Lutz Graf Schwerin von Krosigk
Lutz Graf Schwerin von Krosigk | |
---|---|
Arthur Seyß-Inquart | |
Succeeded by | Office abolished |
Minister of Finance | |
In office 1 June 1932 – 23 May 1945 | |
Chancellor | Franz von Papen Kurt von Schleicher Adolf Hitler Joseph Goebbels |
Leading Minister | Himself |
Preceded by | Hermann Dietrich |
Succeeded by | Office abolished |
Personal details | |
Born | Johann Ludwig von Krosigk 22 August 1887 Rathmannsdorf, Duchy of Anhalt, German Empire |
Died | 4 March 1977 Essen, North Rhine-Westphalia, West Germany | (aged 89)
Political party | Nazi Party (1937–1945) |
Spouse | |
Relations | |
Occupation | Officer, jurist, politician |
Civilian awards | Golden Party Badge |
Military service | |
Allegiance | German Empire |
Branch/service | Imperial German Army |
Rank | Oberleutnant |
Battles/wars | World War I |
Military awards | Iron Cross, 1st class |
Johann Ludwig "Lutz" Graf[c] Schwerin von[d] Krosigk (Born Johann Ludwig von Krosigk; 22 August 1887 – 4 March 1977) was a German senior government official who served as the minister of finance of Germany from 1932 to 1945 and de facto chancellor of Germany during May 1945.
A
Besides
At the 1949 Ministries Trial, he was convicted of laundering property stolen from Nazi victims and financing the concentration camps and sentenced to 10 years in prison; his sentence was commuted in 1951. He later worked as an author and publicist. He died on 4 March 1977.
Early life and education
Born as Johann Ludwig von Krosigk on 22 August 1887 into a family of traditional
Krosigk studied law and political science at
During World War I, Krosigk served in the German Army, attaining the rank of Lieutenant, and was awarded the Iron Cross, 1st class. On 7 February 1918, during the war, he married a baroness, Ehrengard Freiin von Plettenberg (1895–1979), with whom he had four sons and five daughters. In 1922, he became an Oberregierungsrat (senior government official) and in 1929, a ministerial director and head of the budget department at the finance ministry. In 1931, he joined the department of reparations payments, formed to deal with the reparations Germany still owed the Allied Powers after the Great War.
Nazi years
Pre-World War II
In 1932 Franz von Papen appointed Krosigk as national Minister of Finance, and at the request of President Paul von Hindenburg he continued in that office under Kurt von Schleicher and throughout the period of Nazi rule. Several members of his family took part in assassination attempts against Adolf Hitler, but not Krosigk himself. He was rarely seen in public, and Hitler did not hold regular cabinet meetings. Following the final meeting of Hitler's cabinet in 1938 Krosigk did not make any public political statements and instead focused on running his ministry.[3]
Krosigk held his position under both Schleicher and Hitler as a representative of the conservative movement in Germany. While he later claimed to have remained in the role only to prevent "worse things" from happening, he welcomed the Nazi Party's rise to power and both agreed with and contributed to many of its policies. These included measures targeting Germany's Jewish community. While Krosigk's ability to shape Germany's fiscal policies was constrained by the influence of both the President of the
World War II
From 1939, Krosigk's ministry was increasingly focused on persecuting Jews and stealing their belongings as well as illegally laundering money.[4]
In February 1945 von Krosigk stressed the importance of preserving Germany's remaining industrial capacities in a letter to Reich Minister for Weapons, Munitions, and Armaments Albert Speer. This was motivated by his mistaken belief that the Allied bombing campaign directed at Germany had the goal of destroying the country's industry so that it could not be captured by the Soviet Union, and that retaining industrial capacity would position Germany to re-establish friendly relations with the western Allies following the war. It is unclear whether this had any influence of Speer's actions to prevent the implementation of the "scorched earth" policy ordered by Hitler.[6]
In his final
Rapidly advancing Allied forces limited the jurisdiction of the new German government to an area around
Post-World War II
Krosigk was put on trial at
In later years, Schwerin von Krosigk wrote several books on economic policy and two versions of his memoirs.
Schwerin von Krosigk died on 4 March 1977 in Essen, West Germany, at the age of 89.
