Hermann Goth is a German military leader who became famous thanks to French victories and battles on the Eastern Front. He was born in 1885 near Neuruppin. As soon as he turned 19, he threw himself into the military. The achievements of Herman Goth are amazing: it took him only a year to receive a lieutenant's rank.
During the First World War, he distinguished himself with his bravery and knowledge, which led to the continuation of his Reichswehr career.
Biography
With the seizure of power by Hitler Goth, a German general of the old, strict school, moved up the career ladder even faster. Already in 1934, Hitler's decree granted him the rank of major general. Two years later - the rank of lieutenant general. Since 1938, he became the tank commander of an entire corps. In 1939, his units became part of von Reichenau's Army Group South.
Already tank general Goth took part in the capture of Poland, breaking through the positions of the Poles and surrounding their army groups "Prussians" and "Krakow". After that, he set off to the north, enteringPolish capital. During the celebration of the capture of Poland, he was awarded the Knight's Cross for his qualities.
French Campaign
General Goth, together with his corps, went to the western borders to participate in the conquest of France as part of the "A" group. It was on this group of armies that the most important task was entrusted - to break through the border defenses of Belgium. General Hermann Goth was behind the Fourth Field Army. This group was commanded by von Kluge. In May 1940, the Goth unit crushed the Belgian cavalry and the Ardennes rangers, reaching the banks of the Meuse River. Having hit, together with Kleist's unit, the French army in the south of the Somme, he breaks through their defenses. This unleashed the hands of the rest of the German units. Despite the fact that the French actively resisted, already in early June Goth pursued them.
Then the French 10th Army capitulated. He pursued the rest of the retreating all the way to Brittany. General Goth divided his group in half, sending the first part to Rommel's tank unit, and the second to Brest. After the capture of the Loire and Rouen by the end of June, he was awarded the rank of Colonel General.
Prussian Campaign
In the spring of 1941, Gotha's troops moved to East Prussia. They became part of the "Center" grouping, having received the name of the third tank group. Hoth led four armored and three motorized divisions. His technique was perfect by the standards of that time. The fighters were hardened, they went through an excellent school of war during the capture of France. All of themtactics, including the famous wedges, have been worked out.
The beginning of the campaign against the USSR
The tank operations of General Hoth also took place on the territory of the Soviet Union. At the beginning of this campaign, his main goal was to invade the territory of the state, destroying the enemy forces near Bialystok, and move towards Vitebsk.
The borders of the USSR he crossed on June 22 in 1941, hitting the Suwalki ledge. He quickly captures the bridges across the Neman River, rushing further into the heart of the country. Due to the fact that General Goth takes enemy troops by surprise, it is possible to defeat the enemy especially quickly. Just a couple of days later, the capture of Minsk took place, where he met with the corps of Guderian.
The tank corps met with especially fierce resistance from the Soviet troops, so his army suffered losses while moving towards Vitebsk.
The Capture of Smolensk
Soon, Gotha's tank units became part of the 4th Panzer Army. This group of troops was commanded by Gunther von Kluge. After a call to the leadership of Goth, a combat mission was set: a breakthrough in the defense of Smolensk. This would ensure freedom of movement for the entire fourth army towards Nevel.
Taking Vitebsk together with the fourth tank unit, General Goth bypassed Smolensk in a northerly direction. But in July, in the Velikiye Luki region, the Red Army prepared a counterattack against tanks. Then the German commanders ordered to go around the Velikiye Luki region, passing from the west and taking Toropets. There the Soviet troops were broken. By July 15, Smolensk was captured. NearYelny and Dorogobuzh units of the Germans united even though the Soviet troops stubbornly resisted. Thanks to the successful unification, Smolensk was completely surrounded.
After this victory, the Knight's Cross of Goth was supplemented with oak leaves. When trying to take the city, he commanded infantry troops that held back the enemy, who was trying to break through the encirclement. Then Goth was able to find time to complete his army and let him rest.
Moscow campaign
By the end of July, Goth with his tanks became part of the "North" grouping. He was supposed to capture the Valdai Hills, covering the troops on the flanks. The prospects for Goth's army to capture Moscow after passing all the way along the Volga have already been outlined.
Nevertheless, General Goth, according to the received order, headed for the northern front, going to Leningrad, exchanging places with the troops of Reinhard. None of the military leaders understood the reasons for such a replacement. Bewilderment grew among the military leaders about the ambiguous orders of the Hitler headquarters.
He carries out the order to gather the Red Army groups near Vyazma into a ring. With the stubborn resistance of the Soviet fighters, he connects with other tank groups - the tenth and seventh. Thanks to this, five groups of the Red Army were surrounded, the road to Moscow was opened. Army Group Center set off there.
The period after Moscow
Goth is a general of the Wehrmacht who actually did not participate in the battles for Moscow. He took a position at Vyazma and Kalinin. He and his group became part offormation "South". Launched an offensive against Voroshilovgrad together with von Kleist's first tank unit.
In January 1942, Goth's troops were attacked by soldiers of the 37th Army of the Red Army. This led to the retreat of the Germans to the Northern Donets. However, the tanks of General von Mackensen came to his aid, thanks to which the attackers were stopped. As a result of this struggle, a ledge appeared on the front of the “South” formation, convenient for the Soviet troops. They could at any time begin to attack in order to liberate Kharkov and Kyiv. All the forces of the Germans were sent to repel the counterattack of the Red Army, the ledge was eliminated, and the formation "South" itself was divided in half.
