August Heißmeyer or Heissmeyer, (11 January 1897 – 16 January 1979), was a German SS functionary during the Nazi era. He commanded the

SS Main Office The SS Main Office (german: SS-Hauptamt; SS-HA) was the central command office of the ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) in Nazi Germany until 1940. Formation The office traces its origins to 1931 when the SS created the SS-Amt to serve as an SS Headquarters ...

in 1935–1939. After

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 World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, Heissmeyer was tried and convicted as a "major Nazi offender".

Early life

After finishing school, Heissmeyer joined the

Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an ...

n military. 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, ...

, in August 1914 he volunteered for the Prussian army. Participant of the First World War, from October 1914 he served in the 164th Infantry Regiment, lieutenant (August 6, 1916), company commander. From August 1917 until the end of the war he was a pilot. He was awarded the

Iron Cross The Iron Cross (german: link=no, Eisernes Kreuz, , abbreviated EK) was a military decoration in the Kingdom of Prussia, and later in the German Empire (1871–1918) and Nazi Germany (1933–1945). King Frederick William III of Prussia e ...

1st and 2nd Class for his distinguished service. After the end of the war, Heissmeier was a member of the

Freikorps (, "Free Corps" or "Volunteer Corps") were irregular German and other European military volunteer units, or paramilitary, that existed from the 18th to the early 20th centuries. They effectively fought as mercenary or private armies, reg ...

and in 1920 participated in the

Kapp Putsch The Kapp Putsch (), also known as the Kapp–Lüttwitz Putsch (), was an attempted coup against the German national government in Berlin on 13 March 1920. Named after its leaders Wolfgang Kapp and Walther von Lüttwitz, its goal was to undo th ...

. After giving up his studies, he was employed as a driving teacher. In 1923 he first came into contact with 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 ...

, which he joined in 1925. In early 1926, Heissmeyer joined the ''

Sturmabteilung The (; SA; literally "Storm Detachment (military), Detachment") was the original paramilitary wing of the Nazi Party. It played a significant role in Adolf Hitler's rise to power in the 1920s and 1930s. Its primary purposes were providing pro ...

'' (SA) where he was responsible for building up the ''SA-Gausturm Hannover-Süd'' and was for a time, from 1927 to April 1928, the acting Deputy ''

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 th ...

''.Michael D. Miller & Andreas Schulz: Gauleiter: The Regional Leaders of the Nazi Party and Their Deputies, 1925–1945, Volume 1 (Herbert Albrecht - H. Wilhelm Hüttmann), R. James Bender Publishing, 2012, p. 43 . In 1940 Heissmeyer, previously married with six children in his custody, married Gertrud Scholtz-Klink, the ''Reichsfrauenführerin'' (Reich Women's Leader), who had two previous marriages herself.

SS career

Heissmeyer joined 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 d ...

'' (SS) in January 1930. From 1932, Heissmeyer was posted to the

, becoming its leader in 1935 and relieving

Heinrich Himmler Heinrich Luitpold Himmler (; 7 October 1900 – 23 May 1945) was of the (Protection Squadron; SS), and a leading member of the Nazi Party of Germany. Himmler was one of the most powerful men in Nazi Germany and a main architect of th ...

from that specific position. On 9 November 1936, Heissmeyer was promoted to SS-''

Obergruppenführer ' (, "senior group leader") was a paramilitary rank in Nazi Germany that was first created in 1932 as a rank of the ''Sturmabteilung'' (SA) and adopted by the ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) one year later. Until April 1942, it was the highest commissio ...

'' (general) and Inspector of the National Political Institutes of Education. In 1939, Heissmeyer was appointed ''SS Oberabschnittsleiter'' "East" and in 1940 as HSSPF (Higher SS and Police Leader) Spree, where he was in charge of the

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 ...

Brandenburg Brandenburg (; nds, Brannenborg; dsb, Bramborska ) is a state in the northeast of Germany bordering the states of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Saxony, as well as the country of Poland. With an area of 29,480 square ...

area. August Heissmeyer took over the command of the ''SS Totenkopf Standarte'' in 1940 from the outgoing Theodor Eicke, who in 1939 had begun commanding a combat SS division ( SS Division Totenkopf) and therefore gave his supervision over the

concentration camp Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without charges or intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects". Thus, while it can simp ...

s back to the SS Leadership Main Office. Heissmeyer was provisionally in charge of this bureau until May 1942.

