General Erwin Jaenecke was born in Freren, Germany, in 1890 and served as a junior German army officer in World War I. He remained in the German Army between the World Wars. He was promoted to the rank of General early in World War II. He commanded the German IV Army Corps at the Battle of Stalingrad. In January 1943 he was wounded and was airlifted out of Stalingrad. Nearly all of the men under his command were killed or captured by the Red Army.
In 1944, he was in command of the 17th Army defending the Crimea in Ukraine. His forces were completely defeated by the Soviets and suffered great loss of life. He was blamed by Adolf Hitler for the defeat and was forced to retire. After the war he was held in Soviet captivity until 1955. He died in 1960.