Carl Georg Röver (12 February 188915 May 1942) was a German

Nazi Party The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party ( or NSDAP), was a far-right politics, far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported the ideology of Nazism. Its precursor ...

official. His main posts were as '' Gauleiter'' of Gau Weser-Ems and '' Reichsstatthalter'' of both Oldenburg and Bremen.

Early years

Röver was born in Lemwerder and saw service in the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, initially with the regular army before joining the Propaganda department of the Oberste Heeresleitung. He originally became a member of the Nazi Party in 1923, and rejoined in 1925 following its period of outlaw.Ernst Klee: ''Das Personenlexikon zum Dritten Reich. Wer war was vor und nach 1945''. Fischer Taschenbuch Verlag, Zweite aktualisierte Auflage, Frankfurt am Main 2005, p. 504. He also joined the

Sturmabteilung The (; SA; or 'Storm Troopers') was the original paramilitary organisation under Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party of Germany. It played a significant role in Adolf Hitler's rise to power, Hitler's rise to power in the 1920s and early 1930s. I ...

(SA) rising to the rank of Obergruppenführer on 9 November 1938. He also attained an Obergruppenführer rank in the National Socialist Motor Corps (Nationalsozialistisches Kraftfahrerkorps or NSKK) on 30 January 1939.

Nazi career

Already before the Nazi seizure of power, Carl Röver had been active in politics. He joined the Oldenburg Stadtsrat (Municipal Council) in 1924. He was an '' Ortsgruppenleiter'' for the party in April 1925 and a '' Bezirksleiter'' (District Leader) in Oldenburg and East Friesland in July 1927. On 20 May 1928 he became a member of the Oldenburg ''

Landtag A ''Landtag'' (State Diet) is generally the legislative assembly or parliament of a federated state or other subnational self-governing entity in German-speaking nations. It is usually a unicameral assembly exercising legislative competence ...

''. Finally,

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...

appointed him ''Gauleiter'' when the Gau Weser-Ems was established on 1 October 1928. In September 1930, he was elected to the '' Reichstag'' from electoral constituency 14, Weser-Ems, and he would retain this seat until his death. On 16 June 1932, he became Minister-president of Oldenburg, thus uniting under his control the highest party and governmental offices in his jurisdiction. When in September 1932 the Oldenburg superior church council, the executive board of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Oldenburg, decided to give permission to use the St. Lambert's Church in Oldenburg city for the sermon of the African Pastor Robert Kwami. Röver reacted immediately, directing racist tirades against Kwami, the Norddeutsche Mission and the superior church council demanding to postpone the sermon. The Nazi-party called upon the State Ministry of Oldenburg, the Nazi-dominated state government, to stop the sermon. Despite the public threats by the local Nazis that were later become known as the so-called Kwami Affair, the sermon was carried out as planned on 20 September 1932. On 5 May 1933 Röver was appointed to the post of '' Reichsstatthalter'' for the states of both Oldenburg and Bremen after the Nazi regime effectively took centralized control of the state governments in Germany. In this post he played a role in the perpetration of

the Holocaust The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...

as he personally signed the order for every

Jew Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, religion, and community are highly inte ...

deported from Bremen during his life. However, in this role Röver also clashed with

Hermann Göring Hermann Wilhelm Göring (or Goering; ; 12 January 1893 – 15 October 1946) was a German Nazism, Nazi politician, aviator, military leader, and convicted war criminal. He was one of the most powerful figures in the Nazi Party, which gov ...

, who as Minister President of Prussia, made no secret of his desire to incorporate Bremen into Prussia. Röver, however, opposed the move consistently and managed to convince Hitler to decline Göring's requests. On 4 September 1935, Rover was made a member of Hans Frank's Academy for German Law. He was something of a favourite of Martin Bormann, a fact that helped to ensure that when an ''Arbeitsbereich'' ("working sphere" - an external unit of the Nazi Party) was set up in the neighbouring occupied

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

most of its staff were drawn from Weser-Ems.

Death

Röver supposedly suffered a

stroke Stroke is a medical condition in which poor cerebral circulation, blood flow to a part of the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: brain ischemia, ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and intracranial hemorrhage, hemor ...

in May 1942 and died in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

soon afterwards, Paul Wegener succeeding him as Gauleiter. His official cause of death is listed in some sources as pneumonia and in others as heart failure. His state funeral at the Reich Chancellery in Berlin proved a lavish event, with

himself in attendance and Alfred Rosenberg delivering the eulogy. The funeral of Gauleiter Karl Roever

Röver's cause of death is disputed by David Irving, who claims in his book '' Hitler's War'' that Röver was killed by Nazi agents who had been sent specifically by Martin Bormann.David Irving, ''Hitler's War'', p. 392 This is also the conclusion of Bormann's biographer Jochen Von Lang, who states that Röver's increasingly erratic behaviour was caused by progressive dementia brought on by late stage

syphilis Syphilis () is a sexually transmitted infection caused by the bacterium ''Treponema pallidum'' subspecies ''pallidum''. The signs and symptoms depend on the stage it presents: primary, secondary, latent syphilis, latent or tertiary. The prim ...

, supposedly contracted before the First World War: “Bormann ordered that the nature of the disease be kept secret. From Munich he dispatched two agents to Oldenburg who, on 15 May, were able to report to him that Röver had died, officially from heart failure.”

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rover, Carl 1889 births 1942 deaths Former Roman Catholics Gauleiters German Army personnel of World War I History of Bremen (state) Holocaust perpetrators in Germany Members of the Academy for German Law Members of the Reichstag 1930–1932 Members of the Reichstag 1932 Members of the Reichstag 1932–1933 Members of the Reichstag 1933 Members of the Reichstag 1933–1936 Members of the Reichstag 1936–1938 Members of the Reichstag 1938–1945 People from the Free State of Oldenburg People from the Grand Duchy of Oldenburg People from Wesermarsch SA-Obergruppenführer