Julius Lippert (9 July 1895 – 30 June 1956) was a German politician in the

Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hit ...

Party.

Early life and World War I

Born in

Basel , french: link=no, Bâlois(e), it, Basilese , neighboring_municipalities= Allschwil (BL), Hégenheim (FR-68), Binningen (BL), Birsfelden (BL), Bottmingen (BL), Huningue (FR-68), Münchenstein (BL), Muttenz (BL), Reinach (BL), Riehen (BS) ...

, Switzerland, he became an extreme

anti-Semite Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism. Ant ...

in his youth after reading the anti-Semitic philosophers

Joseph Arthur Comte de Gobineau Joseph Arthur de Gobineau (; 14 July 1816 – 13 October 1882) was a French Aristocracy (class), aristocrat who is best known for helping to legitimise racism by the use of scientific racist theory and "racial demography", and for developing the ...

and

Houston Stewart Chamberlain Houston Stewart Chamberlain (; 9 September 1855 – 9 January 1927) was a British-German philosopher who wrote works about political philosophy and natural science. His writing promoted German ethnonationalism, antisemitism, and scientific ...

. He joined the German military and fought in

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

, twice being wounded, and ended the war as a 2nd Lieutenant.

Nazi career

In 1922, Lippert participated in the assassination of Foreign Minister

Walther Rathenau Walther Rathenau (29 September 1867 – 24 June 1922) was a German industrialist, writer and liberal politician. During the First World War of 1914–1918 he was involved in the organization of the German war economy. After the war, Rathenau ...

, and he eventually joined the

NSDAP The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party (german: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP), was a far-right politics, far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that crea ...

(Nazi Party). He became prominent in the NSDAP due to his rabid anti-Semitism and connection with

Joseph Goebbels Paul Joseph Goebbels (; 29 October 1897 – 1 May 1945) was a German Nazi politician who was the '' Gauleiter'' (district leader) of Berlin, chief propagandist for the Nazi Party, and then Reich Minister of Propaganda from 1933 to ...

. In 1933, he was appointed the

Reichskommissar (, rendered as "Commissioner of the Empire", "Reich Commissioner" or "Imperial Commissioner"), in German history, was an official gubernatorial title used for various public offices during the period of the German Empire and Nazi Germany. Ger ...

Berlin Berlin is Capital of Germany, the capital and largest city of Germany, both by area and List of cities in Germany by population, by population. Its more than 3.85 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European U ...

, purged the capital's government of opposition and was responsible for much of the early persecution of Jews in Berlin. He was also the head of

propaganda Propaganda is communication that is primarily used to influence or persuade an audience to further an agenda, which may not be objective and may be selectively presenting facts to encourage a particular synthesis or perception, or using loa ...

in southeastern Germany. He was formally appointed as mayor (city president) of Berlin on 5 January 1937, though he had been the city's de facto ruler for seven years. In 1936, Lippert supervised the

Olympics The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...

and tried to make a good impression on the tourists. However, his power struggles with more powerful politicians would lead to his downfall. By 1937, Goebbels came to detest Lippert for his behavior. Finally, in 1940, Lippert argued with

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...

and

Albert Speer Berthold Konrad Hermann Albert Speer (; ; 19 March 1905 – 1 September 1981) was a German architect who served as the Reich Ministry of Armaments and War Production, Minister of Armaments and War Production in Nazi Germany during most of ...

over the re-organization of Berlin, which lead to his dismissal. According to Speer, Hitler, who had become increasingly hostile to him, reportedly expressed his frustrations by suggesting, “Lippert is an incompetent, an idiot, a failure, a zero.” His departure from the prominent position led to rumors that Lippert had been executed. He instead joined the

Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmacht''" replaced the previou ...

and was transferred to

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to ...

where he was the commandant of

Arlon Arlon (; lb, Arel ; nl, Aarlen ; german: Arel ; wa, Årlon; la, Orolaunum) is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in and capital of the province of Luxembourg in the Ardennes, Belgium. With a population of just over 28,000, it is th ...

during March 1943 - August 1944. Lippert's primary role in the war, however, was organizing

radio propaganda Radio propaganda is propaganda aimed at influencing attitudes towards a certain cause or position, delivered through radio broadcast. The power of radio propaganda came from its revolutionary nature. The radio, like later technological advances in ...

in Belgrade.

Post-war

After the war, he was extradited to Belgium in January 1946 for trial. He was sentenced to six years of hard labor on 29 June 1951, for involvement in war crimes. Although the sentence was increased to eight years in early 1952, he was released on 15 April 1952 since he received credit for time served. He was subsequently classified as a Nazi activist by a

de-Nazification Denazification (german: link=yes, Entnazifizierung) was an Allied initiative to rid German and Austrian society, culture, press, economy, judiciary, and politics of the Nazi ideology following the Second World War. It was carried out by remov ...

court. He lectured at universities until his death on 30 June 1956, in

Bad Schwalbach Bad Schwalbach (called Langenschwalbach until 1927) is the district seat of Rheingau-Taunus-Kreis, in Hesse, Germany. Geography Geographic location Bad Schwalbach is a spa town some 20 km northwest of Wiesbaden. It lies at 289 to 465&nb ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lippert, Julius 1895 births 1956 deaths Politicians from Basel-Stadt German National People's Party politicians German Völkisch Freedom Party politicians Nazi Party politicians Nazi Party officials Mayors of Berlin German Army personnel of World War I German Army officers of World War II Holocaust perpetrators in Belgium Holocaust perpetrators in Germany People extradited from Germany People extradited to Belgium German people convicted of war crimes Swiss emigrants to Germany German newspaper editors Nazi propagandists Humboldt University of Berlin alumni