Fritz Schlessmann
Fritz Schlessmann | |
---|---|
Acting Gauleiter of Gau Essen | |
In office 24 April 1940 – 8 April 1945 | |
Deputy Gauleiter of Gau Essen | |
In office 9 November 1939 – 8 April 1945 | |
Preceded by | Heinrich Unger |
Succeeded by | Position abolished |
Polizeipräsident of Essen | |
In office 1 October 1937 – 31 December 1939 | |
Preceded by | Karl Zech |
Succeeded by | Karl Gutenberger |
Polizeipräsident of Bochum | |
In office 27 October 1933 – 30 September 1937 | |
Succeeded by | Walter Oberhaidacher |
Personal details | |
Born | National Socialist German Workers' Party (NSDAP) | 11 March 1899
Occupation | Locksmith Engineer |
Military service | |
Allegiance | German Empire |
Branch/service | Imperial German Navy |
Years of service | 1916–1919 |
Rank | Seaman |
Unit | U-Boat 100 |
Battles/wars | World War I |
Fritz Schlessmann, born Georg Friedrich Schlessmann (11 March 1899 – 31 March 1964) was a
Early life
Schlessmann, the son of a locksmith, attended elementary and secondary school in Essen. He left school in 1914 without attaining his diploma and worked as an apprentice locksmith in the
Nazi career
On 17 December 1922, Schlessmann became a member of the Nazi Party (NSDAP) co-founding the Ortsgruppe (Local Group) in Essen and becoming the Deputy Ortsgruppenleiter. At the same time, he joined the Party’s paramilitary unit, the Sturmabteilung (SA) becoming the SA-Führer in Essen. During this period, he was working as a construction designer in the Krupp works in Essen until being fired in December 1923 for excessive absenteeism as the result of his SA activities. He remained unemployed for the next two years.[1]
Following the Beer Hall Putsch in November 1923, the Nazi Party was outlawed and Schlessmann joined the German Völkisch Freedom Party. After the ban on the Nazi Party was lifted, Schlessmann rejoined it on 15 December 1925 (membership number 25,248). He resumed his duties as Deputy Ortsgruppenleiter and SA leader in Essen, reaching the rank of SA-Standartenführer in 1927. Finding work in a screw factory in Essen in December 1926, he worked his way up to Deputy Plant Director until again being discharged for chronic absenteeism at the end of January 1931. In May 1930 Schlessmann left the SA and joined the SS (SS number 2,480). In August 1930, Schlessmann was appointed Deputy Gauleiter in Gau Essen under Josef Terboven but remained in this post only until 31 December. Attaining the rank of SS-Standartenführer in March 1931, Schlessmann was named the SS leader in Bochum.[2]
From April 1932 to October 1933 Schlessmann sat as a member of the
Schlessmann was named acting Polizeipräsident (Police Chief) in Bochum on 27 October 1933; his appointment was made permanent on 1 April 1934. In November 1933, he became Führer of SS-Abschnitt (district) XXV in Bochum, serving until October 1937. On 1 October 1937, he was reassigned as Polizeipräsident and Führer of SS-Abschnitt V in Essen. On 9 November 1939, Schlessmann was again appointed to the position of Deputy Gauleiter in Essen under Terboven. At his own request, Schlessmann was relieved of his police post on 31 December 1939 in order to devote himself full-time to his work as a Party official.[3]
Terboven was appointed
Postwar
After exhorting the populace of Essen to fight to the last man as the Allied forces approached the city, Schlessmann went into hiding with his 24-year-old secretary and mistress, under the alias "Fritz Selig". However, after the fall of Essen he was arrested by the US Army on 8 April 1945 and taken to the Staumühle internment camp near Paderborn. In a 1947 court proceeding in Detmold, he was sentenced to five years in prison, which he served until 13 June 1950, when he was released from the Esterwegen internment camp. He underwent denazification in Düsseldorf and was categorized as Category III (Minor Offender). He then worked as a salesman and gas station proprietor in Dortmund.[5]
References
- ^ a b Williams 2017, p. 176.
- ^ Miller & Schulz 2021, p. 204.
- ^ a b Miller & Schulz 2021, p. 205.
- ^ Miller & Schulz 2021, pp. 205–206.
- ^ Miller & Schulz 2021, p. 206.
External links
Information about Fritz Schlessmann in the Reichstag database
Bibliography
- Höffkes, Karl (1986). Hitlers Politische Generale. Die Gauleiter des Dritten Reiches: ein biographisches Nachschlagewerk. Tübingen: Grabert-Verlag. ISBN 3-87847-163-7.
- Miller, Michael D.; Schulz, Andreas (2021). Gauleiter: The Regional Leaders of the Nazi Party and Their Deputies. Vol. 3. Fonthill Media. ISBN 978-1-781-55826-3.
- Williams, Max (2017). SS Elite: The Senior Leaders of Hitler's Praetorian Guard. Vol. 3. Fonthill Media LLC. ISBN 978-1-78155-638-2.