Gauleiter: The Regional Leaders of the Nazi Party and Their Deputies

[Michael Miller]

Just a quick note for political history and collecting aficionados- Roger Bender and his assistant Carl are hard at work turning my manuscript for Volume I of "Gauleiter" (covering A - H) into a book. It's all formatted and the pictures are in place- lots and lots of pictures. I'll be sending him Volume II (J - Z) soon- I'm just in the time-consuming photo captioning phase now (Volume III will cover the illegal Austrian Gauleiters and all deputy Gauleiters). As a side note: The box containing Volume II of my SS & Police Leaders series is also on his table. And I'm nearing completion of my manuscript for "Leaders of the Storm Troops, Volume I" (all Stabschef/OSAF and SA-Ogruf. from "B" to "O"). Andreas Schulz of Berlin is my coauthor on all of these.

Best wishes and Happy Holidays,
~ Mike Miller

[tgn]

Excellent!

[Br. James]

Great news, Mike! I'll have to start saving my pennies now because I will want to get my orders in early! I hope there will be a way to secure autographed and numbered copies. Congratulations on behalf of all in our hobby!

Br. James

[Jon Fish]

Brilliant! can't wait for the second volumne especially as I own the medals including Gold party badge and Blood order to Gauleiter Loeper.

[Erich B.]

Tell Roger to hurry it up!
Erich

[der-hase-fee]

Brilliant! can't wait for the second volumne especially as I own the medals including Gold party badge and Blood order to Gauleiter Loeper.

Adorable. http://www.craiggottlieb.com/engine/...Filter=Archive

2nd volume for me too, please.

[Jeff Clark]

A welcome additional, long over due. I can't wait

[Michael Miller]

I could have illustrated this book in a basically okay way without the aid of Jeff Clark, but thanks to said aid, it will be illustrated in a basically kick-ass and outstanding way. Immeasurable thanks, Jeff!

Sincerely,
~ Mike

[TxGauleiter]

This is excellent news!

[Mark Costa]

Mike:

Fantastic news indeed. Especially look forward to the SA book.

Mark

[jerry c.]

i've long been wanting a book on the gauleiter. i'll definitely be purchasing these..as well as the SA books.

[Bill Hughes]

Gauleiter: The Regional Leaders of the Nazi Party and Their Deputies

Super news!!!!!! As a collector of Gauleiters autographs I am really looking forward to adding this reference work to the library. Can hardly wait

Cheers
Bill

[Michael Miller]

A sample from Leaders of the Storm Troops, Volume I:

Adolf Heinz Beckerle
SA-Obergruppenführer (09.11.1937)

