Reiner Stahel

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Rainer Stahel
Stahel in uniform
Born(1892-01-15)15 January 1892
Bielefeld, German Empire
Died30 November 1955(1955-11-30) (aged 63)
Ivanovo, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
Allegiance German Empire (1914–1918)
Finland Finland (1918–1933)
 Nazi Germany (1933–1945)
Service/branchArmy
Years of service1911–1945
RankGeneralleutnant
Commands held22nd Flak Brigade
Battles/warsWorld War I
Finnish Civil War
World War II
AwardsKnight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords

Rainer Joseph Karl August Stahel (sometimes wrongly written as Reiner; 15 January 1892 – 30 November 1955) was a German military officer and war criminal. He is best known for his retreat from Vilna and the command of the garrison of Warsaw during the Warsaw Uprising of 1944. Arrested by the NKVD in Romania, he spent the rest of his life in Soviet captivity.

Early life[edit]

Stahel was born in Bielefeld. On 1 April 1911, he joined the 1. Lothringisches Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 130 of the Prussian Army.

World War I[edit]

He fought with the German Army during World War I. By the end of the war, he had moved to Finland and joined the Finnish Army participating in the Finnish Civil War.

Interwar[edit]

In 1933 he went to Nazi Germany where he worked at the Ministry of Aviation.

World War II[edit]

Stahel participated in the German invasion of the Soviet Union as commander of Flakregiments 34 (June 1941), Flakregiment 99 (April 1942) and 4th Luftwaffe Field Division (September 1942). During the Battle of Stalingrad, Stahel conducted defensive actions at the head of Kampfgruppe Stahel. On 21 January 1943, he was promoted to major general and then transferred to Air Fleet 4.

At the end of May 1943, he was appointed commander of the new 22nd Flak Brigade in Italy and entrusted with protecting the Strait of Messina. Following the German retreat from Sicily and Italy's surrender, Stahel was made the military commander of Rome in September 1943.

1944[edit]

In July 1944, he commanded the Vilnius garrison in the Vilnius offensive and was able to postpone the seizure of that city by the Red Army. For his efforts, on 28 July 1944, he was awarded the Swords to the Knight's Cross and promoted to the rank of lieutenant general.

Warsaw uprising[edit]

Stahel was transferred to Warsaw, where he was to defend the city against the advancing Red Army.[1] However, the Soviet offensive was halted. Instead, on August 1, the Warsaw Uprising was started by the Polish Home Army. On the uprising's first day, Stahel was surrounded in his headquarters in the Saxon Palace, and he lost control of the situation.[1] On August 4, command over Nazi forces in Warsaw was given to Waffen-SS commander Erich von dem Bach-Zelewski and Stahel's pocket was subordinated to the new commander. By August 7, the Dirlewanger Brigade reached Stahel's positions in the city centre, although he did not resume his command over the city's garrison.

Suppression of Warsaw uprising[edit]
Rainer Stahel after arrest by NKVD 1944

Despite his relatively limited role in suppressing the Warsaw uprising of 1944, Stahel was responsible for a series of crimes committed against Warsaw's civilians. On August 2, he ordered the killing of all men identified as actual or potential insurgents and taking civilian hostages to be used as human shields when assaulting insurgent positions.[2] Testimonies of the soldiers of the 562nd Grenadier Division's Grenadier Regiment East Prussia 4 who arrived in Warsaw on August 3 show that Stahel gave them the order to "kill all men encountered, remove women and children, and burn houses."[3] Moreover, Stahel ordered the execution of Polish prisoners held in Mokotów prison[4] and officially sanctioned looting, allowing German soldiers to take anything they wanted from houses on fire.[5]

Romania[edit]

Grave in Cherntsy

On August 25, he was dispatched to Bucharest to replace General Alfred Gerstenberg, where the German headquarters anticipated similar urban warfare; his troops attempted to occupy Romania's capital Bucharest, but they were repulsed by troops loyal to King Michael I. On the same day, Romania declared war on the Axis. He was captured together with General Gerstenberg by Romanian soldiers at Gherghița on August 28. In the following days, the Red Army entered the city almost unopposed.[6]

On 20 September 1944, Stahel was arrested by the NKVD together with Field Marshal Ion Antonescu. Interrogated on his part in the Warsaw Uprising, he was imprisoned in the Soviet Union. The exact date of his death is a subject of controversy.

Death[edit]

According to initial Soviet sources, Stahel died on 30 November 1952 in Vladimir central transfer prison. However, recent sources confirm that Stahel died in 1955 in the Voikovo officer prison camp of a heart attack when he was informed of his possible transfer to Germany. This date is also confirmed by the gravestone in Russia (General Cemetery of the Chernzy/Cherntsy War Cemetery).

Awards and decorations[edit]

References[edit]

Citations[edit]

  1. ^ a b Władysław Bartoszewski; Muzeum Powstania Warszawskiego (2004). Dni walczącej stolicy : kronika Powstania Warszawskiego (in Polish). Warszawa: Muzeum Powstania Warszawskiego, Świat Książki. ISBN 978-83-7391-679-1.
  2. ^ Antoni Przygoński, Powstanie warszawskie w sierpniu 1944, Warszawa: Państwowe Wydawnictwo Naukowe, 1988, page 241.
  3. ^ Adam Borkiewicz, Powstanie warszawskie 1944: zarys działań natury wojskowej, Warszawa: PAX, 1962., page 108
  4. ^ Lesław M. Bartelski, Mokotów 1944, Warszawa: Wydawnictwo MON, 1971, page 277.
  5. ^ Protokół przesłuchania komendanta garnizonu Warszawa gen. Reinera Stahela, Moscow: 25/08/1945 r., http://ipn.gov.pl/portal/pl/719/10337/Nieznane_dokumenty_z_Powstania_Warszawskiego.html Archived 16 February 2010 at the Wayback Machine.
  6. ^ Nicolae Jurca. "Serata de adio s-a contramandat". memoria.ro (in Romanian). Retrieved 18 February 2024.
  7. ^ a b Thomas 1998, p. 340.
  8. ^ a b Scherzer 2007, p. 716.
  9. ^ Fellgiebel 2000, p. 44.

Bibliography[edit]

  • Scherzer, Veit (2007). Die Ritterkreuzträger 1939–1945 Die Inhaber des Ritterkreuzes des Eisernen Kreuzes 1939 von Heer, Luftwaffe, Kriegsmarine, Waffen-SS, Volkssturm sowie mit Deutschland verbündeter Streitkräfte nach den Unterlagen des Bundesarchives [The Knight's Cross Bearers 1939–1945 The Holders of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross 1939 by Army, Air Force, Navy, Waffen-SS, Volkssturm and Allied Forces with Germany According to the Documents of the Federal Archives] (in German). Jena, Germany: Scherzers Militaer-Verlag. ISBN 978-3-938845-17-2.
  • Thomas, Franz (1998). Die Eichenlaubträger 1939–1945 Band 2: L–Z [The Oak Leaves Bearers 1939–1945 Volume 2: L–Z] (in German). Osnabrück, Germany: Biblio-Verlag. ISBN 978-3-7648-2300-9.
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