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Originally Posted by kermitology
Hey CC.. why was Guderian basically the only one of Hitler's senior military advisors to not get shot after disagreeing with Hitler? I think I remember part of The Fall of Berlin 1945 talking about Guderian absolutely screaming at Hitler, but somehow getting away with it.. only being dismissed. WDF?
Rather smart individual he was too.. predicted to the day when the Soviet advance would start and where.
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you have to remember that he had been retired by the high command because of he supposedly broke Hitler's stand fast order, but it was later proven to Hitler that Von Kluge had made the whole thing up and was later bought back because of the poor performance of the German tank corps. He was one of the only officers that wasn't under any kind of suspicion in the July 20th plot, and it was fortunate for him because it moved him to the chief of staff spot.
Why Hitler didn't have him shot, and let him get away with disagreeing with Hitler's strategy? We know that at his dismissal for the second time in 1945 that Hitler recommended that he was having a nervous breakdown and needed a breakdown. The only thing that I can figure is this. Out of all the members of the chiefs of staff, Guderain was the only true army officer that acted as army officer and a tanker, which Hitler had a great deal of respect. He was brilliant and rarely wrong, and was apolitical so I think he gained a certain relationship with Hitler. The only other officer who had true military respect was Durnitz, who also had a certain amount of leeway from Hitler.
But its just a guess.