Born:04.02.1902 in Frankfurt am Main / Hessen.
Died:03.04.1976 in Frankfurt am Main.
NSDAP-Nr.:80 983 (First joined 29.08.1922 with Nr. 7 197; Party banned following the München-Putsch of 09.11.1923; Reenrolled with Nr. 80 983, 01.09.1928)
Promotions:
01.09.1928 SA-Mann
01.04.1929 SA-Sturmführer
01.01.1930 SA-Standartenführer
10.12.1930 SA-Brigadeführer (the old form of this rank)
01.03.1931 SA-Oberführer
14.09.1933-00.05.1941 Polizeipräsident (“vertretungsweise mit der Verwaltung der Stelle beauftragt” [charged with acting
administration of the position] until 31.12.1933, then permanent)
01.03.1933 SA-Gruppenführer
09.11.1937 SA-Obergruppenführer
01.04.1940 Leutnant d. R.
Career:
ca. 1908-ca. 1912 Attended Volksschule in Frankfurt am Main (presumably).
ca. 1912 -00.03.1921 Attended the Wühlergymnasium in Frankfurt am Main (passed his Abitur).
00.00.1919 Joined the "Jungdeutschen Orden".
00.04.1921-00.00.1927 Studied political economy, philology, and medicine (with breaks in studies) at the Johann Wolfgang Goethe-Universität, Frankfurt am Main. He was also a member of the "Landsmannschaft 'Nibelungia' D.L.", and employed as a nurse and commercial trainee during this period.
00.00.1922 Joined the “Technische Nothilfe” (TN).
00.00.1922 Joined the ”Verband nationalgesinnter Soldaten“ (Association of Nationalist-Minded Soldiers).
00.00.1922 Joined the “Wikingbund”.
29.08.1922 Joined the NSDAP / Ortsgruppe München.
00.00.1924-00.00.1925 Worked in commerce, banking, and industry, visiting North and South America (spending one year in Argentina).
01.04.1925-00.06.1926 Service as an Offiziersanwärter in the preussischen Schutzpolizei, assigned to the Polizeischule in Hannoversch Münden.
00.00.1925 Joined the ”Eiserne Schar”.
00.00.1927 Obtained his "volkswirtschaftliches Diplom" ("Diplom-Volkswirt" / Diploma in political economy) from the Johann Wolfgang Goethe-Universität, Frankfurt am Main.
01.09.1928 Reenrolled in the NSDAP.
01.09.1928-01.08.1929 (?) Joined the SA, assigned to Gausturm Frankfurt am Main.
01.08.1929-01.01.1930 Assigned to the SA-Reserve Frankfurt am Main, then to SA-Sturm 68 (Base: Frankfurt/Main).
01.01.1930-05.02.1931 Führer of SA-Standarte II (Base: Frankfurt am Main).
00.00.19__-00.00.1932 Studied law at the Johann Wolfgang Goethe-Universität, Frankfurt am Main (did not obtain a degree).
05.02.1931-13.04.1932 Gausturmführer of the SA in Hessen-Nassau-Süd.
01.07.1931-13.04.1932 Führer (m.d.F.b.) of SA-Untergruppe Hessen-Nassau-Süd (HQ: Frankfurt/Main) (SA banned by the government of Reichskanzler Heinrich Brüning, 13.04.1932-01.07.1932). Succeeded by Emil Steinhoff.
18.10.1931 Participated in the "SA-Aufmarsch in Braunschweig".
06.12.1931-19.12.1931 Participated in the 7. Lehrgang (7th instructional course) of the "Reichsführerschule der SA" in München.
24.04.1932-00.09.1932 Member of the Preussische Landtag (Wahlkreis 19, Hessen-Nassau).
01.07.1932-01.07.1933 Führer of SA-Untergruppe Hessen-Nassau-Süd.
31.07.1932-08.05.1945 Member of the Reichstag (Wahlkreis 19, Hessen-Nassau).
00.04.1933 Appointed as "Beauftragter der Reichssportkommissar" (Representative of the Reich Sport Commissioner [Hans von Tschammer und Osten]) for Gau XIII of the "Reichsbundes für Leibesübungen" (Reich Physical Training League).
01.07.1933-31.01.1942 Führer of SA-Gruppe Hessen (HQ: Frankfurt/Main; m.d.F.b. until 30.09.1933, then permanent from 01.10.1933).
14.09.1933-00.05.1941 Polizeipräsident in Frankfurt am Main (“vertretungsweise mit der Verwaltung der Stelle beauftragt” [charged with acting administration of the position] until 31.12.1933, then permanent). Briefly suspended from office in 1934 due to the so-called“Röhm-Putsch”.
30.10.1933-03.07.1934 “Sonderbevollmächtigter der OSAF“ (Special Plenipotentiary of the Obersten SA-Führer) to the Oberpräsident of Provinz Hessen-Nassau.
00.00.193_-00.00.193_ Member of the “Deutsche Olympische Komitee” (German Olympic Committee).
00.00.1934 Appointed as a Preussischer Provinzialrat for Provinz Hessen-Nassau.
