Winrich Behr
Winrich Behr (22 January 1918 – 25 April 2011[1]) was a German officer during World War II. He was on the intelligence staff of the Sixth Army during the Stalingrad encirclement. Behr had served Friedrich Paulus, Erwin Rommel, Gunther von Kluge, Walter Model. He was the witness of Model's last hours in Ruhr Pocket.[2]
Winrich Behr | |
---|---|
Born | Berlin | 22 January 1918
Died | 25 April 2011 93) Hubbelrath | (aged
Allegiance | Nazi Germany |
Service/ | Army |
Rank | Major |
Unit | 3./AufklAbt 3 |
Battles/wars | World War II |
Awards | Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross |
Relations | Nicolaus von Below (brother in law) |
In January 1943 he was sent by Paulus to try to convince Hitler of the hopelessness of winning the war on the Eastern Front; this mission did not succeed.[3]
After the war, Behr began studying at the University of Bonn. He served as the assistant general secretary of the Europäische Wirtschaftsgemeinschaft (EWG, or European Economic Union) Commission in Brussels.[4]
A decade after the war, Winrich Behr sought out the burial site of the Field Marshal Walter Model in the isolated woods south of Duisburg, together with Hansgeorg Model, the field marshal's son.[5]
Awards
- Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 15 May 1941 as Oberleutnant and chief of the 3./Aufklärungs-Abteilung 3 in the DAK[6]
References
Citations
- See obituary in the Süddeutsche Zeitung
- Battle for the RUHR by Derek S. Zumbro p. 4
- Stalingrad by Antony Beevor p. 343
- Battle for the RUHR by Derek S. Zumbro p. 407
- Battle for the RUHR by Derek S. Zumbro p. 412
- Fellgiebel 2000, p. 127.
Bibliography
- Fellgiebel, Walther-Peer (2000) [First published 1986]. Die Träger des Ritterkreuzes des Eisernen Kreuzes 1939–1945 — Die Inhaber der höchsten Auszeichnung des Zweiten Weltkrieges aller Wehrmachtteile [The Bearers of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross 1939–1945 — The Owners of the Highest Award of the Second World War of all Wehrmacht Branches] (in German). Friedberg, Germany: Podzun-Pallas. ISBN 978-3-7909-0284-6.
External links
- Winrich Behr in the German National Library catalogue
- "Den Mann kannst du abschreiben", interview Der Spiegel Nr. 51, 2002
- Interview with Winrich Behr at the Historical Archives of the EU in Florence