Erich von Manstein

Erich von Manstein

Born on 24 November 1887 in Berlin, died on 10 June 1973 in Irschenhausen

In the history of the Second World War, few commanders embody such a sharp contrast as Erich von Manstein. On the one hand, he was a military mind of the highest calibre – the man who designed the plan for the conquest of France and whom Hitler himself called “his most capable general”. On the other hand, he was a convicted war criminal whose units took part in mass murders on the Eastern Front. These two truths do not exclude each other – they coexist, and this is precisely what makes Manstein such an uncomfortable figure in history.

After the war, Manstein became one of the main architects of the myth of the “clean Wehrmacht” – the false belief that the German army fought honourably and bore no responsibility for the crimes of Nazism. His life was also closely connected with Hitler’s headquarters in Masuria, which he visited many times at key moments of the war in the east. To understand who Erich von Manstein really was, one must look both at his brilliant campaigns and at the orders he signed.

Origins and early career of von Manstein

Erich von Manstein was born on 24 November 1887 in Berlin as Fritz Erich Georg Eduard von Lewinski. He came from a Prussian aristocratic family with deep military traditions – his biological father, Eduard von Lewinski, was an artillery general. Erich was the tenth child in the family. Shortly after his birth, he was given to his childless uncle and aunt – the von Manstein family – and took their surname. In any case, almost his entire family, both biological and adoptive, consisted of Prussian officers.

Young Erich von Manstein during the First World War

With such a background, Manstein’s path in life was almost predetermined. He joined the army, graduated from the elite Military Academy and served as a staff officer during the First World War, gaining experience on both the Western and Eastern Fronts. After Germany’s defeat, he remained in the reduced Reichswehr of the Weimar Republic, where he slowly but steadily climbed the hierarchy. It was during this period that his talent for large-scale operational thinking developed – a skill that, a dozen or so years later, would make him one of the most dangerous commanders of the war.

The Manstein Plan – Sichelschnitt and the defeat of France in 1940

Manstein’s most famous work was the plan for the 1940 French campaign, known as Sichelschnitt – “sickle cut”. The original German plan for the attack in the west assumed the main strike through Belgium – exactly where the Allies expected it. Manstein considered this plan predictable and lacking ambition. He proposed something far bolder: the main armoured thrust was to pass through the difficult, forested Ardennes massif, an area the Allies believed to be impassable for tanks.

The concept assumed that when the Allies sent their best forces into Belgium to stop the diversionary attack, the main mass of German armoured divisions would break through the Ardennes near Sedan and make a rapid advance towards the English Channel coast. This would allow the entire Allied grouping in Belgium to be cut off and encircled. Manstein’s plan initially met with resistance from the conservative Army High Command (OKH), which even removed him from the centre of planning by transferring him to command a corps.

Erich von Manstein

Hitler, who was looking for innovative ways to wage war, personally approved a modified version of Manstein’s ideas. The result is well known: in May and June 1940, France, considered to have the strongest land army in Europe, was defeated in less than six weeks. This stunning success cemented Manstein’s reputation as a brilliant strategist and became one of the events that forever changed the face of wartime Europe.

The Eastern Front – Barbarossa, Crimea and the capture of Sevastopol

In February 1941, Manstein took command of the newly formed 56th Panzer Corps. When Operation Barbarossa – Germany’s attack on the Soviet Union – began in June 1941, Manstein’s corps made a rapid advance, covering around 160 kilometres into enemy territory during the first two days of the operation. It was one of the fastest advances of the entire campaign.

In September 1941, Manstein was given command of the 11th Army and the task of conquering Crimea. He conducted the Crimean campaign with operational mastery, culminating in the capture of the heavily fortified port of Sevastopol on 1 July 1942. During the entire Crimean campaign, more than 430,000 Soviet soldiers were taken prisoner. For this achievement, Hitler promoted Manstein to field marshal – the highest rank in the German army.

Stalingrad and the counterattack at Kharkov in 1943

After the disaster at Stalingrad in the winter of 1942/1943, the German situation on the southern part of the Eastern Front was close to complete collapse. It was then that Manstein carried out what military historians regard as his greatest masterpiece – the counterattack at Kharkov in February and March 1943. Instead of rigidly defending every piece of ground, Manstein deliberately allowed the advancing Soviet forces to stretch their supply lines, then struck at their exposed flank.

