight under the German banner against the Soviet Union. His leadership was marked by a degree of autonomy rarely seen in the German military. However, his units often carried out severe reprisals against civilian populations.
As the war ended, Von Pannwitz retreated westward and surrendered to British forces in Austria. In a controversial decision, the British handed him over to Soviet authorities.
He was tried by a Soviet Military Tribunal for war crimes committed on the Eastern Front. Found guilty, he was executed in Moscow on January 16, 1947.
His case remains debated among historians. Some argue he was a scapegoat, while others maintain his leadership role justified his conviction. He was initially rehabilitated in 1996, but that decision was overturned in 2001.
Eberhard Herf
Eberhard Herf held the rank of SS-Brigadeführer, equivalent to a brigadier general. He served as the commander of the Order Police in the Minsk region of occupied Belarus.
As commander of Police Regiment North, Herf was directly responsible for overseeing Nazi policies of persecution and extermination. Under his command, police units carried out mass killings of Jews, Roma, and other targeted groups. He worked in coordination with SS and police units, including the Einsatzgruppen.
Later in his career, Herf requested a transfer, writing that he wanted to leave the East because he had "had enough."
After the war, Herf was among the defendants in the Minsk trial in January 1946. He stood as the highest-ranking official of the occupying force on trial. He was charged with crimes against humanity and war crimes.
Herf was found guilty and sentenced to death. He was executed on January 30, 1946, along with several other high-ranking Nazi officials convicted in the Minsk trial.
Ludwig Kübler
Ludwig Kübler was known as the "limping general" among his troops due to disfigurements from wounds suffered in World War I.
At the outbreak of World War II, Kübler led the 1st Mountain Division during the invasion of Poland in September 1939. His division played a crucial role in the rapid fall of Poland. For his leadership, he was awarded the Knight’s Cross of the Iron Cross on October 25, 1940.
Kübler later commanded the 49th Mountain Corps. In December 1941, he was named commander of the 4th Army on the Eastern Front. Frustrated with Hitler’s insistence on not allowing withdrawals during the winter battles, Kübler requested to be relieved of his duties.
During the final stages of the war, Kübler was captured in Yugoslavia. He was tried for war crimes and sentenced to death in 1947. A Yugoslav court sentenced Kübler and his successor to death.
Kübler was executed by hanging in Ljubljana on August 18, 1947. His younger brother, General Josef Kübler, was hanged in Belgrade on February 26, 1947.