Friedrich Foertsch Friedrich Albert Foertsch ( 19 May 1900 – 14 December 1976 ) was a German general serving during World War II and from 1961 to 1963 the second Inspector General of the Bundeswehr ( " Generalinspekteur der Bundeswehr " ) . Foertsch was born in 1900 and joined the military service in the Imperial German Army in 1918 . Serving in the infantry in the final battles of World War I , Foertsch earned the Iron Cross second class before the end of hostilities . He joined the " Freikorps " after the war , and later was accepted into the " Reichswehr " in 1920 . During World War II , he held several senior staff positions , including chief of the general staff of the 18 . Armee . Foertsch was awarded the Knight ' s Cross of the Iron Cross ( " Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes " ) on 5 September 1944 for his leadership in the defensive battles at the Leningrad Front . He was taken prisoner of war in the Courland Pocket by the Soviet Army . At a post - war trial he initially received a death sentence , which was later commuted to 25 years of hard labor . The intervention of " Bundeskanzler " Konrad Adenauer , caused his release , in 1955 and Foertsch joined the newly formed " Bundeswehr " of the Federal Republic of Germany . He again served in many senior positions , including an assignment to the Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe ( SHAPE ) of Nato in Paris . In 1961 he was appointed Inspector General of the Bundeswehr , a position he held until his retirement in 1963 . Friedrich Foertsch died on 14 December 1976 in Goslar . Biography . Friedrich Foertsch born 19 May 1900 in Drahnow in the district Deutsch - Krone in West Prussia . His father was a government employee for the Prussian Settlement Commission in Posen and West Prussia ( " Staatliche Verwaltung der Preußischen Ansiedlungskommission für Posen und Westpreußen " ) . Foertsch attended the " Gymnasium " ( secondary school ) in Hohensalza and Graudenz and received his " Abitur " in May 1918 . He then volunteered for the military service in the Imperial German Army on 21 May 1918 . He was assigned to the " 8 . Westpreußisches Infanterie - Regiment Nr . 175 " in Graudenz . Foertsch military career thus took the same path as his older brother ' s , the later General der Infanterie Hermann Foertsch . Shortly before the end of World War I he participated in the battles of the Schelde at the " Wotan " - und " Hermann " positions northeast of Lille and was awarded the Iron Cross 2nd class . With his brother , Foertsch joined the Freikorps " Feldmarschall Hindenburg " after the war and was accepted by the Reichswehr at the end of 1920 , serving as a " Fähnrich " ( ensign ) in the " 17 . Infanterie - Regiment " . He was promoted to " Leutnant " ( second lieutenant ) on 1 April 1922 and to " Oberleutnant " ( first lieutenant ) on 1 February 1927 . He became adjutant of the " III . ( Jäger ) Bataillon " ( 3rd light infantry battalion ) of the " 17 . Infanterie Regiment " ( 17th infantry regiment ) on 1 October 1927 . In 1932 he served with the " 12 . ( MG ) Kompanie " ( 12th machine gun company ) of the regiment . Transferred to the " Kriegsakademie " ( war academy ) in the fall of 1932 he was promoted to " Hauptmann " on 1 April 1934 . The treaty of Versailles had imposed severe restrictions on Germany ' s military strength . The Weimar Republic largely obeyed the Versailles restrictions , but with Adolf Hitler ' s rise to power the remilitarisation began . The Reichswehr , renamed the Wehrmacht , expanded . Foertsch at this time served in the military head quarters in Königsberg . He was appointed company chief in the " Infanterie - Regiment 81 " on 12 October 1937 and was promoted to " Major " on 1 August 1938 . He was transferred to the " Generalstab " ( General Staff ) of the III . Armeekorps ( 3rd Army Corps ) on 10 November 1938 , a position he held at the outbreak of World War II . In the fall of 1939 he became the first officer of the general staff ( Ia ) of the " 60 . Infanterie - Division " ( 60th infantry division ) and participated in the Battle of France . After the invasion of France he was relieved of his position and was transferred to the chief of staff of the " Heeresrüstung " and " Ersatzheer " ( Army Equipment and Replacement Army ) and attained the rank of " Oberstleutnant " on 1 November 1940 . On 1 June 1942 he was promoted to " Oberst im Generalstab " and at the same time appointed first officer of the general staff of the " 18 . Armee " ( 18th Army ) . Foertsch earned the German Cross in Gold on 10 May 1943 for his support in the heavy fighting in the northern sector of the eastern front . He was appointed chief of the general staff of 18 . Armee on 1 December 1943 and promoted to " Generalmajor " on 1 June 1944 . Three months later he received the Knight ' s Cross of the Iron Cross ( " Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes " ) . He was appointed chief of the general staff of the Heeresgruppe Kurland at the end of January 1945 . His promotion to " Generalleutnant " followed on 1 March 1945 . After the capitulation of all German forces he was taken prisoner of war by the Red Army of the Soviet Union . He was sentenced to 25 years imprisonment for war crime charges against the destruction of cities and art on 29 June 1950 . According to the court , Foertsch permitted the destruction of cities of Pskow , Novgorod and Leningrad by his troops , and the destruction of historical art and memorials in Gatschina , Petergof , Pavlovsk and Puschkin . Friedrich Foertsch was released from captivity on 9 October 1955 . " Bundeskanzler " Konrad Adenauer had helped secure the release of the last German prisoners of war in 1955 , a decade after the end of the war . He joined the Bundeswehr after the remilitarisation of the Federal Republic of Germany holding the rank of " Generalmajor " . His initial task was the leadership of the " II . Korps " and he was appointed commanding officer of the " 2 . Grenadier - Division " in April 1957 . He was then posted to the Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe ( SHAPE ) of Nato in Paris as deputy chief of the fundamental planning office . He succeeded Adolf Heusinger as the second " Generalinspekteur der Bundeswehr " on 1 April 1961 . Under his command the compulsory military service in the Bundeswehr was extended from 12 to 18 months . He was also in command during the political Spiegel scandal , which led to the resignation of Federal Ministry of Defence Franz Josef Strauß . " Der Spiegel " , a widely read German periodical , had published the article " " Bedingt abwehrbereit " " ( " Conditionally prepared for defense " ) about a NATO maneuver called Fallex 62 , Fall Exercise 1962 , in which the NATO forces were to demonstrate their preparedness to resist possible attack by the Soviet Union and / or other Eastern Block forces . The maneuvers themselves had demonstrated the Bundeswehr ' s incapacity to repel attack , and the article exposed the sorry state of Bundeswehr preparedness . He retired as a four - star general on 31 December 1963 . After his retirement he and his wife , together with their four children , lived in Goslar . Friedrich Foertsch died there on 14 December 1976 .