Richard Glücks Richard Glücks (; 22 April 1889 – 10 May 1945) was a high-ranking German Nazi official in the SS. From November 1939 until the end of World War II, he was Concentration Camps Inspector (CCI), which became ''Amt D: Konzentrationslagerwesen' ...

took over the position, and became the chief of the

Concentration Camps Inspectorate The Concentration Camps Inspectorate (CCI) or in German, IKL (''Inspektion der Konzentrationslager''; ) was the central SS administrative and managerial authority for the concentration camps of the Third Reich. Created by Theodor Eicke, it was or ...

. In April 1945, Heissmeyer was given command of ''

Kampfgruppe In military history, the German term (pl. ; abbrev. KG, or KGr in usage during World War II, literally "fighting group" or "battle group") can refer to a combat formation of any kind, but most usually to that employed by the of Nazi Germa ...

'' "Heissmeyer", a collection of '' Volkssturm'' militia and

Hitler Youth The Hitler Youth (german: Hitlerjugend , often abbreviated as HJ, ) was the youth organisation of the Nazi Party in Germany. Its origins date back to 1922 and it received the name ("Hitler Youth, League of German Worker Youth") in July 1926. ...

who were given the task of protecting the

Spandau Spandau () is the westernmost of the 12 boroughs () of Berlin, situated at the confluence of the Havel and Spree rivers and extending along the western bank of the Havel. It is the smallest borough by population, but the fourth largest by la ...

airfield outside

Post-war trial and conviction

At the end of

in Europe, Scholtz-Klink and Heissmeyer fled from the

Battle of Berlin The Battle of Berlin, designated as the Berlin Strategic Offensive Operation by the Soviet Union, and also known as the Fall of Berlin, was one of the last major offensives of the European theatre of World War II. After the Vistula– ...

. After the fall of Nazi Germany, in the summer of 1945, she was briefly detained in a Soviet prisoner of war camp near

Magdeburg Magdeburg (; nds, label= Low Saxon, Meideborg ) is the capital and second-largest city of the German state Saxony-Anhalt. The city is situated at the Elbe river. Otto I, the first Holy Roman Emperor and founder of the Archdiocese of Mag ...

, but escaped shortly afterwards. With the assistance of Princess Pauline of Württemberg, she and her third husband went into hiding in Bebenhausen near

Tübingen Tübingen (, , Swabian: ''Dibenga'') is a traditional university city in central Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated south of the state capital, Stuttgart, and developed on both sides of the Neckar and Ammer rivers. about one in thre ...

. They spent the subsequent three years under the aliases of Heinrich and Maria Stuckebrock. On 29 February 1948, the couple were identified and arrested by French authorities near

and held for trial the following month. He served 18 months in prison before being released in 1949. The following year, he was sentenced by the

denazification 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 remo ...

appeals court to three years of imprisonment and the forfeiture of property as a "major Nazi offender". His nephew Kurt Heissmeyer, an SS physician, was also convicted. After his release, Heissmeyer went to live in

Schwäbisch Hall Schwäbisch Hall (; "Swabian Hall"; from 1802 until 1934 and colloquially: ''Hall'' ) is a city in the German state of Baden-Württemberg located in the valley of the Kocher river, the longest tributary (together with its headwater Lein) of th ...

and became the director of the West German

Coca-Cola Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a carbonated soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. Originally marketed as a temperance drink and intended as a patent medicine, it was invented in the late 19th century by John Stith Pemberton in Atla ...

bottling plant. He died on 16 January 1979, five days after his 82nd birthday.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Heißmeyer, August 1897 births 1979 deaths Coca-Cola people German Army personnel of World War I Holocaust perpetrators Kapp Putsch participants Nazi Party officials Nazis convicted of war crimes People from Hameln-Pyrmont People from the Province of Hanover Prussian Army personnel Recipients of the Iron Cross (1914), 1st class SS and Police Leaders SS-Obergruppenführer Sturmabteilung officers 20th-century Freikorps personnel Volkssturm personnel Waffen-SS personnel