Germans can never forget the contribution of the freedom fighters who have always been fighting for their country bravely. Few of the unforgettable leaders and commanders were:
1. Erich Ludendorff
Erich Ludendorff is a reputed freedom fighter in German history. During World war, Ludendorff enters to the cadets (1877), admitted in Academia of War (1893), able to form part of the grand mayor under Schlieffen and Moltke.
Head of the division “Operations” (1908-1912), the regimen of the plan of applied concentration against France in 1914 (plan Schlieffen), he got several amusements of the army, but the excess of its requirements entails its departure for the 85th Brigade in Strasbourg.
After the defeat of the German Empire in the war, the general lived a brief exile in Sweden, where he sought explanations to understand how the invincible German army failed in the conflict. His nationalist ideas joined the movement emerging in the city of Munich and would support the creation of the Nazi Party.
2. Wilhelm Keitel
Wilhelm Bodewin Johann Gustav Keitel was initially a field marshal of the German Army during World War II, Chief of the Supreme Command of the Armed Forces in 1938 and Military Advisor to Adolf Hitler. He signed Germany’s unconditional surrender in Berlin on 8 May 1945.
In 1945, Keitel assigned the German surrender to the former Red Army and the Allies. Four days later he was arrested. In the following months, he would face the International Military Tribunal in Nuremberg (Germany), accused of war crimes, crimes against peace and crimes against humanity. He was sentenced to death on October 1, 1946.
3. Werner Thomas Ludwig Freiherr von Fritsch
He was born in Benrath in the province of the Rhine, German Empire on August 4, 1880. He entered the German Imperial Army (Reichsheer) on September 21, 1898, at the age of 18, and gained the attention of the German General Staff, with its superior military qualities.
In 1901, at the age of 21, he moved to the Prussian Military Academy (Preußische Kriegsakademie). He was Deputy Officer of the I Battalion / 25th Regiment Artillery Campaign between 1903 – March 22, 1913. As Oberleutnant, he was appointed a member of the Grand Staff between March 20, 1911 – April 1, 1911.
Then he was transferred into the Grand Staff between March 22, 1913 – 1914. On September 22, 1939, he dies in action (K.I.A.) near Prague, Warsaw, Poland.
4. Wilhelm Canaris:
Canaris was a sailor, submarine commander, and spy before reaching the top of the ladder. He was a patriot who wanted to protect his Imperial Germany from the clutches of communism, which led him to fall into another trap, under the spell of Adolf Hitler.
Despite the initial support that Canaris gave to Nazism, he turned his back. His patriotism and his deep Christianity did not allow him to accept as valid the genocidal policies of the Third Reich.
Canaris became involved in the opposition to Hitler, even before the war. During the conflict, he hindered the work of his organization and disobeyed Hitler’s orders. His knowledge of the July 1944 attack eventually led him to a concentration camp and death.
