Friday, January 24, 2014

Man-Devil.

This is coolbert:

From the March 2014 edition of "Armchair General" an article describing yet one more instance of a German general officer able to speak to Adolf Hitler in a frank manner, not intimidated or at a loss for words when presented with insult.

From "Manteuffel Germany's Panzer Baron" by Richard N. Armstrong:

"On March 2, 1945, General Hasso-Eccard Baron von Manteuffel was ordered to report to Adolf Hitler as he left command of 5th Panzer Army following the Battle of the Bulge on the Western Front to assume his new position commanding 3rd Panzer Army on the Eastern Front. At the moment Manteuffel entered the audience room, Hitler was in the midst of one of his increasingly frequent tirades directed at Germany's military commanders. 'All generals are liars!' he screamed. Manteuffel, whose wiry but diminutive stature concealed an iron will and exceptional moral courage, refused to be bullied by the Nazi dictator. 'I beg you to tell when General Manteuffel or any of his subordinate generals has ever lied to you.', he countered. Hitler typically surrounded by sycophantic toadies who meekly endured his outbursts, was taken aback that a general had stood up to him. Visibly chagrined, he could only reply that he did not include Manteffel among the generals who had been untruthful to him."

"sycophant   — n   a person who uses flattery to win favor from individuals wielding influence; toady"

"toady  — n  , pl  toadies a person who flatters and ingratiates himself or herself in a servile way"

Other German general officers of the most senior rank not so compliant with and obsequious to the repeated insult and diatribes of Hitler to include:

* Zeitzler.

* Von Saucken.

* Model.

Such occurrences very few I might well imagine. And too late indeed.

coolbert.



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