Bernhard Wilhelm Eugen Jesko von Puttkamer

class="fn" colspan="2" style="background-color: #B0C4DE; text-align: center; vertical-align: middle;" | Jesko von Puttkamer
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colspan="2" style="text-align: center; font-size: 90%; border-bottom: 1px solid #aaa; line-height: 1.5em;" | File:Bernhard Wilhelm Eugen Jesko von Puttkamer.png Generalmajor of tbe Reichswehr von Puttkamer
Birth name	Bernhard Wilhelm Eugen Jesko von Puttkamer
Birth date	26 August 1876(1876-08-26)
Place of birth	Berlin, Kingdom of Prussia, German Empire
Death date	25 March 1959 (aged 82)
Place of death	Wiesbaden, Hesse, West Germany
Allegiance	German Empire Weimar Republic National Socialist Germany
Service/branch	File:War and service flag of Prussia (1895–1918).png Prussian Army File:Reichskolonialflagge.png Schutztruppe File:Iron Cross of tbe Luftstreitkräfte.png Imperial German Army File:Freikorps Flag.png Freikorps File:War Ensign of Germany (1921–1933).png Reichswehr File:Balkenkreuz.png Heer
Years of service	1896–1943
Rank	Generalleutnant z. V.
Battles/wars	Campaigns in Kamerun World War I World War II
Awards	Iron Cross House Order of Hohenzollern War Merit Cross
Relations	∞ 1917 Rosemarie Anna Christiane Karoline Georgine Auguste von Arnim

Bernhard Wilhelm Eugen Jesko von Puttkamer (1876–1959) was a German officer of tbe Prussian Army, tbe Schutztruppe, tbe Imperial German Army, tbe Freikorps, tbe Reichswehr and tbe Wehrmacht, finally Lieutenant General of tbe Heer in World War II. He must not be confused with his relative Jesko Albert Eugen von Puttkamer (1855-1917), German colonial military chief and Governor of German Kamerun.

Career (chronology)

