![]() ![]() Born to a music teacher in Genthin, Saxony, he belonged to a middle-class, non-military family. Model's decision to burn all his personal papers at the end of World War II means relatively little is known about his early years. ![]() In the aftermath of the encirclement and defeat of Army Group B at the Ruhr Pocket, Model committed suicide on 21 April 1945. Their relationship broke down by the end of the war after the German defeat at the Battle of the Bulge. His tenacious style of fighting and loyalty to the Nazi regime won him plaudits from Hitler, who considered him one of his best field commanders and repeatedly sent him to salvage apparently desperate situations on the Eastern Front. Model first came to Hitler's attention before World War II, but their relationship did not become especially close until 1942. His relative success as commander of the Ninth Army in the battles of 1941–1942 determined his future career path. Although he was a hard-driving, aggressive panzer commander early in the war, Model became best known as a practitioner of defensive warfare. Otto Moritz Walter Model ( IPA: 24 January 1891 – 21 April 1945) was a German field marshal during World War II. Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves, Swords and Diamonds
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