Hans Graf von Sponeck
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Hans Graf von Sponeck or Hans Emil Otto Graf Sponeck (January 12, 1888 - July 23, 1944) was a German general (General-Leutnant) during World War II who was imprisoned for disobeying orders and later executed.
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[edit] Early history
Hans was the youngest of four children, and only son, of Emil August Joseph Anton Graf Sponeck and Maria (nee Courtin). He was born in Düsseldorf, Germany just months before his father's death at age 38. Hans spent his early years with his mother in Freiburg, Breisgau. This was near the "Burg Sponeck" which had given his family its title name.
Sponeck entered the cadet corps in Karlsruhe at 10, and became the "head cadet" at just 17. He received his commission in 1908 at age 20 with rank of Lieutenant. He was also a gymnast and a soccer player. He was promoted to Captain in 1908. He married in 1910 and had two sons by this marriage.
[edit] During the First World War
Hans Sponeck was a front line officer and battalion adjutant during World War I, and was wounded three times. In 1916 he was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. Afterwards he was awarded both orders of the Iron Cross with Leaves. Between 1924 and 1934 he served on the General Staff HQ and later as full colonel, commanded Infantry Regiment at Neustrelitz. In 1937 Sponeck entered the German Air Service under Göring to establish the new Air Commando Units.
[edit] Second World War
On 1 March 1938 Sponeck was promoted to Major-General. During the Werner von Fritsch affair Sponeck was called as a character witness but was roughly put down by Göring as Court President. Sponeck became commander of the 22nd Infantry Division with 42nd Army Corps training as airborne infantry divisions as paratrooper (fallschirmjäger) regiments. The German airborne assault on the Low Countries began on 10 May 1940 with Generals Kurt Student and Hans Sponeck, who was to obtain the submission and co-operation of Queen Wilhelmina who had fled already to England. Sponeck was wounded and on his return to Germany was further awarded with Knight's Cross and promoted to Lieutenant General by Hitler.
[edit] Eastern Campaign
Before dawn on 22 June 1941 the offensive against the Soviet Union was launched. Hans Sponeck was part of the 11th Army in the south attacking in the direction of Crimea. On Sponeck's return from injury leave, von Manstein gave him the 42nd Army Corps which had taken the Kerch Peninsula in the extreme east of the Crimean Peninsula. In the middle of December 1941 the Russians went over to the attack in the south. Their plan was to land seabourne troops at Kerch and Mount Opuk and still further landing in Theodosia with 42,000 troops. On December 28 the battles in the eastern Crimea had developed in favour of the Germans having eliminated one of the two Soviet beachheads around the town of Kerch. Sponeck requested permission to retreat to avoid being cut off and captured and so to regroup and was denied three times. On 29 December the Russians landed additional forces on the southern coast at Theodosia and within a half hour Sponeck had to decide what to do. On his own initiative, as a trained Prussian officer, he gave order for his 10,000 men to retreat. In temperatures of minus 30 degrees Celsius, in a howling snowstorm and icy winds, the battalions of the 46th Infantry Division marched west. The column was some 120 km long. The soldiers marched for 46 hours with a rest for coffee occasionally, to warm up. Many suffered frozen fingers, teeth and noses. Most of the horses starved. Many big guns remained behind on the frozen road. On 31 December Sponeck's 46th Infantry arrived at the Parpach neck. Before them lay the Russian front lines. On 1 January the Russians attacked again and were held back by Sponeck's men. The arrival of a rail mounted unit finished off sixteen Russian T-26 tanks. Sponeck and his forces held off the Russians long enough until reinforcements arrived.
[edit] Arrest and Trial
On 23 January 1942 Lieutenant General Hans Graf Sponeck's trial took place again in front of the Court President Herman Goering. It did not go well for Sponeck and the court found him guilty of disobedience of a superior officer. Sponeck maintained that he had acted, as taught, on his own initiative even against orders, as long as it was successfully executed and could be justified later. He was however given the death sentence by the court. Hitler commuted it to six years in prison. Hans Sponeck was to serve as an example to those who disobeyed Hitler's new order of no retreat. Sponeck was sent to Germersheim Fortress where he was held loosely as a prisoner. He was allowed into town occasionally and his wife visited him for one week per month in the Fortress with their five year old son (Hans-Christof vS, later United Nations Diplomat & Assistant Secretary General to Kofi Annan).
[edit] 20 July 1944 Plot
On 20 July 1944 Sponeck heard on his radio of the bomb attempt on Hitler's life. Heinrich Himmler was given the position of Reichs Security Official and Sponeck was one of the first on his list as a suspected anti-Nazi. Himmler gave the order for Hans Graf von Sponeck to be executed by firing squad on 23 July 1944 in Germersheim, Germany. Strangely enough, Sponeck was allowed Holy Communion before his execution! In a letter to his wife he wrote "I die with firm faith in my Redeemer". Pleading the innocence of his actions in the Kerch peninsula, he went to the firing squad boldly, as witnessed by the priest present, and requested not to be bound or to be blindfolded. Facing the firing squad his last words were: "For 40 years I have served my Germany, that I love, as a soldier and an officer. Today, when I lay down my life, I die in the hope of a better Germany!" Hans Graf Sponeck was buried in Germersheim and while no citations or speeches were permitted at his grave, they did allow the Lord's Prayer to be said. After the war, Hans Sponeck's mortal remains were exhumed and his last resting place was the Soldiers' Cemetery at Dahn in the Pfaelzer Forest.
[edit] Last requiem
On 23 July 1999, the 55th anniversary of the execution, Hans Sponeck's son by his second marriage, Hans-Christof Graf Sponeck, who was just six years old when his father was executed, held a requiem at his father's grave. Hans-Christof Graf Sponeck served as Assistant Secretary General and Diplomat, United Nations, until his retirement a short time ago.