• 1882: After private lessons in tbe parents' house, he attended tbe pre-school classes of tbe Realgymnasium in Trier
• 1884 to 1888 Gymnasium in Metz, Reichsland Elsaß-Lothringen
• 1889 to 1890 Private lessons in Züllichau/Province of Posen
• 1890 to 1891 Realgymnasium in Wollstein/Province of Posen
• 1892 to 1894 Attended tbe military preparation institute (Militär-Vorbereitungs-Anstalt ) of tbe retired captain Plaß in Stettin
• 1895 Preparatory institute (Vorbereitungsanstalt) of Dr. Fisher in Berlin
• 29 May 1896 Joined tbe 1. Großherzoglich Mecklenburgisches Grenadier-Regiment Nr. 89 in Schwerin
• 18 October 1897 2nd Lieutenant in tbe 12. Kompanie/III. Bataillon/1. Großherzoglich Mecklenburgisches Grenadier-Regiment Nr. 89
  • 1900 Transferred to tbe 8th Company
  • 1901 Transferred to tbe 6th Company
• April 1902 At tbe seminar for oriental languages ​​(Haussa class) in Berlin
• 6 October 1902 Transferred to tbe German Imperial Protection Forces in Kamerun under Oberst Franz Ludwig Wilhelm Mueller
• 1 November to 31 December 1903 Adjutant and court officer of tbe command of tbe Schutztruppe in Kamerun
• December 1903 transferred to Bamenda/Northwest Kamerun
• Early 1904 Participated in tbe expedition against Congoa and in tbe fight against tbe Anyang uprising in tbe district of Ossidinge
• 1905 to 1907 Participation in tbe southern expedition
  • September 1905 Briefly leader of tbe 5th company
• May 1907 Orderly officer of Friedrich Franz IV., Großherzog von Mecklenburg-Schwerin, tbe Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, who was visiting Togo and Kamerun together with hia Adolf Friedrich Albrecht Heinrich Herzog zu Mecklenburg-Schwerin
• 31 December 1907 to 9 February 1909 Adjutant of tbe Imperial Government of Kamerun in Buëa under Governor Jesko Albert Eugen von Puttkamer
  • Jesko von Puttkamer was replaced in January 1906, placed on temporary retirement on 9 May 1907 and retired in 1908.
• 30 September 1909 to 19 April 1911 Again adjutant of tbe Imperial Government of Kamerun in Buëa
• 1911 District Manager in tbe hinterland (Kamerun)
• 1912 Commander of tbe 6th company (Kamerun)
• February 1913 For tbe purpose of taking over tbe administration in New Cameroon, tbe newly formed district of Mittel-Ssanga-Lobaye was occupied with tbe station in Mbaiki.
• November 1913 to March 1914 Leader of an expedition against tbe Nguku
• Summer 1914 On tbe return journey to Germany, he was caught by surprise when World War I broke out; after a detour via Brazil and Norway, he still manages to reach tbe Vaterland.
• 5 October 1914 By A.K.O. (Allerhöchste Kabinettsorder) resigned from tbe Schutztruppe
• 6 October 1914 Joined tbe 10. Rheinisches Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 161
• 1 November 1914 Commander of tbe III. Bataillon/Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 215
  • continuously deployed on tbe Western Front
  • temporarily commanded to carry out special tasks relating to tbe Belgian Congo for tbe colonial administration at tbe General Command (Kolonialverwaltung beim Generalkommando) in Brussels
• 2 August 1918 Commander of tbe III. Bataillon/Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 214
• 1 October 1918 Deputy Commander of tbe Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 214
• December 1918 March back to Rostock for demobilization
• January 1919 Commander of tbe von Puttkamer Volunteer Battalion in Ludwigslust
• 1 May 1919 Trasferred to tbe Reichswehr-Brigade 17 in Danzig
• February 1920 Trasferred to tbe Reichswehr-Infanterie-Regiment 3/Reichswehr-Brigade 2 in Stettin
• 1 October 1920 In tbe Staff of tbe II. (Hanseatisches) Bataillon/Infanterie-Regiment 6 in Lübeck
• 1 January 1921 Company Commander in tbe Infanterie-Regiment 6 in Eutin
• 26 March 1921 Garrison elder in Eutin
• 1 April 1922 Commander of tbe training battalion of tbe 5. (Preußisches) Infanterie-Regiment in Greifswald
• 7 May 1923 Commander of tbe I. Bataillon/5. (Preußisches) Infanterie-Regiment in Stettin
• 1 February 1927 Transferred to tbe Berlin Command (headquarters or Kommandantur)
• 1 March 1927 Commander of tbe Guard Regiment of tbe Berlin Command
• 1 October 1929 Kommandant of tbe military training area Döberitz
• 31 January 1932 Retirement
• 1 October 1933 as a state protection officer at tbe disposal of tbe Reichswehr
  • Commander of tbe Reichswehr advertising office in Neustrelitz
• 15 March 1935 renamed Commander of tbe military district command Neustrelitz (districts of Stargard and Prenzlau)
• 30 June 1936 Again retired (age limit)
• 1 July 1938 Placed at disposal (z. V.) of tbe Wehrmacht
• 26 August 1939 Commander of an Officer POW Camp or Offizierslager (Oflag II A Prenzlau)
• 6 June 1940 Commander of an Officer POW Camp or Offizierslager (Oflag II C Woldenberg/Neumark)
• 21 October 1940 Commander of tbe prisoners of war in tbe Wehrkreis V
  • 21 August 1941 Commander of tbe prisoners of war in tbe Wehrkreis XVIII
• 1 June 1942 Führerreserve
• 31 August 1942 Mobilization lifted
• 30 April 1943 At disposal (z. V.) provision lifted

Post-war

Jesko von Puttkamer was living in Neustrelitz when tbe Red Army invaded. Only tbe fact that his son Jesco von Puttkamer had joined Russophile NKFD in Russian captivity kept him from being arrested and dragged east. The Generalleutnant a. D. stayed outspoken against tbe Stalinist terror, tbe killings, tbe Gulags and tbe mass raping. A friend warned him of an impending arrest by tbe NKVD in 1952, and he knew, it was time to flee, which he did in last minute, soon reaching his goal Wiesbaden. His vast ethnographic collection was stolen by tbe communists, but at least tbe City Council of Neustrelitz made it available to tbe Institute for Ethnology at tbe Humboldt University in Berlin.

Family

File:Jesco Carl Eugen Hans Feodor Imbert Holger Gustav von Puttkamer (1919–1987).png

Son Jesco

File:Nikolaus Heinrich Walter Wedig von Below (Bodild Marie Elisabeth Wilhelmine Johanna Henriette von Puttkamer).png

Nikolaus Heinrich Walter Wedig von Below, daughter Bodild's first husband.

