Ernst August Köstring
| Ernst-August Köstring | |
|---|---|
Köstring (right) along with Hans Krebs (1941)
|
|
| Born |
20 June 1876 Russian Empire |
| Died | 20 November 1953 (aged 77) Unterwössen, West Germany |
| Allegiance |
 German Empire Weimar Republic Nazi Germany
|
| Service/branch |
Prussian Army Reichsheer Army (Wehrmacht) |
| Years of service | 1895–1933; 1935–45 |
| Rank | General of the Cavalry |
| Battles/wars |
World War I World War II |
| Awards | Knight's Cross of the War Merit Cross with Swords |
Ernst-August Köstring (20 June 1876 – 20 November 1953) was a German diplomat and officer who served in World War II.
Born in Imperial Russia in 1876, Ernst August Köstring grew up in St Petersburg and was fluent in Russian. He took part in World War I, serving under Major General Hans von Seeckt in the Austro-Hungarian Seventh Army. After the war, he was retained in the Reichsheer. From 1919 he was back in the Prussian War Ministry and then detached to the Ministry of the Reichswehr in 1919 when that ministry was established.
On 1 August 1935 he was returned to active service as a military attaché to Russia and Lithuania and sent back to Moscow. On 8 August 1940 Köstring was warned by General Franz Halder that "he would have to answer a lot of questions soon", making him one of a few people who knew what would happen with Russia despite the non-aggression pact. With the planned Operation Barbarossa his position in Moscow was untenable; he was repatriated under diplomatic immunity and assigned to the Führerreserve. He visited, together with Friedrich Werner von Schulenburg, prisoner of war camps recruiting Soviet POWs for the German war effort.
On 1 September 1942 when he was appointed "General Officer attached to Army Group A for Caucasian Questions" under General Eduard Wagner. In this role he worked on creating national legions among the indigenous people of the Caucasus, among them the Muslim Karachai. He arranged for Armenian, Georgians and other Caucasian populations to fight at the front after training in Poland. Most of the Armenians deserted.
The Karachai had formed an anti-Soviet committee under Kaki Baieramukov before the Germans arrived. Köstring invited them to a Bairam feast on 11 October. He was exceptionally well received and was carried shoulder high in celebration as was the custom.
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