Robert Heinrich Wagner

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For other people named Robert Wagner, see Robert Wagner (disambiguation).
Robert Heinrich Wagner
Robert Wagner
Gauleiter of Gau Baden
(from 22 March 1941, Gau Baden-Elsaß)
In office
25 March 1925 – 8 May 1945
DeputyKarl Lenz (1926–31)
Walter Köhler (1931–33)
Hermann Röhn (1933–45)
Preceded byOffice established
Succeeded byOffice abolished
Reichsstatthalter of Baden
In office
5 May 1933 – 8 May 1945
Preceded byOffice established
Succeeded byOffice abolished
Chief of Civil Administration for Alsace
In office
2 August 1940 – 23 November 1944
Preceded byOffice established
Succeeded byOffice abolished
Personal details
Born
Robert Heinrich Backfisch

(1895-10-13)13 October 1895
Eberbach, Grand Duchy of Baden, German Empire
Died14 August 1946(1946-08-14) (aged 50)
Fort de Roppe, Belfort, France
Cause of deathExecution by firing squad
NationalityGerman
Known forForced reintegration of Alsace into the German Reich
Military service
Allegiance German Empire
 Weimar Republic
Branch/serviceImperial German Army
Reichswehr
Years of service1914–1924
RankOberleutnant
Unit110th Grenadier Regiment
110th Reserve Regiment
113th Defense Regiment
14th Infantry Regiment
Battles/warsWorld War I
November Revolution
Beer Hall Putsch
AwardsIron Cross, 1st and 2nd class

Robert Heinrich Wagner, born as Robert Heinrich Backfisch (13 October 1895 – 14 August 1946) was a

German occupation of France in World War II.[1][2]

Early life

Robert Wagner was born in

Lindach in the Grand Duchy of Baden in the German Empire. He was the second of five children of Peter Backfisch and Catherine Wagner, a farming family. After attending volksschule in Lindach, he enrolled in 1910 in a preparatory school in Heidelberg and later in a teacher normal school there.[3]

At the outbreak of the

Western Front, including operations in Flanders, the Battle of Verdun, the Battle of the Somme, the Battle of Loretto, and the Battle of Champagne. He was decorated for bravery with the Iron Cross, 1st and 2nd class and discharged in December 1918 after the war had ended.[4]

In February 1919, Wagner joined the 2nd Baden Volunteer Battalion, with whom he participated in the suppression of revolutionary unrest in Mannheim and Karlsruhe. This unit was transferred to Reichswehr 113th Defense Regiment in March 1920. In January 1921, he was transferred to the 14th Infantry Regiment, based in Konstanz. Also at this time, he officially had his name changed to Wagner, taking the maiden name of his mother.[5] The reason for the name change from his father's (Backfisch, which means "teenage girl" (literally "fried fish")) was probably to avoid teasing by his fellow officers.

Hitler meeting

In September 1923, by now an

Landsberg prison. He was dismissed from the Reichswehr on 24 May.[3] During the time that the Nazi Party was banned, Wagner remained active as a speaker at political gatherings, and was arrested six times for political rowdyism.[6]

Nine of the defendants in the Beer Hall Putsch treason trial on 1 April 1924. Robert Wagner at far right

Nazi Party career

When the

Freiburg, but was acquitted. In October 1929, he was elected to the Baden Landtag. Another libel case in 1930 resulted in an acquittal on appeal. From December 1932 through March 1933 he was temporarily transferred to the Party headquarters at the Brown House, Munich as Deputy to Robert Ley and head of the Hauptpersonalamt (Main Personnel Office).[7]

