developing the agrarian economy in eastern Germany. Moreover, he was under pressure due to his manor in Neudeck, which the German government with large contributions from German industrialists on initiative of Elard von Oldenburg-Januschau gave to President Hindenburg on the occasion of his 80th birthday on 2 October 1927. The president had titled the deed in the name of his son Oskar, according to his political opponents ostensibly to avoid payment of inheritance taxes. Shortly after Hitler's appointment, Hindenburg and his descendants were officially exempt from taxes by law. World War II Discharged from active military service in the rank of Major General in 1934, Oskar von Hindenburg had retired to Neudeck manor. During World War II, Oskar von Hindenburg was again appointed General commanding in East Prussia, where he supervised several prisoner of war camps. Promoted to Generalleutnant in 1942, he finally requested permission to resign because he considered the position to be a demotion when compared to his previous military and government positions. As a member of the Führerreserve, he lived in Neudeck until the advance of Red Army troops late in the war forced him to flee to his brother-in-law in Medingen. Previously, he had supervised the dismantling of the Tannenberg Memorial honoring his father's 1914 victory over the Russians. He also had his parents' remains moved west. In the 1950s, Polish authorities razed the site, leaving few traces. Later life In the Nuremberg trials, Oskar von Hindenburg was a witness against Franz von Papen. In 1956, he won a lawsuit against South German Publishers, which in 1954 posthumously published the book by Baron Erwein von Aretin, Crown and Chains. Memories of a Bavarian Nobleman alleging that in 1930 Oskar von Hindenburg had obtained illegal funding from the Eastern Aid programme. Oskar von Hindenburg lived in Medingen, West Germany after the war. Having suffered a heart attack in early 1960 he traveled to a spa in Bad Harzburg, where he died on 12 February 1960. He was buried at Waldfriedhof Medingen. Assessment Allegations that President Hindenburg appointed Hitler chancellor because of pressure from Oskar have never been conclusively established. Nevertheless, Franz von Papen, who had served as chancellor until he was supplanted by Schleicher in December 1932, was negotiating behind Hitler's back to become chancellor again of a presidential government, which would rule by decree under Article 48 of the Weimar Constitution. He almost certainly would have