Fritz Weitzel

Fritz Weitzel (actually Friedrich Philipp Weitzel, * April 27, 1904 in Frankfurt am Main, † June 19, 1940 in Dusseldorf ) was a German politician ( NSDAP), police chief and SS -Obergruppenführer.

Life before 1933

After an apprenticeship Weitzel was active in the Socialist Workers Youth. In 1924 he became a member of the SA, in 1925 he joined the NSDAP ( Mitgliedsnr. 18,833 ) a. In 1926 it took Weitzels inclusion in the SS ( SS-Nr. 408). Weitzels career in the SS and the Nazi Party was unusually steep: in the late 1920s, he held management positions in the SS in Hesse- Nassau, and later in the Rhineland; on 18 November 1929 he was appointed to SS- Standartenführer. In the general election in 1930 Weitzel was voted for the NSDAP in the Reichstag and in December 1931 was promoted to SS-group leader. On May 12, 1932 Weitzel was involved in an assault on the journalists Helmuth block in the restaurant of the Reichstag. Weitzel was excluded along with three other Nazi party members for 30 days from the Parliament; the meeting had to be canceled because the excluded refused to leave the plenary. On May 14, Weitzel as well as the Nazi Party MPs William Ferdinand Stegmann and Edmund Heines was condemned by Quick Schöffengericht Berlin-Mitte to three months in prison for Community injury and assault and battery.

Career 1933-1940

After the " seizure of power" of the Nazis Weitzel was appointed on 1 May 1933 Chief of Police of Dusseldorf. Without any adequate training, but as a convinced National Socialist, he replaced the democratic chief of police and government lawyers Langels Hans, who was transferred from the Prussian Interior Minister Hermann Goering in the early retirement. By Weitzel Nazism experienced a strong brutalization in the Dusseldorf area. He was from 1934 to 1940 leader of the SS and SD Oberabschnitts West and also promoted the binding of 1933 resulting state police control center Dusseldorf to the SS and its Security Service (SD ). From September 1933 he was a member of the Prussian State Council. On September 9, 1934 he was promoted to SS -Obergruppenführer.

Weitzel also participated personally in interrogations and torture in the phase of " seizure of power", as is described for example by Wolfgang Langhoff in his book The Peat Bog Soldiers. The well-known in the local history " raid of Gerresheim " on May 5, 1933 fell on Weitzels Initiative: In the working class neighborhood, there was extremely brutal attacks by the police, SS and SA; numerous members of the KPD and the Social Democrats were captured and publicly ridiculed. From 1935/1936 referred Weitzel clear position against Catholicism. He forbade processions as chief of police and public appearances church groups in the city and published a diatribe against Catholic priests and religious in the phase of morality trials against members of religious orders and priests in National Socialism.

In 1938 he was appointed by his close friend Heinrich Himmler to the Higher SS and Police Leader "West" ( HSSPF ), headquartered in Dusseldorf, and had thus temporarily access to over 200,000 police, SS and Sipo. After the occupation of Norway by German troops Weitzel was in April 1940 HSSPF "North " with its headquarters in Oslo. His successor as HSSPF West was the SS -group leader Theodor Berkelmann. Weitzel died in an air raid on Dusseldorf, when he was home on leave: Near the Martin -Luther -Platz the heavily intoxicated Weitzel was hit by a grenade after he had incautiously stepped out of his official car. The funeral in Dusseldorf was a Nazi- staged memorial ceremony, attended by the Chief of the Order Police SS Obergruppenführer Kurt Daluege, the Upper Rhine President Joseph Terboven and NSDAP Gauleiter Friedrich Karl Florian took part. The SS -Standarte 20 ( Dusseldorf ) received just two days after Weitzels death, on 21 June 1940 by leaders command the honorary title of SS -Standarte Fritz Weitzel. Weitzels successor as chief of police was his deputy August Korreng, his successor as HSSPF North was Rediess Wilhelm, who had also done in Dusseldorf service in the 20th SS -Standarte.

Writings of Fritz Weitzel

  • Weitzel, Fritz: The design of the festivities in the annual and resume in the SS family. 5 photos and songs, Dusseldorf 1935.
  • Weitzel, Fritz: By their fruits ye shall know them! Article 90 of the Rhenish country newspaper from the period Nov. 1933 - July 1936, Mönchengladbach 1936
  • Weitzel, Fritz: Explanations of religious laws of the SS, ed. on behalf of the SS Oberabschnitts West, Dusseldorf / Wuppertal 1938.

Awards

  • Medal commemorating the March 13, 1938
  • Medal commemorating the October 1, 1938
  • German Rampart decorations
  • Golden Party Badge of the NSDAP
  • Service Award of the NSDAP in Silver
  • SA Sports Badge in Gold
  • Sword of honor of the Reichsführer- SS
  • Skull ring of the SS
Hesse-Nassau German federal election, 1930 Reichstag (Weimar Republic) Josef Terboven Sudetenland Medal West Wall Medal NSDAP Long Service Award Integrated Authority File
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