World War II Database

Contributor: C. Peter Chen

ww2dbaseFerdinand Schörner was born in München (English: Munich), Germany in 1892. He participated in WW2 as a junior officer and had won the Pour le Mérite award for bravery in the 1917 Battle of Caporetto. During the inter-war years, he remained in the German Army. He commanded the 98th Mountain Regiment during the Invasion of Poland in Sep 1939, then commanded the 6th Mountain Division during the German campaign in the Balkan Peninsula in 1941; for his role in breaching the Greek Metaxas Line, he was awarded the Knight's Cross award. Again with the 6th Mountain Division, he participated in the invasion of Soviet Union. In Jan 1942, he was promoted to the rank of general of mountain troops (General der Gebirgstruppe) and was given command of XIX Mountain Corps. In this role, he participated in the failed attack on Murmansk, Russia. Between Nov 1943 and Jan 1944, he led XXXX Panzer Corps. In Mar 1944, he was made the commanding officer of Army Group A. In May 1944, he was made the commanding officer of Army Group South Ukraine; while in this role, the port city of Sevastopol on the Krym (English: Crimea) peninsula was lost. In Apr 1944, he was promoted to the rank of colonel general (Generaloberst). In Jul 1944, he was made the commanding officer of Army Group North (later Army Group Courland). In Jan 1945, he was made the commanding officer of Army Group Center. In this role, he gave the harsh order that all soldiers not fighting on the front lines without explicit written orders would be hanged. In Apr 1945, he was promoted to the rank of field marshal. Later in the same month, he was made the Commander-in-Chief of the German Army according to the last testament of Adolf Hitler. Unwilling to surrender to the Soviets, he led a small formation fighting through Soviet lines toward Czechoslovakia. He abandoned his position in mid-May and, in civilian clothes after having destroyed his uniform, surrendered to the Americans in Austria on 18 May 1945. In Aug 1951, he was arrested by the Soviet authorities on charges of war crimes. In Feb 1952, the Military Board of the Soviet Supreme Court sentenced him to a 25-year prison term, but two months later it was reduced by the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet to 12.5 years. In Dec 1954, he was turned over to East Germany. In 1958, he was released from East German captivity. As he traveled to West Germany, he was once again arrested, this time by West German authorities, for his 1945 orders that led to the death of many uniformed Germans who were caught behind the front lines, resulting in them being killed by their own countrymen. Schörner was found guilty and was given a 4.5-year prison sentence. He served the sentence between 1959 and 1964. Upon his release, he lived in his hometown of München and was the last German field marshal to passed away in 1973.

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