Karl Kaufmann
Karl Kaufmann | |
---|---|
Reichsstatthalter of Hamburg | |
In office 16 May 1933 – 3 May 1945 | |
Preceded by | Office created |
Succeeded by | Office abolished |
Gauleiter of Gau Hamburg | |
In office 15 April 1929 – 3 May 1945 | |
Preceded by | Hinrich Lohse |
Succeeded by | Office abolished |
Gauleiter of Gau Rhein-Ruhr (later, Großgau Ruhr) | |
In office 7 March 1926 – 1 October 1928 | |
Preceded by | Position created |
Succeeded by | Position abolished |
Gauleiter of Gau Rhineland-North | |
In office July 1925 – 7 March 1926 | |
Preceded by | Axel Ripke |
Succeeded by | Position abolished |
Personal details | |
Born | Karl Otto Kurt Kaufmann 10 October 1900 Krefeld, Rhine Province, Kingdom of Prussia, German Empire |
Died | 4 December 1969 Hamburg, West Germany | (aged 69)
Nationality | German |
Political party | Nazi Party (NSDAP) |
Military service | |
Allegiance | German Empire |
Branch/service | Imperial German Army |
Years of service | 1917-1918 |
Unit | Brunswick Infantry Regiment 92 |
Battles/wars | World War I |
Karl Kaufmann (10 October 1900 – 4 December 1969) was a German politician who served as a Nazi Party Gauleiter from 1925 to 1945 and as the Reichsstatthalter (Reich Governor) of Hamburg from 1933 to 1945.
Early life
Kaufmann was the son of a textile manufacturer. He attended
From February 1919 to May 1920 Kaufmann was a Freikorps member of the Marinebrigade Ehrhardt. In 1920 he joined the Deutschvölkischer Schutz- und Trutzbund, the largest most active, and most influential anti-Semitic federation in Germany and in 1921 he took over the leadership of their youth group in Elberfeld. In 1921 as a member of the Freikorps "von Killinger," he participated in actions against Polish insurgents in Upper Silesia. In 1921-22 he took part in illegal sabotage operations against the French occupation of the Ruhr. Wanted by the police, he fled to Bavaria.[2]
Nazi Party career
Kaufmann joined the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in 1921. Though his membership number was unknown, in 1935 he was retroactively granted membership number 95. He co-founded the Nazi Party in the
In July 1925, at the age of only 25, Kaufmann became Acting Gauleiter of Gau Rheinland-North in a power sharing agreement with Joseph Goebbels and Viktor Lutze. This lasted until 26 September when Kaufmann was granted sole control. In September 1925, he became a member of the National Socialist Working Association, a short-lived group of northern and western German Gauleiter, organized and led by Gregor Strasser, which supported the "socialist" wing of the Party and unsuccessfully sought to amend the Party program. It was dissolved in 1926 following the Bamberg Conference.[4]
On 7 March 1926 his Gau expanded by merging with the Gau Westphalia headed by
On 15 April 1929, he was named Gauleiter of Gau Hamburg, Germany's second largest city and one of the 17 federated States of Germany. He would retain this important post until the end of the Nazi regime in May 1945. In September 1930 he was elected to the Reichstag from electoral constituency 34, (Hamburg), remaining a member until 1945. He was also named as a Reichstag Schriftführer (Secretary) and a member of its executive committee.[7]
On 16 May 1933, a few months after the
On 30 July 1936, Hitler bestowed the title of Führer der Landesregierung (Leader of the State Government) on Kaufmann, thus granting him more direct authority over the administration of Hamburg at the expense of
On 26 January 1937 the Greater Hamburg Act was passed (effective 1 April) which enlarged Hamburg by the addition of several formerly Prussian cities. During Kristallnacht on the evening of 9–10 November 1938, Kaufmann at a meeting in Munich phoned orders to the Hamburg Nazi Party organization to destroy the synagogues, shops and apartments of Hamburg's Jews.
