PLM Winner Sent to Buchenwald in 1938!

[EKman]

Greetings All,

I have recently come across something rather interesting that I would like to share here and get some thoughts on.

I'm reading through a book titled: "The Buchenwald Report" which contains a large number of primary source narratives about events in the KZ. These accounts were collected just after the camp was liberated and compiled into a document creatively titled..."The Buchenwald Report" and later reprinted in book format.

Anyway, the narratives are numbered and according to #96, WWI flying ace and PLM winner Kurt Wolff was sent to Buchenwald in 1938 as part of the round-ups following the assasination of von Rath in Paris. The narrative describes the conditions under which these prisoners were dirven into the camp--singly through a one-man gate so that they could each be beaten as they entered. It goes on to state:

"There was one interesting scene when a man who had been pushed through the gate collapsed under kicks. He sprang up, tore off his coat, and ran up to Deputy Commandant Rodl, who was standing nearby. "You can shoot me," he told Rodl, "but I will not let you beat me!" At the same time he pointed to the medal "pour le merite" that he wore around his neck. After he explained to Rodl, who knew nothing about it, what sort of order it was, he introduced himself as the World War I aviator Kurt Wolff. Rodl took him along and released him the very next day."

Interesting huh? Especially since records show that Kurt Wolff--who was a WWI ace and PLM winner, was killed in action 15-Sept-1917 and buried in his hometown of Memel.

So, assuming this first hand account to be accurate, who was this man? Why was he wearing a PLM? Why did he identify himself as a deceased WWI aviation hero?

One general question that comes to my mind upon reading this is: What German in 1938 would not be familiar with the PLM? The article states that Deputy Commandant Rodl "knew nothing about it [the PLM]." How likely was that? On the other hand, all the other information in this article that I have been able to briefly cross-reference has proven to be quite accurate.

I thought you guys might find this interesting and I'd be very eager to hear what some of you fellows have to say about this.

Best Regards,

Chris

[PaulR]

Sounds fishy to me.

[Das Reich]

i tried searching for the biography of rodl without success. i was trying to determine what age was he when he was acting as a deputy. it is very unlikely that a person in his 30's, which he would most probably be in that age range, would not have known about the PLM since he must have lived during the WW1 time. a possibility could have been of a con man that thought a way of getting out of that situation. that is the why that he was carrying the PLM with him into the camp.

[EKman]

i tried searching for the biography of rodl without success. i was trying to determine what age was he when he was acting as a deputy. it is very unlikely that a person in his 30's, which he would most probably be in that age range, would not have known about the PLM since he must have lived during the WW1 time. a possibility could have been of a con man that thought a way of getting out of that situation. that is the why that he was carrying the PLM with him into the camp.

That is along the same lines as what I was thinking. Could this have been a relative of Wolff who was using any means to escape the camp? If it was just some random person, how easy was it for an unauthorized person to get hold of a PLM in 1938? Were they available from a controlled source like our current Medal of Honor? It wouldn't be an easy thing today for a con to acquire a Medal of Honor and wear it around, but I'm not sure what the circumstances were like in 1938 Germany for this decoration.

[CWP]

I don't believe this tale. In the immediate postwar period, little effort seems to have been made to differentiate between actual accounts, wild rumours, and atrocity propaganda, especially when these stories involved the KZ system. I do not think it is wise to assume that the first hand account is accurate.