Heinrich Gerlach was a German soldier in the 14th Panzer Division during the Second World War, who later became a Latin and German teacher.
16 Facts About Heinrich Gerlach
1.
2.
Heinrich Gerlach studied at Freiburg from 1927 to 1928 before returning to Konigsberg.
3.
On 17 August 1939 Gerlach was drafted into the Wehrmacht as a reservist where he was promoted to unteroffizier and appointed leader of telephone-construction crews.
4.
Heinrich Gerlach's responsibilities included assessing the enemy situation, deployment of subordinate units of defense, letter censorship of subordinate units of the secret field police and attached units of the Propaganda Company.
5.
Heinrich Gerlach was severely wounded in the head and was taken prisoner of war by the end of January 1943.
6.
Heinrich Gerlach was brought to Beketowka, the Stalingrad city prison.
7.
Heinrich Gerlach was interrogated by the NKVD for four months because of his position as a Third General Staff Officer and the associated responsibility of the enemy intelligence department.
8.
On 23 December 1944, by order of the Oberkommando des Heeres, Heinrich Gerlach was released "provisionally" from active military service in absentia, together with 19 other officers in Soviet captivity, for carrying out a case before the People's Court.
9.
Heinrich Gerlach's family was taken to Sippenhaft in July 1944.
10.
In 1949, Heinrich Gerlach was no longer a political necessity and was sent to various Soviet labour camps before being sent to prison.
11.
Heinrich Gerlach then lived with his wife and three children in West Berlin, where he worked as a primary school teacher.
12.
In 1951, Heinrich Gerlach was forced to leave West Berlin after being put under pressure by Soviet agents.
13.
Heinrich Gerlach moved with his family to Brake, where he got a job as a secondary school teacher, and eventually died at the age of 82 on 27 March 1991.
14.
In captivity, Heinrich Gerlach began to write diary entries about his experiences during the Siege of Stalingrad.
15.
Schmitz saw an opportunity with Heinrich Gerlach to distinguish himself as a luminary in the field of hypnosis.
16.
Jochen Hellbeck assumes that Breakthrough at Stalingrad was heavily influenced by concepts of Soviet re-education, which Heinrich Gerlach had come into contact with as a prisoner of war.