Circumstances of von Pannwitz Execution

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Uhrmacher
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Circumstances of von Pannwitz Execution

Post by Uhrmacher »

A quick google turns up quite a few pages that describe Helmuth von Pannwitz as having "chosen"/"insisted"/"demanded" to share the fate of his men in being returned to the Soviet Union to face execution. These seem to stem from Samuel Newland's Cossacks in the German Army 1941-1945 (1991) which I unfortunately do not have a copy of.

However, I recently acquired a copy of Bethell's The Last Secret (1974) and was surprised to find that he tells quite the opposite story:
The British task was made easier by internal dissension within the Corps, the Cossacks trying to oust the Germans who still held key positions, the Germans trying to maintain their grip on the Corps as well as their separate identity as a body. A British report [...] mentions that von Pannwitz clearly wanted 'to dissociate his German officers and ultimately himself from the Cossacks who were traitors to their country.'
Even when General von Pannwitz stepped out of the vehicle which had conveyed him across the Russian border, he was obviously surprised to see the Russians, throwing up his arms in the air and exclaiming, "Mein Gott!"'
So my question is, which assessment is correct? Did more recent information from former Soviet archives overshadow Bethell's data from the British or is there some other reason for the polarity?

Sorry if this has been brought up before, I'm a first time poster so please be gentle.

Thanks
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