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Ravenstein, portrait of a German general
(From dust jacket)
The life of Johann Theodor von Ravenstein is a remarkable mosaic of many different stones. Born of ancient Prussian junker stock in 1889, and an officer-gentlemen of the old school, von Ravenstein served with brilliance and distinction in both world wars. Page to Kaiser Wilhelm II before the outbreak of the First World War, he was one of those rare spirits who won the Pour le Merite for outstanding courage as a subaltern on the western front. In the battle of France in 1940, he led an attack that captured the entire staff of the French Ninth Army. He trained paratroops for the assault on Gibraltar; it was Franco who canceled the project.Tank general in the western desert where he was captured, he wrote in 1942 to General 'Jock' Campbell, who had fought against him at the battle of Sidi Rezegh, to congratulate him upon his VC. When he was torpedoed by his own countrymen as a prisoner of war on the Chakdina, he strove desperately to save an English soldier from drowning. He was a friend of Stauffenberg and Witzleben, conspirators of the Bomb Plot of 20 July against Hitler. Aboard the Pasteur, he was involved in the famous attempt by German prisoners of war to seize the ship.
After the war, he was asked by King Farouk to command the Egyptian army; but declined 'owing to Egypt's unfriendly attitude to Britain.' Instead, he initiated a friendship link between Duisburg and Portsmouth which flourishes to this day. An active Lutheran happily married for forty-four years to a Catholic wife, he died at the age of seventy-three, while making a speech in which he was pleading the cause of ecumenism.
This book, the first biography of von Ravenstein, relates the life of an extraordinary man who combined great courage and leadership in war with a passionate belief in world peace and Christian harmony.
The life of Johann Theodor von Ravenstein is a remarkable mosaic of many different stones. Born of ancient Prussian junker stock in 1889, and an officer-gentlemen of the old school, von Ravenstein served with brilliance and distinction in both world wars. Page to Kaiser Wilhelm II before the outbreak of the First World War, he was one of those rare spirits who won the Pour le Merite for outstanding courage as a subaltern on the western front. In the battle of France in 1940, he led an attack that captured the entire staff of the French Ninth Army. He trained paratroops for the assault on Gibraltar; it was Franco who canceled the project.Tank general in the western desert where he was captured, he wrote in 1942 to General 'Jock' Campbell, who had fought against him at the battle of Sidi Rezegh, to congratulate him upon his VC. When he was torpedoed by his own countrymen as a prisoner of war on the Chakdina, he strove desperately to save an English soldier from drowning. He was a friend of Stauffenberg and Witzleben, conspirators of the Bomb Plot of 20 July against Hitler. Aboard the Pasteur, he was involved in the famous attempt by German prisoners of war to seize the ship.
After the war, he was asked by King Farouk to command the Egyptian army; but declined 'owing to Egypt's unfriendly attitude to Britain.' Instead, he initiated a friendship link between Duisburg and Portsmouth which flourishes to this day. An active Lutheran happily married for forty-four years to a Catholic wife, he died at the age of seventy-three, while making a speech in which he was pleading the cause of ecumenism.
This book, the first biography of von Ravenstein, relates the life of an extraordinary man who combined great courage and leadership in war with a passionate belief in world peace and Christian harmony.
- GenresWorld War IIGermany
214 pages, Hardcover
Published January 1, 1978
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June 28, 2020
Sometimes I think choosing a Second World War German general with acceptable morals is like deciding on the Great American Novel. Is there really a satisfactory answer?
General Johann Theodor von Ravenstein fought with distinction in the First World War, winning the Pour le Mérite in 1918. After that war he served in local government in Duisberg until 1933 when his reluctance to be a part of the Nazi political machine resulted in his dismissal. In 1934 he was welcomed back into the German army with his previous rank of Major – even the Nazis understood that turning down a non-party member Pour le Mérite winner would not be a good idea.
When the Second World War began he first served in the invasion of Poland, where he came into contact with Claus von Stauffenberg – but this was long before the attempted assassination of the Führer. In 1940, Ravenstein was with 6th Panzer Division in the invasion of France and was poised, awaiting the orders of General Guderian to attack the survivors of the British Expeditionary Force at Dunkirk, when the order came from above that Dunkirk was to be left to Luftwaffe. After France Ravenstein had a tour of duty in the east, Romania, Bulgaria and Greece, exercising his military diplomacy. After which he was promoted to Major-General and ordered to join the Afrika Korps as Commander of the 21st Panzer Division.
