Editing Erich von Manstein (section)

===Trial and conviction===
{{Main|Trial of Erich von Manstein}}
Manstein was moved to [[Nuremberg]] in October 1945. He was held at the [[Palace of Justice (Nuremberg)|Palace of Justice]], the location of the [[Nuremberg trials]] of major Nazi war criminals and organisations. While there, Manstein helped prepare a 132-page document for the defence of the General Staff and the OKW, on trial at Nuremberg in August 1946. The [[Myth of the clean Wehrmacht|myth that the ''Wehrmacht'' was "clean"]]{{snd}}not culpable for the events of the Holocaust{{snd}}arose partly as a result of this document, written largely by Manstein, along with General of Cavalry [[Siegfried Westphal]]. He also gave oral testimony about the ''Einsatzgruppen'', the treatment of prisoners of war, and the concept of military obedience, especially as related to the [[Commissar Order]], an order issued by Hitler in 1941, requiring all Soviet [[political commissar]]s to be shot without trial. Manstein admitted that he received the order, but said he did not carry it out.{{sfn|Melvin|2010|pp=432–434}}

Documents from 1941 presented at Nuremberg and at Manstein's own later trial contradict this claim: He actually received regular reports throughout that period regarding the execution of hundreds of political commissars.{{sfn|Lemay|2010|p=252}} He denied any knowledge of the activities of the ''Einsatzgruppen'', and testified that soldiers under his command were not involved in the murder of Jewish civilians.{{sfn|Melvin|2010|pp=440–448}} [[Otto Ohlendorf]], commander of ''Einsatzgruppe'' D, contradicted this during his testimony, saying that not only was Manstein aware of what was happening but that the Eleventh Army was involved.{{sfn|Lemay|2010|pp=270–271}} In September 1946, the General Staff and the OKW were declared to not be a criminal organisation.{{sfn|Melvin|2010|p=448}} Their decision was that a collection of military officers was not a group or organisation as defined by article 9 of their charter.{{sfn|International Military Tribunal|1946}}

After his testimony at Nuremberg, Manstein was interned by the British as a prisoner of war at [[Island Farm]] (also known as Special Camp 11) in [[Bridgend]], [[Wales]], where he awaited the decision as to whether or not he would face a war crimes trial. He mostly kept apart from the other inmates, taking solitary walks, tending a small garden, and beginning work on the drafts of two books. British author [[B. H. Liddell Hart]] was in correspondence with Manstein and others at Island Farm and visited inmates of several camps around Britain while preparing his best-selling 1947 book ''On the Other Side of the Hill''. Liddell Hart was an admirer of the German generals; he described Manstein as an operational genius. The two remained in contact, and Liddell Hart later helped Manstein arrange the publication of the English edition of his memoir, ''[[Verlorene Siege]]'' (''Lost Victories''), in 1958.{{sfn|Smelser|Davies|2008|p=102}}{{sfn|Melvin|2010|pp=452–456}}

The British cabinet, under pressure from the Soviet Union, finally decided in July 1948 to prosecute Manstein for war crimes. He and three other senior officers ([[Walther von Brauchitsch]], Gerd von Rundstedt and [[Adolf Strauss (general)|Adolf Strauss]]) were transferred to ''[[Munster Training Area|Munsterlager]]'' to await trial. Brauchitsch died that October and Rundstedt and Strauss were released on medical grounds in March 1949. Manstein's trial was held in Hamburg from 23 August to 19 December 1949.{{sfn|Melvin|2010|pp=460–463, 467}}

Manstein faced seventeen charges at the trial, three of which pertained to events in Poland and fourteen regarding events in the Soviet Union. Charges included maltreatment of prisoners of war, co-operation with the ''Einsatzgruppe'' D in murdering Jewish residents of the Crimea, and disregarding the welfare of civilians by using "scorched earth" tactics while retreating from the Soviet Union.{{sfn|Melvin|2010|pp=469–473}} The prosecution, led by senior counsel [[Arthur Comyns Carr]], used an order Manstein had signed on 20 November 1941, based on the [[Severity Order]] that had been issued by Field Marshal [[Walther von Reichenau]], to build their case that Manstein had known about and was complicit with the genocide. The order called for the elimination of the "Jewish Bolshevik system" and the "harsh punishment of Jewry".

