Google Books previews are unavailable because you have chosen to turn off third party cookies for enhanced content. Visit our cookies page to review your cookie settings.
Hitler’s Heroes During The Defeat in the East (Hardback)
Knight’s Cross Generals on the Eastern Front, 13 February 1944 – 9 May 1945
By
Jeremy Dixon
Pages: 256
Illustrations: 150 mono illustrations
ISBN: 9781036102753
Published: 31st October 2025

Pages: 256
Illustrations: 150 mono illustrations
ISBN: 9781036102753
Published: 31st October 2025
You'll be £20.00 closer to your next £10.00 credit when you purchase Hitler’s Heroes During The Defeat in the East. What's this?
+£4.99 UK Delivery or free UK delivery if order is over £40
(click here for international delivery rates)
Order within the next 11 hours, 25 minutes to get your order processed the next working day!
Need a currency converter? Check XE.com for live rates
(click here for international delivery rates)
Order within the next 11 hours, 25 minutes to get your order processed the next working day!
Need a currency converter? Check XE.com for live rates
The fourth in a series of books that examine German officers who were promoted to the rank of general and who were also awarded the Knight’s Cross, this volume covers the last months of the Second World War. During the period from 13 February 1944 to Germany’s surrender on 9 May 1945, there were 115 generals who received the award. This total comprised eighteen full Generals; fifty-eight Generalleutnants and thirty-nine Generalmajors.
One of these men was Generalleutnant Gustav Heistermann von Ziehlberg, who was awarded the Knight’s Cross, on 27 July 1944, whilst Commander of the 28th Jäger Division for actions in the Soviet Union. However he was arrested by the Gestapo in November 1944 in connection with the July bomb plot against Hitler. He was later stripped of all awards and executed by firing squad on 2 February 1945.
On 26 March 1944, General der Infanterie Hans Krebs was awarded the Knight’s Cross and in February 1945 he received the Knight’s Cross with Oakleaves. During the last weeks of the war he served as Acting Chief of Operations Staff of the Army General Staff, succeeding Generaloberst Heinz Guderian who had been sacked by Hitler. Krebs moved his headquarters to Hitler’s bunker during the last days of the Reich and after Hitler’s suicide he met up with Soviet generals to try and negotiate Germany’s surrender, but this failed. Together with General Wilhelm Burgdorff, he shot himself later that same day.
With each individual’s entry there is a detailed description of how and where the Knight’s Cross was won.
There are no reviews for this book. Register or Login now and you can be the first to post a review!
About Jeremy Dixon
Jeremy Dixon has been interested in Nazi Germany for over thirty-five years and has written several books on the subject. His first book Commandersof Auschwitz detailed the careers of the SS officers who served at Auschwitz concentration camp. It was followed by books dealing with Luftwaffe generals who won the Knight’s Cross, a two-volume study of recipients of Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves, and the third which details the holders who served in the Fallschirmjäger, Germany’s elite parachute unit. His most recent publication is The U-Boat Commanders: Knight’s Cross Holders 1939-1945.
More titles by Jeremy Dixon
Other titles in Frontline Books...