Job von Witzleben(1916-1999)
- Additional Crew
Job von Witzleben was born on August 4, 1916, in Copitz, Germany. He
was a member of the von Witzleben noble family and a grand-nephew of
Field Marshal Erwin von Witzleben. He joined the Nazi Party at 1935,
and served in the Wehrmacht during World War II, being awarded the
German Cross in Gold during 1943. He was then transferred to staff
duty. His uncle, Field Marshal von Witzleben, had informed him of his
intentions to remove Hitler from power, although he did not tell him of
the plan to assassinate the latter. After 20 July 1944 and his uncle's
execution, the younger Witzleben was relegated to the field once more.
While in the besieged city of Koenigsberg, he was told that he is to be
flown to Vienna and face a court-martial, that would probably result in
execution. Witzleben contacted the Red Army via radio and defected to
the Soviets. He was held in captivity for three years, before returning
to East Germany to serve in the Barracked People's Police and later, in
the National People's Army. He also joined the East German Communist
Party, the SED. He reached the rank of a colonel, but was removed from
his command post because the Stasi viewed his aristocratic background
with suspicion. From 1958 until his retirement from the army at 1972,
he served as a military historian in the Potsdam Institute. He worked
as a film military consultant on several occasions. He died at 1999.