Voronezh
In 1942, the June offensive of Gotha units began. Their main goal was to capture Voronezh. The Bryansk front of the Soviet army at that time carried out constant counteroffensives. However, Goth inflicted a complete defeat on Golikov's troops and entered Voronezh. The tank operations of General Goth of the Wehrmacht went down in history. He was a talented military leader, he knew how to make the right decisions. In this operation, Gotha's tanks covered 200 km in just ten days. This was a real success for the German troops. The victory was ensured by the precise execution of orders, brilliantly organized intelligence, and well-coordinated work of all troops. At the same time, Goth was constantly present at the forefront in order to make decisions as quickly as possible.
The next target after Voronezh was Rostov, taken on July 3rd. One of the German commanders, von Kleist, later said that if Goth had attacked Stalingrad instead of Rostov, it would have been taken in the summer of 1942.
Stalingrad
Only after the capture of Rostov, the Gota grouping, which suffered losses, meeting heavy resistance, broke through to Stalingrad. There was a large concentration of Soviet forces to stop the movement of enemy armies. German troops managed to break through the ring of the Red Army in September 1942
However, during the subsequent counterattack of the Red Army, the Germans were driven out of Stalingrad. The situation was difficult for Herman. However, Goth's skilful actions prevented a hole from being created between A Formation, Don Formation, and the Sixth Field Army. While the Soviet forces were thrown into their division.
However, at that time, the sixth army of the Germans was defeated, actually dying from cold and hunger. In this regard, Goth participated in the "Winter Thunderstorm", an operation to rescue her. In its course, it was necessary to break through and destroy the Soviet troops of the internal front in the south and west of the city. The task was entrusted to Herman's forces.
However, the Red Army destroyed the sixth army of Paulus. Goth, while trying to save the 6th Army, was stopped by Malinovsky, a Soviet commander. After that, Goth was recalled from his positions and sent to the defense of Rostov.
1943
During the turning point in the fight against the USSR, Goth constantly participated in battles with units of the Red Army, leaving and again taking up positions. This year was marked by the Battle of Kursk. It was an operation in which the best forces of the Germans were pulled together. They were all distributed over a small area of about 40 km and opposed the front of Vatutin, who commanded the Voronezhfront. Gotha's troops were reinforced by the Ferdinand self-propelled gun unit. They were able to penetrate Soviet T-34s.
In January of the same year, the troops under the command of Herman carried out counterattacks against the Soviet troops, after the German units were reinforced by the "Tigers", which numbered three battalions. They managed to take Kharkov again, and the plans were to destroy the Kursk salient. However, later the German commanders were forced to forget about such plans, as the leadership of the Center group announced the impossibility of their participation in such large-scale hostilities.
From the first moment of the battle, the German troops entered the positions of the Soviet troops in a wedge for a dozen kilometers. Anticipating Goth's decision to cross Berezovaya, on the eve of his offensive, the Red Army transferred its forces to the banks of this river. They met the Germans with a furious attack, shooting the fighters. Then Goth was assisted by the German aviation forces. Having lost a significant part of their forces, Goth's troops managed to organize their crossing and move on, breaking through the following enemy positions. Having reached the last line of defense of the Soviet command, Goth pulled all the tanks into one striking force. However, only two of the three German groups broke through the defenses, reaching the village of Prokhorovka.
German units lost 300 tanks - about half of the available vehicles. After losing all his strength in battle, Goth was not able to reverse the resulting balance of power. He lost in those days the largest tank battle in the entire Second World War.
Consequences
K 15On July, the weakened Goth finished advancing, withdrawing units to their original position. Then the Red Army launched the operation "Commander Rumyantsev", during which the Germans were ousted. Wedged into the troops of Herman, they opened the way for their troops to Kharkov, for which the German forces entered the battle. However, they lost and were forced to leave the city.
Nevertheless, General Goth continued to receive awards. He was awarded swords to the Knight's Cross. Tank units were ordered to retreat to the Dnieper. Goth took up defense near Kyiv. The Red Army began to advance on the city in October. The remnants of the once powerful army fought off the troops of the Ukrainian Front, but could not do anything. The city was surrendered to the Soviet command.
Following Destiny
Later Goth shared the fate of most commanders on the losing side. He was stripped of his post by Hitler. Goth was retired and replaced by Routh. However, in 1945, in need of more force, Hitler appointed Hoth as commander in charge of the defense of the Ore Mountains. It was not long before the complete defeat of Germany, soon the general surrendered to the Americans and was taken prisoner.
Nuremberg trials
Goth, a German general, like many of his colleagues, ended up on trial in the Nuremberg trials. Like everyone involved in this case in 1948, he until the last pleaded not guilty to his deed. The court session issued a different decision. Some of the defendants in this case committed suicide, some were acquitted, and the thirdcategory received terms of imprisonment. As a war criminal, he received fifteen years in prison. Wehrmacht General Goth spent much less time in prison. He was released by 1954.
Already being at large, he wrote many books of memoirs. The biography of the German General Goth was of great value for history, so his memoirs were published and translated into many languages. He analyzed the activities of the German command, ongoing operations. His best book "Tank Operations" contains invaluable information about the terrible war in which the Soviet Union won.
Goth died in January 1971 in Saxony, in a small settlement.
Having received many awards in his life, before his death he was deprived of all of them, as well as all honors.