Manstein claimed that he remembered asking for a draft of such an order but had no recollection of signing it.{{sfn|Melvin|2010|pp=243, 466, 475}} American historians [[Ronald Smelser]] and [[Edward J. Davies]] wrote in 2008 that Manstein agreed with Hitler's idea that the war against the Soviet Union was a war to exterminate Judeo-Bolshevism and that he committed perjury when he claimed not to remember signing his version of the Severity Order.{{sfn|Smelser|Davies|2008|p=98}}

Manstein's defence, led by the lawyer [[Reginald Thomas Paget]], argued that the order was justified because many partisans were Jews, and therefore Manstein's order calling for all Jews to be executed was justified by his desire to protect his men from partisan attacks.{{sfn|Smelser|Davies|2008|p=98}} He argued that Manstein was not compelled to disobey orders given by his sovereign government, even if such orders were illegal. Manstein, speaking in his defence, stated that he found the [[Racial policy of Nazi Germany|Nazi racial policy]] to be repugnant. Sixteen other witnesses testified that Manstein had no knowledge of or involvement in genocide.{{sfn|Melvin|2010|pp=466, 477–480}}{{sfn|Paget|1952|p=230}} Paget called the Soviets "savages", arguing that Manstein showed restraint as a "decent German soldier" in upholding the laws of war when fighting against the Soviets, who displayed "appalling savagery".{{sfn|Smelser|Davies|2008|p=101}}

Whether or not Manstein was responsible for the activities of ''Einsatzgruppe'' D, a unit not under his direct control but operating in his zone of command, became one of the key points of the trial. The prosecution claimed it was Manstein's duty to know about the activities of this unit and also his duty to put a stop to their genocidal operations.{{sfn|Melvin|2010|pp=475–477}} Recent scholars, including [[Ronald Smelser]] and Benoît Lemay, are of the opinion that he almost certainly perjured himself at his trial and at Nuremberg.{{sfn|Lemay|2010|p=265}}{{sfn|Smelser|Davies|2008|p=43}}

Manstein was found guilty on nine of the charges and was sentenced to eighteen years in prison.{{sfn|Lemay|2010|pp=467–468}} The charges for which he was found guilty included shooting Soviet war prisoners; carrying out the [[Commissar Order]]; and allowing subordinates to shoot civilians.{{sfn|Smelser|Davies|2008|p=101}} Manstein's supporters in Britain and in Germany protested. Liddell Hart lobbied in the British press, and in Germany the sentence was seen as a political decision. The sentence was reduced to 12 years in February 1950.{{sfn|Lemay|2010|pp=469–470}} Paget published a best-selling book in 1951 about Manstein's career and trial which portrayed Manstein as an honourable soldier fighting heroically despite overwhelming odds on the Eastern Front and who had been convicted of crimes that he did not commit. The book helped to contribute to the growing cult surrounding Manstein's name.{{sfn|Smelser|Davies|2008|pp=101–102}} His release on 7 May 1953 was partly a result of a recurrence of his eye problems but also the result of pressure by [[Winston Churchill]], [[Konrad Adenauer]], Liddell Hart, Paget, and others.{{sfn|Melvin|2010|pp=492–493}}{{sfn|Lemay|2010|pp=470–471}} Also, the British wanted Germany to take part in the defence of Western Europe, and Adenauer made Germany's re-armament contingent on the release of their war criminals.{{sfn|Smelser|Davies|2008|p=100}}{{sfn|Lingen|2009|p=178}}