Joseph Bürckel (30 March 1895 – 28 September 1944) was a German

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

politician and a member of the German parliament (the Reichstag). He was an early member of 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 ...

and was influential in the rise of the

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

movement. He played a central role in the German acquisition of the

Saarland The Saarland (, ; french: Sarre ) is a state of Germany in the south west of the country. With an area of and population of 990,509 in 2018, it is the smallest German state in area apart from the city-states of Berlin, Bremen, and Hamburg, a ...

and

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

. He held the posts of '' Gauleiter'' and ''

Reichsstatthalter The ''Reichsstatthalter'' (, ''Imperial lieutenant'') was a title used in the German Empire and later in Nazi Germany. ''Statthalter des Reiches'' (1879–1918) The office of ''Statthalter des Reiches'' (otherwise known as ''Reichsstatthalte ...

'' in both Gau Westmark and Reichsgau Vienna.

Biography

Joseph Bürckel was born in Lingenfeld, in the

Bavarian Palatinate The Electoral Palatinate (german: Kurpfalz) or the Palatinate (), officially the Electorate of the Palatinate (), was a state that was part of the Holy Roman Empire. The electorate had its origins under the rulership of the Counts Palatine of ...

(German: ''Rheinpfalz'') as the son of a tradesman. From 1909 to 1914 he studied to become a teacher in

Speyer Speyer (, older spelling ''Speier'', French: ''Spire,'' historical English: ''Spires''; pfl, Schbaija) is a city in Rhineland-Palatinate in Germany with approximately 50,000 inhabitants. Located on the left bank of the river Rhine, Speyer lie ...

. Bürckel volunteered for service with Bavarian Field Artillery Regiment 12 in the

First World War 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, ...

. He served with several different field artillery regiments and was honorably discharged in May 1916. After the war, he continued his training as a teacher and graduated in 1920. He was employed as a teacher, and eventually as a headmaster, until September 1930 when he was elected to the '' Reichstag'' from electoral constituency 27 (Pfalz). From 1921 onwards, Bürckel was engaged in nationalist groups, fighting separatism in the Palatinate. An energetic organizer in the

movement of the Bavarian Palatinate from 1925, he rose through the ranks to become ''

Gauleiter A ''Gauleiter'' () was a regional leader of the Nazi Party (NSDAP) who served as the head of a '' Gau'' or '' Reichsgau''. ''Gauleiter'' was the third-highest rank in the Nazi political leadership, subordinate only to '' Reichsleiter'' and to ...

'' (Nazi Party leader) of Gau Rheinpfalz in March 1926, succeeding Friedrich Wambsganss. After the Saar plebiscite in January 1935 approved the return of the

to Germany, Bürckel was named "''

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 ...

'' for the Return of the Saarland" to coordinate the acquisition. Gau Rheinpfalz was merged with the Saarland on 1 March 1935 to form Gau Pfalz-Saar (renamed Gau Saarpfalz in January 1936) and Bürckel continued as ''Gauleiter'' of the enlarged territory. In February 1938, Bürckel (while remaining ''Gauleiter'' in Saarpfalz) was appointed the acting head of the Nazi Party for Austria, and on 13 March 1938 he was assigned to carry out the referendum on the ''

Anschluss The (, or , ), also known as the (, en, Annexation of Austria), was the annexation of the Federal State of Austria into the German Reich on 13 March 1938. The idea of an (a united Austria and Germany that would form a " Greater Germa ...

'' (

's absorption into Germany). From 23 April 1938 to 31 March 1940, he worked as "''Reichskommissar'' for the Reunification of Austria with the German Reich", in charge of fully integrating it as the Ostmark politically, economically and culturally into Germany. He declared: "This is a revolution. The Jews may be glad that it is not of the French or Russian pattern." Saying Vienna was "overfilled with Jews", he stated his aim to leave them with no more than five percent of their property. On 20 August 1938, he established the

Central Agency for Jewish Emigration in Vienna The Central Agency for Jewish Emigration in Vienna () was a ''Sicherheitsdienst'' (SD-Security Service) agency established in August 1938 to accelerate the forced emigration of the Austrian Jews and (starting in October 1939) to organize and carr ...

, at first responsible for the forced emigration of Jews, and later for the subsequent deportation and murder of at least 48,767 Austrian Jews out of Vienna. While remaining ''Reichskommissar'', Bürckel succeeded Odilo Globočnik as Nazi Party ''

'' of Reichsgau Vienna from 30 January 1939 until 2 August 1940. With the outbreak of the

Second World War 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 opposi ...

in Europe on 1 September 1939, Bürckel was named as Reich Defense Commissioner for ''

Wehrkreis The military districts, also known in some English-language publications by their German name as Wehrkreise (singular: ''Wehrkreis''), were administrative territorial units in Nazi Germany before and during World War II. The task of military dis ...

'' (Military District) XVII which included his Reichsgau Vienna as well as Reichsgau Lower Danube, Reichsgau Upper Danube and part of

Reichsgau Sudetenland The Reichsgau Sudetenland was an administrative division of Nazi Germany from 1939 to 1945. It comprised the northern part of the '' Sudetenland'' territory, which was annexed from Czechoslovakia according to the 30 September 1938 Munich Agreement ...

