Hans Ehlich (born 1 July 1901, in

Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as ...

– 30 March 1991 in

Braunschweig Braunschweig () or Brunswick ( , from Low German ''Brunswiek'' , Braunschweig dialect: ''Bronswiek'') is a city in Lower Saxony, Germany, north of the Harz Mountains at the farthest navigable point of the river Oker, which connects it to the ...

) was a doctor and SS-'' Standartenführer'' (colonel) of

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. He was the commander of '' Amtsgruppe III B Volkstum und Volksgesundheit'' in the ''

Sicherheitsdienst ' (, ''Security Service''), full title ' (Security Service of the '' Reichsführer-SS''), or SD, was the intelligence agency of the SS and the Nazi Party in Nazi Germany. Established in 1931, the SD was the first Nazi intelligence organization ...

'' (SD) in occupied Poland.

Career

Ehlich began his studies in medicine and dentistry in

and

Würzburg Würzburg (; Main-Franconian: ) is a city in the region of Franconia in the north of the German state of Bavaria. Würzburg is the administrative seat of the ''Regierungsbezirk'' Lower Franconia. It spans the banks of the Main River. Würzburg ...

. Around 1923, Ehlich became involved with various right wing movements, and took part in preparations for Hitler's November putsch in 1923 in Munich. After passing his medical exams, Ehlich took up a position in 1927 as a physician in the City Hospital in

Johannstadt Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label=Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth larg ...

, Dresden. He joined the

Nazi Party The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party (german: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP), was a far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported t ...

on 1 December 1931. In February 1932, he opened a private medical practice. Shortly before end of war in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

, the remaining officers in the RSHA, including Ehlich destroyed incriminating documents and established new identities. In Flensburg, Ehlich worked until 13 May 1945 with the press agency of the acting German government of Admiral

Dönitz Dönitz is a village and a former municipality in the district Altmarkkreis Salzwedel, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous c ...

. On 23 May 1945 all of its members were arrested. Ehlich was able to avoid arrest. However, in July 1945 British investigators finally caught up with him and other leaders of the former RSHA.

Post-war

After being released from internment, Ehlich again practised as a physician. In October 1948, he was condemned as a former member of the SS, defined at Nuremberg as being a criminal organization, and sentenced to one year and nine months in prison. Since the punishment was considered time already served, Ehlich was able to establish himself in

as a physician. Several preliminary investigations in the sixties did not lead to further prosecution. Ehlich worked and continued to live in Braunschweig, where he died on 30 March 1991.

References

*Michael Wildt: ''Generation des Unbedingten. Das Führungskorps des Reichssicherheitshauptamtes.'' Hamburger Edition HIS Verlagsges. mbH, 2002, * Helmut Krausnick/Hans-Heinrich Wilhelm: ''Die Truppe des Weltanschauungskrieges. Die Einsatzgruppen der Sicherheitspolizei und des SD 1938-1942.'' Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt, Stuttgart 1981, {{DEFAULTSORT:Ehlich, Hans 1901 births 1991 deaths SS-Standartenführer Physicians in the Nazi Party German military doctors Physicians from Leipzig Einsatzgruppen personnel People from the Kingdom of Saxony Reich Security Main Office personnel