Werner von Blomberg: biography and photos

Werner Edward Fritz von Blomberg was born in Stargard, Pomerania, on September 2, 1878. He was the first of four children of Lieutenant Colonel Emil Leopold von Blomberg (1840-1904) and his wife Emma von Chepe Weidenbach. He had two younger brothers: Hans (1886-1914) and Hugo (1888-1918), and younger sister Margaret (1875-1940). The children were brought up in a military way. The father, who was always absent, took little part in the process. The family often changed their place of residence: Werner studied in Hanover, Cleves and Bensberg.

Werner von Blomberg: biography of the military

At the age of 16, Werner entered the cadet corps in Lichterfeld, near Berlin, where he studied from 1894 to 1897. Upon completion, he was awarded the rank of lieutenant. For the next seven years he served in the infantry in command and staff positions.

April 4, 1904 Blomberg married the daughter of Major Charlotte Helmich (1880-1932), with whom he will have five children: two sons and three daughters.

In 1904, Werner's father died, and in the same year he was sent to the Military Academy in Berlin, where he remained until 1907. On May 18, he was promoted to senior lieutenants, and in October he briefly joined the Hanoverian regiment.

On April 1, 1908, Werner von Blomberg was sent to the General Staff, where he and his military skills were seen. In 1911 he became head of the topographic department.

In 1912, Blomberg served as captain in 1 Lorraine Infantry Regiment in Metz, and in early 1914 became commander of the company.

The First World War

With the outbreak of World War I, Blomberg, as an officer in the General Staff of the 19th Infantry Reserve Division, was sent to the Western Front. In Belgium, the first battle took place, in which the brother of Werner Hans died.

This was followed by St. Quentin, where his compound was attacked by several French divisions. Werner's divisions managed to retreat with fights. September 14, he was awarded the Iron Cross II degree. In October 1914 he received a slight fragmentation wound.

In the winter of 1915 the division of Blomberg fought in Champagne. Germany's offensive to the west failed, and the war moved into the trench phase. On March 22, 1915, he was promoted to the rank of major. At the end of April, the battered division was transferred to reserve in Alsace, and from mid-May it was deployed in the Vosges. Then Werner was transferred to the Eastern Front, where he briefly fought in Lvov and Gorlitsy.

Blomberg proved himself in the battles on Ene and in Soissons during the summer offensive of 1918. He distinguished himself so much that Kaiser Wilhelm II on June 3, 1918 personally handed him the highest Prussian military award - the Order of Merit.

When the war was finally lost, the Seventh Army began a chaotic retreat. After its disbandment in January 1919, Blomberg returned to his family in Hanover.

Service in Reichswehr

In the summer of 1919, he was summoned to the frontier fortress of Kohlberg, and then to Berlin as a representative of the Reichswehr command, and was a speaker in the newly created Ministry of Defense. Thus, he was given the opportunity to participate in the creation of a new army.

From 1927 to 1929 Blomberg was the head of the military service - a small similarity of the General Staff. In this capacity, he made a trip to the Soviet Union. Here, Werner got the impression that the Soviet communist regime held on to two pillars - the party and the armed forces. He did not know that all the commanders were party members, and that in 1929-1930 Stalin had purged the command staff.

Nevertheless, the trip inspired Blomberg. In contrast to most high-ranking officers, filled with sentimental memories of a monarchy that had fallen into oblivion, Werner displayed democratic tendencies.

In the fall of 1930, Minister Grener sent him on a study tour to the United States.

The decisive factor in the future fate of Blomberg was his hostile relationship with the influential defense minister, Major-General Kurt von Schleicher. Werner left Berlin and became commander of the military district in East Prussia and commander of the 1st infantry division located there.

In 1932, at the age of 43, Werner's wife, Charlotte, died.

Blomberg-General

Soon, Werner was sent to the headquarters of the League of Nations in Geneva as head of the German military delegation for negotiations on disarmament, in accordance with the terms of the Treaty of Versailles.

January 29, 1933 Werner von Blomberg received a telegram requesting immediate arrival to President von Hindenburg in Berlin. Hitler's appointment as chancellor and von Papen as vice-chancellor was planned, instead of general von Schleicher, and Blomberg was to become minister of defense. Formally, this violated the constitution, since only a civilian could occupy this post, so a special decree was issued. Simultaneously, he was promoted to generals from the infantry.