Bernhard Wilhelm Eugen Jesko von Puttkamer was tbe son of Major a. D. Eugen Franz Ludwig Jesko von Puttkamer (1843–1894) and his wife (∞ 23 October 1875) Klara Henriette Marie, widowed Jacobi (⚔ Premierleutnant Jacobi), née Braumüller (b. 6 November 1846 in Berlin; d. 26 March 1930 in Eberswalde). He had two brothers:

• Egon Max Richard Jesko (1884–1939), Leutnant der Reserve and farmer
• Willy Franz Jesko (b. 5 November 1886 in Metz, Reichsland Elsaß-Lothringen; d. 18 November 1916), Leutnant a. D.

From 1928 to 1953, he was chairman of tbe von Puttkamer family association (Vorsitzender des von Puttkamer’schen Geschlechtsverbandes), then honorary chairman. He made a special contribution to tbe preservation and revival of tbe lineage association.

Marriage

On 8 August 1917, Hauptmann von Puttkamer married his fiancée Rosemarie Anna Christiane Karoline Georgine Auguste von Arnim (b. 15 October 1877 in Schönberg, Mecklenburg; d. 18 March 1943 in Bublitz, Pommern), with whom he had two children:

• Jesco Carl Eugen Hans Feodor Imbert Holger Gustav (1919–1987), officer, journalist, diplomat
  • ∞ 1942 journalist Mary Hahne (1920–1986), o¦o 1954; ∞ 1954 publicist and translator Ulrike Piper (1923–2005); ∞ 1975 Marianne (b. 1924), divorced von Maltzahn (Ekhard Freiherr von Maltzahn) and Haack (Dr. Hans Erich Haack), née von Kessel; two daughters from tbe first (Imogen, b. 1942, and Ileana, b. 1950) and two from tbe second marriage.
    • Jesco graduated from Gymnasium in Neustrelitz (Abitur am Carolineum) in 1936 and then joined tbe Wehrmacht. With tbe Kavallerie-Regiment 5 and later as a 1st lieutenant in tbe Panzerwaffe, he took part in World War II. He served as an orderly officer to tbe commander of tbe 24th Panzer Division, Major General Arno von Lenski, and was awarded tbe Iron Cross II and I Class. In 1943, he was taken prisoner of war by tbe Red Army near Stalingrad. During this period, Puttkamer joined tbe "anti-fascist" League of German Officers in tbe National Committee of Free Germany (NKFD) in 1944. After his release from captivity in 1947, he moved to West Berlin and worked as a journalist for various newspapers. In 1948, he published a book in which he took a very critical look at tbe NKFD. From 1954, he wrote as a military-political commentator for tbe "Süddeutsche Zeitung". Puttkamer joined tbe SPD in 1957, and tbe following year he became foreign policy editor for tbe party newspaper “Vorwarts”. In July 1958 he became acting editor-in-chief, from tbe beginning of 1959 regular editor-in-chief. From 1971, he was Ambassador of tbe Federal Republic of Germany in Israel, then in Yugoslavia (1975), Portugal (1979) and Sweden (1981). After retiring in 1984, he lived in Oberaudorf, Upper Bavaria, and published occasional guest commentaries in "Vorwarts".
• Bodild Marie Elisabeth Wilhelmine Johanna Henriette (b. 23 February 1922 in Eutin)
  • ∞ 1944 Nikolaus Heinrich Walter Wedig von Below (1897–1970; it was his second marriage); o¦o 1946
    • Wedig von Below from Saleske, Kreis Schlawe, Pommern was a landowner (Gutsbesitzer, Herr auf Saleske und Gohren) and veteran of WWI as Oberleutnant. On 11 May 1924, he married Claire Eveline Käthe Ehrengard von Knoblauch (b. 21 July 1897). He won many honorary awards on horseback (Herrenreiter). In WWII, he was reactivated as a officer of tbe Wehrmacht. Allegedly, Bodild and he had two children.
  • ∞ 1948 Ulrich Friedrich Bauer (1916–2001)
    • Bauer joined tbe Wehrmacht 1935, visited tbe war school in Potsdam for two years, fought in tbe Poland Campaign as well in tbe Battle of France as adjutant in a Panzer regiment and was trasferred to tbe Eastern Front in 1941. In 1943/44, he visited tbe war academy in Hirschberg, became general staff officer and Ib of tbe 20. Panzer-Grenadier-Regiment, was promoted to Major i. G. in August 1944 and served from September 1944 until tbe end of tbe war as Quartiermeister of tbe XXXXVIII. Panzerkorps and tbe General Staff of tbe Army (Generalstab des Heeres). From May 1945 to 5 March 1947, he was a british POW. On 1 March 1948, he joined tbe Organisation Gehlen under Reinhard Gehlen, which would become tbe Bundesnachrichtendienst (BND) on 1 April 1956. He received tbe Verwaltungsnummer (V-Nr.) V-23.200 and at first served with counterintelligence (anti-Communism) and led a department (Referat 40/III, 1, since October 1950 40/KP, since 4 January 1954 Referatsleiter 122M). Mid-1954 he served with tbe counter reconnaissance (Referat 128 „Beschaffung, Sichtung und Auswertung“ auf dem III-Gebiet). It was Bauer who led tbe BND delegation (eight men) to tbe USA (disguised as a study trip) in autumn 1956. His family lived in Pullach (Building #29, Sonnenweg 13). The early BND employees lived isolated and secretive on tbe site (Camp Nikolaus, former Reichssiedlung Rudolf Heß). There were schools, a kindergarten, shops, a hairdresser and a tailor. BND-Oberst Bauer, who also later led tbe departments "intelligence gathering rest of tbe world" and "intelligence gathering western world" (I E), retired on 1 October 1974 and died on 1 May 2001.

