The commander of [Headquarters, Allied Forces Central Europe (AFCENT)][1] from 1968–1973 was [Jürgen Bennecke][2], a German. Unlike his predecessor [Kielmannsegg][3], who was at least accused of being one of of the conspirators of the 20th July plot to assassinate Hitler, Bennecke has no English wikipage and the German version is equally a bit lacking in details. What is curious is that unlike the English version [German Wikipedia knows][4] that he was one of only 15 highly decorated Nazi officers, being the recipient of the [German Cross][5] in silver and gold, just like war criminals [Globocnik][6] and [Rauff][7]. Bennecke received the gold version on 30 January 1945, then a [Oberstleutnant][8]. From his German Wikipedia entry we learn that > In March 1939 he passed the examination at the Kriegsakademie. In 1939/40 he was an adjutant in the Infantry Regiment 183. In 1940/41 he attended the 3rd General Staff Course at the Kriegsakademie in Berlin. 1941 he was Id with the Army Group A, later he was transferred to the Army Group South. 1943 he stayed in the Führerreserve. He fought on the western front, on the Balkans and on the eastern front. From 25 March 1943 to 30 September 1944 he was Staff Officer (Ia) of the 100th Jäger Division, before the end of the war Bennecke became Deputy 1st General Staff Officer of the Army Group Mitte. In May 1945 he became a US/British prisoner of war. And the biography site [Munzinger lists in the free version:][9] > **During the Second World War Bennecke was always in the field.** In the West, **on the Balkans and the longest time in the East.** He was first regimental adjutant and later in various general staff positions, including 1 1/2 years as 1st general staff officer of the 100th Jäger Division. At the end of the war he was Deputy 1st Generalstabsoffizier of the Army Group Mitte. That is very suspicious. The [100th Jägerdivision for example:][10] > The 100th Jäger Division was reestablished and fought partisans in the Balkans, Croatia, Albania, … "Eastern front" and "fighting partisans" makes [participation in war crimes][11] a not so unlikely possibility. However, in this case that is speculation fueled by circumstance and conspicuous lack of information. Even the half-official collection of biographies and careers of Bundeswehr Generals is not overly talkative on the subject ([in as much as gBooks permits a peak][12]). The question is, what did he do during the war? Especially, was he somehow connected to any units or personally involved in war crimes? For which deeds did he receive the German Cross? [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allied_Joint_Force_Command_Brunssum [2]: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/J%C3%BCrgen_Bennecke [3]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johann_Adolf_Graf_von_Kielmansegg [4]: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deutsches_Kreuz [5]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_Cross [6]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Odilo_Globocnik [7]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walther_Rauff [8]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oberstleutnant [9]: https://www.munzinger.de/search/go/document.jsp?id=00000010852 [10]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/100th_J%C3%A4ger_Division_(Wehrmacht) [11]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_crimes_of_the_Wehrmacht [12]: https://books.google.com/books?id=f30sAAAAYAAJ&q=Generale%20und%20Admirale%20der%20Bundeswehr%201955%E2%80%931999.%20D