FRIEDRICH CHRISTIANSEN.. NAZI SEA PLANE ACE, WW II
Friedrich Christiansen (12 December 1879 – 3 December 1972) was a World War I German seaplane ace who claimed shooting down twenty planes and an airship; he was credited with thirteenof those claims. During World War II, he was the commander of the German Wehrmacht in the Netherlands; he was convicted for war crimes after the war.
From 29 May 1940 until 7 April 1945 Christiansen was Wehrmachtbefehlshaber in den Niederlanden (Supreme Commander of the Wehrmacht in the Netherlands), and until 26 June 1943 was concurrently still Korpsführer of the NSFK. In addition, from 10 November 1944 until 28 January 1945 supreme commander of the 25th Army. Christiansen also was responsible for the food embargo in winter 1944, causing famine in western Holland resulting in the death of 22000 civilian men, women and children.
After the war Christiansen was arrested for war crimes. On 2 October 1944 he had ordered a raid on the village of Putten in Gelderland, the Netherlands, in retaliation, after one of his officers, a Leutnant Sommers, was killed there by the Dutch resistance. When he heard about the actions of the resistance near Putten, Christiansen is reported to have said, "Das ganze Nest muss angesteckt werden und die ganze Bande an die Wand gestellt!" ("Put them all against the wall and burn the place down!") In compliance with this retributive sentiment, several members of the civilian population were shot, the village was burned, and 661 of the males of the town were deported to labor camps, the vast majority of whom never returned.
Christiansen was sentenced to 12 years imprisonment in 1948 in Arnhem for war crimes but was released in December 1951. He died in Aukrug in 1972.
His release from imprisonment in 1951 was an occasion for his native town, Wyk auf Föhr, to renew Christiansen's honorary citizenship and reinstate a street name in his honor, previously changed by the British military administration in 1945. These honors sparked controversies in Germany and the Netherlands and they were revoked in 1980 by the town council.
Friedrich Christiansen (12 December 1879 – 3 December 1972) was a World War I German seaplane ace who claimed shooting down twenty planes and an airship; he was credited with thirteenof those claims. During World War II, he was the commander of the German Wehrmacht in the Netherlands; he was convicted for war crimes after the war.
From 29 May 1940 until 7 April 1945 Christiansen was Wehrmachtbefehlshaber in den Niederlanden (Supreme Commander of the Wehrmacht in the Netherlands), and until 26 June 1943 was concurrently still Korpsführer of the NSFK. In addition, from 10 November 1944 until 28 January 1945 supreme commander of the 25th Army. Christiansen also was responsible for the food embargo in winter 1944, causing famine in western Holland resulting in the death of 22000 civilian men, women and children.
After the war Christiansen was arrested for war crimes. On 2 October 1944 he had ordered a raid on the village of Putten in Gelderland, the Netherlands, in retaliation, after one of his officers, a Leutnant Sommers, was killed there by the Dutch resistance. When he heard about the actions of the resistance near Putten, Christiansen is reported to have said, "Das ganze Nest muss angesteckt werden und die ganze Bande an die Wand gestellt!" ("Put them all against the wall and burn the place down!") In compliance with this retributive sentiment, several members of the civilian population were shot, the village was burned, and 661 of the males of the town were deported to labor camps, the vast majority of whom never returned.
Christiansen was sentenced to 12 years imprisonment in 1948 in Arnhem for war crimes but was released in December 1951. He died in Aukrug in 1972.
His release from imprisonment in 1951 was an occasion for his native town, Wyk auf Föhr, to renew Christiansen's honorary citizenship and reinstate a street name in his honor, previously changed by the British military administration in 1945. These honors sparked controversies in Germany and the Netherlands and they were revoked in 1980 by the town council.
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