Gustav Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach
Gustav Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach | |
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University of Heidelberg | |
Occupation(s) | Chairman of the board of Friedrich Krupp AG, 1909–1945 |
Spouse | Bertha Krupp |
Children | Alfried Krupp |
Parent |
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Gustav Georg Friedrich Maria Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach (born Gustav von Bohlen und Halbach; 7 August 1870 – 16 January 1950) was a German foreign service official who became chairman of the board of
Early life
Gustav Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach was born 7 August 1870 in
He was a grandson of Henry Bohlen and related to Charles E. Bohlen and Karoline of Wartensleben on his mothers side.
He married
After 1910, the Krupp company became a member and major funder of the Pan-German League (Alldeutscher Verband) which mobilised popular support in favour of two army bills, in 1912 and 1913, to raise Germany's standing army to 738,000 men.
World War I
By
Interwar years
During the occupation of the Ruhr in 1923, a French military court had Krupp imprisoned for seven months until the German government stopped their politics of passive resistance.
The
Krupp was a member of the
Krupp initially opposed the
Like many German nationalists, Krupp believed that the Nazis could be used to end the Republic, and then be pushed aside to restore the Kaiser and the old elites. When all parties were abolished and civil liberties suspended following the Reichstag fire and Hitler's grab for absolute power, Krupp found that he and the rest of the old elites were in the grip of the Party; the movement they had hoped to ride back into power upon had instead ridden them. Always flexible, Krupp cooperated with the new dictatorship.
I wanted and had to maintain Krupp, in spite of all opposition, as an armament plant for the later future, even if in camouflaged form. I could only speak in the smallest, most intimate circles about the real reasons which made me undertake the changeover of the plants for certain lines of production for I had to expect that many people would not understand me
— Krupp in an interview for Krupp magazine on 1 March 1942[8]
Hitler had tried to gain entry to the Krupp factories in 1929, but was rebuffed because Krupp felt he would see some of the secret armament work there and reveal it to the world. Bertha Krupp never liked Hitler even though she never complained when the company's bottom line rose through the armaments contracts and production. She referred to him as "that certain gentleman" (Dieser gewisse Herr) and pleaded illness when Hitler came on an official tour in 1934. Her daughter Irmgard acted as hostess.[4]
World War II
Krupp suffered failing health from 1939 onwards, and a stroke left him partially paralysed in 1941. He became a figurehead until he formally handed over the running of the business to his son Alfried in 1943.[4] Krupp industries, under both his leadership and later that of his son, was offered facilities in eastern Europe and made extensive use of forced labor during the war.[9]
On 25 July 1943 the Royal Air Force attacked the Krupp Works with 627 heavy bombers, dropping 2,032 long tons of bombs in an Oboe-marked attack. Upon his arrival at the works the next morning, Krupp suffered a fit from which he never recovered.[10]
Nuremberg Trials
Following the Allied victory, plans to prosecute Gustav Krupp as a
Death
Krupp died at his residence near
See also
References
- ^ New York Times. November 13, 1945. Retrieved 2013-12-24.
Implications that Gustav Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach is not and never will be physically available for trial with the other major German war criminals ...
- ^ a b "Gustav Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach". Trial Watch. 2008. Archived from the original on 2009-05-18. Retrieved 2008-10-01.
- ^ britannica. 2008. Retrieved 2008-10-01.
- ^ a b c Manchester, William. The Arms of Krupp. Boston: Little, Brown, & Company, 1968.
- )
- ^ Shirer, William. The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich. New York City: Simon & Schuster, 1960.
- ^ Gustav Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach at Encyclopædia Britannica
- ^ "Gustav Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach". jewishvirtuallibrary. 2007. Retrieved 2008-10-01.
- ^ "GUSTAV KRUPP VON BOHLEN UND HALBACH". United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Washington, D.C. May 20, 2008. Retrieved 2008-10-01.
- ISBN 9780752495125.
- ISBN 0-521-82991-7.
The tribunal's eventual decision was that Gustav Krupp could not be tried because of his condition but that 'the charges against him in the Indictment should be retained for trial thereafter if the physical and mental condition of the defendant should permit'.
- New York Times. September 22, 1957. Retrieved 2013-12-24.