Franz Halder (30 June 1884 – 2 April 1972) was a German general and the chief of the Oberkommando des Heeres staff (OKH, Army High Command) from 1938 until September 1942, when he was dismissed after frequent disagreements with Adolf Hitler. Until December 1941 Halder's military position corresponded to the old Chief of the General Staff position, which during World War I had been the highest military office in the German Imperial Army. Halder's diary during his time as chief of OKH General Staff has been a source for authors that have written about such subjects as Hitler, World War II and the Nazi Party. In William Shirer's The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich, Halder's diary is cited hundreds of times.On 23 July 1944, following the failed 20 July assassination attempt on Hitler's life by German Army officers, Halder was arrested by the Gestapo. Although he was not involved in the 20 July plot, intense interrogations of the conspirators revealed that Halder had been involved in earlier conspiracies against Hitler. Halder was imprisoned at both the Flossenbürg and Dachau concentration camps. Halder's wife Gertrud chose to, and was allowed to, accompany her husband into imprisonment. On 31 January 1945, Halder was officially dismissed from the army. His service to Germany during Hitler's reign was plagued by complexity and personal misgivings but his professed role in possible intrigue during his tenure as the Chief of Staff and his survival make for a remarkable story, especially when one considers the plight of others who fell into disfavor or mistrust with Hitler. As one historian remarked when comparing his fate to that of many of his comrades among the General Staff, Halder was indeed "fortunate."In the last days of April 1945, together with some members of the families of those involved with the 20 July plot and other 'special' prisoners, he was transferred to the South Tyrol, where the entire group of nearly 140 prisoners was liberated from their SS guards by members of the Heer, and then turned over to US troops on 4 May after the SS guards fled.Halder spent the next two years in an Allied prisoner of war camp. He was a prosecution witness in high command trial. later he served uS army in writing German war history from 1947 to 1961 for which he was awarded high civilian award.
I am a retired colonel from army and for the last 28 years pursuing career in Engineering education. I am a graduate in Mechanical Engineering and Post graduate in Machine design from Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore. I have obtained Ph D Degree in Mechanical Engineering from Dr Ram manohar Lohia Avadh University. I am also the recipient of Ph D degrees in Strategic studies, Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Religious studies and political Science from other Universities. I have also written and published four books on political Science, education and English poetry. I have published 38 Technical papers in various journals and seminar proceedings. I have also published 950 research articles on line in faithcommons.org and Sanghparivar.org. There are 15 English short stories to my credit. I have published 82 articles on various subjects like strategic studies, history and political science in new Swatantra times published from Hyderavbad. As a professor I guided more than 95 projects at degree level and thirty at PG level. Some candidates are pursuing research under my guidance.I am recipient of Three national awards.
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Franz Halder (30 June 1884 – 2 April 1972) was a German general and the chief of the Oberkommando des Heeres staff (OKH, Army High Command) from 1938 until September 1942, when he was dismissed after frequent disagreements with Adolf Hitler. Until December 1941 Halder's military position corresponded to the old Chief of the General Staff position, which during World War I had been the highest military office in the German Imperial Army. Halder's diary during his time as chief of OKH General Staff has been a source for authors that have written about such subjects as Hitler, World War II and the Nazi Party. In William Shirer's The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich, Halder's diary is cited hundreds of times.On 23 July 1944, following the failed 20 July assassination attempt on Hitler's life by German Army officers, Halder was arrested by the Gestapo. Although he was not involved in the 20 July plot, intense interrogations of the conspirators revealed that Halder had been involved in earlier conspiracies against Hitler. Halder was imprisoned at both the Flossenbürg and Dachau concentration camps. Halder's wife Gertrud chose to, and was allowed to, accompany her husband into imprisonment. On 31 January 1945, Halder was officially dismissed from the army. His service to Germany during Hitler's reign was plagued by complexity and personal misgivings but his professed role in possible intrigue during his tenure as the Chief of Staff and his survival make for a remarkable story, especially when one considers the plight of others who fell into disfavor or mistrust with Hitler. As one historian remarked when comparing his fate to that of many of his comrades among the General Staff, Halder was indeed "fortunate."In the last days of April 1945, together with some members of the families of those involved with the 20 July plot and other 'special' prisoners, he was transferred to the South Tyrol, where the entire group of nearly 140 prisoners was liberated from their SS guards by members of the Heer, and then turned over to US troops on 4 May after the SS guards fled.Halder spent the next two years in an Allied prisoner of war camp. He was a prosecution witness in high command trial. later he served uS army in writing German war history from 1947 to 1961 for which he was awarded high civilian award.
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