His elder daughter, Felicitas-Anita, Countess Schwerin von Krosigk, is the mother of Alternative for Germany Member of the German Bundestag Beatrix von Storch.[14]
Works
- Es geschah in Deutschland, 1951.
- Die große Zeit des Feuers – Der Weg der deutschen Industrie, 3 volumes, 1959.
- Alles auf Wagnis – der Kaufmann gestern, heute und morgen, 1963.
- Persönliche Erinnerungen, memoirs, 3 volumes, 1974.
- Staatsbankrott (Studie über die deutsche Finanzpolitik von 1920 bis 1945), 1975.
- Memoiren (short version of Persönliche Erinnerungen), 1977.
Notes
- ^ The title of Chancellor was not used formally. On 2 May 1945 Dönitz appointed him as Leading Minister and Reich Minister for Foreign Affairs. He was de facto the Chancellor of Germany.
- ^ Krosigk and all members of the government were arrested on 23 May and, therefore, de facto left office. They were replaced de jure by the Allied Control Council established by the Berlin Declaration of 5 June.
- ^ Regarding personal names: Until 1919, Graf was a title, translated as Count, not a first or middle name. The female form is Gräfin. In Germany, it has formed part of family names since 1919.
- preposition which approximately means of or from and usually denotes some sort of nobility. While von (always lower case) is part of the family name or territorial designation, not a first or middle name, if the noble is referred to by his last name, use Schiller, Clausewitz or Goethe, not von Schiller, etc.
References
- ^ Neal 2018, p. 51.
- ^ Lebendiges Museum Online, retrieved 1 January 2018
- ^ "Johann Ludwig Graf Schwerin von Krosigk 1887-1977". Lebendiges Museum Online. Retrieved 15 April 2017.
- ^ a b c Hürter, Johannes (2010). "S. von Krosigk (bis 1925 von Krosigk), Johann Ludwig (Lutz) Graf". Deutsche Biographie. Retrieved 15 April 2017.
- ISBN 9780141003481.
- ^ Kitchen 2015, p. 261.
- ISBN 9783486833324.
- ^ "The Reich Minister's Plea". The New York Times. Vol. 94, no. 31881. 8 May 1945.
- ^ "Das Jahr 2000", Das Reich, 25 February 1945, pp. 1–2
- ^ "Regime of Doenitz Urges Recognition". The New York Times. Vol. 94, no. 31888. 15 May 1945.
- ^ "Foreign Minister Bids Reich to Hope; Schwerin von Krosigk Begins Campaign to Regain Freedom for Germany". The New York Times. Vol. 94, no. 31881. 8 May 1945.
- ^ Middleton, Drew (24 May 1945). "Doenitz, Jodl, Others Held; German Regime Is Dissolved". The New York Times. Vol. 94, no. 31897.
- ISBN 978-0231146470.
- ^ "Student who threw fake pie at AfD politician wants jail, not fine". DW.com. 12 June 2017. Retrieved 26 February 2020.
Sources
- Kitchen, Martin (2015). Speer: Hitler's Architect. New Haven, Connecticut: Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0300190441.
- Klee, Ernst (2005). Das Personenlexikon zum Dritten Reich. Wer war was vor und nach 1945 (Zweite Auflage ed.). Frankfurt am Main: Fischer Taschenbuch Verlag. p. 574. ISBN 978-3-596-16048-8.
- Neal, Stephan D Yada-MC (2018). Hitlers williger Adel (in German). Books on Demand. ISBN 978-3752803266.
- ISBN 3-10-000420-5
- Friedenberger, Martin: Die Reichsfinanzverwaltung im Nationalsozialismus. Darstellung und Dokumente, Ed. Temmen, Veröffentlichungen der Gedenk- und Bildungsstätte Haus der Wannsee-Konferenz 1, Bremen 2002. ISBN 3-86108-377-9.
- Johnson, Eric A.: Terror: Gestapo, Juden und gewöhnliche Deutsche, Siedler, Berlin 2001. ISBN 3-88680-619-7.
External links
- Media related to Lutz Graf Schwerin von Krosigk at Wikimedia Commons
- Biography (Deutsches Historisches Museum Berlin)