Albert Praun

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Albert Praun
Born(1894-12-11)11 December 1894
Bad Staffelstein, Kingdom of Bavaria, German Empire
Died3 March 1975(1975-03-03) (aged 80)
Munich, West Germany
AllegianceFile:Flag of the German Empire.svg German Empire
File:Flag of Germany (3-2 aspect ratio).svg Weimar Republic
File:Flag of Germany (1935–1945).svg Nazi Germany
BranchArmy
Service years1913–1945
RankGeneral der Nachrichtentruppe
Commands18th Panzer Division
129th Infantry Division
277th Infantry Division
Chief Signals Officer of the OKW and OKH
ConflictsWorld War I
World War II
AwardsKnight's Cross of the Iron Cross

Albert Praun (11 December 1894 – 3 March 1975) was a German general who became the Chief Signals Officer of the Wehrmacht during World War II.[1]

Biography

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Praun served during World War I. He was retained in the Reichswehr and then served in the Wehrmacht; between 1935 and 1940 he commanded signals units. In 1940 he was then appointed Chief Signals Officer of Panzer Group Hoth and Panzer Group Guderian in France. He was then posted to the Eastern Front where he served as Chief Signals Officer of the 2nd Panzer Group. He later was the commanding officer of the 4th Panzer Grenadier Brigade and then of the 18th Panzer Division, and the 129th and the 277th Divisions. [2][3]

When General Erich Fellgiebel and then his deputy Fritz Thiele were arrested and subsequently executed for their roles in the 20 July plot, Praun was appointed to succeed them on 1 November 1944 as Chief Signals Officer at the Oberkommando der Wehrmacht and Oberkommando des Heeres and was promoted to General der Nachrichtentruppe.[3]

At the end of the war in May 1945 Praun was taken into captivity by the western allies and interrogated in France about his activities when serving there. At the end of August 1945 he was moved to prison camps at Neustadt, Hesse and Bad Hersfeld and he was released from captivity in June 1947. In 1950 France requested Praun's extradition for war crimes committed when he served there, but the request was refused by the Americans on grounds of lack of evidence. In 1955, he was sentenced to death in absentia for the killings of 15 French resistance fighters. Praun lived in Munich until his death aged 80.[3] He was the author of a lengthy report on German SIGINT in WW2, prepared for the USA, which was only released to the public in 2014.[4]

Awards

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References

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Citations

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  1. ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  2. ^ Praun, Albert. (1960) Soldat in der Telegruphen- und Nachrichtentruppe.
  3. ^ a b c Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  4. ^ One British researcher claims it was in 1987 though an archive copy gives the release date as 2014Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value). An easier to read version is available on:Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  5. ^ Fellgiebel 2000, p. 344.

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