Friedrich Fromm

Friedrich Fromm (8 October 1888 – 12 March 1945) was a German army officer. In World War II, Fromm was Commander in Chief of the Reserve Army (Ersatzheer), in charge of training and personnel replacement for combat divisions of the German Army, a position he occupied for most of the war. A recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross, he was executed for failing to act against the plot of 20 July 1944 to assassinate Hitler. 2Early life Fromm was born in Charlottenburg. He served as a lieutenant during World War I. He became commander of the Replacement Army in 1937. 2Head of the Reserve Army In 1939, Fromm became Chief of Army Equipment and commander of the Replacement Army (the Ersatzheer).When Operation Barbarossa stalled outside of Moscow in December 1941 and the Russian counter-attack started, Hitler took direct command of the Army and re-organized the armed forces' command structure. The Office of the Chief of Army Armament and the Reserve Army under Generaloberst Friedrich Fromm was created, subordinate to the commander in chief, army (head of the OKH, i.e. Hitler). Fromm had enough power at his disposal to control the German state because his position controlled army procurement and production and commanded all army troops inside Germany.At the beginning of 1942 Fromm, apparently, recommended going over to the defensive for the entire year, because of exhausted army stockpiles and the diversion of production, after the initial successes of Barbarossa in the summer of 1941. 220 July plot Though Fromm was aware that some of his subordinates—most notably Claus von Stauffenberg, his Chief of Staff—were planning an assassination attempt against Hitler, he remained quiet and agreed to have a part in it if he became a top official of the new government after the mutin