Hans Graf von Sponeck Hans Graf von Sponeck or Hans Emil Otto Graf von Sponeck ( 12 February 1888 – 23 July 1944 ) was a German " Generalleutnant " during World War II who was imprisoned for disobeying orders and later executed . He was the father of Hans von Sponeck . Early life . Sponeck was the youngest of four children , and only son , of Emil August Joseph Anton Graf Sponeck and Maria ( née Courtin ) . He was born on 12 February 1888 in Düsseldorf , Rhine Province , just months before his father ' s death at age 38 . Hans spent his early years with his mother in Freiburg , Breisgau . This was near the " Burg Sponeck " which had given his family its title name . In 1898 , Sponeck entered the cadet corps in Karlsruhe , and became the " head cadet " at 17 . He received his commission on 19 March 1908 with rank of Lieutenant . He was also a gymnast and a soccer player . He was promoted to Captain in 1908 . He married on 29 September 1910 and had two sons by this marriage . First World War . Sponeck was a front line officer and battalion adjutant during World War I , and was wounded three times . In 1916 he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel . Afterwards he was awarded both classes of the Iron Cross with leaves . Interwar period . Between 1924 and 1934 , he served on the General Staff HQ and later , as full colonel , commanded an infantry regiment at Neustrelitz . In 1925 , Graf von Sponeck was admitted to the Order of Saint John ( Bailiwick of Brandenburg ) as a Knight of Honor . Sponeck commanded Infantry Regiment 48 at Döberitz until late 1937 when he transferred to the Luftwaffe to establish paratrooper units . During the course of the Blomberg - Fritsch Affair , Sponeck was recalled by contemporaries as having suggested his willingness to lead his troops in support of army commander - in - chief Werner von Fritsch if called to do so , though no such plan ever came to fruition . On 1 February 1938 , Sponeck was promoted to major general . During the trial of General von Fritsch , Sponeck was called as a character witness but was roughly put down by Göring , who was serving as Court President . Nevertheless , Sponeck became commander of the 22nd Infantry Division with 42nd Army Corps training the troops as airborne infantry ( " Fallschirmjäger " ) . Second World War . On 1 February 1940 , von Sponeck was promoted to Generalleutnant . The German airborne assault on the Low Countries began on 10 May 1940 with Generals Kurt Student and Hans Graf von Sponeck . Sponeck led the German troops in the failed Battle for the Hague and was almost captured , only to be saved by the bombardment of Rotterdam on the 14th of May 1940 , that led the Dutch capitulation . He was wounded and on his return to Germany was further awarded with the Knight ' s Cross of the Iron Cross by Adolf Hitler . Eastern campaign . Before dawn on 22 June 1941 , the offensive against the Soviet Union was launched . Hans Sponeck was part of the 11th Army in the south attacking in the direction of the Crimean Peninsula . On Sponeck ' s return from injury leave , von Manstein gave him command of 46th Infanterie Division which had taken the Kerch Peninsula on the extreme east tip of the peninsula . On 26 December 1941 , the Red Army launched an invasion of Crimea . Their plan was to land seaborne troops at Kerch and Mount Opuk , supported by later landings at Theodosia with 42 , 000 troops . On December 28 the battle in eastern Crimea had developed in favour of the Germans with them having eliminated one of the two Soviet beachheads around the town of Kerch . Sponeck requested permission to retreat to avoid being cut off and captured and so to regroup , but was denied three times . On 29 December the Russians landed additional forces on the southern coast at Theodosia and Sponeck had only thirty minutes to decide on his actions . On his own initiative , he gave order for his 10 , 000 men to retreat . In temperatures of minus 30 degrees Celsius , in a howling snowstorm and icy winds , the battalions of the 46th Infantry Division marched west . The soldiers marched for 46 hours with only the occasional rest for coffee , to warm up . Many suffered frostbite , and most of the horses starved . Much of the Divisions heavy equipment , including its artillery , remained behind on the frozen road . On 31 December Sponeck ' s 46th Infantry arrived at the Parpach neck , where they established a defensive line . The following day , 1 January 1942 , Red Army attacked again and were held back by Sponeck ' s men . The arrival of a rail - mounted unit finished off sixteen soviet T - 26 tanks . Sponeck and his forces held off the enemy long enough until reinforcements arrived . Arrest and trial . On 23 January 1942 , Lieutenant General Hans Graf Sponeck ' s trial took place in front of the Court President Hermann Göring . It did not go well for Sponeck and the court found him guilty of disobedience of a superior officer . Sponeck maintained that he had acted , as taught , on his own initiative against orders , in order to avoid the destruction of his division . He was nevertheless given the death sentence , but Adolf Hitler commuted the sentence to six years in prison . Hans Sponeck was to serve as an example to those who disobeyed Hitler ' s new order of no retreat . Sponeck was sent to Germersheim Fortress where he was held as a prisoner . He was allowed into town occasionally and his wife visited him for one week per month in the fortress , with their five year old son ( Hans - Christof von Sponeck , later United Nations Diplomat & Assistant Secretary General to Kofi Annan ) . 20 July 1944 Plot and execution . On 20 July 1944 , Sponeck heard on his radio of the bomb attempt on Hitler ' s life . Heinrich Himmler was given the position of Reichs Security Official and Sponeck was one of the first on his list as a suspected anti - Nazi . Himmler gave the order for Hans Graf von Sponeck to be executed by firing squad . This was carried out at 7 : 13 am on 23 July 1944 in Germersheim , Germany . Sponeck was allowed Holy Communion before his execution . In a letter to his wife he wrote " I die with firm faith in my Redeemer " . Pleading the innocence of his actions in the Kerch peninsula , he went to the firing squad boldly , as witnessed by the priest present , and requested not to be bound or to be blindfolded . Facing the firing squad his last words were " For forty years I have served Germany , which I have loved with my entire heart , as a soldier and an officer . If I must let myself die today , I die in the hope of a better Germany ! " Sponeck was buried in Germersheim and while no citations or speeches were permitted at his grave , they did allow the Lord ' s Prayer to be said . After the war , Sponeck ' s mortal remains were exhumed and his last resting place was the Soldiers ' Cemetery at Dahn in the Palatinate forest . Last requiem . On 23 July 1999 , the 55th anniversary of the execution , Sponeck ' s son by his second marriage , Hans - Christof Graf Sponeck , who was just six years old when his father was executed , held a requiem at his father ' s grave . Hans - Christof Graf Sponeck served as Assistant Secretary General and Diplomat , United Nations , until his retirement a short time ago . Note on name . " Graf " is an historic German noble title equivalent in rank to " count " or to the British " earl " . In Germany today , however , " Graf " is legally considered part of the name and no longer a noble title .