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On August 8, 1944, an old, frail man was dragged before a Nazi court, barely able to stand. His uniform was torn, his belt and suspenders removed so he would appear weak and humiliated. This man was Field Marshal Erwin von Witzleben, once one of Germany’s highest-ranking generals—now condemned as a traitor. Hours later, he was executed in one of the most sadistic and degrading deaths of World War II, ordered by Adolf Hitler himself.
Witzleben had once been a loyal soldier of Germany, rising to prominence in the Wehrmacht long before Hitler’s rise to power. A veteran of World War I, he was highly respected among the German officer corps. When Hitler took control, Witzleben initially followed orders, leading troops during the invasion of France in 1940. But unlike many other generals, he saw through Hitler’s reckless ambitions. He realized that the Nazi leader was dragging Germany into unavoidable destruction, and by 1941, he had joined the underground resistance plotting to overthrow the dictator.
Witzleben became one of the key figures in the July 20 Plot, the daring assassination attempt led by Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg. The plan was simple but deadly: plant a bomb inside Hitler’s Wolf’s Lair headquarters, kill the Führer, then seize control of the government. Witzleben, one of the highest-ranking officers involved, was set to become the new Commander-in-Chief of the Wehrmacht once Hitler was dead.
But fate had other plans. The bomb detonated, but Hitler survived. The plot unraveled within hours. Stauffenberg and his closest conspirators were arrested and shot that very night. Witzleben, though, was captured later, and Hitler wanted him to suffer.
The Nazi leader, furious at the betrayal from within his own ranks, demanded that Witzleben and other conspirators be publicly humiliated before their deaths. On August 7, 1944, Witzleben was brought before the notorious People’s Court, presided over by Hitler’s fanatical judge, Roland Freisler. The trial was nothing more than a show trial, filled with screaming, insults, and mockery. Witzleben, despite his weakened state, still defiantly condemned the Nazi regime, telling the court that they would soon face justice.
His words sealed his fate.
The next day, August 8, he was taken to Plötzensee Prison in Berlin. But Hitler didn’t want a simple execution—he wanted to send a message. Instead of a firing squad, the traditional method for high-ranking officers, Witzleben was hanged with a thin piano wire, a slow and agonizing death. To make it even worse, the execution was filmed on Hitler’s orders so it could be shown to Nazi officials as a warning against betrayal.
Field Marshal Erwin von Witzleben died gasping for air, strangled by wire, his body left to twitch in agony—a brutal and undignified end for a man who had once been among Germany’s most respected military leaders.
But in the end, Witzleben’s prophecy came true. Less than a year later, Hitler was dead, the Nazi regime had collapsed, and the war was over. Today, Witzleben is remembered not as a traitor, but as a soldier who tried to save Germany from Hitler’s madness—and paid the ultimate price.