Following the

Minister of the Interior.[8] On 5 April he issued a decree banning all non-Aryans from public service employment. Turning over the premiership to Walter Köhler, on 5 May he assumed the new, more powerful position of Reichsstatthalter (Reich Governor) of Baden, thus uniting under his control the highest party and governmental offices in his jurisdiction.[7] On 30 January 1936, Wagner was made a Gruppenführer in the National Socialist Motor Corps (NSKK) and on 30 January 1939 was promoted to NSKK-Obergruppenführer.[9] A dedicated Nazi, Wagner carried out the Party policies regarding persecution of the Jews, enforcement of the Nuremberg Laws, the pogrom of Kristallnacht and persecution against the churches.[10]

Second World War and Chief of Civil Administration in Alsace

Shortly after the outbreak of the

Reich Labor Service for working-age Alsatians. Wagner also personally established the Schirmeck-Vorbrück concentration camp, where by 1942 about 1,400 prisoners were incarcerated.[11]

On 25 August 1942, Wagner issued a decree ordering the conscription into the Wehrmacht on all Alsatian men of military service age. This policy was very unpopular and had the effect of increasing opposition to the German occupation. In February 1943, Wagner ordered the execution of 12 men from Ballersdorf who tried to avoid compulsory military duty by attempting to cross into nearby Switzerland.[12]

Wagner also embarked on a campaign to rid Alsace of Jews, earning the nickname the Butcher of Alsace (Schlächter vom Elsaß). On 22 October, he initiated a massive deportation of Jews to areas in unoccupied France (

Gurs internment camp at the foot of the Pyrenees. Some 2,000 were deported to the Majdanek and Auschwitz concentration camps and murdered in 1942. Of the 4,464 Jews sent to the Camp Gurs, fewer than 800 survived.[3]

On 16 November 1942, the jurisdiction of

scorched earth policy detailed in Hitler's Nero Decree, he ordered cities in Baden to destroy their infrastructure to hinder the advance of the Allies. Karlsruhe, the capital, fell to the First French Army on 4 April 1945, and Wagner fled south to Konstanz. Reportedly, he tried to cross into Switzerland, but was turned back by border guards.[14]

Capture, trial and death

On 29 April 1945, Wagner went into hiding, posing as a farmhand near

firing squad on 14 August 1946. Wagner remained a loyal Nazi to the end, as his last words before the execution show: "Long live Greater Germany, long live Adolf Hitler, long live National Socialism."[3][15][16]

On 1 September 1950, Wagner was posthumously classified as a major offender (Category I) by the denazification court in Baden.[17]

References

  1. ^ "Rhein-Neckar Zeitung/Nr. 261", Milde Strafen für die Täter, Rhein-Neckar-Zeitung GmbH, p. 13, 2008-11-08
  2. ^ "Robert Wagner – Stadtlexikon". stadtlexikon.karlsruhe.de. Retrieved 2020-03-13.
  3. ^ a b c d e "Milde Strafen für die Täter". Rhein-Neckar Zeitung/Nr. 261 (in German). Rhein-Neckar-Zeitung GmbH. 8 November 2008. p. 13.
  4. ^ Miller & Schulz 2021, p. 573.
  5. ^ Miller & Schulz 2021, p. 574.
  6. ^ Miller & Schulz 2021, p. 575.
  7. ^ a b c Höffkes 1986, p. 373.
  8. ISBN 978-0-582-48997-4
  9. ^ Miller & Schulz 2021, p. 572.
  10. ^ "Wagner, Robert Heinrich". Retrieved 2020-08-27.
  11. ^ Miller & Schulz 2021, pp. 584–585.
  12. ^ Miller & Schulz 2021, p. 589.
  13. ^ Miller & Schulz 2021, p. 585.
  14. ^ Miller & Schulz 2021, pp. 590–592.
  15. ^ "Wagner Robert Heinrich - Detailseite - LEO-BW". www.leo-bw.de. Retrieved 2020-03-13.
  16. ^ "Robert Wagner – stadtlexikon". stadtlexikon.karlsruhe.de. Retrieved 2020-08-27.
  17. ^ Miller & Schulz 2021, p. 593.

Sources

External links
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