Editing Gerd von Rundstedt (section)

==Post-war==
===In custody===
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 146-2007-0220, Gerd von Rundstedt in Gefangenschaft.jpg|thumb|upright|Rundstedt and his son, Hans Gerd von Rundstedt, following their capture.]]

{{lang|de|[[Generalfeldmarschall]]}} Rundstedt was initially held at the Allied facility for detaining high-ranking German officials, known as ASHCAN, in a hotel at [[Mondorf-les-Bains]] in Luxembourg. Out of consideration for his rank and state of health, Hans Gerd was allowed to accompany him. At the end of May they were moved to an American detention centre at [[Wiesbaden]]. Here Rundstedt was extensively questioned by [[U.S. Army]] interrogators about his career and actions during the war. During this period decisions were being made about which German leaders were to be put on trial for war crimes at the [[Nuremberg trials]]. Rundstedt was the most senior German officer in Allied custody. He was accused of responsibility for war crimes in Poland (the shooting of surrendered soldiers in 1939), the Soviet Union (the actions of the {{lang|de|[[Einsatzgruppen]]}} in 1941), Britain (the [[Commando Order]] of 1942) and France (the [[Oradour massacre]] of 1944). Eventually the International Military Tribunal (IMT) decided that no German field commanders would be tried at Nuremberg. Instead "the General Staff and High Command of the German Armed Forces" was collectively indicted.{{Sfn|Nuremberg Indictments}} The only Army officers individually indicted were the OKW chiefs Keitel and Jodl, but they had never been field commanders.

In July Rundstedt was handed over to British custody.{{efn|His biographer has not been able to determine why this was done.{{Sfn|Messenger|2011|p=234}}}} He was held first at [[Wilton Park Estate|Wilton Park]] in [[Buckinghamshire]], then at [[Grizedale Hall]] in Cumbria, then at [[Island Farm]] near [[Bridgend]] in [[Glamorgan]], South Wales. The British climate badly affected his arthritis, making him increasingly lame. His heart condition became worse and he was periodically depressed. One interviewer wrote: "A limp, exhausted body racked by constant pain due to weakened arteries is now the remnant of the relentless figure that once waved a Marshal's baton."<ref>{{harvnb|Messenger|2011|p=244}}, quoting Major Milton Shulman of the Canadian Army.</ref> During this period he was extensively interviewed by the military writer [[Basil Liddell Hart]], who later used these and other interviews as the basis for his books ''The Other Side of the Hill'' and its U.S. equivalent ''The German Generals Talk'', published in 1948. Liddell Hart and Rundstedt developed a close rapport, and the relationship was to prove very valuable to Rundstedt over the next few years. Liddell Hart wrote of him: "Rundstedt makes an increasingly favourable impression on me&nbsp;... He is dignified without being arrogant, and essentially aristocratic in outlook."<ref>{{harvnb|Messenger|2011|p=241}}, quoting Liddell Hart's notes.</ref>

===Defence witness at Nuremberg===
[[File:Gerd von Rundstedt.jpg|thumb|upright|Rundstedt as a witness at the [[Nuremberg Trial]]]]

When Rundstedt learned that he was not to be tried personally at Nuremberg, he wrote to the Tribunal asking permission to appear as a defence witness for the Army high command. In May 1946 he was summoned to appear. When he left [[Island Farm]], all the 185 senior officers being held there lined up to salute him. On 19 June he appeared before a preliminary hearing of the IMT Commission.{{Sfn|Messenger|2011|p=247–250}} Since he was a witness, not a defendant, the questioning was not intended to prove Rundstedt's guilt: it was designed to bolster the prosecution's case that the high command had functioned as an organisation and that it was collectively responsible for the German invasions of various countries between 1939 and 1941 and also for the war crimes committed during those invasions. Rundstedt was adamant that the high command played no part in the decisions to invade Poland, Norway, France or the Soviet Union. He insisted that the Army had obeyed the laws of war and was not responsible for the actions of the {{lang|de|Einsatzgruppen}}. He also denied that the Army had deliberately starved three million Soviet prisoners of war to death in 1941–42.

