*** war and social upheaval: World War II -- biographies Otto Moritz Walter Model








World War II Biographies: Otto Moritz Walter Model (Germany, 1891-1945)

Walter Model
Figure 1.--German World War II commanders not directly involved in war crimes can perhaps be excused as patriots serving their country. Images like this where competent commanders like Model sent poorly armed schoolboys out to fight heavily armed American and British forces are difficult to excuse under any circumstances. This photograph was taken at an unknown location at about the time of the Market Garden Offensive (October 1944). These HJ boys are young enough that they were not obligated to fight with the Army. Source: J�ger. Bundesarchiv Bild 183-J28036.

Otto Moritz Walter Model was a German general/field marshal who became one of Hitler's favorites. Very little is known about his childhood. He came from a modest middle-class family, rare among German commanders. His father was a music teacher and he had a strong Lutheran upbrining. Before shooting himself, he burned his papers so very little is known about his early life. His decesion to pursue a military career was as personal commitment as a young teenager. He participated in most of the major campaigns of the War beginning in Poland (1939). He also participated in the Western offensdive (1940). He only became a major commander with Operation Typhoon to seize Moscow. Model stood out as commander of the 9th Army in the efforts to blunt the resulting Red Army offensive. This was the first of several defensive battles on the Eastern and Western fronts for which he is best known. Some military historians describe him as the Wehrmacht's best defensive tactician. This is because the battles he had to fight came as German military strength had declined, not because he was a defebively oriented commabfer. Helping to Keep Army Group Center intact and stabising the front cemented his reklationship with German F�hrer Adolf Hitler who came to distrust most Wehrmacht commanders. The relationship with Hitler and the NAZIs is debated by historians. Some believe he was a commited NAZI. Other believe that he was an authoritarian who used Hitler to build his career. He was no toddy. He avoided political missues, but in several instances had heated discussions with Hitler who in some instance uncharacteistically backed down. It was Model who convinced Hitler to allow the &th rmy to withdraw from France to the West Wall defenses. His relationship with Hitler finally ended with the failure of the Bulge offensive which Hitler had ordered. The Soviets indicted him for war crimes, specifically the deaths of 0.6 million in Latvian concentration camps and the deportation of 0,2 million as slave labor. The charges seem more political than juridical, but we do not yet have the details. After the Allies crossed the Rhine and surrounded Army Group B in the Ruhr, Model refused to surrender, but disolved the the army group. Goebbels on the radio called Army Group B traitors. The next day Model Shot himnself (April 1945).






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Created: 8:10 AM 3/25/2011
Last updated: 8:10 AM 3/25/2011