After the
Nazis came to power in Germany, Dohna, who was a classmate of
Karl Wolff, met
Heinrich Himmler and
Hermann Göring and joined the
SS as a candidate. However, under the influence of
Kurt von Plettenberg and his uncle
Heinrich Graf zu Dohna-Schlobitten, he distanced himself from going in that direction. Over the course of the 1930s, he distanced himself from politics. Dohna was drafted into the
Wehrmacht at the start of
World War II and served as a
Rittmeister throughout the
German invasion of Poland and later
the Soviet Union. On 18 January 1943 he was one of the last to be evacuated from
Stalingrad, carrying personal letters and the awards of
Friedrich Paulus. From January 1944 he served with the
LXXV Army Corps in
Italy. In March 1944, a
U.S. Army commando group of 15 men had landed near
La Spezia to blow up railway tunnels as part of
Operation Ginny II but were captured by German and Italian troops. Even though these men were wearing US Army uniforms (and were therefore
POWs), Dohna was ordered to sign the execution orders. However, Dohna refused to do so as this would have violated the
1929 Geneva Convention on Prisoners of War (thereby constituting a
war crime); he was dismissed from the
Wehrmacht for this insubordination. General
Anton Dostler, who signed the execution order, was tried for this
war crime after hostilities ended. Dostler was subsequently convicted, sentenced to death and executed by
firing squad. Dohna returned to Schlobitten during the
Soviet Army take-over. He organized the
flight of the populace of his estates and left Schlobitten on 22 January 1945. With 330 refugees, 140 horses and 38 horse carts he arrived at
Hoya on 20 March 1945. The caravan brought
Trakehner horses with them, including 31 broodmares, ensuring the survival of that breed. ==Post-war==