Gottfried von Erdmannsdorff

Who was Gottfried von Erdmannsdorff?

Heinrich Otto Gottfried von Erdmannsdorff was a highly decorated Generalmajor in the Wehrmacht during World War II. He was also a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross. The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross was awarded to recognise extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership. Von Erdmannsdorff, who was at that time commander of the so-called "Fortress Mogilev" was captured by Soviet troops in late June 1944 during the Mogilev Offensive. He was tried by a Soviet tribunal for crimes committed in Belarus along with 18 other officers, 14 of whom -among them von Erdmannsdorff - were sentenced to death on 29 January 1946. The officers were hanged in public in the horse racing venue of Minsk, on 30 January 1946. He was the younger brother of General der Infanterie Werner von Erdmannsdorff.