Falkenhausen, Alexander von

Falkenhausen, Alexander von (1878– 1966) German general and military governor of occupied Belgium Alexander von Falkenhausen began his military career before World War I as a military attaché in Japan. With the outbreak of that war, he was seconded to the Turkish Army and served with distinction in Palestine, earning the Pour le Mérite. He returned to the German Army and remained in it during the interwar years, gaining appointment in 1927 as head of the Dresden Infantry School. He retired from the regular army in 1930 and traveled to China, where Chiang-Kai-shek employed him as his military adviser. In May 1938, Falkenhausen was again recalled to the German Army. When World War II began, he was assigned as an infantry commander in the western offensive and the Battle of France. With the successful occupation of Belgium, Falkenhausen was named military governor of the country and served from 1940 through 1944. He was no more brutal than most other German officials with responsibility for occupying a country, and, indeed, he was certainly less brutal than some. Nevertheless, in the course of his administration Falkenhausen committed war crimes, authorizing deportations, especially of Jews and, in reprisal for resistance activities, the arrest and execution of hostages. Falkenhausen was not an admirer of Adolf Hitler, and his two closest friends, Carl Goerdeler and Erwin von Witzleben, were conspirators in the July Plot (to assassinate Hitler), masterminded by Klaus von Stauffenberg. Falkenhausen was removed as military governor of Belgium and arrested but was never brought to trial. After the war, Falkenhausen was sent back to Belgium, where he was tried for war crimes. In March 1951, found guilty of having deported Jews and executed hostages, he was sentenced to 12 years of imprisonment. He was, however, released after having served a mere three weeks. He lived out the remainder of his life in obscure retirement.