Erich von Manstein on the Eastern Front

The counterattack recaptured Kharkov and stabilised the entire southern front, inflicting heavy losses on the Red Army. This operation, sometimes called the “Miracle on the Don”, is still analysed in military academies as a model example of mobile defence. Earlier, in December 1942, Manstein had also commanded Operation “Winter Storm” – the unsuccessful attempt to relieve General Friedrich Paulus’s encircled 6th Army at Stalingrad.

Kursk, retreat and conflict with Hitler

In the summer of 1943, Manstein co-commanded the German offensive at Kursk (Operation Citadel) – the largest tank battle in history. The offensive ended in failure, and the strategic initiative on the Eastern Front finally passed to the Soviet Union. From that moment on, Manstein conducted a series of skilful but hopeless delaying actions, retreating before the pressure of the Red Army through Ukraine.

During this period, the conflict between Manstein and Hitler grew increasingly bitter. Manstein demanded operational freedom and flexible defence, while Hitler obsessively ordered his commanders to “hold on and never retreat”. The field marshal considered himself indispensable and believed that the former corporal would not manage without him and would eventually entrust him with supreme command in the east. Hitler, who disliked officers of aristocratic origin, reportedly said of him: “This man is not to my taste.” The conflict ended with Manstein’s dismissal in March 1944. Until the end of the war, the field marshal remained without an assignment.

Manstein and the Wolf’s Lair – visits to Hitler’s headquarters

Erich von Manstein was among the commanders who most often visited the Wolf’s Lair – Hitler’s headquarters in Gierłoż in Masuria. As commander-in-chief of the key southern section of the Eastern Front, he regularly came to the Masurian fortress to receive orders, present the operational situation and argue ever more fiercely with Hitler about strategy.

Erich von Manstein meets Adolf Hitler at the Wolf’s Lair – 1942

One of the first documented visits took place in April 1942, when Manstein arrived at the Wolf’s Lair to receive directives for the 1942 campaign. On this occasion, Hitler – unusually – granted his commander considerable freedom of action, accepting his plan for the offensive in Crimea (Operation “Bustard Hunt”). Meetings at the command headquarters in Gierłoż were where the most important decisions concerning the course of the war in the east were made.

Manstein’s most ceremonial visit to the Wolf’s Lair took place on 11 July 1942. Hitler received the commander of the 11th Army to hear his report on the Battle of Sevastopol and personally congratulate him on his promotion to field marshal. A photograph of this meeting has survived, showing Hitler greeting Manstein at the headquarters. These were the days of the field marshal’s greatest triumph – the Crimean success was on everyone’s lips throughout the Reich.

Another key visit took place on 6 February 1943, shortly before the famous counterattack at Kharkov. The meeting at the Wolf’s Lair, followed by a meeting in Zaporizhzhia, was critical for developing the plan to restore the collapsing southern front. On 28 December 1943, Manstein also took part in a military briefing at the Masurian headquarters, during which he obtained Hitler’s personal consent to move his staff from the Ukrainian Werwolf headquarters farther west in the face of the Soviet advance.

Erich von Manstein at a meeting with Hitler and other generals, March 1943

It is worth noting that Manstein also attracted the attention of conspirators from the resistance movement. In 1943, Henning von Tresckow – one of the leading conspirators and previously a trusted staff officer of Manstein – unsuccessfully tried to persuade the field marshal to support a coup. Manstein refused to take part in the conspiracy, which culminated in the attempt on Hitler’s life on 20 July 1944 at the Wolf’s Lair. His famous reply was: “Prussian field marshals do not mutiny.”

War crimes – the dark side of the field marshal

Behind the façade of a brilliant strategist, however, lies a much darker reality. Manstein was complicit in crimes committed on the Eastern Front, and the evidence in this matter is not ambiguous. In November 1941, as commander of the 11th Army, he issued a notorious order of the day in which he openly supported the persecution of Jews, calling them “spiritual bearers of Bolshevik terror”. It was a document with an explicitly genocidal meaning.

