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Major General Meinrad von Lauchert
Meinrad von Lauchert was a POW for the first few
years after the war during and, like many of the captured general
officers, did some work for the US Army Historical Division.
He also was accused and cleared of two war crimes events - Summer
1944 in France and Dec 44 in Belgium. He went to work for his
father-in-law at a family-owned leather company. Later, he started
up a shipping company in Hamburg (the company name still exists
today), but had to sell it off when it was losing money. Things went
bad in his marriage and he was divorced in the 60's, he later
remarried to a woman who many thought was beneath his class.
He was promoted to General Major in Mar 45 but
after the war received only the pension of an Oberst (colonel). He
was also offered a position in the Bundeswehr at that rank, but
was bitter about not receiving the grade of a general officer and
did not pursue a second military career. He did not
participate in veteran's groups except for a few times, perhaps due
to his bitterness. He was the military advisor for the Battle of the
Bulge movie featuring Henry Fonda and Robert Shaw. As
audiences viewed the film, they assumed that the Shaw character was
based on the actions of the SS officer Peiper but in reality,
Meinrad von Lauchert had help fashion the character on his own war
experiences. Date of death and place of burial not available
at this time.
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