Bogislaw von Bonin

Bogislaw Oskar Adolf Fürchtegott von Bonin (17 January 1908, Potsdam – 13 August 1980, Lehrte near Hannover) was a German Wehrmacht officer and journalist.

Bogislaw von Bonin
Born17 January 1908
Potsdam, Kingdom of Prussia, German Empire
Died13 August 1980 (1980-08-14) (aged 72)
Lehrte, Lower Saxony, West Germany
Allegiance Weimar Republic
 Nazi Germany
Years of service1926–45
Rank Oberst
Battles/warsWorld War II
AwardsGerman Cross
Other workJournalist

Early life

Bonin was born in Potsdam, Brandenburg, and joined the 4. Reiterregiment (4th Cavalry Regiment) of the German Reichswehr in 1926. From October 1927 to August 1928, he received officer training at the School of Infantry, Dresden, together with Claus von Stauffenberg and Manfred von Brauchitsch,[1] and was promoted to Lieutenant in 1930. In 1937-1938, he attended the War Academy (Kriegsakademie) in Berlin and became a member of the Army High Command in 1938.

World War II
Colonel Bogislaw von Bonin (center) is seen with fellow hostages shortly after their liberation by US forces in South Tyrol on 5 May 1945.

In 1943, he was the chief of staff of the XIV Panzer Corps in Sicily and for a short time Chief of Staff of the LVI Panzer Corps of the 1st Hungarian Army in 1944. He attained the rank of Colonel and became the Chief of the Operational Branch of the Army General Staff (Generalstab des Heeres).

Arrest

On 16 January 1945, Bonin gave Heeresgruppe A permission to retreat from Warsaw during the Soviet Vistula-Oder Offensive, rejecting a direct command from Adolf Hitler for them to hold fast. He was arrested by the Gestapo on 19 January 1945 and imprisoned first at Flossenbürg concentration camp and then Dachau concentration camp.

With several family members (Sippenhäftlingen) of the 20 July plot and other notable prisoners such as Léon Blum, Kurt Schuschnigg, Hjalmar Schacht, Franz Halder and Fritz Thyssen, he was transferred to Tyrol, but the transfer ended up delivering them to Niederdorf in South Tyrol.

Upon hearing that an old friend of his, Generaloberst Heinrich von Vietinghoff, was in command of Army Group C with headquarters in Bolzano, Bonin attempted to contact him in order to ask him to safeguard the prisoners, making the identity of the high-status prisoners known as well as the fear that they were to be executed before liberation by US troops. Not getting hold of von Vietinghoff, he instead spoke to his chief of staff General Hans Röttiger, whom he also knew, who promised to get hold of von Vietinghoff for him.

A message was sent to Wehrmacht troops in Sexten, 17 km east of Niederdorf, resulting in the arrival next day of Captain Wichard von Alvensleben together with 15 soldiers. Thus, on 30 April, against the background of advancing US troops and Alvensleben's unit, which had now surrounded the village, the SS guards decided to escape in one bus and one lorry. The freed prisoners were then accommodated at the Pragser Wildsee Hotel until advance units from the 42nd Infantry Division and the 45th Infantry Division reached Niederdorf, on 5 May 1945.[2]

Post World War II

Bonin became a prisoner of war and started working as a freight forwarder in 1947, but later on for Daimler Benz. In 1952, he joined the "Amt Blank" (Bureau Blank, named after its director Theodor Blank), the predecessor of the later Federal Ministry of Defence, as the head of the subdivision "military planning", to map out a strategy for the German contribution to the European Defence Community. However, he came into conflict with the Adenauer government, as he favoured a more neutral or independent German policy. In 1955, before the German Bundeswehr was established, Bonin was released and became a journalist.

Bonin died in Lehrte.

Awards

References
  1. Peter Hoffmann: "Claus Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg", München 2007, ISBN 978-3-570-55046-5
  2. B.A James, Moonless Night, Page 184-187
  3. Patzwall & Scherzer 2001, p. 51.
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