World War II Database

Contributor: C. Peter Chen

ww2dbaseBorn Nikolaus Jastrzembski, he was a member of an aristocratic Silesian family with military traditions. In 1911, four years after he joined the German Army, he changed his Polish surname to Falkenhorst as a part of his Germanization process. As an officer, Falkenhorst served in WW1 at various positions. In 1919, he became a member of the restricted post-WW1 German military, Reichswehr. Between 1925 and 1927, he served in the Operations Division of the War Ministry. In Oct 1932, he was promoted to the rank of Oberst (colonel). Between 1933 and 1935, he was subsequently posted to Prague in Czechoslovakia, Belgrade in Yugoslavia, and Bucharest in Romania as a military attaché. In 1935, with the rank of Generalmajor, he served as the Chief of Staff of the Third Army. In 1937, he was promoted to the rank of Generalleutnant. When the European War began in Sep 1939, he commanded the German 21st Army Corps during the invasion of Poland; upon the successful completion of the invasion, he was promoted to the rank of General der Infanterie. In the morning of 20 Feb 1940, Falkenhorst was informed by Adolf Hitler that he was to plan for the invasion of Norway and was given only until 1700 hours of the same day to arrive at the invasion plan; he presented a plan in time, but unbeknownst to Hitler Falkenhorst had used a Baedeker travel book of Norway purchased from a stationary store and used the tourist maps within to plan the campaign. As the campaign resulted in a success not only in the conquest of Norway but also having repulsed an Allied invasion, he was promoted to the commanding officer of the entire German force in Norway and was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross medal. He was known to have been a effective commander who respected Norwegians. In Dec 1944, he was relieved from his position in Norway for his repeated opposition to the policies of German Reich Commissioner of Norway Josef Terboven. After the war, he was captured and tried as a war criminal. Found guilty for the execution of captured commandos and saboteurs, he was sentenced to death in 1946, but the sentence was later commuted to a 20-year prison term. He was released from prison on 23 Jul 1953 due to health reasons. Falkenhorst passed away in Holzminden, Lower Saxony, Germany in 1968.

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