Fritz Bronsart von Schellendorf

Friedrich (Fritz) Bronsart von Schellendorf (born 16 June 1864 in Berlin – died 23 January 1950 in Kühlungsborn)^[1] was a German officer and politician. He was the chief of staff of the Ottoman Army and was one of the many German military advisors assigned to the Ottoman Empire. He replaced Otto Liman von Sanders who was assigned to the Aegean region following disagreements with Enver Pasha. He was instrumental in drafting initial war plans for the Ottoman Army. Many historians consider Bronsart von Schellendorf to have been complicit in the Armenian genocide. Archives show that he issued orders to deport Armenians.^[2][3][4]

Bronsart von Schellendorf as colonel in October 1912

In 1919, Schellendorf wrote the following in his memoirs, as justification and confirmation for the Armenian genocide:

"Like the Jew, the Armenian outside his homeland is like a parasite, absorbing the wellbeing of the country in which he is established. This also results in hatred that has been directed against him in a medieval manner as an unwanted people, and has led to his murder."^[5]

Schellendorf was an ardent supporter of Adolf Hitler in the 1930s.^[6]

Notes

1. Deutsches Bundesarchiv
2. Vahakn N. Dadrian, The history of the Armenian genocide: ethnic conflict from the Balkans to Anatolia to the Caucasus. Berghahn Books, New York 2004, ISBN 1-57181-666-6, p.256.
3. Stefan Ihrig (2016). Justifying Genocide: Germany and the Armenians from Bismarck to Hitler. Harvard University Press. p. 335. ISBN 978-0-674-50479-0.
4. Huberta von Voss: Der Ermittler. Der Genozidexperte Vahakn N. Dadrian. In: Huberta von Voss (Hrsg.): Porträt einer Hoffnung. Die Armenier. Lebensbilder aus aller Welt. Verlag Hans Schiler, Berlin 2005, ISBN 3-89930-087-4, S. 96–102, hier: S. 101, p. 101, at Google Books.
5. Prit Buttar (2016). Collision of Empires, The War on the Eastern Front in 1914. Oxford: Osprey Publishing. p. 359. ISBN 9781472813183.
6. ERMENİ SOYKIRIMINDA ALMANYA’NIN ROLÜ, 6 November 2015, Merve Erol, Heinrich Boll Stiftung