Erwin von Witzleben Job Wilhelm Georg Erdmann " Erwin " von Witzleben ( 4 December 1881 – 8 August 1944 ) was a German officer , by 1940 in the rank of a Field Marshal ( " Generalfeldmarschall " ) , and army commander in World War II . A leading conspirator in the 20 July plot , he was designated to become commander - in - chief of the Wehrmacht armed forces in a post - Nazi regime . Early years . Erwin von Witzleben was born in Breslau in the Prussian province of Silesia ( now Wrocław , Poland ) , the son of Georg von Witzleben ( 1838 – 1898 ) , " Hauptmann " in the Prussian Army , and his wife Therese née Brandenburg . The Witzleben dynasty was an " Uradel " family of old nobility and many officers , descending from Witzleben in Thuringia . He completed the Prussian Cadet Corps program in Wahlstatt , Silesia and in Lichterfelde near Berlin , and on 22 June 1901 joined the Grenadier Regiment " König Wilhelm I " No . 7 in Liegnitz , Silesia ( now Legnica , Poland ) as lieutenant . In 1910 , he was promoted to first lieutenant ( " Oberleutnant " ) . He was married to Else Kleeberg from Chemnitz , Saxony . The couple had a son and a daughter . First World War . At the beginning of the First World War , Witzleben served as brigade adjutant in the 19th Reserve Infantry Brigade before being promoted to captain ( " Hauptmann " ) and company chief in the Reserve Infantry Regiment no . 6 in October 1914 . Later , in the same regiment , he became battalion commander . His unit fought in Verdun , the Champagne region and Flanders , among other places . He was seriously wounded and was awarded the Iron Cross , both first and second classes . Afterwards , he was sent to General Staff training and witnessed the war end as First General Staff Officer of the 121st Division . Between the wars . In the Reichswehr of the Weimar Republic , Witzleben was promoted to company chief . In 1923 , he found himself on the Fourth Division staff in Dresden as a major . In 1928 , he became battalion commander in Infantry Regiment No . 6 and retained that position as lieutenant colonel ( " Oberstleutnant " ) the following year . After being promoted to full colonel ( " Oberst " ) in 1931 , he took over as head of ( Pruusian ) Infantry Regiment No . 8 in Frankfurt ( Oder ) . Early in 1933 came a transfer to the post of Infantry Leader VI in Hanover . He was promoted to major general on 1 February 1934 and moved to Potsdam as the new commander of the Third Infantry Division . He succeeded General Werner von Fritsch as commander of Wehrkreis ( Military District ) III ( Berlin ) . In this position , he was promoted to lieutenant general and in the newly established Wehrmacht forces became commanding general of Army Corps III in Berlin in September 1935 . In 1936 , he was promoted to a General of the Infantry . Even as early as 1934 , Witzleben had come out against the Nazi regime when he and Erich von Manstein , Wilhelm von Leeb and Gerd von Rundstedt demanded an inquiry into Kurt von Schleicher ' s and Ferdinand von Bredow ' s deaths in the Night of the Long Knives . As a result of this and also his criticism of Adolf Hitler ' s persecution of General Fritsch in the Blomberg – Fritsch Affair , he was temporarily forced into early retirement . His " retirement " did not last , however , as Hitler would need him in the preparation of World War II . By 1938 , Witzleben belonged to the group of plotters around Colonel General Ludwig Beck , Generals Erich Hoepner and Carl - Heinrich von Stülpnagel , and Abwehr Chief Wilhelm Canaris . These men planned to overthrow Hitler in a military coup d ' état which seemed feasible at the time of the 1938 Sudeten Crisis — until the Munich Agreement defused the crisis , temporarily averting war . Although the Agreement was seen internationally as a victory for Hitler , the Nazi " Führer " privately resented this interference of British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain in his plans for war . Witzleben ' s command , including the key Berlin Defense District , was to have played a decisive role in the coup . In November 1938 , Witzleben had been installed as commander - in - chief of Army Group 2 in Frankfurt ( Oder ) . He was also involved in Colonel - General Kurt Freiherr von Hammerstein - Equord ' s 1939 conspiracy