On 12 August Rundstedt took the stand before the IMT itself.<ref>{{harvnb|Messenger|2011|pp=250–52}}</ref> His counsel, Dr [[Hans Laternser]], took him over the same ground which had been covered before the commission. He insisted that military law was "always binding for us older leaders", and that officers who broke these laws were court-martialed. He stated: "As senior soldier of the German Army, I will say this: we accused leaders were trained in the old soldierly traditions of decency and [[chivalry]]. We lived and acted according to them, and we endeavoured to hand them down to the younger officers."<ref>{{harvnb|Messenger|2011|p=251}}, quoting Nuremberg Trials transcript.</ref> Cross-examined by the British prosecutor [[Peter Calvocoressi]], he stuck to his position that the high command did not function as an organisation. Senior commanders discussed only operational matters, he said: political and strategic questions were decided by Hitler and the OKW. Rundstedt made a good impression as a witness. Calvocoressi later commented: "He was not going to let on how much he and his colleagues had known or done. He did this well – or anyway successfully."<ref>{{harvnb|Messenger|2011|p=252}}</ref>

The success of Rundstedt's efforts was shown in October 1946, when the IMT handed down its verdicts. Keitel and Jodl were to be hanged, but the Army high command as a whole was acquitted. The verdict read: "According to the indictment, this group consists of about 130 officers who held certain positions in the military hierarchy between 1938 and 1945&nbsp;... The Tribunal does not find that they were an organisation&nbsp;... They were only an aggregation of those who happened to hold high rank in a certain period&nbsp;... These men have, however, been a disgrace to the profession of arms, and they have made a mockery of obedience to orders. They were a ruthless military caste, and were guilty of crimes and should be brought to trial as individuals."{{Sfn|Owen|2006|p=362}} Thus the possibility was left open that Rundstedt could still face individual prosecution for his actions.

===War crimes prosecution===
Rundstedt returned to Island Farm to await developments. [[Otto John]], a German lawyer who had been active in the German resistance, arrived in October to interview the prisoners and make recommendations on possible future war crimes prosecutions. John and Rundstedt got on well, and in November John arranged for Hans Gerd von Rundstedt, who was suffering from the early stages of throat cancer, to be released and sent home. In April 1947 the Allied War Crimes Investigation Group operating in Germany recommended that Rundstedt should not face prosecution.{{Sfn|Messenger|2011|loc=ch. 14}} The U.S. government, however, did not accept this recommendation and insisted that Rundstedt, Manstein, Brauchitsch and General Rudolf Strauss (an Army commander on the Russian front in 1941) should stand trial. All four were in British custody. In August [[Telford Taylor]], the U.S. Chief Counsel for War Crimes, formally advised the British Attorney-General, [[Hartley Shawcross, Baron Shawcross|Sir Hartley Shawcross]], of his intentions. The grounds for the prosecution would be the [[Commissar Order]] of 1941, the [[Commando Order]] of 1942, the murder of Soviet prisoners-of-war, the conscription and deportation of civilians in occupied countries as [[forced labour]], and the responsibility of the named officers for the invasions of Poland, France, Yugoslavia, the Soviet Union and other countries.