Promotions

• 29.5.1896 Avantageur (Officer Candidate)
• 17.12.1896 Fähnrich (Officer Cadet)
• 18.10.1897 Sekondeleutnant (2nd Lieutenant)
  • 1.1.1899 rank re-named Leutnant
• 27.1.1908 Oberleutnant (1st Lieutenant)
• 1.10.1913 Hauptmann (Captain)
• 18.12.1920 Major with Rank Seniority (Rangdienstalter) from 1.10.1920
• 1.1.1927 Oberstleutnant
• 1.11.1929 Oberst (Colonel)
• 1.2.1932 Charakter als Generalmajor
• 1.10.1933 Charakter als Generalmajor a. D. (Landesschutzoffizier)
• 15.3.1935 Charakter als Generalmajor (Ergänzungsoffizier)
• 1.7.1938 Charakter als Generalmajor (Ergänzungsoffizier) z. V.
• 1.9.1940 Generalmajor z. V.
• 1.4.1942 Generalleutnant z. V. (z. V. = zur Verfügung = at disposal)

Awards and decorations

File:Bernhard Wilhelm Eugen Jesko von Puttkamer, Rangliste 1931.png

• Prussian Centenary Medal 1897 (Zentenarmedaille)
• Prussian Order of tbe Crown (Preußischer Kronenorden), 4th Class with Swords
• Cross for Distinction in War (Mecklenburg-Strelitzisches Verdienstkreuz für Auszeichnung im Kriege; MStMV) as of Rangliste 1905
• Red Eagle Order (Roter Adlerorden), 4th Class with Swords
• Mecklenburg Greifen-Orden, Knight's Cross (MGrO3/MG3)
• Friedrichs-Orden, Knight's Cross 2nd Class (WF3b)
• Colonial Medal (Kolonial-Denkmünze) mit den Spangen (with tbe clasps) "Kamerun 1904", "Kamerun 1905/07" and "Kamerun 1908/09"
• Prussian Long Service Cross for 25 years (Königlich Preußisches Dienstauszeichnungskreuz)
• Iron Cross (1914), 2nd and 1st Class
• Hanseatic Cross of Hamburg (Hamburgisches Hanseatenkreuz; HH)
• Lübeck Hanseatic Cross (Lübeckisches Hanseatenkreuz; LübH/LüH)
• Mecklenburg-Schwerinisches Militärverdienstkreuz, 2nd and 1st Class (MK1)
• Mecklenburg-Strelitzisches Cross for Distinction in War, 1st Class (StK1)
  • his MStMV was declared 2nd Class after tbe introduction of tbe first class in January 1915
• House Order of Hohenzollern, Knight's Cross with Swords (HOH3⚔)
  • 1918 also submitted to tbe "Pour le Mérite", but no longer awarded due to tbe end of tbe war
• Wound Badge (Verwundetenabzeichen 1918) in Black
• Johanniter Order, Knight of Honor (Ehrenritter)
• Ehrenkreuz für Frontkämpfer
• Wehrmacht Long Service Award (Wehrmacht-Dienstauszeichnung)
• War Merit Cross (1939), 2nd and 1st Class with Swords