Ernst von Manstein, Date of Birth, Place of Birth, Date of Death

Ernst von Manstein

German army officer

Date of Birth: 19-May-1869

Place of Birth: Domersleben, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany

Date of Death: 17-Jan-1944

Profession: military personnel

Zodiac Sign: Taurus

Ernst Abraham Albrecht von Manstein (19 May 1869 – 17 January 1944) was a German army officer, teacher and notable convert to Judaism.
A member of the aristocratic von Manstein family, he was related to the Second World War-era field marshal Erich von Manstein.
He served briefly in the Imperial German Army, during which time he was posted to Würzburg.
Whilst there he became involved in the Jewish community and met his Jewish-born wife.
He converted to Judaism in 1892 and was disowned by his family.
Von Manstein subsequently became a teacher before the rise to power of the Nazi Party in 1933 forced him out of his job.
He attempted to emigrate to Palestine but was unable to do so due to the Second World War.
After the majority of Würzburg's Jews were deported to concentration camps in the east, von Manstein, who was exempt due to his supposed Aryan origin, made a formal request to join them, but this was denied.
He lost his valuable musical instrument collection to the Nazis and was made to live in a single building with the city's remaining Jews.
He seems to have recanted his faith under duress in October 1942, before falling ill and dying in 1944.
The Nazi Party seized his body and he was buried in a non-Jewish cemetery with full military honours, despite the objections of his friends.
A post-war campaign led to him being reburied in the Jewish cemetery next to his wife in 1960.