Theodor Duesterberg

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Theodor Duesterberg
Duesterberg in uniform, ca. 1932
Deputy Federal Leader of Der Stahlhelm
In office
9 March 1924 – 21 June 1933
Personal details
Born(1875-10-19)19 October 1875
Iron Cross First Class
  • Iron Cross Second Class
  • Wound Badge

    • Theodor Duesterberg (German pronunciation:

    seizure of power
    .

    Background

    Born the son of an army surgeon in

    Versailles Treaty, which Duesterberg viewed as being extremely unfair to Germany. Duesterberg subsequently decided to enter politics and joined the German National People's Party
    (DNVP) in 1919.

    Der Stahlhelm

    After various disagreements with the party leadership, however, Duesterberg left the DNVP in 1923 and joined the nationalistic and pro-monarchy Der Stahlhelm, which largely consisted of ex-servicemen disgruntled with the Weimar Republic. Duesterberg quickly moved through its hierarchy and by 1924 was one of two of its federal leaders (the other being Franz Seldte). Together with General Georg Ludwig Rudolf Maercker, Duesterberg was one of the leaders of the extreme anti-Semitic faction within Der Stahlhelm who wanted to ban Jews from joining, and expel all of the current Jewish members.[2] In March 1924, Maercker and Duesterberg forced Seldte to adopt the "Aryan clause" and expel all Jews from Der Stahlhelm.[3] The "Aryan clause" of 1924 was later to serve as the inspiration for similar "Aryan clauses" under the Third Reich, and in particular influenced the War Minister, General Werner von Blomberg in his attempts to keep the Wehrmacht "racially clean".[4] Under Duesterberg's leadership, Der Stahlhelm became Germany's largest para-military group.

    In the late 1920s, Duesterberg allied Der Stahlhelm with the

    Harzburger Front. The Harzburger Front attempted to bring about the downfall of Heinrich Brüning and the Weimar Republic, but it eventually dissolved due to Adolf Hitler
    's unwillingness to subordinate the Nazi Party to such a vast right wing coalition on a long-term basis. After the dissolution of the Harzburger Front, Duesterberg continued to lead Der Stahlhelm and maintained the organization's alliance with the DNVP.

    1932 presidential election

    Der Stahlhelm propaganda car in Berlin promoting DNVP nominee Theodor Duesterberg for president of the German Reich in the 1932 election

    In 1932, Duesterberg was nominated by Der Stahlhelm and DNVP to run for

    Jewish ancestry. In April 1932, the deeply anti-Semitic Duesterberg learned for the first time that his grandfather was a Prussian Jewish doctor who converted to Lutheranism in 1818, a revelation that caused Duesterberg to suffer a nervous breakdown and to submit his resignation in shame from Der Stahlhelm.[4][7]
    Several of Duesterberg's friends persuaded him not to resign, and in an attempt to stay on as Der Stahlhelm deputy federal leader, he suggested new requirements for every member, namely that:

    The revelation of Duesterberg's Jewish ancestry caused Duesterberg to poll poorly in the first ballot of the election, and he withdrew from the runoff election that followed.[1]

    During the 1932 presidential elections, the Nazis went out of their way to taunt Duesterberg for having Jewish ancestry with Joseph Goebbels and Richard Walther Darré being especially vicious in their attacks. Duesterberg was so hurt by Darré's attacks that he challenged him to a duel, a challenge that Darré rejected because it was beneath him to fight a man with "Jewish blood". Duesterberg then took up his dispute with Darré before the court of honor of the Former Officers of the 1st Hanoverian Field Artillery Regiment of Scharnhorst, number 10 to which Darré belonged. Duesterberg argued before the court of honor that Darré should be expelled for engaging in behavior that was unbecoming of a German officer while Darré argued that he had right and duty to subject Duesterberg to anti-Semitic insults. The court of honor ruled in Darré's favor, stating that he was right to insult Duesterberg for having "Jewish blood".[8]

    Ironically, Duesterberg was offered a position in Hitler's cabinet when Hitler became

    Chancellor of Germany in 1933, but Duesterberg flatly refused the proposal. Franz Seldte, however, did enter Hitler's cabinet,[1] which undermined Der Stahlhelm and Duesterberg's authority over the organization, and thus he resigned his leadership position in 1933.[9] In April 1933, Duesterberg was strongly urged to resign from Der Stahlhelm by President Paul von Hindenburg and the Defense Minister, General Werner von Blomberg, who told him that he was now a liability to them with Hitler now chancellor.[8]

    Arrest and later life

    In 1934, Duesterberg was arrested by the Nazis during the

    anti-Nazi Carl Friedrich Goerdeler in 1943, but Duesterberg ultimately did not play any role in Goerdeler's plots against Hitler. In 1949, Duesterberg wrote The Steel Helmet and Hitler, in which he defended his pre-war political career and Der Stahlhelm and detailed the movement's independence from the Nazi Party and "the insane Jew hatred preached by Hitler". A year later, Duesterberg died in Hamelin.[1]

    References

    1. ^
      ISBN 0-415-26038-8
      .
    2. ^ Wette 2007, p. 63.
    3. ^ Wette 2007, pp. 63–64.
    4. ^ a b Wette 2007, p. 64.
    5. ^ Jones, Larry Eugene "Nationalists, Nazis, and the Assault against Weimar: Revisiting the Harzburg Rally of October 1931" pages 483-494 from German Studies Review Vol. 29, No. 3, October 2006 page 485.
    6. ^ Jones, Larry Eugene "Nationalists, Nazis, and the Assault against Weimar: Revisiting the Harzburg Rally of October 1931" pages 483-494 from German Studies Review Vol. 29, No. 3, October 2006 pages 485-486.
    7. ^ "Duesterberg, Stahlhelm Leader, Candidate for President, Says He is of Jewish Origin". Jewish Telegraphic Agency. 7 September 1932. Retrieved 15 July 2018.
    8. ^ a b c d e f Wette 2007, p. 65.
    9. ^ "Duesterberg, Steel Helmet Leader, Ousted for Jewish Descent". Jewish Telegraphic Agency. 28 April 1933. Retrieved 15 July 2018.

    Further reading

    External links

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