The British, however, were extremely reluctant to act. British public opinion had rapidly shifted (as it did after World War I) away from anti-German sentiment towards a desire for reconciliation. There was a strong feeling that putting elderly and sick men on trial three years after the war was unjust. There was also the fact that many of the events referred to by the Americans had taken place in the Soviet Union and Poland, which were now, with the onset of the [[Cold War]], political adversaries and no longer cooperating with western war crimes investigations. The British Military Governor in Germany, [[Air Marshal]] [[Sholto Douglas, 1st Baron Douglas of Kirtleside|Sir Sholto Douglas]], was strongly opposed. He wrote: "We are apparently prepared to send these men, including one who is 73, to trial by the Americans. I frankly do not like this. I feel that if the Americans wish to be critical in our inaction in trying war criminals, I should prefer that they should continue to criticise rather than that we should commit an injustice in order to avoid their criticism."<ref>{{harvnb|Messenger|2011|p=262}}</ref>

Rundstedt and the other officers knew nothing of the proposed prosecutions. In June 1947, his son Hans Gerd was admitted to hospital and it soon became apparent that his cancer was inoperable. In December Rundstedt was granted compassionate leave by the British government to visit the hospital in Hanover where Hans Gerd was being treated. On Christmas Day he saw his wife for the first time since May 1945, and his grandchildren for the first time since 1941. Hans Gerd died on 12 January 1948: "a blow from which he never really recovered."<ref>{{harvnb|Messenger|2011|p=267}}</ref> On Rundstedt's return he was given a medical examination. The doctors reported "a markedly senile general physique", chronic arterio-sclerosis, osteoarthritis in most of his joints, and failing memory. The examiners advised that to put him on trial would "adversely affect his health." A similar recommendation was made about Brauchitsch, although Manstein was judged fit to stand trial. As a result, the [[Secretary of State for War]], [[Manny Shinwell]], recommended to Foreign Secretary [[Ernest Bevin]] that the prosecutions should not proceed. Bevin was put in a quandary, fearing the reactions of countries such as France and Belgium if Rundstedt were to be released. In March the Soviet government formally demanded Rundstedt's extradition to the Soviet Union.

Meanwhile, the Americans had requested that Rundstedt and Manstein be brought to Nuremberg to appear as a witness in the [[High Command Trial]], in which a number of prominent generals, including Leeb, Blaskowitz (who committed suicide during the trial), [[Hugo Sperrle]], [[Georg von Küchler]] and [[Hermann Hoth]] were on trial for war crimes. In May, therefore, Rundstedt was transferred from Island Farm to a military hospital in Norfolk. On 22 July Rundstedt left the hospital and the next day he and Manstein were flown to Nuremberg. But the presiding judge in the case ruled that he would not allow Rundstedt or Manstein to testify unless they were first informed whether they were themselves in danger of prosecution. Thus Rundstedt and Manstein discovered for the first time that the Americans had requested their indictment. As a result, they refused to testify. They were then transferred to a military hospital near [[Munster, Lower Saxony|Munster]]. Here conditions were so bad that Brauchitsch went on a hunger strike.

In August the matter became public when Liddell Hart launched a press campaign to have the four officers released. He was supported by figures such as [[Michael Foot]], [[Victor Gollancz]] and [[William Sidney, 1st Viscount De L'Isle|Lord De L'Isle, VC]]. On 27 August the government responded by formally announcing that the four would be tried by a British military court in Hamburg. Items in Rundstedt's indictment included: "the maltreatment and killing of civilians and prisoners of war&nbsp;... killing hostages, illegal employment of prisoners of war, deportation of forced labour to Germany&nbsp;... mass execution of Jews&nbsp;... and other war crimes, yet to be specified."<ref>{{harvnb|Messenger|2011|p=280}}</ref> On 24 September the four were moved to a military hospital in Hamburg, where they were allowed to be visited by their families. It was here that Brauchitsch died suddenly of heart failure on 18 October. This led to a renewed outcry in Britain for the trial to be abandoned. Nevertheless, Bevin was determined to press ahead, and on 1 January 1949 Rundstedt, Manstein and Strauss were formally charged. Hugo Laternser was engaged as Rundstedt's counsel, and Liddell Hart and others in Britain collected material for the defence. The Bishop of Chichester, [[George Bell (bishop)|George Bell]], announced that he would bring in a motion in the [[House of Lords]] critical of the government. This was a serious threat since the Lords had the power to compel the government to produce documents.

