Gotthard Heinrici

[Stephan H.]

I have a strong interest in Gotthard Heinrici as he is the focus of my new book Oder Front 1945. I did not include an annotated bibliography so I wanted to highlight some key sources below for those interested in Heinrici, the Oderfront, or Endkampf.

My hope is that someone takes up the challenge of translating his entire personal papers that I believe are available in the BA and write an authoritative biography.

All of the below material was translated (when necessary) and quoted extensively in Oder Front 1945.

Ryan Archives, Ohio University, Mahn Center, Alden Library
The following materials are available in Box 68, Folder 3. The underlined titles are how the documents are word.

From the Memoirs of General of the Army Heinrici, written in England in 1946
This document is about 60 pages and covers a period from 20-23 April. It contains important information regarding the final decisions that sealed H.Gr. Weichsel’s fate: the inability to pull back the 9.Armee, the Soviet attack across the lower Oder; and the decision by Hitler to remain in Berlin and turn it into an urban battleground.

First Interview with General Gotthard Heinrici
This document is 13 pages and covers a variety of topics, focused on meetings in early April and the course of events on 23/24 April. It appears to an extract of his diary but I cannot be sure.

The End Battle of the Third Reich
This document is aprox. 60 pages and covers various topics from defensive planning, the impact of Eclipse on Heinrici’s thinking, his view of key personalities of the Third Reich, and the actual course of fighting on the Oderfront.

Interview Questions and Answers
This document is aprox. 33 pages and covers Heinrici’s background, defensive planning, and meetings at the Führer Bunker. This is the result of interview questions posed to Heinrici from Ryan’s staff. Much of the document’s contents are snippets of plucked quotes from some unknown interview transcript. Excellent material, however it should not be taken out of context.

US National Archives, College Park, MD
The following document is located in German in the Special Collections. I have translated it and it appears in its entirety in Oder Front 1945.

MS T-9 Der Kampf um Die Oder im Abschnitt der Heeresgruppe Weichsel, Februar bis April 1945
This document is about 100 pages and covers the operational view of Heinrici’s defensive planning and conduct of battle along ther Oderfront from 16 April-3 May. Excellent reference!

It is my understanding that he also has an un-translated manuscript that concerns the operations of the 1.Panzer Armee while under his command in the Carpathians during 1944-45, though I haven’t seen this. If anyone has a copy or knows how to obtain a copy please send me a PM. I’ve tried several written letters to the NA and they (somewhat surprisingly) have not been answered.

Published Sources
The following two sources were made known to me by Richard Hargreaves and I thank him for that. I obtained both and they are excellent. They are based on Heinrici’s papers that were anonymously dropped off at the BA in Freiburg. The only drawback to the below material is that they only go through 1943 for the most part.

Hürter, Johannes, Ein deutscher General an der Ostfront: Die Briefe und Tagebücher des Gotthard Heinrici 1941-1942 (Erfurt: Edition Tempus, 2001)

______________, “Es herrschen Sitten und Gebräuche, geanuso wie im 30-jährigen Krieg: Das erste Jahr des deutschen-sowjetischen Krieges in Dokumenten des Generals Heinrici,” VfZ, Vol.48, No.2
Thorwald, Juergen, Flight in the Winter: Russia Conquers—January to May 1945 (New York: Pantheon Books Inc, 1951)

I hope others find some value in this information and if you know of additional sources for Heinrici please post them here as I will be interested!

Cheers,
Stephan