Rudolf Schmidt

Rudolf Schmidt (1886-1957) was a general in the Wehrmacht of Nazi Germany during World War II who commanded the 2nd Panzer Army on the Eastern Front. He was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves.

On February 1, 1940, he was appointed commanding general of the XXXIX Panzer Corps. He led the Corps in France and was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross for his role in that campaign on June 3, 1940. He was promoted to General der Panzertruppe and appointed acting commander of the 2nd Army which took part in the Battle of Moscow. On December 25, 1941, he was appointed Commander of the 2nd Panzer Army.

In January 1942, Schmidt was promoted to Generaloberst. On April 10, 1943, he was relieved of his command after the Gestapo arrested his brother for spying for the French and found letters that Schmidt had written in which he was highly critical of Hitler’s conduct of the war and the Nazi Party. He appeared before a court martial but was acquitted and transferred to the leadership reserve on September 30, 1943. He was never re-employed.

His brother Hans-Thilo Schmidt sold details of the Enigma machine and other sensitive military information to the French Deuxieme Bureau from 1931 until the German invasion of France in 1940.

On December 16, 1947, Schmidt was arrested by Soviet forces on his way to his home in Weimar. Taken to Moscow, he was initially imprisoned at the Vladimir Central Prison and Butyrka prison. In 1952, he was sentenced to 25 years by a military tribunal. Schmidt was among the last prisoners to be released (1955). He died in 1957.

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