Edgar Feuchtinger Edgar Feuchtinger ( 9 November 1894 – 21 January 1960 ) was a German General ( Generalleutnant ) during the Second World War . Feuchtinger was commander of the 21st Panzer Division during the Normandy Invasion . Later in 1944 he was tried and convicted of treason by the Reich court , demoted and sentenced to execution . The sentence was commuted by the intervention of Adolf Hitler . Feuchtinger did not report to his next assignment , and avoided the German military police until he could surrender to the Allies . Later in life , while a private citizen , Feuchtinger was pressured by the KGB into finding and disclosing secret information on the German military and transferring this information to the Soviet Union . In 2008 his conviction by the Reich court in 1944 came up during a German national discussion on the review of war veterans convicted by the Nazi government of treason . His earlier conviction was not overturned . Biography . Early life . Born in Metz ( Reichsland Elsaß - Lothringen ) , Feuchtinger joined a cadet school in Karlsruhe in 1907 . During the First World War , he fought as lieutenant in Russia and France . While there , he participated in the Battle of Verdun , the Battle of the Somme and the Battle of the Aisne . Second World War . After the First World War he was selected to continue on as an officer in the much reduced Reichswehr . He served in a variety of staff roles , and was promoted to the rank of Major on November 1935 . He was further promoted to Lieutenant Colonel ( " Oberstleutnant " ) , and by 1939 had risen to the role of Commander of the 227th Artillery - Regiment until August 1942 . Feuchtinger was appointed commander of a " schnell " division in April 1943 . These were intended to be highly mobile for rapidly responding to an invasion army . The division formed was known as Schnell Division West ( Fast Division West ) . It was intended that the schnell divisions would be more highly motorized then the standard panzer division , but a lack of equipment made this an impossibility . To provide the division with equipment , the unit was initially made up using captured French light tractors , halftracks and trucks , most of which had been modified by Major Alfred Becker to carry heavier guns , and were armoured lightly to protect the crews from small arms fire . The troops of the division initially were a mix of soldiers from Germany and volunteers from the occupied territories . Though a good businessman and organizer , Feuchtinger had no experience as a panzer commander , and his appointment is thought to have been due to his connections in the Nazi party . Four months later the forming unit was enlarged and organized into a standard panzer division , and was given the designation of the 21st Panzer Division . The original 21st Panzer Division had been part of the Afrika Korps and was reduced in the battles of North Africa . The bulk of the remainder fell into captivity at Tunisia . The German command tended to " reform " lost units , and chose this unit designation for one of the new divisions that were being formed in France . Some 2 , 000 veterans from the Afrika Korps who had been sent home early to recover from wounds or disease were added to the unit to give it experience . Feuchtinger was able to garner a number of able unit commanders . Though Afrika veteran Fritz Bayerlein requested and was given Colonel Hans von Luck for his Panzer Lehr Division , when he arrived von Luck was transferred to 21st Panzer to serve as a panzer regiment commander for Feuchtinger . Feuchtinger had championed Major Alfred Becker ' s efforts to make use of captured French equipment and convert them to mobilize German guns . This effort met with considerable success , and enough equipment was created to partially equip the newly reformed unit . Half the armour used by this division in Northern France were Becker conversions . Feuchtinger spent much of his time in Paris , ostensibly overseeing production of materials for his division , as Becker was using the Hotchkiss plant near Paris for his conversion facility . A second reason for his presence was that Paris offered many diversions , and was the residence of Feuchtinger ' s actress girlfriend . Feuchtinger was in Paris at the time of the Normandy invasion . He returned to Normandy with his female companion on June 6 , but commanded the division from the rear . He allowed his subordinate commanders a great deal of latitude in making decisions for their units . Colonel von Luck , a commander of broad experience , ended up operating his armoured regiment through the entire campaign , from the Normandy landings through the breakout attempt of Operation Goodwood to the final devastation of the 7th Army in the Falaise pocket , with very little contact or direction from Feuchtinger . Much of the 21st Panzer Division was caught in the Falaise Gap , but Feuchtinger managed to keep clear of the encirclement , telling von Luck : " From now on you are on your own . I cannot tell you where you will get fuel , ammunition or food . All the best , Luck . Bring me back lots of men from our division . " Reformed and reinforced in Germany , the core of his division was involved in heavy fighting in Northern Alsace while Feuchtinger lived in Celle . His presence there brought the attention of the local citizens , who were aware that he was securing extra food supplies for his girlfriend and using his position to keep three officer friends of his out of combat . On January 5 , 1945 Feuchtinger was arrested and charged with enrichment from Jewish wealth through illegal sale of furs , the withdrawal of officers from military service , misappropriation of Wehrmacht property and the release of military secrets to his South American mistress . He was imprisoned in Torgau in January 1945 , and found guilty by a German military court . In consequence all orders and decorations were taken from him , his military rank was reduced to " Kanonier " or cannon operator , and he was condemned to death . On 2 March 1945 Hitler ordered that Feuchtinger should be pardoned and reinstated to the front . He was assigned to the 20th Panzer - Grenadier - Division as Kanonier . Feuchtinger deserted from this assignment . A search was begun for him on 12 April 1945 but was unsuccessful . Instead of going to the front , Feuchtinger appeared at his farmhouse near Celle . On 29 May 1945 , he obtained a general ' s uniform and surrendered into British captivity . He went through several prison camps , including the British camp for German generals at Trent Park . His presence in the U . S . internment camp at Allendorf met with strong protests from the German officers being held there . Post war activities . To his captors Feuchtinger was able to pass himself off as a victim of Nazi justice , and subsequently received an early release from the general board in 1946 . After his return to Germany he worked as a representative for several companies before hiring on at the Bremer Vulkan yard . There he worked trading in steel products for use in heavy industry . In May 1953 Feuchtinger was approached by a stranger at the Central Rail Station in Krefeld , a suburb of Berlin . The stranger was a KGB agent who showed Feuchtinger a military police document dated 12 April 1945 . It is unclear exactly what the document was , but the threat of revealing it was able to elicit assistance from Feuchtinger . Feuchtinger was required to use his position to obtain and pass on information about German re - armament . For the next 17 years Feuchtinger provided Soviet military intelligence with classified information regarding the West German military , until his death from a stroke suffered in Berlin in 1960 .