Edmund Heines (21 July 1897 – 30 June 1934) was a German

Nazi Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

politician and Deputy to Ernst Röhm, the '' Stabschef'' of 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). Heines was one of the earliest members of the Nazi Party and a leading member of the SA in

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

, participating in the

Beer Hall Putsch The Beer Hall Putsch, also known as the Munich Putsch,Dan Moorhouse, ed schoolshistory.org.uk, accessed 2008-05-31.Known in German as the or was a failed coup d'état by Nazi Party leader Adolf Hitler, Erich Ludendorff and other leaders i ...

and becoming a notorious enforcer of the party. He held several high-ranking positions in the Nazi administration until he was executed during the

Night of the Long Knives The Night of the Long Knives (, ), also called the Röhm purge or Operation Hummingbird (), was a purge that took place in Nazi Germany from 30 June to 2 July 1934. Chancellor Adolf Hitler, urged on by Hermann Göring and Heinrich Himmler, ord ...

in June 1934.

Early life

Edmund Heines was born on 21 July 1897 in

, the

illegitimate child Legitimacy, in traditional Western common law, is the status of a child born to parents who are legally married to each other, and of a child conceived before the parents obtain a legal divorce. Conversely, ''illegitimacy'', also known as '' ...

of Helene Martha Heines and Lieutenant Edmund von Parish, a native of

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

from a

merchant A merchant is a person who trades in goods produced by other people, especially one who trades with foreign countries. Merchants have been known for as long as humans have engaged in trade and commerce. Merchants and merchant networks operated i ...

family for whom she was a

nanny A nanny is a person who provides child care. Typically, this care is given within the children's family setting. Throughout history, nannies were usually servants in large households and reported directly to the lady of the house. Today, modern ...

. In 1903, Martha Heines gave birth to a second child, Oskar Heines, who is also believed to have been fathered by Parish. In 1915, Heines joined the

Bavarian Army The Bavarian Army () was the army of the Electorate of Bavaria, Electorate (1682–1806) and then Kingdom of Bavaria, Kingdom (1806–1918) of Bavaria. It existed from 1682 as the standing army of Bavaria until the merger of the military sovereig ...

to fight in

World War I 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 ...

after graduating from his '' Gymnasium'', and fought on the Western Front as a field

artillery Artillery consists of ranged weapons that launch Ammunition, munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry firearms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach defensive walls and fortifications during sieges, and l ...

operator. Heines suffered a serious head wound in late 1915, earned the

Iron Cross The Iron Cross (, , abbreviated EK) was a military decoration in the Kingdom of Prussia, the German Empire (1871–1918), and Nazi Germany (1933–1945). The design, a black cross pattée with a white or silver outline, was derived from the in ...

1st Class and 2nd Class, and was discharged as a '' Leutnant'' in 1918.

Political career

After the war, Heines became involved in the ''

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

'' movement. From 1919 to December, 1922, Heines served as leader of a unit in ''Freikorps Roßbach'' that fought in

West Prussia The Province of West Prussia (; ; ) was a province of Prussia from 1773 to 1829 and from 1878 to 1919. West Prussia was established as a province of the Kingdom of Prussia in 1773, formed from Royal Prussia of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonweal ...

and the

Baltic States The Baltic states or the Baltic countries is a geopolitical term encompassing Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. All three countries are members of NATO, the European Union, the Eurozone, and the OECD. The three sovereign states on the eastern co ...

under Gerhard Roßbach. In March 1920, Heines participated in the Kapp Putsch, and relocated to the

Mecklenburg Mecklenburg (; ) is a historical region in northern Germany comprising the western and larger part of the federal-state Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. The largest cities of the region are Rostock, Schwerin, Neubrandenburg, Wismar and Güstrow. ...

