Josef Leopold
Josef Leopold | |
---|---|
Landesleiter of Austria | |
In office 29 January 1935 – 21 February 1938 | |
Succeeded by | Hubert Klausner |
Gauleiter of Lower Austria | |
In office 29 August 1927 – 21 February 1938 | |
Preceded by | Leopold Eder |
Succeeded by | Hugo Jury |
Deputy Gauleiter of Lower Austria | |
In office 5 September 1926 – 29 August 1927 | |
Preceded by | Position established |
Additional positions | |
1938–1941 | Honorary Gauleiter |
1938–1941 | Reichstag Deputy |
Personal details | |
Born | Volkswehr German Army | 18 February 1889
Years of service | 1910-1918 1918-1933 1939-1941 |
Rank | Stabsfeldwebel Hauptmann Oberstleutnant |
Unit | 49th Infantry Regiment 6th Infantry Regiment |
Commands | 1st Feldjäger Battalion |
Battles/wars | World War I World War II |
Military awards | Medal for Bravery (Austria-Hungary), 1st and 2nd class Iron Cross, 2nd class |
Josef Leopold (18 February 1889 – 24 July 1941) was the
Early life and military career
Leopold was born in
Leopold became an instructor of new recruits in Vienna and, after the end of the war, he remained in military service with the
Entry into politics
Leopold's initial involvement in politics came in December 1918 when he joined the
Leopold belonged to the pro-independence faction within Austrian Nazism and insisted that Adolf Hitler was only a spiritual leader rather than the future Austrian leader.[4] Leopold's faction within Austrian Nazism was underground in nature and frequently launched terrorist attacks.[5] His position as an extremist who supported independence meant that he clashed with the pro-Greater Germany wing of Theodor Habicht and the constitutional pro-independence wing under Anton Reinthaller.[6]
On 19 June 1933, 32 auxiliary policemen in Krems were wounded by hand grenades in a terrorist attack by Nazis, and the Austrian government of
Leadership of the Austrian Nazis
Leopold was appointed the Landesleiter of the banned Austrian Nazi Party on 29 January 1935 and the leader of all SA troops in Austria in June. However, he was again interned in Wöllersdorf later that month for distribution of propaganda pamphlets.[9] Over a year later, on 11 July 1936, Hitler concluded an agreement with Chancellor Kurt Schuschnigg, recognising Austria's sovereignty and agreeing that Austrian National Socialism was a "domestic matter" over which Germany would exert no direct or indirect influence. In return, Austria agreed to an amnesty of imprisoned Nazis, and Leopold obtained his freedom on 23 July.[10] Although officially still the party leader, Leopold found that during his time in prison much of the power within the party passed to Friedrich Rainer and Odilo Globocnik who, on Hitler's express instructions, were seeking to build alliances with more conservative leaders such as Arthur Seyss-Inquart and even Schuschnigg.[11]
Later in 1936, Leopold began negotiating with Schuschnigg in an attempt to regain legal status for the Nazi Party. Leopold hoped through this to become part of a
His failures in the negotiations and his pro-independence stance meant that Hitler did not trust Leopold, who he felt might use the SA to try to seize power on his own, perhaps by force. Therefore, he sent Wilhelm Keppler to keep a watch on him in July 1937.[16] However, Keppler was told by Leopold that he took orders from no one.[17] Heinrich Himmler made him leader of the Austrian Schutzstaffel in 1937, but he soon grew tired of the quarrelsome Leopold, who also had clashes with Hermann Göring, Rudolf Hess, Franz von Papen and his co-leader of the Austrian Nazis Hermann Neubacher.[15] While leading the Nazis in Vienna during 1938, Leopold boasted to British Union of Fascists representative Robert Gordon-Canning that he was about to lead an uprising with Hitler's aid. However, the conversation was picked up by Schuschnigg who had Leopold's office raided, where documents relating to the coup plot were seized.[18] Hitler finally dismissed Leopold as Landesleiter on 21 February 1938, on the pretext that he wanted Austrian Nazis to follow legality.[16] Hitler, who had been due to hold talks with Schuschnigg, was especially annoyed that Leopold had launched a bombing campaign in the run-up to the meeting, and so acted quickly to remove him.[15]
Career in Nazi Germany
Following the
Wartime service and death
On the outbreak of the
Post-war legal actions against Leopold's wife
In October 1945, Leopold's widow, Sidonie née Saxeneder (16 August 1894 – 19 July 1980) was tried by the Vienna People's Court for her Nazi Party membership. She had been a member since 1927, and had been awarded the Golden Party Badge. On 8 October 1945, Sidonie was sentenced to two-and-a-half years in prison and had her assets confiscated.[21]
References
- ^ a b Rees 1990, p. 229.
- ^ Miller & Schulz 2017, p. 182.
- ^ Miller & Schulz 2017, pp. 182, 189.
- ^ Wetzel 1996, p. 139.
- ^ Bischof & Pelinka 1996, p. 183.
- ^ Rees 1990, p. 317.
- ^ "Austria Outlaws All Nazi Activities". The New York Times. 20 June 1933. p. 1.
- ^ Miller & Schulz 2017, pp. 182–183.
- ^ Miller & Schulz 2017, pp. 183–184.
- ^ Parkinson 1989, pp. 58–59.
- ^ Rees 1990, pp. 229–230.
- ^ Parkinson 1989, p. 58.
- ^ Parkinson 1989, p. 60.
- ^ Parkinson 1989, p. 67.
- ^ a b c d Rees 1990, p. 230.
- ^ a b Parkinson 1989, p. 50.
- ^ May 2000, p. 57.
- ^ Dorril 2007, p. 431.
- ^ a b Miller & Schulz 2017, pp. 181, 189.
- ^ Kay 2005, p. 93.
- ^ "ANNO, Österreichische Volksstimme, 1945-10-09, Seite 3". anno.onb.ac.at. Retrieved 2023-06-10.
Sources
- Bischof, Günter; Pelinka, Anton (1996). Austro-Corporatism: Past, Present, Future. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-560-00833-0.
- Dorril, Stephen (2007). Blackshirt: Sir Oswald Mosley and British Fascism. Penguin. ISBN 978-0-140-25821-9.
- Kay, Alex J. (2005). Exploitation, Resettlement, Mass Murder: Political and Economic Planning for German Occupation Policy in the Soviet Union, 1940-1941. Berghahn Books. ISBN 978-0-857-45165-1.
- May, Ernest R. (2000). Strange Victory: Hitler's Conquest of France. Hill and Wang. ISBN 978-0-809-08854-6.
- Miller, Michael D.; Schulz, Andreas (2017). Gauleiter: The Regional Leaders of the Nazi Party and Their Deputies, 1925–1945. Vol. 2 (Georg Joel - Dr. Bernhard Rust). R. James Bender Publishing. ISBN 978-1-932-97032-6.
- Parkinson, F., ed. (1989). Conquering the Past: Austrian Nazism Yesterday and Today. Detroit: Wayne State University Press. ISBN 978-0-814-32055-6.
- Rees, Philip (1990). Biographical Dictionary of the Extreme Right Since 1890. Simon & Schuster. ISBN 978-0-130-89301-7.
- Wetzel, David, ed. (1996). From the Berlin Museum to the Berlin Wall: Essays on the Cultural and Political History of Modern Germany. Holtzbrinck. ISBN 978-0-275-95445-1.