Witzleben, Erwin Von

Born Dec. 4, 1881, in Breslau; died Aug. 8, 1944, in Berlin. Fascist German general and field marshal (1940). In the army from 1901. Participated in World War I; later in the Reichswehr.

From 1934, Witzleben commanded an infantry division, from September 1939, the Second Army Group, and from November 1939, the First Army. He took part in the French campaign. In October 1940 he became commander of Army Group D in France, and in November 1942 he became general for assignments under the High Command. Witzleben was one of the leaders of the July 20, 1944, conspiracy against Hitler; in the event of success, he was to become commander in chief. He was executed by sentence of a Hitlerite fascist military tribunal.