Pomerania Pomerania ( ; ; ; ) is a historical region on the southern shore of the Baltic Sea in Central Europe, split between Poland and Germany. The central and eastern part belongs to the West Pomeranian Voivodeship, West Pomeranian, Pomeranian Voivod ...

area after the coup's failure like most participating ''Freikorps Roßbach'' members. In July 1920, Heines was involved in the murder of Willi Schmidt, a 20-year-old farm worker who allegedly wanted to reveal hidden arms caches of the ''Freikorps''. Heines returned to Munich following Schmidt's murder, and in 1922 became ''Führer'' of the Munich Ortsgruppe, the local ''Freikorps Roßbach'' group. In December 1922, Heines became Member #78 of the

National Socialist German Workers' 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 ...

(NSDAP), and transferred the ''Ortsgruppe'' to the ''

'' (SA), the

paramilitary A paramilitary is a military that is not a part of a country's official or legitimate armed forces. The Oxford English Dictionary traces the use of the term "paramilitary" as far back as 1934. Overview Though a paramilitary is, by definiti ...

wing of the party. Heines was appointed leader of the Second Battalion in the Munich SA Regiment and soon became one of the SA's leading members. In November 1923, Heines was one of two thousand Nazis that participated in the

, being assigned to take the Hotel ''Vierjahreszeiten''. Heines was sentenced to 15 months imprisonment for his part in the failed coup d'etat and was held, together in the same cell with

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 ...

, at

Landsberg Prison Landsberg Prison is a prison in the town of Landsberg am Lech in the southwest of the German state of Bavaria, about west-southwest of Munich and south of Augsburg. It is best known as the prison where Adolf Hitler was held in 1924, after the ...

. Heines was released prematurely in September 1924 while the SA and NSDAP were both still banned, taking over the leadership of the Second Battalion of the Munich '' Frontbann'' Regiment until 1925 when he joined the re-legalized SA and NSDAP. From 1925 to August 1926, Heines was federal director of the ''Schilljugend'', a right-wing youth organization founded by Gerhard Roßbach now affiliated with the SA and NSDAP. In 1926, Heines enrolled in Erlangen University to study law, and became a '' Standartenführer'' of the SA. On 22 January 1928, Heines was arrested in Schongau for his involvement in Willi Schmidt's murder in 1920, which was exposed during a

blackmail Blackmail is a criminal act of coercion using a threat. As a criminal offense, blackmail is defined in various ways in common law jurisdictions. In the United States, blackmail is generally defined as a crime of information, involving a thr ...

attempt. Heines was transferred to

Stettin Szczecin ( , , ; ; ; or ) is the capital and largest city of the West Pomeranian Voivodeship in northwestern Poland. Located near the Baltic Sea and the German border, it is a major seaport, the largest city of northwestern Poland, and se ...

as the main defendant in the trial for Schmidt's murder. The prosecution demanded the

death penalty Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty and formerly called judicial homicide, is the state-sanctioned killing of a person as punishment for actual or supposed misconduct. The sentence ordering that an offender be punished in s ...

for Schmidt's murder, but the judgement of the Stettin court was 15 years in prison for

manslaughter Manslaughter is a common law legal term for homicide considered by law as less culpable than murder. The distinction between murder and manslaughter is sometimes said to have first been made by the ancient Athenian lawmaker Draco in the 7th ce ...

, later lowered to 5 years. On 15 June 1928, the NSDAP deputy

Wilhelm Frick Wilhelm Frick (12 March 1877 – 16 October 1946) was a German prominent politician of the Nazi Party (NSDAP) and convicted war criminal who served as Minister of the Interior in Adolf Hitler's cabinet from 1933 to 1943 and as the last governor ...

referred to Heines's conviction in a '' Reichstag'' speech as "Outflow of infernal

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

hatred of the front spirit, against the spirit of national resistance." On 14 May 1929 Heines was released from custody by a decision of the Stettin court for a "

bail Bail is a set of pre-trial restrictions that are imposed on a suspect to ensure that they will not hamper the judicial process. Court bail may be offered to secure the conditional release of a defendant with the promise to appear in court when ...