00.00.193_-00.00.19__ Vorsitzender des Aufsichtsrates of “Treuhand-Vereinigung AG”, Frankfurt/Main.
00.00.193_-00.00.19__ Member of the Vorstand, “Hippodrom AG”, Frankfurt/Main.
0.12.1935 Appointed as Gauführer of Gau XIII (Südwest) in the "Reichsbund für Leibesübungen".
20.04.1936 Appointed as "ehrenamtlicher Beauftragter des Reichssportführers" (honorary representative of the Reich Sport Leader [Hans von Tschammer und Osten]) for Provinz Starkenburg, Bayerische Pfalz, Saargebiet, and the Prussian Kreise of Frankfurt am Main, Wiesbaden, Rheingau, and Main-Taunuskreis.
07.02.1939-00.00.1939 Member of the "Deutsche Olympische Ausschuss" (German Olympic Committee tasked with preparations for Germany's participation in the 1940 Olympic Games in St. Moritz, Switzerland and Helsinki, Finland).
26.09.1939-00.11.1939 (kommissarischer) Polizeipräsident in Lodsch (Łódź). On 25.10.1939, he met with the Generalgouverneur of occupied Poland, Dr. Hans Frank, as indicated by the following entry in Frank’s official diary:
“The Generalgouverneur received the Polizeipräsident of Lodsch, SA-Obergruppenführer Beckerle. Questions pertaining to the committment of Police and civil service employees were discussed. Obergruppenführer Beckerle pointed out that the former fear psychology present among the people had passed and that there were more Jews in Lodsch than before. This is one of the reasons for the continued deterioration of the food situation.” (Partial Translation of Document 2233-G-PS, in Nazi Conspiracy and Aggression, Volume IV)
00.00.1939-00.00.1940 War service on the Western Front.
17.06.1941-18.09.1944 Employed in the Auswärtigen Amt.
28.06.1941-18.09.1944 Deutscher Gesandter (German Ambassador) in Sofia. Succeeded Herbert von Richthofen. While holding this post, he played a role in the deportation of 12,000 Jews from the Bulgarian-occupied regions of Macedonia and Thrace to Auschwitz and Treblinka. On 07.06.1943, he wrote to the Reichskanzlei:
“I beg you to believe me that my service is doing everything possible to reach a final solution to the Jewish question in conformity with decisions taken. I am deeply convinced that the Prime Minister [Bogdan Filov] and the Bulgarian government also desire a final solution of the Jewish problem and are trying to reach it. But they are forced to take into account the mentality of the Bulgarian people, who lack the ideological conceptions that we have. Having grown up among Turks, Jews, Armenians, the Bulgarian people have not observed in the Jews faults which would warrant these special measures against them.” (Guy H. Haskell, From Sofia to Jaffa: The Jews of Bulgaria and Israel, p. 109)
Marshall Lee Miller writes:
“The attitude of… Beckerle, toward the Jewish question is not completely clear. A
dedicated Nazi… it… seems inconceivable that he would have had any but the most orthodox Nazi
views concerning the Jews, although not surprisingly he has written to the author [in 1966] that he
was responsible for saving the Bulgarian Jews from deportation. Normally this claim would not be
taken seriously. However, both Hannah Arendt and Gerald Reitlinger have stated that Beckerle’s
reports to Berlin discouraged Germany from putting more pressure on Bulgaria to persecute the
Jews. It is true that many of the cables he sent during this period were the barest minimum that he
could do and still keep the confidence of his superiors…” (Miller, Bulgaria in the Second World
War, p. 105)
01.02.1942-00.05.1945 Assigned as SA-Führer z. V. to the "Stab der Obersten SA-Führung".
Postwar Prosecution & Activities:
