Manstein, Gero Erich Sylvester von “von Lewinski”.

Manstein, Gero Erich Sylvester von “von Lewinski”, born 31-12-1922, in Berlin, Gauleiter Josef Goebbels 

    (did you know), the son of General Field Marshal der Infanterie, Erich von Manstein . Erich von Manstein married Jutta Sibylle von Loesch, the daughter of a Silesian landowner in 1920.  She died in 1966. They had three children, a daughter named Gisela, and two sons, Gero, born 31-12-1922 and Rüdiger. Gisela was married with Major Edel-Heinrich Zachariae-Lingenthal   He survived the war and died 30-03-1998 (81) in Bad Honnef, Gisela died 06-04-2013 age 91.in Rottbitze  Gero was described by his father as delicate from birth as an asthma sufferer but determined to get over his difficulty to be a soldier 1940-took final School exam at the Ritter Academy Liegnitz, joined the Infantry so he joined the 51^st Panzer Grenadier Regiment of the 18^th Infantry Division ,  under command of his father Erich von Manstein, later motorized 1941, was a Private in Russian campaign, same year a Corporal awarded Iron Cross II Class, autumn 1941 went to Officer School and Spring of 1942 promoted Leutnant. Rudiger von Manstein  “von Lewinski”  born 19-11- 1929 in Breslau (Berlin) is still alive.

Death and burial ground of Manstein, Gero Erich Sylvester von.

After a serious illness, returned to his unit in the Lake Ilmen, where he was killed on the battlefield in the northern sector of the Eastern Front on 23-10-1942, and buried there at the age of 20 as a member of the 18^th Panzer Grenadier Division. The German 18th Infantry Division  was formed on 01-10-1934 as Infanterieführer III in Liegnitz and renamed 18. Infanterie-Division on 15-10-1935. Mobilized in August 1939 it participated in the Invasion of Poland and in 1940 in the Battle of France. After the French campaign the division was motorized and redesignated 18th Motorized Infantry Division on 01-11-1940 serving on the Eastern Front for the remainder of the war. In June 1943 the division was redesignated 18th Panzergrenadier Division under command of General der Infanterie Werner von Erdmannsdorff,. Erdmannsdorff surrendered to the British troops in May 1945. He was extradited to Yugoslavia and was shot on 05-06-1945, age 53, in Ljubljana alongside Generals Gustav Fehn,  also age 52, Friedrich Stephan and Heinz Kattner. He was the older brother of General Gottfried von Erdmannsdorff  Gottfried Erdmannsdorff surrendered to the British troops in May 1945. He was extradited to Yugoslavia and was shot on 05-06-1945 in Ljubljana

Gero’s father Erich would never be the same after the lost of his first son. He writes of Gero’s death, “I trust, as one under whose command so many thousands of youngsters died for Germany, that I may be forgiven for mentioning this purely personal loss here.” His eulogy for Gero (“a gentleman and a Christian”) shows Manstein’s pride in his race and faith and in the family tradition of military service to “our beloved Germany.” Gero’s name is on the gravestone of his parents, von Manstein, on the cemetery of Dorfmark. There is also a wooden Remembrance Cross. Original sand from his Russian grave is scattered around this graveside. Close by the graves of General der Infanterie, Commander of the 73^rd Infantry Division, General Bruno Bieler 

In September 1944 destroyed by Soviet forces during their assault on the Praga suburb of Warsaw.  Reformed again, the 73rd Division was destroyed in the fighting around Danzig in 1945. The surviving divisional staff officers went down with the liner Goya on 17-04-1945.   Also buried there is Generalmajor der Infanterie, Stab des Generals der Wehrmacht in Italy, Egmond Bahn 

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