Nazi General Lothar Rendulic
Nnrecrut
command of the Army Group South. I have not had luck finding info on him
through various internet searches. I would like to find anything dealing with
his background with specific emphasis on his command of German Army Group South
after March 1945 and with his trial at Nurnberg after the war. Would anyone
have any suggestions where I could find this info. Thank you, N. Norman
GDWepoche
(some of them pretty much imaginary) in 1945 - he was
also commander of "Army Group North".
As for AGS, there won't be much to find regarding
Rendulic. The only German units holding out on that
front were in Vienna, and that fell within days (on April
13th) after which there wasn't much to command.
Rendulic commanded German troops in Finland in
1944 after Dietl was killed. Not too many Generals
got a chance to command so many lost causes in so
short a time.
Juha Veijalainen
says...
> I am trying to find information on Lothar Rendulic,a Nazi german General in
> command of the Army Group South
Generaloberst Rendulic was in command of the German forces late 1944
in the Finnish Lapland. He gave the order to burn/destroy Lapland - a
move mainly motivated by revenge, since burning the civilian houses
did not slow down the Finnish forces that much. Of couse destroying
bridges and roads did slow the Finns, but those were 'legitimate'
targets.
--
Juha Veijalainen, Helsinki, Finland
http://www.iki.fi/juhave/
** Mielipiteet omiani ** Opinions personal, facts suspect **
John....@pathlink.com
became a Lieutenant in the Austrian Army in 1910. He served as the Austrian
Military Attache in Paris, France, from 1934-35. In 1938, shortly after the
łAnschluss,˛ he joined the Nazi Party and served in the German Wehrmacht and
from 1939-43 he was divisional commander and commanding gerneral of an Army
Corps. In August 1943 he was made Supreme Commander of the 2nd Panzer Army in
the Balkans.
In June 1944 he was appointed commander of the 20th Gebirgsarmee (mountain
troops) in Scandinavia after their commander, General Dietl, was killed.
Rendulic was cultivated, multilingual, and highly educated. He showed a
remarkable administrative capacibility, as he was able to organize a retreat of
200,000 German troops from Finland and northern Norway across the arctic
wilderness with only few roads and limited supplies.
At the end of the war he was Commander-in-Chief of Army Group South in the
Balkans. He managed to excape capture by the Russians and surrendered his army
group to the Americans in May 1945.
In 1948, he was sentenced by an International Military Court to 25 years in
prison because of his policy of mass scorched earth destruction (Finnmark,
Norwayąs most northerly province was completely incinerrted) and brutal
reprisals against civilians and soldiers in the Balkans when his Army Group
South was retreating from the Russians. However, he was pardoned in 1951. In
later years, he wrote on military subjects until his death on January 1, 1971,
in Eferding, Austria.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Rendulic wrote for the United States Army Research European Command (USAREUR)
the following Foreign Military Studies from 1947-51: (most of these can be
obtained by ordering from this web site:
(http://carlisle-www.army.mil/usamhi/RefBibs.html)
1) Rendulic, Lothar. "Clothing and Equipment in Snow and Extreme Cold."
Foreign Mil Study D-019, USAREUR, 1947. 10 p. {FMS#D-019}.
2) Rendulic, Lothar. "The Effect of Extreme Cold on Weapons, Wheeled Vehicles
and Track Vehicles." Foreign Mil Study D-035, USAREUR, 1947. 9 p. {FMS#D-035}.
3)Rendulic, Lothar. "Combat in Deep Snow." Foreign Mil Study D-016,
USAREUR, 1947. 17 p. {FMS#D-106}.
4) Rendulic,Lothar "The Influence of Terrain, Season, and Weather on Operations
in Russia." Foreign Mil Study D-033, USAREUR, 1947. 11 p. {FMS#D-033}.
5) Rendulic, Lothar. "Fuhrung in Kritischen Lagen: Das Gefecht Bei Koselsk,
9.11.10.1941." Typescript, USAREUR Fgn Mil Study D-052, 1947. 14 p.
FgnMS (Foreign Military Study).
6)Rendulic, Lothar "Warfare in the Arctic Zones of Europe." Foreign Mil Study
P-106, USAREUR, 1951. 15 p. {FMS#P-106}
7) Rendulic, Lothar"Unerwartete Lagen." [Unexpected Situations]. Typescript,
USAREUR Fgn Mil Study P-060 L, 1951. 17 p. FgnMS.
8) Rendulic, Lothar. "The Russian Command in World War II." Foreign Mil
Study #P-079, USAREUR, 1951. 28 p. FgnMS Coll.
9) Rendulic, Lothar. "Mistakes in Deducing War Experiences." USAREUR
Foreign Mil Study #P-118, 10 Oct 1951. 10 p. FgnMS.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Books:
1) David Glantz and Jonathan House. łWhen Titans Clashed: How the Red Army
Stopped Hitler.˛ Lawrence, Ks: University Press of Kansas, 1995 (ISBN
0-7006-0717-X)(Rendulic is incorrectly referred to as Rendulac throughout the
book)
2) The Harper Encyclopedia of Military Biography (might have something about
General Rendulic?)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
War Crimes Trials: (You might find something here about General Rendulic. I do
not know.)
