Josef Grohé
Josef Grohé | |
---|---|
Gauleiter of Gau Cologne-Aachen | |
In office 1 June 1931 – 8 April 1945 | |
Preceded by | Position created |
Succeeded by | Position abolished |
Deputy Gauleiter of Gau Southern Rhineland | |
In office 17 July 1925 – 31 May 1931 | |
Preceded by | Robert Ley |
Succeeded by | Position abolished |
Reichskommissar for Reichskommissariat of Belgium and Northern France | |
In office 18 July 1944 – 15 December 1944 | |
Appointed by | Adolf Hitler |
Preceded by | Position created |
Succeeded by | Position abolished |
Personal details | |
Born | 6 November 1902 Gemünden im Hunsrück, Rhenish Palatinate, German Empire |
Died | 27 December 1987 Cologne, West Germany | (aged 85)
Political party | Nazi Party (NSDAP) |
Other political affiliations | Völkisch-Social Bloc |
Occupation | Businessman |
Awards | Golden Party Badge War Merit Cross, first and second class with Swords |
Josef Grohé (6 November 1902 – 27 December 1987) was a German
Background
Grohé was born the son of a farmer and shopkeeper.
Grohé was already active in anti-democratic and racist organizations as an adolescent. He joined the
Nazi career
The Nazi Party had been banned after the abortive Beer Hall Putsch of November 1923. When the ban was lifted and the party was re-founded, Grohé immediately rejoined it on 27 February 1925. On 17 July he succeeded Robert Ley as the deputy Gauleiter of Gau Southern Rhineland, also serving as Gau business manager.[3] In 1926 he became the editor-in-chief and publisher of the Nazi newspaper, the Westdeutscher Beobachter (West German Observer).[1] On 17 November 1929 he became a city councilor in Cologne and chairman of the Nazi faction in that body. On 1 June 1931 when the Rhineland Gau was divided in two, he was promoted to Gauleiter of the newly formed Gau Cologne-Aachen, a post he would retain until April 1945. On 24 April 1932 he was elected to the Landtag of Prussia and was named to its executive board in May.[4]
After the
A virulent anti-Semite, during speeches in March 1935 Grohé advocated renewed boycotts and intensified attacks on Jews as a means to raise support for the Party among the lower middle classes. He also called for physical attacks on anyone ignoring the boycott and continuing to patronize Jewish businesses.[6] Unlike most all other Gauleiters, Grohé did not belong to the SA or the SS; however, from 30 January 1939 he was promoted to Obergruppenführer in the National Socialist Motor Corps (Nationalsozialistisches Kraftfahrerkorps or NSKK).[3]
On 10 February 1942, Grohé was named
On 18 July 1944, Grohé was made the
Our Gauleiters both in the West and the East have acquired a bad habit: having lost their Gau, they defend themselves in long memoranda seeking to prove that they were in no way responsible. For instance there is another one of these exposés, this time from Grohé. It is not in the least convincing. Despite a series of pompous declarations, Grohé has not defended his Gau. He deserted it before the civil population had been removed and now wants to present himself as a great hero.[10]
Post-war life
After surviving a suicide attempt, Grohé worked as a farm laborer under an assumed name in Heringhausen and managed to evade capture until he was arrested by the British occupation authorities on 22 August 1946. Turned over to Belgian authorities on 7 May 1947, he was sent back to Germany on 30 September 1949 without having been prosecuted.[11] On 18 September 1950, he was sentenced to 4+1⁄2 years' imprisonment (time served) by a denazification court in Bielefeld for being a part of the political leadership of the Nazi Party.[12] He had known of the Holocaust, but the court was not able to prove his involvement in atrocities.[12]
After being released from imprisonment, he continued his professional career as a sales representative for German
Sources
- ^ a b c d e f g "Grohé biography at the NRW2000.de". Archived from the original on April 19, 2012.
- ISBN 978-1-932970-21-0.
- ^ a b c Miller & Schulz 2012, p. 397.
- ^ Miller & Schulz 2012, pp. 397–398.
- ^ Miller & Schulz 2012, pp. 398–399.
- ISBN 978-0-393-33761-7
- ^ Miller & Schulz 2012, pp. 402–406.
- ISBN 0-822-9-3253-9
- ^ Miller & Schulz 2012, pp. 405–406.
- ISBN 0-380-4-2408-8
- ^ a b Miller & Schulz 2012, p. 406.
- ^ a b c d "DER SPIEGEL 2/1988 - GESTORBEN - Josef Grohe".
Further reading
- Karl Höffkes: Hitlers Politische Generale. Die Gauleiter des Dritten Reiches: ein biographisches Nachschlagewerk (Grabert-Verlag, Tübingen, 1986), ISBN 3-87847-163-7, S. 110–113.
- Birte Klarzyk: Vom NSDAP-Gauleiter zum bundesdeutschen Biedermann: der Fall Josef Grohé. in: Jost Dülffer, Margit Szöllösi-Janze (Hg.): Schlagschatten auf das "braune Köln". Die NS-Zeit und danach (Veröffentlichungen des Kölnischen Geschichtsvereins e. V., Bd. 49) SH-Verlag, Köln 2010, ISBN 3-89498-202-0, S. 307–326.
- Ernst Klee, Das Personen-lexikon zum Dritten Reich (Fischer Taschenbuch Verlag, Frankfurt-am-Main, 2005), 202.
- Daniel Meis: Josef Grohé (1902 - 1987) - ein politisches Leben? wvb, Berlin 2020, ISBN 978-3-96138-217-0.
- Helge Jonas Pösche: Josef Grohé – ein Gauleiter als Held der Familie. In: Geschichte in Köln, Bd. 58, 2011, S. 123–156.
- Horst Wallraff: Josef Grohé (1902–1987), Gauleiter der NSDAP. Portal Rheinische Geschichte des Landschaftsverband Rheinland (mit Bildern) 6 May 2011; retrieved 10 November 2019.
- Rolf Zerlett: Josef Grohé. In: Rheinische Lebensbilder 17 (1997), S. 247–276.
External links
- Newspaper clippings about Josef Grohé in the 20th Century Press Archives of the ZBW
- Information about Josef Grohé in the Reichstag database