Manstein’s criminal responsibility was not limited to words. Units under his command provided logistics and protection for the Einsatzgruppen – Nazi death squads that carried out mass executions of Jews and other civilians. Manstein also implemented the criminal “Commissar Order”, which ordered the shooting of captured Soviet political officers, while the “anti-partisan operations” carried out by his troops were in fact massacres of civilians. The German Federal Archives contain extensive documentation confirming his knowledge and involvement.

It is these facts that distinguish Manstein from commanders such as Rommel, whose campaigns were relatively free from such crimes. Manstein operated on the Eastern Front – at the very heart of the Nazi war of annihilation, where the Wehrmacht was deeply involved in genocide. The myth of the “clean” general fighting only on the battlefield collapses when confronted with the content of his own orders.

The Hamburg trial and the myth of the “clean Wehrmacht”

In May 1945, Manstein was taken prisoner by the British. In August 1946, he testified as a defence witness during the Nuremberg trials, defending the German General Staff and the Wehrmacht High Command. He prepared a memorandum at that time which – together with his later memoirs – became one of the foundations of the myth of the “clean Wehrmacht”, the false belief that the German army bore no blame for the crimes of the Holocaust.

Under pressure from the Soviet Union, the British government decided in 1948 to bring Manstein to trial. The trial took place in Hamburg from 23 August to 19 December 1949. Manstein faced seventeen charges – three concerning events in Poland and fourteen relating to crimes in the Soviet Union, including allowing the killing, deportation and mistreatment of Jews and other civilians, as well as the mistreatment of prisoners of war.

On 19 December 1949, the court found Manstein guilty on nine of the seventeen charges – including failing to protect civilians, using scorched-earth tactics and allowing murders to take place. He was sentenced to eighteen years in prison. The verdict caused outrage among his supporters and was soon reduced to twelve years. Ultimately, Manstein served less than four years and was released in 1953.

Erich von Manstein during the trial at the Curiohaus in Hamburg. He was imprisoned as a war criminal but released in 1953.

After his release, Manstein became a military adviser to the West German government and helped rebuild the Bundeswehr and integrate it into NATO structures. In 1955, he published his memoirs Lost Victories (Verlorene Siege) – militarily detailed and analytical, but morally distorted. The book criticised Hitler’s leadership but remained completely silent about the Holocaust, war crimes and his own conviction. Manstein died on 10 June 1973 at the age of 85, never expressing remorse for the crimes of the Wehrmacht.

Historical assessment – operational genius and moral failure

Today, Manstein is judged through the lens of the inseparable tension between his talent and his crimes. From a purely military point of view, he was probably the best operational strategist produced by the Third Reich. British military historian Basil Liddell Hart called him an “operational genius”, and many Western commanders admired his campaigns. The Sichelschnitt plan and the counterattack at Kharkov are still studied in military academies around the world.

Was Manstein a war criminal? The answer is unequivocal: yes – not as an assumption, but as the result of a final court verdict. Unlike Rommel, who was never tried, Manstein was formally convicted of war crimes by a British tribunal. His involvement in the Holocaust is documented in his own orders and in archival records. This distinction is of fundamental importance.

The grave of Erich von Manstein – Dorfmark, Bad Fallingbostel – source: tracesofwar.com

The most difficult lesson of Manstein’s biography is that tactical genius and moral crime can coexist in one person. Studying his campaigns without acknowledging his crimes is a form of dishonesty. The field marshal is one of the key figures in the debate over the myth of the “clean Wehrmacht” – a myth which, thanks to people like Manstein, falsified post-war memory of the role of the German army in Nazi crimes for decades.

Summary – the two faces of the field marshal

Erich von Manstein remains one of the most troubling figures in the history of the Second World War. His name appears in textbooks of military strategy, while at the same time it appears on the list of convicted war criminals. He was the architect of the Wehrmacht’s greatest victories and an accomplice to its darkest crimes. These two roles cannot be separated.

His fate was intertwined with the history of Hitler’s headquarters at the Wolf’s Lair, which he visited at moments of his greatest triumphs – after the capture of Sevastopol and before the counterattack at Kharkov. For visitors to the ruins of the Masurian fortress, Manstein’s story is a reminder that behind brilliant operational plans stood orders that sent hundreds of thousands of people to their deaths.

To better understand the context of these events, it is worth consulting the bibliography and glossary available on the website, as well as learning about other commanders and figures who visited the Wolf’s Lair. Manstein’s story shows that judging people of this era requires looking at the whole picture – both their achievements and their crimes.

