and art on 29 June 1950. According to the court, Foertsch permitted the destruction of cities of Pskow, Novgorod and Leningrad by his troops, and the destruction of historical art and memorials in Gatschina, Petergof, Pavlovsk and Pushkin. Friedrich Foertsch was released from captivity on 9 October 1955. Bundeskanzler Konrad Adenauer had helped secure the release of the last German prisoners of war in 1955, a decade after the end of the war. He joined the Bundeswehr after the remilitarisation of the Federal Republic of Germany holding the rank of Generalmajor. His initial task was the leadership of the II. Korps and he was appointed commanding officer of the 2. Grenadier-Division in April 1957. He was then posted to the Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE) of Nato in Paris as deputy chief of the fundamental planning office. He succeeded Adolf Heusinger as the second Generalinspekteur der Bundeswehr on 1 April 1961. Under his command the compulsory military service in the Bundeswehr was extended from 12 to 18 months. He was also in command during the political Spiegel scandal, which led to the resignation of Federal Minister of Defence Franz Josef Strauß. Der Spiegel, a widely read German periodical, had published the article "Bedingt abwehrbereit" ("Conditionally prepared for defense") about a NATO maneuver called Fallex 62, Fall Exercise 1962, in which the NATO forces were to demonstrate their preparedness to resist possible attack by the Soviet Union and/or other Eastern Bloc forces. The maneuvers themselves had demonstrated the Bundeswehr's incapacity to repel attack, and the article exposed the sorry state of Bundeswehr preparedness. He retired as a four-star general on 31 December 1963. After his retirement he and his wife, together with their four children, lived in Goslar. Friedrich Foertsch died there on 14 December 1976. Awards Iron Cross (1914) 2nd Class Honour Cross of the World War 1914/1918 Clasp to the Iron Cross (1939) 2nd Class Iron Cross (1939) 1st Class German Cross in Gold (10 May 1943) Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 5 September 1944 as Generalmajor and chief of the general staff of the 18th Army Grand Officer of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic Grand Merit Cross with Star and Sash of the Federal Republic of Germany Sudetenland Medal Wehrmacht Long Service Award, 4th to 1st class Commander's Cross of the Order of the Crown of Romania Grand Officer of the Legion