Gotthard Heinrici Gotthard Heinrici ( 25 December 1886 – 13 December 1971 ) was a general in the German Army during World War II . He was a recipient of the Knight ' s Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords ( ) . Heinrici was considered one of the best defensive tacticians in the German Army and was largely a professional and chivalrous officer . This led to his final assignment as Commander - in - Chief of the last remaining forces of Army Group Vistula ( final remnants of Army Group Center ) in front of Berlin in April 1945 . Author Cornelius Ryan ' s book " The Last Battle " centers around General Heinrici and his final days in the Battle of Berlin . Personal life . Heinrici was born in Gumbinnen , East Prussia ( now Gusev , Russia ) , on Christmas Day , 1886 , to Paul Heinrici , a local minister of the ( Protestant ) Evangelical Church in Germany , and his wife Gisela , née von Rauchhaupt . Gisela ' s father was Edmund Rudolf Volrad Julius Fedor von Rauchhaupt ( 1804 - 1879 ) , who came from an old Lutheran Prussian landlord family ; her mother was Antonie Dietze , a daughter of Gottfried Dietze , a Prussian Chamber commission counselor ( " Kammerkommissionsrat " ) . Heinrici had two children , Hartmut and Gisela , with his wife Gertrude . Heinrici was a religious man who attended church regularly . His religious faith and his refusal to join the Nazi Party made him unpopular among the Nazi hierarchy , and he was on unfriendly terms with Hitler and especially Reichsmarschall Hermann Göring , whom he regarded with contempt . Because Heinrici ' s wife Gertrude had a Jewish parent , their children were labeled " Mischlinge " ( partly Jewish ) under Nazi " racial " law . However , General Heinrici received a " German Blood Certificate " from Hitler himself , which validated their supposed " Aryan " status and protected them from discrimination . Early army career . The Heinrici family had been soldiers since the 12th century . Gotthard Heinrici continued the family tradition by joining the 95th Infantry Regiment in March 1905 , at the age of 19 . Heinrici saw action on both the Eastern and Western fronts in the First World War and won numerous awards . His awards included the Black Wound Badge for being wounded in battle . Heinrici also received both the Second Class and First Class Iron Cross es in 1914 and 1915 , respectively . He participated in the Battle of Tannenberg in his native East Prussia . Heinrici was a victim of poison gas in World War I ; this led to later health problems which Hitler would sometimes use as an excuse to fire him . At one point , Erwin Rommel briefly served as Heinrici ' s adjutant . Rommel would later rise to the rank of Field Marshall , surpassing Heinrici . Second World War . Heinrici served throughout World War II . As in World War I , he served on both fronts . Heinrici built up a reputation as the best defensive tactician in the German Army , and was renowned for his tenacity . For this reason , his officers and men nicknamed him " Unser Giftzwerg " , literally " our poison dwarf " ( roughly , " our tough little bastard " ) , in recognition of his character and lack of physical stature . Heinrici was considered reserved and quiet , popular among his staff and men who served under him . He was also well noted in the German Army for his wearing of World War I boots and leather leggings instead of the spit - and - polish jack boots of the Nazi era . In addition , he wore the " old style " field cap , and either the camouflaged jacket given to regular soldiers or a worn and dirty padded winter jacket with rank on his sleeve instead of the popular Nazi collar rank . Although his tactics against the Russians were sometimes brutal , Heinrici was not a Nazi and his conduct during the battle for Berlin has been regarded as professional . For instance , he promised the administrators of the city that he would not withdraw his army through Berlin ; this partially eliminated the need of the Russians to storm through the city block by block as the Germans had in Stalingrad , and prevented even higher casualties on both sides . Also , he resisted Hitler ' s repeated orders to stand fast when it was clearly suicidal , often saving the lives of his men . Heinrici often dismissed any pro - Nazi officers pressed onto him by Hitler and his staff , knowing they were trying to subvert his military judgment . Battle of France . During the Blitzkrieg into France , Heinrici ' s command was part of Colonel General ( " Generaloberst " ) Wilhelm Ritter von Leeb ' s Army Group C . He commanded the XII Army Corps which was part of the First Army . Heinrici succeeded in breaking through the Maginot Line on June 14 , 1940 . Barbarossa . In 1941 , during Operation Barbarossa , Heinrici served in the Second Panzer Army under Heinz Guderian and , as the commanding general of the XXXXIII Army Corps , received the Knight ' s Cross . Late in January 1942 , Heinrici was given command of the German Fourth Army . This unit was crucial to the rapidly crumbling German line directly facing Moscow . The Fourth Army under Heinrici held out against the Soviet onslaught for ten weeks . Heinrici managed this even though his forces were sometimes outnumbered 12 to 1 . During this time , Heinrici developed one of his most famous tactics : when he judged a Soviet attack was imminent , Heinrici would pull his troops back from the line prior to the preliminary artillery barrage . Then , immediately afterwards , he would return them unharmed back to their lines to face the attacking Soviet troops . When an officer protested this tactic , saying it resembled a retreat ( something Hitler had forbidden ) Heinrici replied , " When a worker is cleaning a punch press in a factory , does he stick his head under the slab when it turns on ? No ! He pulls it out of the way in time ! " Smolensk . In late 1943 , Göring had Heinrici placed in a convalescent home in Karlsbad on the pretext of " ill health " . This was actually punishment for refusing to set fire to Smolensk in accordance with the Nazi " scorched earth " policy . Heinrici went on a two - month leave of absence twice during World War II . He took leave from June 6 to July 13 , 1942 . About one year later , Heinrici took leave from June 1 to July 31 , 1943 . One of these leaves was believed to be due to his contracting hepatitis . In the summer of 1944 , after eight months of enforced retirement , Heinrici was sent to Hungary and placed in command of the German First Panzer Army and the Hungarian First Army which was attached to it . He was able to keep the First Panzer Army relatively intact as he retreated into Slovakia . Heinrici fought so tenaciously that he was awarded the Swords to the Oak Leaves of his Knight ' s Cross on March 3 , 1945 . Retreat from the Oder . On March 20 , 1945 , Adolf Hitler replaced Heinrich Himmler with Heinrici as Commander - in - Chief of Army Group Vistula on the Eastern Front . Indicating that he was ill , Himmler had abandoned his post on March 13 and retired to a sanatorium at Hohenlychen . At this time , Army Group Vistula ' s front was less than 50 miles from Berlin . Just before handing over command to Heinrici , Himmler revealed that he intended to negotiate peace with the Western Allies ; Heinrici was appalled by this act of treason , but nonetheless he did not expose Himmler ' s secret when they later attended a military conference at Hitler ' s bunker . As Commander - in - Chief of Army Group Vistula , Heinrici commanded two armies : the Third Panzer Army led by General Hasso von Manteuffel and the Ninth Army led by General Theodor Busse . Heinrici was tasked with preventing a Soviet attack across the Oder River . But he faced shortages of manpower and material and Hitler ' s conviction that the Red Army would not attack Berlin . Only the terrain itself favored Heinrici ; he dug the 9th Army into three defensive lines atop Seelow Heights , overlooking the sandy , swampy banks of the Oder . Von Manteuffel ' s 3rd Panzer Army , which ironically had fewer panzers than the 9th , was similarly positioned in the north to delay a possible flanking strike by Marshall Rukussovsky ' s 2nd Byelorussian Front . The Soviets had advanced rapidly in early 1945 , conquering East Prussia , Danzig and much of Pomerania , but had been stalled east of the Oder for months . As Anglo - American armies drew closer to Berlin from the West , however , Joseph Stalin became convinced that they intended to take Berlin for themselves and ordered Zhukov and Konev to seize the city without further delays . On April 15 , Heinrici met with Minister of Armaments and War Production Albert Speer and Lieutenant General ( Generalleutnant ) Helmuth Reymann to discuss Hitler ' s so - called " Nero Decree " , which called for a scorched earth policy in Germany . While outwardly responsible for carrying out the decree , Speer was clandestinely campaigning " against " it . Heinrici also opposed the scorched earth policy . At that time , Reymann was the commander of the Berlin Defense Area . Although Reymann refused to side with Speer , he did promise to confer with Heinrici before destroying any infrastructure in Berlin . On April 16 , the Battle of the Oder - Neisse , began . The Soviets attacked with more than 1 , 500 , 000 men for what they called the " Berlin Offensive Operation " . In the early morning of 18 April , Zhukov ' s front crossed the Oder and assaulted Heinrici ' s positions on the western bank . Simultaneously , Konev ' s front attacked Field Marshal Ferdinand Schörner ' s Army Group Center further south . Although the Soviets launched a stunning barrage of rockets , shells and bombs , most of them missed their targets ; true to his old tactic , Heinrici had successfully shifted his troops back right before the bombardment began . As soon as it stopped , he moved them back to their positions ; their concealed anti - tank , artillery and machine gun positions inflicted heavy losses on Soviet infantry and armor crossing the river . Their accuracy was actually aided by vast searchlights the Soviets had deployed , hoping they would blind and demoralize the enemy - instead , they spotlighted Soviet tanks and vehicles struggling through the water and mud . However , the German defensive positions had now been exposed , and Soviet aircraft began bombing and strafing them while more Soviet troops crossed the river . Heinrici ' s first line finally broke apart , but the Soviets were again slowed ( and bloodied ) by his second and third defensive lines . However , Heinrici had known from the start that all he could hope to do with his meager forces was delay the Soviets . He had only enough ammunition for five days at most and virtually no fuel , while the Soviets ( though having a few significant logistical troubles of their own ) outnumbered him almost 10 : 1 and had total control of the air . By April 19 , the Soviets had broken through the last line , and