General Werner von Blomberg immediately called from Koenigsberg to Berlin his friend Colonel Walter von Reichenau and instructed him to manage his office. Earlier during the pre-election trip, Hitler met with Reichenau and assured him that, if elected, the Chancellor would rearm Germany.

Violence with CA

After the appointment before Blomberg a problem arose - Hitler already had his own Nazi army of the SA, whose number in January 1933 was 400 thousand people. It was commanded by Captain Ernst Rhem. And after the unification of the SA with the union of the front-line soldiers "Steel Helmet", the number of brownshirts reached 2 million people.

Between the SA and the Reichswehr began friction. On the other hand, the CA was a reserve of volunteers in the event of renewal of conscription. In addition to the army, the SA had other enemies - the Minister of Aviation Hermann Goering and the leader of the SS Himmler, intending to turn the protection of Hitler into the only significant armed national-socialist force in the Reich. In the spring Reichenau learned of the forthcoming open conflict, and in June 1934 Blomberg succeeded in convincing Hitler to conclude an alliance between the army and the party. In addition, he published an article on the two pillars of the Third Reich - an open warning CA. Confident of the Remus conspiracy, Werner von Blomberg compiled a list of 78 persons to be arrested, and on June 28 brought the Reichswehr to full combat readiness.

But the SS saved the army from work. The bloody massacre of SA leaders and conservatives, whose victims fell von Schleicher and von Bredow, allowed Hitler to immediately proclaim himself the highest people's judge.

Field Marshal

In March 1935 the Fuhrer announced the resumption of the conscription and the formation of 36 divisions and 12 army corps. The Ministry of Defense became the Ministry of War. On Hitler's birthday, April 22, 1936, Werner von Blomberg received the title of Field Marshal and became commander-in-chief of the Wehrmacht.

In 1937 he represented Hitler at the ceremony of the coronation of King George VI in London.

Bes in the rib

Simultaneously, Blomberg led a secret life. Since 1934, in the evening, he changed into civilian clothes and ordered the driver to take him to the specified place, leaving instructions where to pick him up in a few hours. The widow was looking for a love affair - a strange pastime for the War Minister. During these escapades in the beginning of 1937 he met an attractive girl named Margaret Grun. 60-year-old Werner fell in love with this "sophisticated in love" creation. He became her slave, called Eve and decided to marry.

In December 1937, Werner informed General Keitel of his intention, and that his future wife was of modest descent. To protect himself from possible attacks, Blomberg invited Hitler and Goering to witness at his wedding.

Fatal wedding

January 12, 1938 in the big hall of the Ministry held a civil ceremony. And two weeks later, the farce collapsed. It turned out that the newly-made Frau von Blomberg is known to the police and has a criminal record for the distribution of pornography.

Hitler was speechless from humiliation. On January 27, 1938, the Field Marshal was forced to leave, as stated, for "health". Finally, after learning that General von Fritsch, commander-in-chief of the army, was accused of homosexuality, he advised the Fuhrer personally to lead the Wehrmacht. Hitler did as Blomberg had said.

Werner von Blomberg became a persona non grata in Germany. His name was forbidden to mention. To hush up the scandal, the Fuhrer personally paid Werner a world tour. Blomberg made only half of the trip, settling in Bad Wiessee.

Opal and death

At the beginning of 1939, he contacted Keitel with great precautions, naively proposing to dissolve the second marriage, provided that Hitler reinstated him in office. Naturally, he rejected the offer, noting Keitel that he had already offered Blomberg such a decision, and he refused. To hide the past of his second wife, Werner committed an unusual deed: in the genealogical reference book of the European aristocracy (Gothic almanac) he gave "Eve" the name "Elzbeth Grunov". Doubtful enterprise, given that records of this nature must be documented.

With the collapse of the Third Reich in 1945, the former Minister of War was arrested. He died in custody in Nuremberg on March 14, 1946, from a heart attack. Two of his son-officers died on the battlefield for "the Fuhrer, the people and the homeland."