Arrested by Soviet troops- together with 36 other German diplomats- at Svilengrad, Bulgaria, on the border with Turkey 18.09.1944. On 17.10.1951, he was sentenced by the Soviet MGB-Special Authority "Osoboe Soveščanie" (OSO) to 25 years' imprisonment (in accordance with Control Council Order #10 of 20.12.1945) and held in Soviet captivity until 13.10.1955 when he was repatriated to West Germany. Classified as a “Hauptschuldiger” (Major Offender) by the Zentralkammer (Central de-Nazification Court) Hessen-Süd, 22.03.1950. Beckerle received a remuneration of 6.000 DM from the city of Frankfurt am Main. Employed as a Prokurist (authorized representative) of a firm in Neu-Isenburg, 00.00.1956-00.00.1966 (terminated due to his indictment on war crimes charges). On 25.09.1959, Beckerle was arrested at the direction of the Generalstaatsanwalt in Frankfurt am Main, Fritz Bauer, following issuance of an arrest warrant by the Amtsgericht in Frankfurt. Released in October 1959, but following a complaint by Generalstaatsanwalt Bauer, he was arrested again on 27.05.1960. Charged again, 17.03.1966, together with former Foreign Office Legationsrat, Fritz von Hahn, in connection with the deporation of 11,343 Jews from Macedonia and Thrace to the Treblinka extermination camp (von Hahn was additionally accused of involvement in the deportation of 20,000 Greek Jews to Auschwitz). Beckerle and von Hahn were, from November 1967 through 21.06.1968, tried in the so-called ”Judenmord-Prozess” before the Schwurgericht of the Oberlandesgericht in Frankfurt am Main. Hospitalized, 21.06.1968, due to sciatica (prosecutor Fritz Bauer died of a heart attack two days later). The proceedings against Beckerle were terminated due to his poor health on 30.06.1968, and he was not charged again.
Published Work:
Wir wollen arbeiten: Erlebnisse deutscher Auswanderer in Südamerika (1942, written uner the pseudonym “Heinz Edelmann” [Edelmann being his wife’s maiden name])
Decorations & Awards:
00.00.1940 1939 Eisernes Kreuz II. Klasse
00.00.193_ Goldenes Ehrenzeichen der NSDAP
ca. 1929 Nürnberger Parteitagsabzeichen 1929
ca. 1931 Abzeichen des SA-Treffens Braunschweig 1931
00.00.194_ Dienstauszeichnung der NSDAP in Silber
00.00.194_ Dienstauszeichnung der NSDAP in Bronze
01.10.1935 Ehrenzeichen der TN (Nr. 1 376)
30.03.1935 SA-Sportabzeichen in Gold
17.05.1936 Deutsches Reichssportabzeichen in Silber
02.04.1936 Deutsches Reiterabzeichen in Silber
30.06.1934 Abzeichen der Deutschen Lebensrettungsgesellschaft- DLRG- in Bronze
00.00.1934 Ehrendolch der SA (mit Wirkung vom 03.02.1934)
19.12.1931 Tyr-Rune
00.02.1934 Ehrenwinkel für alte Kämpfer
Notes:
* Son of thepostal official (Postoberamtsmann) Hans Beckerle (born 03.01.1875 in Eltville) and his wife Margarethe, née Kammerer (born 03.10.1875 in Frankfurt am Main).
* Religion: Roman Catholic (his father’s faith; mother was Lutheran).
* Married on 27.02.1935 to Silke Edelmann (born 13.10.1906 in München, Suicide 00.00.1951).
* Foreign language proficiency: English, French, and Spanish.
Sources:
Bundesarchiv, Berlin-Lichterfelde (former Berlin Document Center):
Personalunterlagen von SA-Angehörigen: SA-Personalakte of Adolf Heinz Beckerle.
Haskell, Guy H.:
From Sofia to Jaffa: The Jews of Bulgaria and Israel. Wayne State University Press, 1994.
Kienast, Ministerialdirigent Ernst (Editor):
Der Grossdeutsche Reichstag, IV.Wahlperiode, Beginn am 10.04.1938 verlängert bis zum 30. Januar 1947. Berlin, November 1943.
Lilla, Joachim; Döring, Martin; & Schulz Andreas:
Statisten in Uniform. Die Mitglieder des Reichstags 1933-1945. Droste Verlag, 2004.Miller, Marshall Lee:
Bulgaria in the Second World War. Stanford University Press, 1975.
Schulz, Andreas:
Biographical Notes from the archives of Herrn Schulz, Berlin, Deutschland.
Stockhorst, Erich:
5000 Köpfe: Wer war was im 3. Reich (3rd Edition). Arndt-Verlag, 1998.

[Bill Hughes]

A sample from Leaders of the Storm Troops, Volume I

Staggering Stuff!!! I assume that your Gauleiter work is as detailed, I especially like the postwar information,although in the case of the Gauleiters in many cases postwar information would not apply or would be brief with executions and suicides!

Looking forward to the work!

Cheers
Bill

[der-hase-fee]

2nd volume for me too, please.

Do we know when this is going to be published ?