Claim: Erich von Manstein served time in prison.

Fritz Erich Georg Eduard von Lewinski , known as Erich von Manstein -LRB- 24 November 1887 -- 9 June 1973 -RRB- , was a German commander of the Wehrmacht , Nazi Germany 's armed forces during the Second World War . He attained the rank of field marshal .   Born into an aristocratic Prussian family with a long history of military service , Manstein joined the army at a young age and saw service on Western Front and Eastern Front during the First World War -LRB- 1914 -- 18 -RRB- . He rose to the rank of captain by the end of the war and was active in the inter-war period helping Germany rebuild her armed forces . In September 1939 , during the invasion of Poland at the beginning of the Second World War , he was serving as Chief of Staff to Gerd von Rundstedt 's Army Group South . Adolf Hitler chose Manstein 's strategy for the invasion of France of May 1940 , a plan later refined by Franz Halder and other members of the OKH . Anticipating a firm Allied reaction should the main thrust of the invasion take place through the Netherlands , Manstein devised an innovative operation -- later known as the Sichelschnitt -LRB- `` sickle cut '' -RRB- -- that called for an attack through the woods of the Ardennes and a rapid drive to the English Channel , thus cutting off the French and Allied armies in Belgium and Flanders . Attaining the rank of general at the end of the campaign , he was active in the invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941 and the Siege of Sevastopol -LRB- 1941 -- 1942 -RRB- , and was promoted to field marshal on 1 July 1942 . He also participated in the Siege of Leningrad .   Germany 's fortunes in the war began to take an unfavourable turn later in 1942 , especially in the catastrophic Battle of Stalingrad , where Manstein commanded a failed relief effort -LRB- `` Operation Winter Storm '' -RRB- in December . Later known as the `` backhand blow '' , Manstein 's counteroffensive in the Third Battle of Kharkov -LRB- February -- March 1943 -RRB- regained substantial territory and resulted in the destruction of three Soviet armies and the retreat of three others . He was one of the primary commanders at the Battle of Kursk -LRB- July -- August 1943 -RRB- , one of the largest tank battles in history . His ongoing disagreements with Hitler over the conduct of the war led to his dismissal in March 1944 . He never obtained another command and was taken prisoner by the British in August 1945 , several months after Germany 's defeat .   Manstein gave testimony at the main Nuremberg trials of war criminals in August 1946 , and prepared a paper that , along with his later memoirs , helped cultivate the myth of a `` clean Wehrmacht '' -- the myth that the German armed forces were not culpable for the atrocities of the Holocaust . In 1949 he was tried in Hamburg for war crimes and was convicted on nine of seventeen counts , including the poor treatment of prisoners of war and failing to protect civilian lives in his sphere of operations . His sentence of eighteen years in prison was later reduced to twelve , and he served only four years before being released in 1953 . As a military advisor to the West German government in the mid-1950s , he helped re-establish the armed forces . His memoir , Verlorene Siege -LRB- 1955 -RRB- , translated into English as Lost Victories , was highly critical of Hitler 's leadership , and only dealt with the military aspects of the war , ignoring its political and ethical contexts . Manstein died in Munich in 1973 .