" of 5000 ''

Reichsmark The (; sign: ℛ︁ℳ︁; abbreviation: RM) was the currency of Germany from 1924 until the fall of Nazi Germany in 1945, and in the American, British and French occupied zones of Germany, until 20 June 1948. The Reichsmark was then replace ...

s''. In 1929, Heines was also convicted of the murder of

communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...

Conrad Pietrzuch, who had been beaten to death by an SA gang led by Heines. The trial had to be reopened due to a technical error, and Heines soon received an

amnesty Amnesty () is defined as "A pardon extended by the government to a group or class of people, usually for a political offense; the act of a sovereign power officially forgiving certain classes of people who are subject to trial but have not yet be ...

because of his supposedly "patriotic" motive.Davidson, Eugene, ''The Making of Adolf Hitler: The Birth and Rise of Nazism'', University of Missouri Press, 1997, pp. 333–4. Heines held numerous prominent political positions concurrently with his SA positions. From August 1929 to June 1930 he was the SA-''Führer'' of Standarte X in Munich, the Nazi Party headquarters. He was also an '' Ortsgruppenleiter'' (Local District Leader) in the Munich Party organization and served as the Adjutant to ''

Gauleiter A ''Gauleiter'' () was a regional leader of the Nazi Party (NSDAP) who served as the head of a ''Administrative divisions of Nazi Germany, Gau'' or ''Reichsgau''. ''Gauleiter'' was the third-highest Ranks and insignia of the Nazi Party, rank in ...

'' Adolf Wagner. From May to August 1930 he was the Gau Propaganda Leader in Gau Groß-Munich under Wagner. From June to November 1930, he was additionally appointed as Acting ''Gauleiter'' of Gau Oberpfalz, the Upper Palatinate region of Bavaria. Then in November, he became a staff member in the News and Press Department of the ''Obersten SA-Führung'' (Supreme SA Leadership) serving there until April 1931. In September 1930, Heines was elected to the ''Reichstag'' for electoral constituency 8 (

Liegnitz Legnica (; , ; ; ) is a city in southwestern Poland, in the central part of Lower Silesia, on the Kaczawa River and the Czarna Woda. As well as being the seat of the county, since 1992 the city has been the seat of the Diocese of Legnica. L ...

) and remained a ''Reichstag'' deputy until his death.

Deputy to Ernst Röhm

On 1 May 1931, Heines was appointed Deputy to SA-'' Stabschef'' Ernst Röhm, the effective commander of the SA and a close friend of Hitler. Then in July 1931, Heines also became SA-''Führer'' of SA-''Gruppe''

Silesia Silesia (see names #Etymology, below) is a historical region of Central Europe that lies mostly within Poland, with small parts in the Czech Silesia, Czech Republic and Germany. Its area is approximately , and the population is estimated at 8, ...

. After the

Nazi seizure of power The rise to power of Adolf Hitler, dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1945, began in the newly established Weimar Republic in September 1919, when Hitler joined the '' Deutsche Arbeiterpartei'' (DAP; German Workers' Party). He quickly rose t ...

, Heines was appointed ''Polizeipräsident'' (Police President) in Breslau on 25 March 1933. He was also named Deputy ''Gauleiter'' to Helmuth Brückner in Gau Silesia. In addition, he became the Special Plenipotentiary to Silesia of the SA Supreme Leadership. In April, he secured a position on the

Prussian State Council The Prussian State Council ( German: ''Preußischer Staatsrat'') was the second chamber of the bicameral legislature of the Free State of Prussia between 1921 and 1933; the first chamber was the Prussian Landtag (). The members of the State Cou ...

until it was dissolved in July, but was reappointed on 14 September to the reconstituted

Council A council is a group of people who come together to consult, deliberate, or make decisions. A council may function as a legislature, especially at a town, city or county/shire level, but most legislative bodies at the state/provincial or natio ...

formed by Prussian Minister-President

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 ...

. On 20 April 1933 Heines was promoted to SA-''

Obergruppenführer (, ) 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 commissioned SS rank after ...