. On 1 April 1940, he ended his work as ''Reichskommissar'', and was named the ''

'' (Reich Governor) of Reichsgau Vienna, thus uniting under his control the highest party and governmental offices in his jurisdiction. Throughout this period, Bürckel continued working to further unification with Nazi Germany, including promoting anti-

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

decrees and seizing Jewish property. He frequently embezzled confiscated money and property instead of turning it over to the state, earning him the displeasure of the Nazi hierarchy and he was removed from his posts in Vienna in August 1940, being succeeded by

Baldur von Schirach Baldur Benedikt von Schirach (9 May 1907 – 8 August 1974) was a German politician who is best known for his role as the Nazi Party national youth leader and head of the Hitler Youth from 1931 to 1940. He later served as ''Gauleiter'' and ''Re ...

. Upon his return to Gau Saarpfalz, he continued his previous lifestyle and spent large sums on purchasing artworks. After the

fall of France The Battle of France (french: bataille de France) (10 May – 25 June 1940), also known as the Western Campaign ('), the French Campaign (german: Frankreichfeldzug, ) and the Fall of France, was the German invasion of France during the Second World ...

, in addition to his post as ''Gauleiter'' in Saarpfalz, Bürckel was appointed Chief of Civil Administration in occupied Lothringen on 7 August 1940. The Gau was reorganized and renamed Gau Westmark on 7 December 1940. It now consisted of the Bavarian Palatinate, the Saarland and the annexed ''département'' of

Moselle The Moselle ( , ; german: Mosel ; lb, Musel ) is a river that rises in the Vosges mountains and flows through north-eastern France and Luxembourg to western Germany. It is a left bank tributary of the Rhine, which it joins at Koblenz. A ...

. On 11 March 1941, Bürckel was named ''Reichsstatthalter'' of the new entity, again attaining full control over Party and governmental functions. On 16 November 1942, Bürckel was named Reich Defense Commissioner for Gau Westmark. From 9 November 1937, he also held the rank of general (''

Gruppenführer __NOTOC__ ''Gruppenführer'' (, ) was an early paramilitary rank of the Nazi Party (NSDAP), first created in 1925 as a senior rank of the SA. Since then, the term ''Gruppenführer'' is also used for leaders of groups/teams of the police, fire d ...

'') in the ''

Schutzstaffel The ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS; also stylized as ''ᛋᛋ'' with Armanen runes; ; "Protection Squadron") was a major paramilitary organization under Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party in Nazi Germany, and later throughout German-occupied Europe ...

'' (SS) and was on the staff of the '' Reichsführer-SS'', Heinrich Himmler. On 30 January 1942, he was promoted to SS-'' Obergruppenführer''.Karl Höffkes: Hitlers Politische Generale. Die Gauleiter des Dritten Reiches: ein biographisches Nachschlagewerk, Grabert-Verlag, Tübingen, 1986, p. 42. . Bürckel died at about 11:04 a.m. in Neustadt-an-der-Weinstrasse on 28 September 1944. A report from Bürckel's personal physician (since 1936), Dr. Ewig, dated 28 September 1944, stated that Bürckel was physically and mentally worn out, spending all of his time at work because of the deteriorating situation in his Gau. He suffered an inflammation of the intestine with diarrhoea, eventually becoming too ill to continue. Ewig was called in on 26 September 1944. Bürckel soon contracted pneumonia and blood failure. Josef Rowies, another physician, stated on 23 October 1944 that the report of Bürckel's death sent to the ''SS-Personalhauptamt'' (the personnel records office) by Himmler's personal staff office on 9 October 1944 had been "doctored" to conceal his mental breakdown. On 8 September 1944, in a letter to

Martin Bormann Martin Ludwig Bormann (17 June 1900 – 2 May 1945) was a German Nazi Party official and head of the Nazi Party Chancellery. He gained immense power by using his position as Adolf Hitler's private secretary to control the flow of information ...

(with whom Bürckel did not get along), Bürckel opined that the lack of combat-ready troops to occupy the defensive line of the Moselle from the boundary of Gau Westmark via the arsenal of Metz-Diedenhofen, south of Saint-Avold (part of the Maginot Line), to

Sarralbe Sarralbe (; ; Lorraine Franconian: ''Alwe'' or ''Saaralwe'') is a commune in the Moselle department in Grand Est in north-eastern France. See also * Communes of the Moselle department The following is a list of the 725 communes of the Mosel ...

made construction of defensive positions useless. Bormann responded by dispatching Willi Stöhr (who was to succeed Bürckel after his death) to oversee the construction work. On 3 October 1944, Hitler posthumously awarded him the German Order, the highest decoration that the Party could bestow on an individual, for his services to the Reich.

Decorations and awards

* The Honour Cross of the World War 1914/1918 with Swords, 1934 *

Anschluss Medal The ''Anschluss'' Commemorative Medal () was a decoration of Nazi Germany awarded during the interwar period, and the first in a series of Occupation Medals. Description Instituted on 1 May 1938, the medal commemorated the annexation of Austria ...

, 1939 * Sudetenland Medal, 1939 *Clasp to the Sudetenland Medal, 1939 * Honour Chevron for the Old Guard * German Order, 1944

References

Bibliography

* * *

External links

Farewell to Gauleiter Bürckel
Translation of the '' Berliner Morgenpost'', 5 October 1944
Reichsgau Wien
at Verwaltungsgeschichte.de
Josef Bürckel – Gauleiter der Westmark
Josef Bürckel biography * {{DEFAULTSORT:Burckel, Josef 1895 births 1944 deaths Former Roman Catholics Gauleiters Holocaust perpetrators in Austria Members of the Reichstag of Nazi Germany Members of the Reichstag of the Weimar Republic Military personnel of Bavaria National Socialist Motor Corps members Nazi Party officials Nazi Party politicians German Army personnel of World War I People from Germersheim (district) People from the Palatinate (region) Recipients of the German Order (decoration) SS-Obergruppenführer Sturmabteilung personnel