Walter Karl Ernst August von Reichenau (* October 8th, 1884 in Karlsruhe, Baden) is a Veteran of the First World War, former General's staff officer of the Grenzschutz Ost, and colonel-General in the Wehrmacht.
Even before the Nazis took over Germany, Reichenau made contacts to the NSDAP and to Adolf Nazi himself via his uncle, a radical Nazi. When Blomberg was appointed minister for the Reichswehr, he became Chef des Ministeramtes im Reichswehrministerium on February 1st, 1933. In this Position, he quit political Neutrality, which the Reichswehr had shown towards all the governments of the Weimar Republic, and formulated the Parole: „Hinein in den neuen Staat, nur so können wir die uns gebührende Position behaupten.“ (Into the new State, that's the only way we can keep the Position we deserve.) In June 1933, he presented plans for a „Wehrstaat“, in which the whole youth was supposed to be militarily drilled by according sports, premilitary education and the draft.
Only in February 1934, he conflicted with Röhm. During the Röhm-Putsch, he, Hermann Göring and Reichsführer SS Heinrich Himmler formed the „terrible Triumvirate […], which decided about life and death on this June 30th, 1934“: The three Men went together through lists of Names and decided by headshaking or nodding who should die. After Hindenburg's death on August 2nd in 1934, Blomberg and Reichenau ordered all members of the Reichswehr to swear the new oath of fidelity to the "Führer" himself, although there was no law for that. The Text of the oath was by Reichenau himself.
In World War II, during the war in Poland he was commander of the 10th Army, which was aimed at Warsaw. He was the first German who crossed the Vistula river - swimming. In the war in the West 1940, Reichenau commanded the 6th Army and was present at the capitulation of Belgium.
He is an unconventional Officer who often speaks English at home and - yet - protects his Jewish Veterans from WW1.
In the Hierarchy, he serves under Fedor von Bock/Walther von Brauchitsch/Adolf Nazi.
He is married to Alix, daughter of Silesian Count Andreas von Maltzan. During the war, her sister Maria (Marushka) is hiding her Jewish lover Hans Hirschel from the Gestapo in her Berlin flat; von Reichenau knows this, and has visited them there.