Reinhard Gehlen
Reinhard Gehlen was born on April 3rd, 1902 in Erfurt, Germany. Gehlen was born to a Roman Catholic family and had a decent life as a kid. When Gehlen grew up he joined the Nazis and grew to be a really important general in World War II (rare photo of Gehlen above. He is in the middle). Gehlen was captured by the U.S. Army Counter Intelligence Corps (CIC) on May 22, 1945, the sparrow-faced man in the battle uniform of an American general clambered down the steps of the U.S. Army transport plane upon its arrival at Washington National Airport. It was August 24, 1945, two weeks after the surrender of Japan, three months after the German capitulation. The general was hustled into a van with no windows and whisked to Fort Hunt outside the capital. There he was attended by white-jacketed orderlies and, the next morning, fitted with a dark-grey business suit from one of Washington's swankiest men's stores.
General Reinhard Gehlen was ready to cut a deal.
Reinhard Gehlen had been, up until the recent capitulation, Adolph Hitler's chief intelligence officer against the Soviet Union. His American captors had decked him out in one of their uniforms to deceive the Russians, who were hunting him as a war criminal. Now U.S. intelligence was going to deploy Gehlen and his network of spies against the Russians.
General Reinhard Gehlen was ready to cut a deal.
Reinhard Gehlen had been, up until the recent capitulation, Adolph Hitler's chief intelligence officer against the Soviet Union. His American captors had decked him out in one of their uniforms to deceive the Russians, who were hunting him as a war criminal. Now U.S. intelligence was going to deploy Gehlen and his network of spies against the Russians.
Ernst Kaltenbrunner
Ernst Kaltenbrunner (above), the son of a lawyer, was born in Austria on 4th October, 1903. He got a doctorate in law from Graz University in 1925 and set up as a lawyer in Linz. Kaltenbrunner joined the Austrian Nazi Party in 1932 and worked closely with Arthur Seyss-Inquart and Adolf Eichmann. Kaltenbrunner became head of the Austrian SS in 1934 but soon afterwards was arrested and accused of being involved in the assassination of Engelbert Dollfuss. Found guilty of conspiracy and was sentenced to six months in prison. After Anschluss Kaltenbrunner was elected to the Reichstag and became minister for state security as well as police chief in Vienna. During the next three years Kaltenbrunner served as Commander-in-Chief of the Schutzstaffel (SS) in Vienna. In April 1941 Kaltenbrunner was appointed Lieutenant-General of Police. He impressed Heinrich Himmler and when Reinhard Heydrich was assassinated in May, 1942, Kaltenbrunner was appointed as head of the SD. In this position he not only controlled the Gestapo but also the concentration camp system and was responsible for carrying out the Final Solution. Nearly seven feet tall, with deep scars on his face from his student duelling days, Kaltenbrunner appeared to obtain pleasure from his work and took personal interest in the different methods of killing the inmates in the extermination camps like Dr. Death. As well as the hunting down and extermination of several million Jews Kaltenbrunner was also responsible for the murder of Allied parachutists and prisoners-of-war. With the Red Army closing in on Germany, Kaltenbrunner gave orders for all prisoners in extermination camps to be killed and then fled south but was captured by Allied troops. Accused of crimes against humanity at the Nuremberg War Crimes Trial he was found guilty and executed on 1st October, 1946.
There's more!
There isn't only two generals in Hitler's great army. There is many more important generals that Hitler put his trust in to help him win the war. These two are one of Hitler's most famous generals that led famous battles that got Hitler very well known.