Years of service 1904–45 Name Johann Pflugbeil | Rank Generalleutnant Service/branch German Army | |
Allegiance German Empire (to 1918)
Weimar Republic (to 1933)
Nazi Germany Battles/wars World War I
World War II
Invasion of Poland
Battle of the Bzura
Operation Barbarossa
Battle of Bialystok–Minsk
Siege of Leningrad
Courland Pocket Relations Kurt Pflugbeil (brother) Died October 21, 1951, Stuttgart, Germany Awards Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross Commands held 221e division d'infanterie Battles and wars World War I, Invasion of Poland | ||
Johann Pflugbeil (24 August 1882 – 21 October 1951) was a highly decorated Generalleutnant in the Wehrmacht during World War II. He was also a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross. The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross was awarded to recognise extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership.
On June 27, 1941, the 221 Security division held the city of Bialystok (Poland). That day, the 309 Police battalion started a pogrom on the Jewish community : Jews were arrested, beaten, beards were cut, people were shot... The Jewish community chiefs went to see general Pflugbeil, and asked him to stop that pogrom. They were in his office, on their knees to implore him. A policeman of the 309th Police Battalion urinated on them; the general offered his back, to see elsewhere. After that "meeting", the pogrom became slaughter and massacre : the Jews on the market place were shot in front on a wall, until the night; the synagogue, where 700 Jews were piled up, was set on fire with petrol and grenades. The Jews who tried to escape were shot. On June 28, general Pflugbeil asked Major Weis (309 Police battalion) the cause of the fire. Weis made a false report on the causes.