![]() The SS were beginning their campaign to "clean house" in Poland of Jews, intelligentsia, Catholic clergy, and the aristocracy. On 19 September, Halder noted in his diary that he had received information from Reinhard Heydrich. ![]() On 1 September 1939, the German offensive began, resulting in declarations of war by France and the British Empire. His plans authorised the SS to carry out security tasks on behalf of the army that included the imprisonment or execution of Polish citizens, whether Jewish or gentile. Halder participated in the strategic planning for the Invasion of Poland. ![]() World War II Invasions of Poland and Western Europe Halder with Walther von Brauchitsch during the invasion of Poland in 1939 Halder (far right) alongside Hitler, 1940 In any case, the war was averted by the conclusion of the Munich Agreement that ceded Sudetenland to Germany. Halder discussed the situation informally with US diplomat Raymond Geist and indicated that the Army feared that Hitler was about to start a war with the West. Halder was approached by conservative nationalist officers about heading the envisaged coup d'état should Hitler start a war, but he declined. He succeeded General Ludwig Beck who had resigned on 18 August amid the Sudetenland crisis. He was appointed chief of the General Staff of the Army High Command on 1 September. On 1 February 1938, Halder was promoted to general of the Artillery. This personal contact also enabled him to progress through the ranks quickly. During the 1937 Wehrmacht manoeuvres, Halder met Adolf Hitler and became a loyal supporter. Between October 1937 and February 1938, Halder served as director of the Training Branch, on the General Staff of the Army, in Berlin. He then became the director of the Manoeuvres Staff of the Wehrmacht. In August 1936, Halder was promoted to generalleutnant (lieutenant-general). The praise which he received starkly contrasted with the reality of his military career and the atrocities on the Eastern Front.įurther information: German re-armament § Nazi government era In 1961, he was awarded the Meritorious Civilian Service Award. Halder succeeded in his aim of exonerating the German Army: first with the US military, then amongst widening circles of politicians and eventually in American popular culture. The US Army overlooked Halder's apologia because Halder's group was providing military insights on the Soviet Union that it deemed important in the light of the Cold War. Halder used his influence to foster a false history of the German-Soviet conflict in which the German army fought a "noble war" and which denied its war crimes. He oversaw the writing of over 2,500 historical documents by 700 former German officers, whom he instructed to remove material detrimental to the image of the German armed forces. As chief of OKH General Staff, he had kept extensive notes, later published as The Halder Diaries.Īfter World War II Halder served as a lead consultant for the US Army Historical Division. After the 20 July 1944 plot to assassinate Hitler, Halder was arrested as it came to light that he had been involved in an earlier plot, leading to his imprisonment. Hitler removed Halder from command in September 1942. That summer Halder engaged in a long-running and divisive dispute with Hitler over strategy. In July 1940 he began planning for the Axis invasion of the Soviet Union, Operation Barbarossa, which began on 22 June 1941. The plans authorised the SS to carry out security tasks – on behalf of the army – that included the imprisonment or execution of Poles. Halder participated in the strategic planning for the 1939 German invasion of Poland. In 1937 he met and became a supporter of Adolf Hitler. Halder began his military service in 1914. After the war, he had a decisive role in the development of the myth of the clean Wehrmacht. He had his staff draft both the Commissar Order (issued on 6 June 1941) and the Barbarossa Decree (signed on ) that allowed German soldiers to execute Soviet citizens for any reason without fear of later prosecution, leading to numerous war crimes and atrocities during the campaign. Halder became instrumental in the radicalisation of warfare on the Eastern Front. During World War II, he directed the planning and implementation of Operation Barbarossa, the 1941 invasion of the Soviet Union. Franz Halder (30 June 1884 – 2 April 1972) was a German general and the chief of staff of the Army High Command (OKH) in Nazi Germany from 1938 until September 1942.
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