Erich Fellgiebel
| Erich Fellgiebel | |
|---|---|
Erich Fellgiebel
|
|
| Born |
4 October 1886 Pöpelwitz, Silesia |
| Died | 4 September 1944 (aged 57) Berlin, Germany |
| Allegiance |
 German Empire (to 1918) Weimar Republic (to 1933) Nazi Germany
|
| Service/branch | Army |
| Years of service | 1905–44 |
| Rank | General der Nachrichtentruppe |
| Commands held | Chief of communications for the armed forces |
| Battles/wars |
World War I World War II |
| Relations | Walther-Peer Fellgiebel (son) |
Fritz Erich Fellgiebel (4 October 1886 – 4 September 1944) was a German Army general and a conspirator in the 20 July plot to assassinate Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler.
Fellgiebel was born in Pöpelwitz (Present-day Popowice in Wrocław, Poland) in the Prussian Province of Silesia. At the age of 18, he joined a signals battalion in the Prussian Army as an officer cadet. During the First World War, he served as a captain on the General Staff. After the war he was assigned to Berlin as a General Staff officer of the Reichswehr. His service had been exemplary, and in 1928 he was promoted to the rank of major.
Fellgiebel was promoted lieutenant colonel in 1933, and became a full colonel (Oberst) the following year. By 1938, he was a major general. That year, he was appointed Chief of the Army's Signal Establishment and Chief of the Wehrmacht's communications liaison to the Supreme Command (OKW). Fellgiebel became General der Nachrichtentruppe (General of the Communications Troops) on 1 August 1940.
Adolf Hitler did not fully trust Fellgiebel; Hitler considered him too independent-minded, but Hitler needed Fellgiebel's expertise. Fellgiebel was one of the first to understand that the German military should adopt and use the Enigma encryption machine. As head of Hitler's signal services, Fellgiebel knew every military secret, including Wernher von Braun's rocketry work at the Peenemünde Army Research Center.
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