By April the public debate in Britain was becoming so damaging that the government decided that the best option was to back down as gracefully as it could. The government's resolve was stiffened by the refusal of the Soviet government to provide any evidence for the trial. Further medical reports were commissioned, with varying results. A team of British Army doctors eventually reported that Rundstedt and Strauss were unfit to stand trial, and the government used this as a pretext to abandon the trial. On 28 April Cabinet considered the medical reports, and asked the Lord Chancellor, [[William Jowitt, 1st Earl Jowitt|Lord Jowitt]], to prepare a report for its next meeting. On 5 May Cabinet accepted his recommendation that Rundstedt and Strauss be released, but that Manstein's trial should go ahead.{{efn|Manstein was convicted in December 1949 on the basis of charges almost identical to those brought against Rundstedt, and sentenced to 18 years in prison. He was paroled on medical grounds in August 1952.}} Rundstedt was formally advised of his release on 19 May, but since he had nowhere to go he stayed in the hospital until 26 May, when he finally left British custody and went to the home of his brother Udo at [[Ratzeburg]] in Schleswig-Holstein.

===Last years===
Rundstedt was now a free man after four years in custody, but it brought him little joy.{{Sfn|Messenger|2011|loc=ch. 15}} He was 73, frail and in poor health. He had no home, no money and no income. The family home in [[Kassel]] had been requisitioned by the Americans, and the Rundstedt estate in [[Saxony-Anhalt]] was in the Soviet Zone and had been confiscated. His wife was living in [[Bebra#Constituent communities|Solz]], but this was in the American Zone, where he could not travel because the Americans (who were displeased by the British decision to release him) still regarded him as a Class 1 war criminal under the [[denazification]] laws then in force. Likewise, his money, in a bank account in Kassel, was frozen because of his classification, which also denied him a military pension. The British had assured him that he would not be arrested or extradited if he stayed in the British Zone, but the Americans had made no such guarantee. "It is an awful situation for me and my poor wife," he wrote to Liddell Hart. "I would like to end this life as soon as possible."<ref>{{harvnb|Messenger|2011|p=296}}</ref>

Meanwhile, Rundstedt was in a hospital in [[Hanover]] with nowhere to live, and the new [[Social Democratic Party of Germany|SPD]] administration in [[Lower Saxony]] had no interest in helping ex-Field Marshals of the Third Reich at a time when there was an acute housing shortage across Germany.{{efn|Self-government in the German states had been restored in 1947. Lower Saxony became an SPD stronghold, and the government's attitude reflected the strong anti-militarist mood in Germany in the wake of the war. The Minister-President, [[Hinrich Wilhelm Kopf|Hinrich Kopf]], said he "would not lift a finger for a war criminal".{{Sfn|Messenger|2011|p=300}}}} He and Bila were temporarily housed in an elderly persons home near [[Celle]].

[[File:Grab Gerd von Rundstedt.jpg|thumb|right|Grave in Stöcken]]
In the last years of his life, Rundstedt became a subject of increasing interest and was interviewed by various writers and historians. His former chief of staff, Günther Blumentritt, visited him frequently, and began work on an apologetic biography, which was published in 1952. In 1951 he was portrayed sympathetically by [[Leo G. Carroll]] in a film about Rommel, ''[[The Desert Fox: The Story of Rommel|The Desert Fox]]''.<ref>https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0043461/ {{User-generated source|certain=yes|date=June 2022}}</ref> Blumentritt and Liddell Hart raised money to provide nursing care for the Rundstedts. Bila died on 4 October 1952; Rundstedt died of heart failure on 24 February 1953 in Hanover. (He had already been at retirement age when the [[Second World War]] began.) He was buried in the [[:de:Stadtfriedhof Stöcken|Stöcken City Cemetery]].{{citation needed|date=February 2020}}