Chief of the German Army General Staff who planned Barbarossa and later forged the myth of the "clean Wehrmacht"
On 11 August 1941, his early optimism shattered, Halder wrote in his diary: 'The Russian colossus...has been underestimated by us...whenever a dozen divisions are destroyed the Russians replace them with another dozen.'
Franz Halder served as Chief of the German Army General Staff from 1938 to 1942, directing operational planning for the invasions of Poland, France, and, most consequentially, the Soviet Union. His diary entry of 31 July 1940 records Hitler's decision, delivered at the Berghof, to destroy the USSR; Halder's staff subsequently drafted the Commissar Order mandating summary execution of Red Army political officers, and the Barbarossa Decree granting German soldiers judicial immunity for atrocities in the East. After the war he served as lead consultant to the U.S. Army Historical Division, supervising over 700 former German officers in a systematic effort to suppress evidence of Wehrmacht crimes and fabricate the myth of the 'clean Wehrmacht,' a narrative that shaped Western historiography for decades.
Career Timeline
- 1914–1918Served as staff officer in World War I; awarded Iron Cross 1st and 2nd Class
- 1938–1942Chief of the Army General Staff (OKH); directed planning for invasions of Poland, France, the Balkans and the USSR
- 1940.07Berghof conference of 31 July: recorded Hitler's decision to destroy the USSR in his diary; Barbarossa planning commenced
- 1941Drafted Commissar Order and Barbarossa Decree, radicalising warfare on the Eastern Front
- 1942.09Dismissed as Chief of Staff after strategic failures on the Eastern Front and conflict with Hitler
- 1944–1945Arrested for connection to the 20 July plot; imprisoned at Dachau and Flossenbürg concentration camps
- 1947–1961Lead consultant to U.S. Army Historical Division; supervised 700+ former officers, constructing the 'clean Wehrmacht' myth
- 1961Awarded U.S. Meritorious Civilian Service Award, the only German decorated by both Hitler and an American president