If it were not for the humiliating attempts of fascist Germany to conclude an agreement with the USSR on the eve of its defeat, perhaps the name of General Krebs would have sunk into oblivion. The talented military leader, who had the fate of asking the Soviet generals for peace, like the Fuhrer, could not stand the bitterness of defeat.
Hans Krebs, General: biography
Hans Krebs was born on March 4, 1898 in the German city of Helmstedt. The boy was born in a teacher's family. After graduating from high school, he entered a gymnasium, parents tried to ensure a decent future for their son. Additional facts about the family and relatives of this historical person are missing. It is reliably known that he fully devoted himself to military affairs and was not married.
The beginning of a military career
In August 1914, Hans volunteered for the army. Germany only unleashed the First World War. Many Germans believed that the military campaign of 1914 would help them beat out into the people. In the case of Hans, this happened. He ended the First World War with the rank of lieutenant, which he received after being wounded at the front in 1915. Krebs fought on the Western Front in infantry units.
After the end of the First World and Versailles Peace, the lieutenant became a brave military and real hero, he had about a dozen awards in this company. After the war ended, Hans decided to remain in the armed forces of Germany. In 1925 he was promoted to lieutenant. In 1930, the rank of Hauptmann was transferred to serve in the Ministry of War. Here, the future General Krebs is studying Russian. The command is preparing a qualified specialist for work in Moscow.
Work in the USSR
Without a doubt, Hans Krebs (general) - one of the most qualified specialists in the Red Army, lived in the capital of the USSR. According to some sources, in 1933-1934, other documents indicate his date of stay as 1936-1939. There are documents that describe his work at the German embassy in 1933-1939. Over the years, Krebs perfectly mastered the Russian language, knew many Soviet military leaders personally.
In 1939, a new increase - Krebs promoted to lieutenant colonel. He was the chief of staff of the Seventh Army Corps, participated in the 1940 military company in Belgium, France and Luxembourg. He distinguished himself in breaking the Maginot line. For this military operation he received buckles for existing awards.
In 1940, another increase in the experienced staff officer - he received the rank of lieutenant colonel and again sent to Moscow. He worked as first deputy military attache. In this position, Krebs served until May 1941.
Krebs is a general. The military history of World War II
In 1941–1943 the talented officer was the chief of staff of the Ninth Army, General Walter Model. In 1943, Krebs was transferred to a new headquarters; he began to command the Army Group Center.
Meanwhile, dissatisfaction with Nazi politics and defeats at the front force Hitler’s zealous opponents to act. In June 1944, a group of conspirators led by General Klaus von Stauffenberg made an attempt on Adolf Hitler. As a result, the four warlords are dead, and the Fuhrer is only shell-shocked. After the assassination attempt, a wave of repression and purging in the upper echelons of Verkhmat began. As a result of the investigation, General Hans Speidel was arrested, and Hans Krebs, a general with an excellent track record and untarnished reputation, took his place as commander of Army Group B of the Western Front.
At this post, the general failed to prove himself from the best side. He, together with the military leaders of his headquarters, developed the Arden operation, which turned out to be a failure. The Germans suffered a strategic defeat.
In 1945, Krebs received the highest award of Nazi Germany - a cross with oak leaves. In the same year, he took up the post of adviser on operational situations at the headquarters of the Commander-in-Chief Heinz Guderian.
At the end of March 1945, on the recommendation of General Burgdorf, it was Hans Krebs who was appointed commander in chief of the German ground forces. The general (military history remembered him precisely in this position) became the last commander in chief of the Wehrmacht troops in World War II.
The last diplomatic campaign of Krebs
After being appointed commander of the ground forces, Hans Krebs, a general and devoted Nazi, understood that the days of Nazi Germany were numbered, but many military leaders, like him, hoped for Hitler, but the Fuhrer decided to self-destruct. Today, historians are of the opinion that, in fact, Hitler's double shot himself in the bunker . But be that as it may, this news in the headquarters of the German troops produced the effect of thunder from a clear sky. Goebbels and Bormann decided to establish contact with the top of the Soviet command, and General Krebs came in handy for this.
The new commander of the ground forces knew Russian very well. Also, the course of the negotiation process could depend on Krebs' personal contact. He was familiar with Marshal Zhukov.
On May 1, 1945, Hans Krebs arrived at the headquarters of the Soviet command. The general, whose biography with a photo of which appeared on the same evening in the international press, was a kind of "dove of peace." As the Nazi military leader himself admitted, after the news of Hitler's suicide, the Soviet command was only interested in the details of the death of the Fuhrer, and where his body was located. The "negotiation process" has come to a standstill. All night Krebs answered Chuikov's questions. The latter, in turn, called up with Marshal Zhukov, who promised to consult with Stalin.
Only in the morning, having learned all the information of interest and the details of Hitler's death, Stalin ordered the representative of Germany to submit a demand for unconditional surrender.
General Krebs, in turn, was confused and said that he couldn’t make such decisions on his own. At nine in the morning, the Nazi representative left for the Reichstag to coordinate further actions with his command. At six o’clock in the evening, the parliamentarian brought a letter to the headquarters of the Soviet command, in which Goebbels and Bormann rejected I. Stalin's offer to capitulate.
In his memoirs, General Chuikov writes that General Krebs left the headquarters of the Soviet command in a very depressed mood. He stopped several times, forgot his personal belongings. Chuikov suggested that Krebs wanted to be captured, in a situation of absolute defeat, he wanted such a fate, but such a “trophy” of the Red Army was no longer needed.
On the evening of the first of May 1945, the army commander Hans Krebs went down to the Fuhrerbunker and shot himself. He shot a heart from his revolver. Nazi body not found.
The role of Hans Krebs in World War II
Of course, General Krebs was an excellent diplomat and scout. During his work in Moscow, he was personally familiar with the military elite of the Union. Having perfectly studied the Russian language, he easily came into contact not only with diplomats, but also with ordinary staff officers.
Having gone from an ordinary soldier in the First World War to the commander of the ground forces in the Second World War, he gained experience and the necessary tactical skills in conducting military operations. Almost all of his military campaigns were successful, except for the Arden operation. The only fact remains undeniable: if it were not for the general’s participation in the negotiations on May 1, 1945, his figure in military history would have remained inconspicuous.