Wilhelm Ritter von Leeb
German field marshal and war criminal (1876-1956) · Germany · On the map · Died at 79
A Wehrmacht field marshal who laid siege to Leningrad and was later convicted at Nuremberg for war crimes - not for what he did himself, but for passing down the orders that his units carried out against Soviet civilians and Jews.
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A typical day, 30 days to 8 October 2026
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Wilhelm Ritter von Leeb earned his nobility title through decorated service in World War I, receiving the Military Order of Max Joseph. In 1940 he commanded Army Group C during the Battle of France, breaking through the Maginot Line. When Germany invaded the Soviet Union in 1941, Leeb led Army Group North through the Baltic States to Leningrad, where his forces began the siege that would strangle the city. Units under his command committed atrocities against civilians and worked directly with SS Einsatzgruppen death squads murdering Jewish populations. Hitler paid him secretly: 250,000 Reichsmarks in 1941, then an estate worth 638,000 in 1943. At the High Command Trial after the war, he was convicted of transmitting the Barbarossa Decree - the criminal orders his subordinates applied in the field. He was sentenced to three years, already served, and walked free when the trial ended in 1948.