Otto Herzog
Otto Herzog | |
---|---|
Breslau | |
In office February 1945 – 6 May 1945 | |
Inspector of Gebirgsjäger, Supreme SA Command | |
In office 1 February 1942 – 6 May 1945 | |
Führer, SA-Gruppe "Schlesien" | |
In office 15 June 1939 – 1 February 1942 | |
Preceded by | Heinrich Georg Wilhelm Graf Finck von Finckenstein |
Succeeded by | Richard Aster |
Stabsführer, Supreme SA Command | |
In office 1 May 1936 – 14 June 1939 | |
Succeeded by | Max Jüttner |
Führer, SA-Gruppe "Schlesien" | |
In office 10 July 1934 – 31 July 1936 | |
Preceded by | Edmund Heines |
Succeeded by | Heinrich Georg Wilhelm Graf Finck von Finckenstein |
Personal details | |
Born | Breslau, Nazi Germany | 30 October 1900
Cause of death | Possible suicide or killed in action |
Nationality | German |
Political party | Nazi Party |
Occupation | Soldier Sales assistant |
Civilian awards | Golden Party Badge |
Military service | |
Allegiance | German Empire Weimar Republic Nazi Germany |
Branch/service | Imperial German Army Reichswehr German Army |
Years of service | 1917–1918 1919–1923 1939–1945 |
Rank | Unteroffizier Oberleutnant |
Battles/wars | World War I World War II |
Military awards | Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross War Merit Cross, 1st class with Swords |
Otto Friedrich Herzog (30 October 1900 – 6 May 1945) was a German
Early life
Herzog was born the son of an innkeeper in
Nazi Party political career
Herzog formally joined the Nazi Party on 21 June 1926 (membership number 38,960). As an early Party adherent, he would later be awarded the Golden Party Badge. From 1926, he was the Ortsgruppenleiter of the Party's local branch in Varel in the Free State of Oldenburg. In 1927 he advanced to Bezirksleiter of the Varel district and from 1928 to 1929 he was the Gaugeschäftsführer (business manager) in the Gau leadership office in Oldenburg. From 1929 to 1933 he was the Gau Organization Leader in Gau Weser-Ems, and he worked full-time for the Party from 1930 onward.[2]
Herzog was elected to the Oldenburg City Council on 1 November 1930, and led the Nazi Party faction there. In May 1931, he was elected to the Oldenburg Landtag and was the chairman of the Nazi Party parliamentary group in that body, serving until its dissolution in October 1933. He was the publisher and editor of the Nazi Party daily newspaper Der Freiheitskampfer (The Freedom Fighter) in Oldenburg, from 1 August 1932. In 1933 and 1934, he published the Oldenburgische Staatszeitung (Oldenburg State Newspaper). In the July 1932 German federal election, he was elected as a deputy to the Reichstag for electoral constituency 14, Weser-Ems, but was defeated in the November 1932 German federal election when the Nazis lost electoral support. He was again elected in March 1933, remaining a deputy until the end of the Nazi regime in May 1945, switching to constituency 7, Breslau (today, Wrocław), at the 1936 election. In August 1944, he was assigned as a lay judge to the People's Court.[3][4]
Service in the Sturmabteilung (SA)
On 21 June 1926, Herzog joined the
War service and death
On the outbreak of the
In the closing months of the war, Breslau was surrounded and
The historian Werner Vahlenkamp characterizes Herzog as a former Freikorps fighter who belonged to "the group of particularly brutal and fanatical National Socialists" and was "throughout his life, uncritically affiliated with the party".[10]
SA Ranks[8] | |
---|---|
Date | Rank |
1927 | SA-Sturmführer |
1 April 1930 | SA-Standartenführer |
1 July 1932 | SA-Oberführer |
1 April 1933 | SA-Gruppenführer |
11 November 1936 | SA-Obergruppenführer |
References
- ^ Miller & Schulz 2015, pp. 552, 554.
- ^ Miller & Schulz 2015, p. 554.
- ^ a b Miller & Schulz 2015, pp. 554, 556.
- ^ Otto Herzog entry in the Reichstag database
- ^ Miller & Schulz 2015, p. 556.
- ^ Scherzer 2007, p. 387.
- ^ Miller & Schulz 2015, pp. 556–557.
- ^ a b Miller & Schulz 2015, p. 552.
- ^ Hargreaves 2011.
- ^ Vahlenkamp, 1992: Otto Herzog Biography, p. 309.
Sources
- Hargreaves, Richard (2011). Hitler’s Final Fortress: Breslau 1945. Pen and Sword Military. ISBN 978-1-848-84515-2.
- Information about Otto Herzog in the Reichstag database
- Miller, Michael D.; Schulz, Andreas (2015). Leaders of the Storm Troops. Vol. 1. Solihull, England: Helion & Company. ISBN 978-1-909-98287-1.
- Scherzer, Veit (2007). Die Ritterkreuzträger 1939–1945 Die Inhaber des Ritterkreuzes des Eisernen Kreuzes 1939 von Heer, Luftwaffe, Kriegsmarine, Waffen-SS, Volkssturm sowie mit Deutschland verbündeter Streitkräfte nach den Unterlagen des Bundesarchives [The Knight's Cross Bearers 1939–1945 The Holders of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross 1939 by Army, Air Force, Navy, Waffen-SS, Volkssturm and Allied Forces with Germany According to the Documents of the Federal Archives]. Jena, Germany: Scherzers Miltaer-Verlag. ISBN 978-3-938-84517-2.
- Vahlenkamp, Werner: Otto Herzog Biography. In: Hans Friedl (Ed.), Oldenburgischen Landschaft Association: Biographisches Handbuch zur Geschichte des Landes Oldenburg. Isensee Verlag, Oldenburg, 1992, pp. 308–309, ISBN 978-3-894-42135-9(pdf, 12.3 MB).
Further reading
- Campbell, Bruce (1998). The SA Generals and the Rise of Nazism. Lexington: University Press of Kentucky. ISBN 978-0-813-12047-8.