And that is where he made his mark: as a dashing tank commander under Erwin Rommel. That is, until he became the first German general to be taken prisoner in World War 2, only six months after his arrival in North Africa – his staff car was ambushed by New Zealand troops while on its way to a meeting at Staff HQ. At that point we are less than halfway through the book. The remainder covers his time as a prisoner of war and his post-war career back in Germany.
The author seems determined to present Ravenstein as a “good”, if old fashioned, German officer: a stickler for protocol, full of self-importance, convinced of the superiority of his rank and military position, but not pro-Nazi or anti-Semitic. I can't help but feel that this is rather like a biography of a gifted young actor who dies young, hailed as a genius and celebrated for not having had the time to make misjudgements or produce a rubbish performance. His Second World War was short and the full horrors of Nazism were still shrouded under a blanket of propaganda. If he had followed Rommel out of North Africa what would he have done?
As a prisoner of war he seemed to become a popular, avuncular character, looking after his fellow prisoners – though in Canada a group of SS officers did try to murder him. But in Europe, as an active senior Wehrmacht officer, who knows how he would have reacted to a posting to the Netherlands or Poland to “resolve” the local Jewish problem. In the book there is no mention of Ravenstein's views on the Holocaust or the extermination camps, or Auschwitz, or Dachau, or Treblinka. He expresses plenty of views on army discipline, chivalry, military skill, Lutheran theology, kindness to others – especially children. Perhaps he felt some things were better left unsaid and therefore unknown. After all, you can't be held to account for silence.
I must admit that I am undecided. Was he a military man through and through – always obeying orders? Was he basically a charming, religiously motivated aesthete for whom war was, sadly, the day job and had to be done? Or did he know what was going on in the Fatherland and turned a blind eye to it? I don't think this biography answers many questions.
General Johann Theodor von Ravenstein fought with distinction in the First World War, winning the Pour le Mérite in 1918. After that war he served in local government in Duisberg until 1933 when his reluctance to be a part of the Nazi political machine resulted in his dismissal. In 1934 he was welcomed back into the German army with his previous rank of Major – even the Nazis understood that turning down a non-party member Pour le Mérite winner would not be a good idea.
When the Second World War began he first served in the invasion of Poland, where he came into contact with Claus von Stauffenberg – but this was long before the attempted assassination of the Führer. In 1940, Ravenstein was with 6th Panzer Division in the invasion of France and was poised, awaiting the orders of General Guderian to attack the survivors of the British Expeditionary Force at Dunkirk, when the order came from above that Dunkirk was to be left to Luftwaffe. After France Ravenstein had a tour of duty in the east, Romania, Bulgaria and Greece, exercising his military diplomacy. After which he was promoted to Major-General and ordered to join the Afrika Korps as Commander of the 21st Panzer Division.
And that is where he made his mark: as a dashing tank commander under Erwin Rommel. That is, until he became the first German general to be taken prisoner in World War 2, only six months after his arrival in North Africa – his staff car was ambushed by New Zealand troops while on its way to a meeting at Staff HQ. At that point we are less than halfway through the book. The remainder covers his time as a prisoner of war and his post-war career back in Germany.
The author seems determined to present Ravenstein as a “good”, if old fashioned, German officer: a stickler for protocol, full of self-importance, convinced of the superiority of his rank and military position, but not pro-Nazi or anti-Semitic. I can't help but feel that this is rather like a biography of a gifted young actor who dies young, hailed as a genius and celebrated for not having had the time to make misjudgements or produce a rubbish performance. His Second World War was short and the full horrors of Nazism were still shrouded under a blanket of propaganda. If he had followed Rommel out of North Africa what would he have done?
As a prisoner of war he seemed to become a popular, avuncular character, looking after his fellow prisoners – though in Canada a group of SS officers did try to murder him. But in Europe, as an active senior Wehrmacht officer, who knows how he would have reacted to a posting to the Netherlands or Poland to “resolve” the local Jewish problem. In the book there is no mention of Ravenstein's views on the Holocaust or the extermination camps, or Auschwitz, or Dachau, or Treblinka. He expresses plenty of views on army discipline, chivalry, military skill, Lutheran theology, kindness to others – especially children. Perhaps he felt some things were better left unsaid and therefore unknown. After all, you can't be held to account for silence.
I must admit that I am undecided. Was he a military man through and through – always obeying orders? Was he basically a charming, religiously motivated aesthete for whom war was, sadly, the day job and had to be done? Or did he know what was going on in the Fatherland and turned a blind eye to it? I don't think this biography answers many questions.
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