the Battle of the Oder - Neisse ended . Now began the second stage of the Battle of Berlin , the battle for the city itself . With no genuinely unified forces left under his command , Heinrici made no attempt to defend Berlin ; he began withdrawing his surviving troops westward , to establish new positions . The Soviets rapidly advanced into the German capital , largely ignoring what was left of Army Group Vistula . By late April , Heinrici realized that the remnants of Army Group Vistula could not halt the Soviet advance . After days of intense fighting , he ordered the retreat of his army group across the Oder River — this , despite Hitler ' s orders that no retreat could be authorized without his personal approval . Around April 21 , Hitler , now holed up in the underground Berlin bunker , learned of the retreat of Army Group Vistula only after a puzzling request by Heinrici , who sought permission to move his headquarters to a new site . Hitler was only able to find Heinrici ' s proposed headquarters after much searching on the map . Hitler saw to his fury that the new site was " west " of Berlin and thus farther from the Soviets than Hitler ' s own position in the Führerbunker . Clash with Keitel and Dismissal . On April 28 , Field Marshal Wilhelm Keitel , commander in chief of the Wehrmacht , was riding along the roads north of Berlin when he noticed to his amazement that troops of the 7th Panzer Division and of the 25th Panzergrenadier Division were marching north , " away " from Berlin . These troops were part of General Hasso von Manteuffel ' s 3rd Panzer Army . The 3rd Panzer Army was one of two armies which made up Heinrici ' s Army Group Vistula and were supposed to be on their way " to " Berlin . Instead , they were being moved northward in an attempt to halt the Soviet break - through at Neubrandenburg . Heinrici had defied the strictest orders of Keitel and his deputy , General Alfred Jodl . Furious , Keitel went in search of Heinrici and found him on a road near Neubrandenburg . Heinrici was close to the front and accompanied by von Manteuffel . Processions of wounded and disarmed soldiers and endless treks of refugees were moving past . Keitel , his face purple , called Heinrici to account and spoke of insubordination , treason , cowardice , and sabotage . Keitel accused Heinrici of weakness and shouted that if Heinrici had only taken General Lothar Rendulic as an example and shot a few thousand deserters or strung them up on the nearest tree , his armies would not now be on the retreat . To this , Heinrici scornfully replied , " I can only say , Field Marshall Keitel , that if you want these men to be shot , why don ' t " you " do it ? ! " After Keitel ' s heated exchange with Heinrici , armed men of the Wehrmacht who were purposely positioned nearby exited the woods armed with machine guns and inquired if everything was all right . These men escorted Heinrici from then on in fear he would be executed by Hitler . Heinrici stated after the war that he never found out who had positioned the men in the woods or ordered them to provide a security escort for him . Heinrici ' s movements were intended to bring his army group , and as many civilians as possible , to the west . Heinrici intended to get them into the area between the northern reaches of the Elbe River and the Baltic Sea . Keitel relieved Heinrici of his command on April 29 , the day before Hitler ' s suicide in Berlin . Heinrici ' s command was offered to von Manteuffel — but von Manteuffel not only declined the promotion , he protested the treatment of Heinrici all the way to the Führer ' s Bunker in Berlin . Kurt von Tippelskirch was named as Heinrici ' s interim replacement until General Kurt Student ( who was in Holland ) could arrive and assume control of Army Group Vistula . But Student was captured by the British before he could take command . After his dismissal , Heinrici retired to Plön , where he gave himself up to British forces on May 28 — nearly three weeks after the unconditional surrender of Nazi Germany . After the war . After his capture , Heinrici was held at Island Farm — a British prisoner of war camp at Bridgend , South Wales — where he remained , except for a three - week transfer to a camp in the United States in October 1947 , until his release on May 19 , 1948 . Thereafter he resided in the village of Endersbach bei Waiblingen , a district of Weinstadt in Baden - Württemberg , and lived to the age of 84 . Throughout the war , Heinrici was opposed to Hitler ' s scorched earth policy , whereby everything of use had been ordered destroyed so as not to fall into the hands of the advancing enemy . He refused to lay waste to Smolensk as Göring had ordered , and late in the war he supported Minister of Armaments Albert Speer who worked to save Berlin from total destruction . When he was briefly put in charge of the defense of Berlin itself , Heinrici ' s first command was that nothing be purposely destroyed . After the war , Heinrici ' s diary entries and letters were collected into a book entitled " Morals and behaviour here are like those in the Thirty Years ’ War " . " The First Year of the German - Soviet War as Shown in the Papers of Gen . Gotthard Heinrici " . He was also featured prominently in Cornelius Ryan ' s 1966 book , " The Last Battle . " Heinrici died on Dec . 13 , 1971 , and was buried with full military honors at the cemetery in Freiburg im Breisgau , in southwestern Germany near the French border .