Dietrich Von Choltitz - Career

Career

In World War I, von Choltitz served as infantry lieutenant with the Saxon Army on the Western Front. He remained in the Reichswehr during the Weimar Republic, becoming a cavalry captain in 1929. Later he became commander of the 3rd battalion of the Luftlande-Infanterieregiment 16, first as a major, and from 1938 as a lieutenant-colonel.

In World War II, von Choltitz' battalion was engaged in the occupation of Rotterdam via air landings in 1940 (earning him a Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross). In September 1940 he became commander of the whole regiment and from 1941 as a full colonel. In the war against the Soviet Union, von Choltitz' regiment was engaged in the siege of the city of Sevastopol in June 1942. In the same year he became a major-general, and in 1943 a lieutenant-general. His command posts included assistant commander of the 260th Infantry Division and commander of the 48th Panzer Corps. From March 1944, he served in Italy, and from June 1944 on the Western Front. Later, as an Allied prisoner at Trent Park in England, he admitted in a conversation with fellow prisoners (recorded by the British unknown to him or his fellow inmates) to "executing the most difficult order of my life in Russia, (...) liquidation of the Jews. I have executed this order in its entirety nonetheless..." recorded on 29 August 1944.