Hermann Reinecke
| Hermann Reinecke | |
|---|---|
Hermann Reinecke
|
|
| Born |
14 February 1888 Wittenberg |
| Died | 10 October 1973 (aged 85) |
| Allegiance |
 German Empire (to 1918) Weimar Republic (to 1933) Nazi Germany
|
| Service/branch | Army |
| Years of service | 1903–45 |
| Rank | General der Infanterie |
| Commands held | Chief of National Socialist Leadership Staff OKW |
| Battles/wars |
World War I World War II |
Herman Reinecke (14 February 1888 – 10 October 1973) was a general of Nazi Germany's Wehrmacht and convicted war criminal during World War II. As head of the General Office of the Armed Forces, he was responsible for the creation and implementation of the POW policy that resulted in the deaths of approx. 3.3 million Soviet prisoners of war.
He joined the German Imperial Army as a cadet in March 1905. In August 1906 he was promoted to Lieutenant in the 3rd Hanoverian infantry regiment "von Voigts-Rhetz" No. 79. He served throughout World War I during which he was awarded the Iron Cross first and second class and he was promoted to captain in 1916. He then continued his military service in the Reichswehr with the Army Office of Administration, an infantry regiment and the Reich Defence Ministry in Berlin and was promoted to Major in 1929. He was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel in 1933 and Colonel in the Wehrmacht office in 1935, providing political training on behalf of the Nazi leadership.
In January 1939 Reinecke was promoted to Major General as head of an office in the OKW and appointed head of the General Office of the Armed Forces at OKW (Allgemeines Wehrmachtamt, AWA) in August 1940. Reinecke was also head of the office for the NSFO (Nationalsozialistische Führungsoffiziere), which consisted of Nazi officers charged with political propaganda in the Wehrmacht. Major Karl August Meinel was shifted into the Führerreserve on 1 August 1942, because on 13 January 1942 he wrote a critical report to Hermann Reinecke on the segregation and execution of Russian prisoners of war in prison camp Stalag VII A by the Gestapo and the Sicherheitsdienst SD (security service) of the Reichsführer SS (Heinrich Himmler).
In 1942 Reinecke was promoted to General of the Infantry. Following the 20 July plot coup attempt Joseph Goebbels tasked him with retaking the Bendlerblock and he was then an assessor on the judging panel at the People's Court trials of the conspirators.
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