German field marshal (1881–1954)
A Prussian field marshal who spearheaded the panzer thrust through the Ardennes in 1940 — the blitz that broke France — then drove into Ukraine and the Caucasus before clashing with Hitler and ending his days in a Soviet prison.
Born into Prussian nobility in 1881, Kleist entered the army in 1900 and commanded cavalry in the First World War. Discharged from the Reichswehr in 1938, he was recalled when the war began and led a motorised corps into Poland. In May 1940 he commanded Panzer Group Kleist — the Wehrmacht's first operational formation of multiple panzer corps — whose units, including Guderian's, punched through the Ardennes, outflanked the Maginot Line, and pushed deep into France. He took the same formation east into the Soviet Union, driving through Ukraine and toward the Caucasus oil fields. Appointed comma…
Sourced, dated quotes from Paul Ludwig Ewald von Kleist
The Russians were five times superior to us poor but brave Germans, both in numbers and in the superiority of their equipment. My immediate commander was Hitler himself.
It is interesting but it was tragic. If you receive a military order you must obey. That is where the big difference between a military and a political order comes in.
Recently I was discharged from the German army while in this prison and was informed that I am on the so-called war criminal list number seven.
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