Operation Barbarossa: June 22, 1941 - February 2, 1943

Wilhelm Josef Franz Ritter von Leeb

von Leeb and company

Involved in the Siege of Leningrad

von Leeb was born in Bavaria in 1876. Ritter von Leebworked his way through the German Army through World War One much like other high ranking German officers at the time. Adolf Hitler did not like Ritter von Leeb because he expressed anti-Nazi attitudes and had him retire in 1938. He was called back to service by Hitler twice during his “retirement” and Ritter von Leeb accepted the offers and helped lead the German Army in the Sudetenland and then again in France.

He was trusted by Hitler and assigned to lead German troops in Operation Barbarossa and to capture Leningrad. After making great pace through the Soviet Union, he was unable to capture Leningrad in the quickness that Hitler wanted and stepped down from his position. Ritter von Leeb never worked under Hitler again and was now retired from the German Army for good. He was tried at Nuremberg and sentenced to three years in prison but was later released early. He died in 1956 after a heart attack.

Information from The Military Wiki.