“Executioner of Courland” - Ferdinand Schoerner: Hitler’s Ruthless Commander in the Courland Pocket

Unseen Image found of Schörner in Sigulda Latvia

Image found in a German Soldiers Photo album shows Schörner in Sigulda Castle gardens. (Private Collection; Fair use)

Ferdinand Schörner (1892–1973) was one of Adolf Hitler’s most ruthless and loyal generals. Rising from modest origins to become a field marshal in the Wehrmacht, Schörner earned a reputation for discipline, fanaticism, and brutality, both against the enemy and his own troops. While admired by Hitler as a commander who demanded absolute obedience, he was despised by many German soldiers who saw him as a merciless enforcer more concerned with punishment than strategy.

His actions in Latvia, where he commanded the doomed Army Group Courland, remain among the most infamous episodes of the late war.

One of Schörner’s most notorious assignments was his command of Army Group North, later renamed Army Group Courland, during the bitter fighting in the Baltic states.

Encirclement in Latvia

In the autumn of 1944, after the Soviet Baltic offensives cut off Army Group North, Schörner’s forces were trapped in what became known as the Courland Pocket (Kurland-Kessel). Over 200,000 German soldiers, were surrounded.

Fanatical Defense

Following Hitler’s orders, Schörner refused to evacuate his men. He insisted that Courland must be defended as a “fortress,” despite its lack of strategic value. For seven months, from October 1944 to May 1945, German troops fought six desperate battles against overwhelming Soviet forces.

Harsh Discipline

Schörner enforced discipline with infamous severity. He ordered summary executions for retreat, desertion, or even hesitation. Soldiers were shot and hung with signs declaring them cowards. His methods made him feared among his own men, who called him the “Executioner of Courland.”

Latvian Involvement

Schörner relied heavily on the Latvian Waffen-SS divisions (the 15th and 19th). Many Latvians were conscripted under threat, forced to fight in what was essentially a lost cause. Schörner’s command sacrificed both German and Latvian lives for Hitler’s fantasy of holding the Baltics. In April 1945, Hitler promoted him to Field Marshal.

In his last will and testament, Hitler named Schörner as Commander-in-Chief of the German Army, replacing Heinz Guderian.

The End

In May 1945, Army Group Courland finally surrendered to the Soviets. Unlike his soldiers, Schörner abandoned his post and fled in disguise toward Austria, where he was captured by American forces. His men were marched into Soviet captivity — many never returned.

Postwar Trials

In the Soviet Union, Schörner was sentenced to 25 years in prison for war crimes. He was released in 1955. In West Germany, he was later convicted of unlawfully executing German soldiers and served until 1963. He died in Munich in 1973, largely forgotten but still infamous.

Article by: Jonathan Baynard, 2025

References

Antony Beevor, The Second World War (2012)

Ian Kershaw, The End: The Defiance and Destruction of Hitler's Germany, 1944–1945 (2011)

David Glantz, The Battle for Leningrad 1941–1944 (2002)

Rolf-Dieter Müller, Hitler’s Wehrmacht 1935–1945 (2016)

Heinz Guderian, Memoirs of a Soldier (1951)