1) Lewis, John R. łUncertain Judgment: A Bibliography of War Crimes Trials.˛
Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-Clio, 1979. 251 p. Z6464W33L48.
2) Tutorow, Norman E. War Crimes, War Criminals, and War Crimes Trials: An
Annotated Bibliography and Source Book. NY: Greenwood, 1986. 548 p.
Z6464W33T87.
3)De Zayas, Alfred M. łThe Wehrmacht War Crimes Bureau, 1939-45.˛ Lincoln: U
of Neb, 1989. 364 p. JX5415.D4913.
4)Fattig, Richard C. "Reprisal: The German Army and the Execution of
Hostages during the Second World War." PhD dss, U of CA, San Diego, 1980. 265 p.
D804G4F3.
5) Myerson, M.H. łGermany's War Crimes and Punishment: The Problem of
Individual and Collective Criminality.˛ Toronto: Macmillan Co., 1944.
D804.G4 M93.
6)Ruckerl, Adalbert. łThe Investigation of Nazi Crimes, 1945-78: A
Documentation.˛ Heidelberg: Muller, 1979. 145 p. JX5437.8.R813.
7)Russell, Edward. łThe Scourge of the Swastika: A Short History of Nazi
War Crimes.˛ NY: Philosophical Library, 1954. 259 p. D804G4R832.
8)Neumann, Inge S. łEuropean War Crimes Trials: A Bibliography.˛ NY:
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 1951. 114 p. Z6464W33N48.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Web Sites:
http://www.aeiou.at/aeiou.encyclop.r/r496539.htm (In German-short bibliography)
http://www.jyu.fi/~hemaho/sa-int/henk.html
http://www.h-net.msu.edu/~german/books/reviews/grier1.html
http://www.netdays-austria.at/asn/schulen/lainer/wehrmacht/chris.htm (In German)
http://odin.dep.no/ud/nornytt/uda-319.html
I hope that this helps. Some of Rendulic's biography was in German at some Web
sites. I gave it a quick translation. The information is out there, sometime you
have to dig for it.
In article <71idne$tqu$1...@nntp6.u.washington.edu>, nnre...@aol.com says...
>
>I am trying to find information on Lothar Rendulic,a Nazi german General in
>command of the Army Group South. I have not had luck finding info on him
>through various internet searches. I would like to find anything dealing with
>his background with specific emphasis on his command of German Army Group South
>after March 1945 and with his trial at Nurnberg after the war. Would anyone
>have any suggestions where I could find this info. Thank you, N. Norman
>
John Decker
Drazen Kramaric
>In August 1943 he was made Supreme Commander of the 2nd Panzer Army in
>the Balkans.
In that post he was responsible for failure of Operation
Roesselsprung, the offensive aimed on capture of Yugoslav partisan
leader Tito.
On May 25th, 1944 Germans launched an offensive against partisan
controlled territory in western Bosnia aimed at little town of Drvar
where Tito's HQ was situated. The most important goal was given to
500th SS Fallschirmjaeger bn comprised of criminals.
After day of bitter fighting Tito's escort batallion managed to hold
until 6th Lika Division arrived in Drvar to rescue its Supreme
commander. SS Paratroopers were surrounded and were saved by incoming
German troops. Partisans evacuated Drvar on time and left Germans
without anything to show.
Soon after that, Rendulic was relieved and sent to Finland. A side
note: Rendulic is Croatian surname originated in mountain region of
Lika.
>At the end of the war he was Commander-in-Chief of Army Group South in the
>Balkans. He managed to excape capture by the Russians and surrendered his army
>group to the Americans in May 1945.
Army Group South wasn't in Balkans. It was in Hungary and Austria and
fought Soviets exclusively.
Oberbefelshaber Sudost was Generaloberst Alexander von Loehr, another
Austrian who commanded Heeresgruppe E in Yugoslavia. He surrendered
his forces to Yugoslav Army and later tried to escape to British. He
was returned to Yugoslavs and tried for war crimes. He was found
guilty for three charges:
1. Indiscriminate bombing of open city, Belgrade in 1941
2. Massacres commited against civilians and captured partisans during
operation Schwartz in 1943.
3. Illegal continuation of warfare after official capitulation of
Third Reich.
He was executed by firing squad.
Drax
John D Salt
Drazen Kramaric <dkraNOS...@www.zap.hr> wrote:
[snips]
>On May 25th, 1944 Germans launched an offensive against partisan
>controlled territory in western Bosnia aimed at little town of Drvar
>where Tito's HQ was situated. The most important goal was given to
>500th SS Fallschirmjaeger bn comprised of criminals.
Mr. Picky seems to remember that James Lucas' "Storming Eagles"
states that this unit, contrary to popular belief, was not
composed of criminals.
All the best,
John.
--
John D Salt Dept of IS & Computing,| Barr's Law of Recursive Futility
Brunel U, Uxbridge, Middx UB8 3PH | [BLORF]: If you are smart enough
Disclaimers: I speak only for me. | to use one of these... you can
Launcher may train without warning.| probably manage without one.