Wartime activities
At the start of the
A member of the National Socialist Motor Corps (NSKK), Kaufmann was promoted to NSKK-Obergruppenführer on 20 April 1941. On 30 January 1942, Kaufmann was promoted to SS-Obergruppenführer.[12]
On 30 May 1942, as leader of Germany's largest seaport, Kaufmann was named Reichskommissar (Reich Commissioner) for Overseas Shipping. As such, he shared in the responsibility for supplying overseas elements of Germany's Wehrmacht, such as the Afrika Korps. On 24 August 1942 he was additionally named as Reich Defense Commissioner for the Northern Coast (German Bight). On 16 November 1942, the jurisdiction of the Reich Defense Commissioners was changed from the Wehrkreis to the Gau level, and he retained control only over Gau Hamburg and the German Bight.[13]
The bombing of Hamburg between 24 July and 3 August 1943 (
Post war period
Kaufmann was sent to an internment camp. In April 1946 he gave testimony at a British war crimes tribunal investigating the sinking of the SS Cap Arcona which resulted in the deaths of some 7500 concentration camp inmates. He was eventually sentenced to 14 months' imprisonment for war crimes by a British military court but was released on 22 April 1949 for health reasons relating to his head injury.[15]
Kaufmann subsequently joined the so-called "brotherhood", a right-wing underground organization of former Nazis. He was arrested again on 3 August 1950 but released on 18 November. Undergoing a
Apologetic account
In his book Das letzte Kapitel (The last chapter) published in 1947, Kurt Detlev Möller described Kaufmann as a "good Gauleiter", a "rebel against the leader", and the "rescuer of Hamburg", because of the capitulation without struggle of the city of Hamburg.[17] This viewpoint later came under intense criticism for ignoring the cruel anti-Semitic actions by Kaufmann.
References
- ^ Höffkes 1986, p. 170.
- ^ Höffkes 1986, pp. 170–171.
- ^ Miller & Schulz 2017, pp. 52–53.
- ^ Miller & Schulz 2017, pp. 53–54.
- ^ Longerich 2015, pp. 70–71.
- ^ Miller & Schulz 2017, p. 55.
- ^ Miller & Schulz 2017, pp. 55–56.
- ^ Miller & Schulz 2017, pp. 57–58.
- ^ Miller & Schulz 2017, p. 58.
- ^ Höffkes 1986, p. 173.
- ^ Miller & Schulz 2017, pp. 61–62.
- ^ Williams 2017, p. 54.
- ^ Miller & Schulz 2017, pp. 62–63.
- ^ Miller & Schulz 2017, pp. 63–71.
- ^ Miller & Schulz 2017, pp. 71, 74.
- ^ Miller & Schulz 2017, p. 74.
- ^ Stubbe-da Luz 2005, p. 267.
External links
- Information about Karl Kaufmann in the Reichstag database
- Newspaper clippings about Karl Kaufmann in the 20th Century Press Archives of the ZBW
Sources
- Höffkes, Karl (1986). Hitlers Politische Generale. Die Gauleiter des Dritten Reiches: ein biographisches Nachschlagewerk. Tübingen: Grabert-Verlag. ISBN 3-87847-163-7.
- Longerich, Peter (2015). ISBN 978-1400067510.
- Miller, Michael D.; Schulz, Andreas (2017). Gauleiter: The Regional Leaders of the Nazi Party and Their Deputies, 1925–1945. Vol. II (Georg Joel – Dr. Bernhard Rust). R. James Bender Publishing. ISBN 978-1-932970-32-6.
- Stubbe-da Luz, Helmut (2005). "Kaufmann, Karl". In Franklin Koplitzsch and Daniel Tilgner (ed.). Hamburg Lexikon (in German) (3 ed.). Ellert&Richter. p. 267. ISBN 3-8319-0179-1.
- Williams, Max (2017). SS Elite: The Senior Leaders of Hitler's Praetorian Guard. Vol. II. Fonthill Media LLC. ISBN 978-1-78155-434-0.