with the greatly reduced
postwar Reichswehr as a
lieutenant. In 1922, Man-
teuffel published a trea-
tise on mounted infantry
and subsequently taught
at the new Armored
Corps Training School at
Wunsdorf.
When World War II
commenced in Septem-
ber 1939, Manteuffel was
a lowly lieutenant colonel
performing instruction
duties. But in August
1941 he gained command
of the Seventh Panzer Di-
vision with the rank of
colonel and accompanied
the ill-fated drive on
Moscow in the fall of
- Crashing through
Soviet defenses, his pan-
zers captured a strategic bridge over the
Moskva-Volga Canal that November and
began probing the defenses of northeastern
Moscow. Soon after, a determined Soviet win-
ter offensive threw the Germans back 100
miles, and Manteuffel was transferred to an-
other theater.
In the spring of 1943, Manteuffel arrived in
North Africa as part of Gen. Hans-Jurgen
Arnim’s army. There he took charge of a
mixed formation informally known as the
Manteuffel Division, which attacked and
drove the British 46th Infantry Division back
20 miles. It was not until April 1943 that newly
arriving French and American reinforcements
forced the Germans back through Mateur,
where they were surrounded and captured.
Luckily for Manteuffel, he fell ill and was
evacuated just prior to Arnim’s capitulation.
By August 1943, Manteuffel had been pro-
moted to major general and returned to Russia
as head of the crack Seventh Panzer Army. In
this capacity he boldly outflanked the larger
Soviet 16th Army in the vicinity of Zhitomir,
routed the enemy, and captured vast quanti-
ties of supplies. For this
daring feat he was
toasted as the “Lion of
Zhitomir” and summoned
to Berlin for a personal
conference with Adolf
Hitler. There he was fur-
ther decorated and
learned of his appoint-
ment as commander of
the mighty Grossdeutsch-
land Panzer Division, the
Wehrmacht’s strongest.
Back again in Russia,
Manteuffel led his troops
with distinction through-
out the spring and sum-
mer of 1944, inflicting
heavy losses upon Soviet
troops at Kirovgrad. He
then successfully with-
drew to Romania, gaining
further renown by repuls-
ing a major attack upon the famous oil refiner-
ies at Ploesti. By August 1944, the deteriorat-
ing German position required Manteuffel to
shift his men by rail to East Prussia. In a series
of brilliant local counterattacks, he effectively
sealed off all Soviet breakthroughs and stabi-
lized the front. His success there was attrib-
uted to the clever expedient of forgoing a tra-
ditional artillery bombardment, which would
have alerted the defenders. Whenever Man-
teuffel attacked in this manner, his tactical
surprise was usually complete. The short but
pugnacious panzer general had thus become
regarded as one of the outstanding tank gener-
als of the war. His renown did not escape the
Führer’s attention for long.
In September 1944, Manteuffel was sum-
moned back to Berlin for a conference with
Hitler. There he was decorated again, pro-
moted to general of panzer troops, and ap-
pointed to succeed Gen. Josef Dietrichas
head of the Fifth Panzer Army. “I entered the
Führer’s headquarters a divisional com-
mander,” he recalled. “I was leaving it as an
army commander.” Manteuffel then deployedMANTEUFFEL, HASSOVON
Hasso von Manteuffel
Bettmann/Corbis