Erich Fritz Fellgiebel ( 4 of October of 1886 - 4 of September of 1944 ) was a General German and member of the Resistance to the Third Reich.
Military career
Fellgiebel born in Pöpelwitz (now Popowice, Poland) near Wroclaw (now Wroclaw, Poland), Lower Silesia . In September of 1905 began his race, joining to the Prussian Army like official cadet in a battalion of transmissions. During the First World War he worked in the General Staff. After the war, he was assigned to Berlin as a staff officer. His career as an officer was exemplary and in 1928 he was promoted to Major.
In 1933 he received another promotion, being promoted to lieutenant colonel. Others followed. In 1934 happened to be colonel and in 1938 major general. That same year he was appointed Head of Transmissions of the Army and Head of the Communication Liaison with the Supreme Command of the Wehrmacht (OKH). It was promoted in 1940 to general of the battalion of transmissions. Hitler did not entirely trust Fellgiebel, considered him too independent of thought, but his knowledge was necessary.
Despite Hitler’s suspicions, Fellgiebel, as head of the broadcasting services, had access to all the Reich’s military secrets, including the rocket work of Wernher von Braun in Peenemünde . Fellgiebel was Wolfsschanze’s broadcasting officer in 1944 and conspirator liaison officer . He was a comrade-in-arms of Heinz Guderian and devised his telecommunications system in the Panzergruppe.
Resistance Activities
Thanks to his familiarity with Colonel General Ludwig Beck , who was his superior, and with Colonel General Franz Halder , Beck’s successor, Fellgiebel came into contact with military circles of resistance to Hitler. Fellgiebel had a significant involvement in the preparation of the July 20 attack on being in charge of the Wolfsschanze communications center and failed to cut the telecommunications of Hitler’s headquarters on the day of the attack. When the failure of the blow became evident, Fellgiebel had to cancel the blackout she had prepared.
Perhaps the most famous act of Fellgiebel during that day of July 20 was his telephone report to the rest of the conspirators when he discovered that Hitler had survived the bomb set by Stauffenberg :
“Etwas Schreckliches ist passiert! Der Führer lebt!” (“Something horrible has happened! The Führer lives!”).
Judgment and death
On the day of the attack, Fellgiebel was arrested at the Wolf ‘s Den in East Prussia . Charges were presented at the Volksgerichtshof , where on 10 August 1944 he was found guilty by Roland Freisler and sentenced to a frightful death with piano strings.
On September 4, 1944, Fellgiebel was executed in the Plöntzensee prison in Berlin. Her family was arrested and sent to different SS prisons. Thanks to the management of Heinz Guderian and other high commanders of the Wehrmacht could be released. 1
The Bundeswehr barracks in Pöcking-Maxhof are named in their honor General Fellgiebel Kaserne .
Filmography
- Actor Eddie Izzard plays Fellgiebel in the 2008 movie of Bryan Singer Valkyrie .
- Vernon Dobtcheff plays Fellgiebel in the telefilm The Plot to Kill Hitler .
Literature
- Macksey, Kenneth: Without Enigma : the Ultra & Fellgiebel riddles. - Shepperton: Allan, 2000. - ISBN 0-7110-2766-8
- Wildhagen, Karl Heinz (Hrsg.): Erich Fellgiebel, Meister operativer Nachrichtenverbindungen . - Wenningsen: Selbstverl., 1970
References
- Back to top↑ Guderian-General Panzer ISBN 978-84-92567-97-0
- Operation Report (in German)
- Brief article on Fellgiebel