FAQ – Frequently asked questions about Erich von Manstein

Who was Erich von Manstein?

Erich von Manstein (1887–1973) was a German field marshal of the Second World War, regarded as the most capable strategist of the Wehrmacht. He created the plan for the 1940 French campaign (Sichelschnitt), captured Sevastopol and carried out the counterattack at Kharkov. After the war, he was convicted of war crimes.

What was the Manstein Plan (Sichelschnitt)?

The Manstein Plan, officially known as Sichelschnitt (“sickle cut”), was the strategy for the invasion of France in 1940. It assumed directing the main armoured thrust through the forested Ardennes massif, which the Allies considered impassable for tanks, with a breakthrough near Sedan. The Allies were deceived by a diversionary attack in Belgium, which allowed the Germans to cut off their best forces and defeat France in six weeks.

Did Erich von Manstein visit the Wolf’s Lair?

Yes, many times. As commander-in-chief on the Eastern Front, Manstein regularly visited the Wolf’s Lair. Documented visits include April 1942 (directives for the campaign), 11 July 1942 (Hitler’s congratulations for the capture of Sevastopol and promotion to field marshal), 6 February 1943 (before the counterattack at Kharkov) and 28 December 1943 (a military briefing).

Was Erich von Manstein a war criminal?

Yes. In 1949, a British military tribunal in Hamburg found Manstein guilty on nine of seventeen charges of war crimes. In November 1941, he issued an order supporting the persecution of Jews, units under his command cooperated with the Einsatzgruppen, and his troops implemented the Commissar Order and carried out massacres of civilians under the guise of anti-partisan operations.

What sentence did Manstein receive and how long did he serve?

Manstein was sentenced on 19 December 1949 to eighteen years in prison. The sentence was later reduced to twelve years. Ultimately, the field marshal served less than four years and was released in 1953, after which he became a military adviser to the West German government.

What was the myth of the “clean Wehrmacht” and what role did Manstein play in it?

The myth of the “clean Wehrmacht” was the false belief that the German army fought honourably and bore no responsibility for the crimes of Nazism. Manstein was one of the main architects of this myth – his testimony at Nuremberg and his memoirs Lost Victories (1955) remained silent about the Holocaust and war crimes, presenting the war solely from a military perspective.

Why did Manstein come into conflict with Hitler?

Manstein demanded operational freedom and flexible mobile defence, while Hitler obsessively ordered every position to be held and forbade retreats. Manstein considered himself an indispensable strategist. Hitler, who distrusted officers of aristocratic background, eventually dismissed him in March 1944.

Did Manstein take part in the conspiracy against Hitler?

No. In 1943, the conspirator Henning von Tresckow, a former staff officer of Manstein, unsuccessfully tried to persuade the field marshal to support a coup. Manstein refused, famously stating that “Prussian field marshals do not mutiny”. He did not take part in the attempt on Hitler’s life on 20 July 1944.

What was Manstein’s most famous victory on the Eastern Front?

Manstein’s greatest masterpiece is considered to be the counterattack at Kharkov in February and March 1943, sometimes called the “Miracle on the Don”. After the Stalingrad disaster, Manstein deliberately allowed the advancing Soviet troops to stretch their supply lines, then struck their flank, recapturing Kharkov and stabilising the southern front. The operation is still studied today as a model of mobile defence.

How did Manstein capture Sevastopol?

Manstein, as commander of the 11th Army, led the Crimean campaign from 1941. After a long siege, he captured the heavily fortified port of Sevastopol on 1 July 1942. During the entire Crimean campaign, more than 430,000 Soviet soldiers were taken prisoner. For this achievement, Hitler promoted him to field marshal.

Sources and literature

• Wikipedia – Erich von Manstein (biography, career, crimes and verdict)
• Wikipedia – Trial of Erich von Manstein (details of the Hamburg trial, 1949)
• OSU eHistory (The Ohio State University) – Erich von Manstein (career and trial)
• World War II Database – Erich von Manstein (campaigns and the Sichelschnitt plan)
• Hitler Archive – Führerhauptquartier Wolfsschanze (chronology of visits to the headquarters, including Manstein on 11 July 1942)