Ernst Leonhardt
Ernst Leonhardt | |
|---|---|
| Born | September 25, 1885 Tracy City, Tennessee, U.S. |
| Died | March 26, 1945 (aged 59) |
| Cause of death | Air raid |
| Nationality | American |
| Citizenship | American (by birth), Swiss (until 1943), German |
| Occupation | Army officer |
| Known for | Nazi politician and propagandist |
| Political party | National Front, Volksbund, Schweizerische Gesellschaft der Freunde einer Autoritären Demokratie, Nationalsozialistischer Schweizerbund, Nationalsozialistische Bewegung in der Schweiz |
Ernst Leonhardt (September 25, 1885 – March 26, 1945) was an American-born Swiss military figure and pro-Nazi Germany politician.
Biography
Ernst Leonhardt was born to a
Swiss Army, where he rose to the rank of major.[2]
Leonhardt became involved in politics in 1932 when he joined the
Basel-City and the Canton of Solothurn.[2] However he clashed with his superiors and in 1933 he left the Front and set up his own Volksbund with fellow dissident Emil Sonderegger.[2] The group was dominated by the forceful personality of Leonhardt, a strong factor in its failure to attract much of a following.[2] He also founded the Schweizerische Gesellschaft der Freunde einer autoritären Demokratie (SGAD) (Swiss Society of Friends of an Authoritarian Democracy) in 1938 (a group officially banned in 1940, although in existence until 1941[2]), whilst he was also a member of Franz Burri's Nationalsozialistischer Schweizerbund and Nationalsozialistische Bewegung in der Schweiz.[2]
Although Leonhardt continued to be involved in Swiss pro-
SS), sentencing him to fifteen and a half years in prison.[1] However, he remained free in Germany for the rest of his life, continuing to produce propaganda.[2] He was killed in an air raid on March 26, 1945, in Oberndorf am Neckar, Rottweil (district), Baden-Württemberg, Germany.[1][2]
See also
References
External links
- Courtroom Battle of World War II (Part 1 of 3). contains information on the careers and fates of some of the Nazi collaborators.
- Courtroom Battles of World War II (Part 2 of 3).
- Courtroom Battles of World War II (Part 3 of 3).
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