Ferdinand Schörner

Field Marshal Ferdinand Schörner

Ferdinand Schörner (December 5, 1892 - February 7, 1973) was a German general and later field marshal during World War II.

He was born in Munich, Bavaria. A noted veteran of the World War I, winning the Pour le Mérite in 1917, Schörner served as a staff member and instructor in between the two wars. As an army instructor he was instrumental in turning the Waffen SS from a paramilitary force into a military stormtroopers able to fight alongside the Wehrmacht.

Schörner was highly successful during the German campaigns in Poland and the Balkans, commanding the 98th Mountain Regiment, he then commanded the XIX Mountain Corps in Finland. After this, he commanded the XXXX Panzer Corps on the Eastern Front from November 16, 1943 to January 31, 1944

In March 1944 he was made the commander of Army Group A and in May the commander of Army Group South Ukraine , in this position he managed to persuade Hitler to authorize a retreat from the Black Sea port of Sevastopol and in a series of defensive battles stabilized the crumbling front. In July he became the commander of Army Group Courland where he stayed until January 1945 when he was made the commander of Army Group Centre. Finally, Schörner was named as Commander-in-Chief of the German Army (Oberbefehlshaber des Heeres) in Hitler's last testament on April 30, 1945, which he served as until the surrender of the Third Reich on May 8, 1945. Schörner had been promoted to the rank of Field Marshal (Generalfeldmarschall) on April 5, 1945.

On May 7 the day General Alfred Jodl, Chief-of-Staff of OKW (German Armed Forces High Command), was negotiating surrender of all German forces at SHAEF, the last that the OKW had heard from Schörner was on May 2. He had reported that he intended to fight his way west and surrender his army group to the Americans. On the May 8 an OKW colonel, was escorted through the American lines to see Schörner. The colonel reported that Schörner had ordered the men under his operational command to observer the surrender but that he could not guarantee that he would be obeyed everywhere. Later that day Schörner deserted his command and flew to Austria where on the May 18 he was arrested by the Americans. Some of Army Group Centre continued to resist until they met the overwelming force of the Soviet Army sent to occupy Czechoslovakia the Prague Offensive.

Schörner was turned over to the Soviets. The Soviets, impressed by the defense of Courland and Berlin regarded Schörner as the best German frontline general, they saw in him great strategic prize and repeatedly made offers to appoint him a General in the new East German military if he switched his allegiance to Communism. Refusing the cooperate with his captors, Schörner served in a Soviet Prisoner of War camp from May 15, 1945 until January 17, 1955 where he was severely mistreated and apparently tortured. After his release the Soviets demanded he settle down in East Germany, but he refused, going to West Germany instead. In retaliation for this the Soviet controlled East German Stasi, through their network of agents, launched a massive smear campaign against him in West German media.

As a result an investigation was launched into his wartime court-martials and he was put on trial as a common criminal for ordering the shooting of a combat commander and his deputy for negligence, and ordering to shoot a private 1st class, who had fallen asleep behind the steering-wheel of his vehicle while drunk. Charged with manslaughter, he was sentenced to 4 1/2 years of imprisonment. He was released in 1963.

A broken man, he died in Munich on February 7, 1973.