Paul Carell

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Paul Carell was the post-war pen name of Paul Karl Schmidt (2 November 1911 – 20 June 1997) who was a writer and German propagandist. During the

Allgemeine-SS (General SS). One of his specialities was the "Jewish question". After the war, Carell became a successful author mostly of revisionist books that romanticized and whitewashed the Wehrmacht.[1]

Career before and during World War II

Born in

University of Kiel in Germany. He held several positions in the Nazi Student Association
.

In the SS, Schmidt was promoted to the rank of

German Foreign Ministry's
news and press division.

Schmidt chaired the daily press conferences of the ministry, and was thus one of the most important and influential

Reichspropagandaministerium). Schmidt was also responsible [clarification needed] for the German propaganda magazine Signal
, which was published in several languages to tell the German side of the story in neutral and occupied countries during the war.

Schmidt justified the Holocaust through his propaganda efforts. In May 1944, he gave advice on how to justify the deportation and murder of Hungarian Jews, to counter the potential accusation of mass murder:

The planned undertaking (against the Jews of Budapest) will create significant attention, and lead to a strong reaction because of its scope. Those who are against us will scream and talk of a hunt on humans, and will try to use terror propaganda to increase feelings against us in neutral states. I would therefore like to suggest whether it would not be possible to prevent these things by creating reasons and events justifying the undertaking, e.g. finding explosives in Jewish association buildings and Synagogues, plans for sabotage attacks, for a coup d’etat, attacks on policemen, smuggling of currency in significant amounts to destroy the fabric of the Hungarian currency. The final piece of this should be a particularly heinous case, which can then be used to justify the dragnet.[2]

Schmidt was arrested on 6 May 1945 and interned for 30 months. It was left open for a long time whether he would appear as one of those indicted, or as a witness for the prosecution, during the war crimes trials. During the

Nuremberg Trials, he finally appeared as a witness for the prosecution, and portrayed himself as a fighter for democratic freedom of the press.[3]

Post-war

After World War II, Schmidt became a writer. Aided by the network of 'old comrades' working in the publishing industry, he was able to secure assignments. Starting in the 1950s, he wrote for the popular magazine Kristall. He first used the pseudonym Paul Karell, and later Paul Carell. Carell was a member of the Naumann Circle, a group of Neo-Nazis who sought to infiltrate the Free Democratic Party.[4]

He worked as a freelance author under various noms de plume for newspapers such as

Axel Springer AG, where he wrote speeches for Axel Springer
.

From 1965 to 1971 the

Office of the State Prosecutor of Verden in Germany investigated him for murder. But the investigation, which should have clarified his role in the genocide of Hungarian Jews, ended without an indictment. Schmidt never had to face a trial for his activities during the war.[5]

In 1992 Carell claimed that even after the Battle of Stalingrad there was a possibility for Germany to win the war. In his view, it was primarily the command of Adolf Hitler that led to the defeat. The leadership of the Wehrmacht and very competent commanders such as Erich von Manstein could have achieved victory if not for Hitler's interference. Carell also claimed that the invasion of the Soviet Union was a preemptive attack to forestall an invasion of Germany by the Red Army.

Writing career

The success of his books Hitler Moves East (Unternehmen Barbarossa) and Scorched Earth (Verbrannte Erde) made Carell a leading post-war chronicler of the German side of World War II on the

Allied invasion of Normandy
.

In his books, Carell portrays the Wehrmacht as heroes fighting for a lost cause. Carell presents a post-war revisionist message, first popularized by leading Wehrmacht generals:

Carell's works emphasize the German army's professionalism, sacrifice and positive encounters with civilians. His books also suggest that the Wehrmacht freed the Russians from their Communist tyrants and restored their religious community.[8]

In Carell's works the army thus operated in a world distinct from the political sphere, and the culprits for any calamities that befell the Russian people rule this political sphere, namely the Nazi and the Communist parties. The thrust of this argument thus confirmed the high moral position of the German officer, perpetuating the myth of the "clean Wehrmacht". Carell's themes of anti-Communism also appealed to the U.S. public and garnered Carell repeat reprints.[9]

Bibliography

References

Citations

  1. ^ a b Smelser & Davies 2008, p. 115.
  2. Bundesarchiv, Außenstelle Ludwigsburg
  3. ^ Nürnberger Dokument Dokument NG-3590, Staatsarchiv Nürnberg; eidesstattliche Erklärung Paul Carell Schmidt vom 13. November 1947
  4. ^ Lutz Hachmeister: Der Gegnerforscher. Die Karriere des SS-Führers Franz Alfred Six. Beck, München 1998, S. 294 ff
  5. ^ Ermittlungsverfahren der Staatsanwaltschaft Verden gegen Dr. Paul Karl Schmidt u.a. wegen Mordes. Akte 412 AR-Nr. 1082 / 1965; Bundesarchiv, Außenstelle Ludwigsburg, neue Signatur (seit November 2003): B 162 AR 650 1082
  6. ^ Der Spiegel 8/1967 vom 13. Februar 1967, Seite 107
  7. ^ "Hitlers Krieg im Osten" [Hitlers war in the East]. zeit.de (in German). Die Zeit. 1 June 2011. Retrieved 11 March 2016.
  8. ^ Smelser & Davies 2008, pp. 136–152.
  9. ^ Smelser & Davies 2008, pp. 151.

Bibliography

External links
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Paul_Carell&oldid=1219134799"