Johannes Frießner
Johannes Friessner (22 March 1892 – 26 June 1971) was a German general in the Wehrmacht during World War II. He was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves. Biography. Born in Chemnitz, Saxony, Friessner enlisted in the German Army in 1911 and, after seeing extensive duty during World War I, served in the Reichswehr following the war. After his promotion to "Generalmajor" during World War II on 1 August 1940, Friessner was assigned to the Eastern Front on 1 May 1942 and placed in command of the 102nd Infantry Division. Shortly  after his promotion to "Generalleutnant" on 1 October 1942, Friessner served as commander of the XXIII Corps from 19 January to 11 December 1943. On 1 April 1943, he was promoted "General der Infanterie" (General of the Infantry). In February 1944, Friessner was transferred to the Northern Front and assigned command to Sponheimer Group (renamed army detachment "Narva" on 23 February). Promoted to "Generaloberst" on 1 July, Friessner briefly held command of Army Group North until 25 July before being sent to the southern front to command Army Group South Ukraine (later redesignated Army Group South). Unable to halt the  four month Soviet offensive by Marshal Rodion Malinovsky's Second Ukrainian Front, Friessner was relieved of his command on 22 December. Holding no further command for the remainder of the war, Friessner lived in retirement in Bayerisch Gmain until his death on 26 June 1971. In September 1951 he was elected the chairman of the "" (Union of German Soldiers, VdS), however he resigned in December 1951. Frießner was no longer tenable as chairman of the VdS after he had justified the invasion of Poland as a legitimate measure to "protect the ethnic Germans in Poland" at a press conference on  21 September 1951 and he had favourably compared the "decently fighting Waffen-SS" to the officers of the 20 July plot, who, according to him, had chosen a method that was to be rejected "from the military point of view", and namely "political murder". During the early 1950s he was active in advising on the redevelopment of the West German army, the Bundeswehr. In 1956, Friessner wrote "Verratene Schlachten" (Betrayed Battles), a memoir of his tour of command of Army Group South Ukraine.