plans . The latter planned to seize Hitler outright in a kind of frontal assault while the former would shut down Nazi party headquarters , but this plan also fell through . Second World War . In September 1939 , Witzleben , now a colonel - general , took command of the 1st Army , stationed at the Western Front . When Germany attacked France on 10 May 1940 , the First Army was part of Army Group C . On 14 June it broke through the Maginot line , and within three days had forced several French divisions to surrender . For this , Witzleben was decorated with the Knight ' s Cross of the Iron Cross ; and on 19 July , he was promoted to " Generalfeldmarschall " . In 1941 he was even appointed Commander - in - Chief OB West , succeeding Field Marshal Gerd von Rundstedt , but only a year later he took leave from this position for health reasons . Some sources , however , claim he was again forcibly retired at this time after criticizing the regime for its invasion of the Soviet Union on 22 June 1941 in the so - called Operation Barbarossa . 20 July 1944 . In 1944 , the conspirators around Claus Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg saw Erwin von Witzleben as the key man in their plans . Whereas Colonel - General Beck was seen as prospective provisional head of state and Colonel - General Hoepner as commander of the inner " Ersatzheer " ( " Reserve Army " ) forces , von Witzleben was to take over supreme command of the whole Wehrmacht as the highest - ranking German officer . However , on 20 July 1944 , the day of Stauffenberg ' s attempt on Hitler ' s life at the Wolf ' s Lair in East Prussia , Witzleben did not arrive at the Bendlerblock in Berlin from the OKH - HQ ( Oberkommando des Heeres Headquarters ) at Zossen to assume command of the coup forces until 8 pm , when it was already clear that the coup attempt had failed . He then protested angrily that it had been bungled and left after 45 minutes to return to Zossen , where he reported the situation to General Eduard Wagner and then drove back to his country estate 30 miles away where he was arrested the next day by a General Linnertz . He was then cast out of the Wehrmacht by the so - called " Ehrenhof der Wehrmacht " ( " The Regular Army ' s Court of Honor " ) , a conclave of officers set up after the attempted assassination to remove officers from the Wehrmacht who had been involved in the plot , mainly so that they were not longer subject to German military law and could be arraigned to a show - trial before the infamous Nazi " People ' s Court " ( " Volksgerichtshof " ) . Trial and death . On 7 August 1944 , Witzleben was in the first group of accused conspirators to be brought before the " Volksgerichtshof " . Ravaged by the conditions of his Gestapo arrest , surprisingly , he approached the bench giving the Nazi salute , for which he was rebuked by the presiding judge Roland Freisler . In an attempt to humiliate Witzleben , he was made to appear before the court wearing trousers that were several sizes too big and , additionally , being denied a belt or suspenders , forcing him to continually hitch them up during the farcical pseudo - trial to prevent them from falling down . Freisler , who was notorious for ranting and belittling defendants in court , at one point in Witzleben ' s " trial " bellowed , " You dirty old man , stop fumbling with your trousers ! " Later that same day , he sentenced Witzleben to death for his part in the plot . Witzleben ' s closing words in court , addressed to Freisler , were : Much of the Volksgerichtshof , including scenes of Witzleben ' s " trial , " was filmed for the German weekly newsreel " Die Deutsche Wochenschau " ; however , Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels decided against releasing the footage , firstly because Freisler ' s vituperative , insulting verbiage in the courtroom might draw sympathy for the accused , and secondly because the regime wanted to quell public discussion of the event . The material was classified as secret ( " Geheime Reichssache " ) . Erwin von Witzleben was put to death that same day at Plötzensee Prison in Berlin . By Hitler ' s positive orders , he was strangled with piano wire that had been wound around a meat hook , and the execution was filmed . The footage has since been lost .