Alexander von Falkenhausen Alexander Ernst Alfred Hermann Freiherr von Falkenhausen ( October 29 , 1878 – July 31 , 1966 ) was a German general . He was an important figure during the Sino - German cooperation to reform the Chinese Army . During World War II Germany ended its support for China and Falkenhausen was forced to withdraw from China . Back in Europe he later became the head of the military government of Belgium from 1940 – 44 during its occupation by Germany . He married twice , firstly to Paula von Wedderkop ( 8 October 1879 - 3 March 1950 ) and secondly , in 1960 , to Cecile Vent ( 16 September 1906 - 1977 ) , both without issue . He is related to Ludwig von Falkenhausen , who was the governor - general of Belgium during the German occupation , from 1917 until 1918 , during the First World War , and a direct male line descendant of Karl Wilhelm Friedrich , Margrave of Brandenburg - Ansbach , by his mistress Elisabeth Wünsch . Early life and military career . Alexander von Falkenhausen was born at Blumenthal , near Neisse ( now Nysa , Poland ) in the Prussia n province of Silesia , one of seven children of Baron Alexander von Falkenhausen ( 1844 – 1909 ) and his wife , Elisabeth . He attended Gymnasium in Breslau ( now Wrocław , Poland ) and then the cadet school at Wahlstatt ( now Legnickie Pole ) . In his youth , Falkenhausen showed an interest in Eastern Asia and its culture . He traveled and studied in Japan , northern China , Korea and Indochina from 1909 to 1911 . In 1897 he was commissioned a second lieutenant in the Imperial German Army and served as a military attaché in Japan prior to the First World War . He was awarded the prestigious Pour le Mérite while serving with the Ottoman Army in Palestine . After the war , he remained in the much - reduced Germany Army , and headed the Dresden Infantry School in 1927 . Adviser to Chiang Kai - shek . In 1930 , von Falkenhausen retired from the service and went to China to serve as Chiang Kai - Shek ' s military advisor in 1934 . In 1937 Nazi Germany officially allied themselves with the Empire of Japan , who by then had launched a war against the Republic of China during the Second Sino - Japanese War as part of the Sino - German cooperation to reform the Chinese Army . As a goodwill gesture to Japan , Germany recognized the Japanese puppet state of Manchukuo and withdrew German support to China , including forcing Falkenhausen to resign his advisor post by threatening to have his family back in Germany punished for disloyalty . After a goodbye dinner party with Chiang Kai - Shek ' s family , Falkenhausen promised he would never reveal any battle plans he had taught him to the Japanese . According to some sources ( especially from Communist Chinese in late 1930s ) , Falkenhausen kept contact with Chiang Kai - Shek after his return to Germany and would occasionally send him European luxury items and food to the Chiang household and his officers . On his 72nd birthday in 1950 , Falkenhausen received a million U . S . dollar cheque from Chiang Kai - shek as his birthday gift and a personal note declaring him a " Friend of China " . Military governor for Belgium . Recalled to active duty in 1938 , Falkenhausen served as an infantry general on the Western Front until he was appointed military governor of Belgium in May 1940 . During his time as military governor , the Nazi administration published 17 decrees against the Jewish population of Belgium as preparatory measures leading in June 1942 to the deportation of 28 , 900 Jews . His deputy for economic affairs , Eggert Reeder was in charge of the destruction of " Jewish influence " in the Belgian economy , leading to mass unemployment of Jewish workers , especially in the diamond business . Some 2250 of these unemployed were thus sent to forced labour camps in Northern France to build the Atlantic Wall for the " Organisation Todt " . Some 43 , 000 non - Jewish Belgians were also deported to Nazi concentration camps , where about 13 , 000 died . Hundreds of captured resistance fighters were shot during the occupation . Involvement in the conspiracy against Hitler . Von Falkenhausen was a close friend of two anti - Hitler conspirators , Carl Friedrich Goerdeler and Field Marshal Erwin von Witzleben , and soon came to detest Adolf Hitler and the Nazi regime . He offered his support to von Witzleben for a planned coup d ' état . After the failure of the July 20 Plot to kill Hitler in 1944 , von Falkenhausen spent the rest of the war being transferred from one concentration camp to another . In late April 1945 he was transferred to Tyrol with about 140 other prominent inmates of the Dachau concentration camp . The SS fled , leaving the prisoners behind . He was captured by the Fifth U . S . Army on May 5 , 1945 . Trial and acquittal . Falkenhausen and Reeder were both sent to Belgium for trial in 1948 , where they were held in prison for 3 years . They were tried in Brussels from 9 March 1951 , defended by lawyer Ernst Achenbach , for their role in the deportation of Jews from Belgium , but not for their deaths in Auschwitz . Von Falkenhausen was vouched for by a Chinese woman named Qian Xiuling who was living in Belgium ; together with a number of Belgian Jews , she provided copious evidence that both men had tried to save Belgian and Jewish lives . Nevertheless , they were found guilty on 9 July , and were sentenced to 12 years hard labour in Germany . On their return to West Germany , having served one third of their sentence as required by Belgian law , on they were pardoned by Chancellor Konrad Adenauer . Falkenhausen died in Nassau , Rhineland - Palatinate .