''. In July 1933 he became SA-''Führer'' of the new SA-''Obergruppe'' III with oversight of three SA ''Gruppe'', namely, Berlin-Brandenburg, Ostmark and Silesia. On 15 March 1934, Silesia was raised to the status of an ''Obergruppe'' (VIII) and Heines remained in charge. Now at the height of his power, Heines would hold all these posts until his death. In early 1933, the establishment of

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...

led to Hitler, now with access to the

state apparatus A state is a political entity that regulates society and the population within a definite territory. Government is considered to form the fundamental apparatus of contemporary states. A country often has a single state, with various administrat ...

including the ''

Reichswehr ''Reichswehr'' (; ) was the official name of the German armed forces during the Weimar Republic and the first two years of Nazi Germany. After Germany was defeated in World War I, the Imperial German Army () was dissolved in order to be reshaped ...

'', no longer requiring or desiring the street fighting antics of the SA, and seeking to marginalize the organization. Röhm was one of the most powerful men in Nazi Germany as '' de facto'' commander of the SA, and considered by Hitler to be one of few people who posed a threat to his leadership. Hitler already had a personal aversion to Heines who, as Röhm's loyal Deputy, was perceived as a threat by extension. '' The Brown Book of the Reichstag Fire and Hitler Terror'' claimed that a clique of homosexual stormtroopers led by Heines set the

Reichstag fire The Reichstag fire (, ) was an arson attack on the Reichstag building, home of the German parliament in Berlin, on Monday, 27 February 1933, precisely four weeks after Adolf Hitler was sworn in as Chancellor of Germany. Marinus van der Lubbe, ...

; the convicted arsonist

Marinus van der Lubbe Marinus van der Lubbe (; 13 January 1909 – 10 January 1934) was a Dutch communist who was tried, convicted, and executed by the government of Nazi Germany for setting fire to the Reichstag building—the national parliament of Germany—on ...

remained behind and agreed to accept the sole blame because of his desperation for affection; and Röhm's assistant Georg Bell was killed to cover it up. There was no evidence for these claims, and in fact Heines was in Breslau at the time. Nevertheless, the matter was so politically explosive that it was aired at van der Lubbe's trial in Leipzig.

Death

On 30 June 1934, Heines and many other SA leaders were executed shortly after their arrest during the

. Hitler identified Heines as one of the principal members of a "small group of elements which were held together through a like disposition" in his '' Reichstag'' speech of 13 July 1934. The SS found Heines in bed with an unidentified eighteen-year-old male SA senior troop leader. Goebbels emphasised this aspect in subsequent

Nazi propaganda Propaganda was a tool of the Nazi Party in Germany from its earliest days to the end of the regime in May 1945 at the end of World War II. As the party gained power, the scope and efficacy of its propaganda grew and permeated an increasing amou ...

, justifying the purge as a crackdown on

moral turpitude Moral turpitude is a legal concept in the United States, and until 1976 in Canada, that refers to "an act or behavior that gravely violates the sentiment or accepted standard of the community". This term appears in U.S. immigration law beginnin ...

. Heines and five others were executed by a firing squad convened by Sepp Dietrich at Stadelheim Prison. Erich Kempka said in a 1946 interview that Hitler ordered both Heines and his partner taken outside of the hotel and shot. In 1957, Dietrich was sentenced to 18 months in prison by a West German court for his role in the executions of Heines and the other men. Heines's younger brother, Oskar, was an '' Obersturmbannführer'' of the SA, and on the morning of 1 July 1934, he heard a radio report concerning the execution of his brother. Soon after, Oskar Heines and SA-''Obersturmbannführer'' Werner Engels, reported to the ''Polizeipräsidium'' in Breslau, where they were immediately placed under arrest by SS men. From there, they were driven that night to a forested area near Deutsch-Lissa (now

Wrocław Wrocław is a city in southwestern Poland, and the capital of the Lower Silesian Voivodeship. It is the largest city and historical capital of the region of Silesia. It lies on the banks of the Oder River in the Silesian Lowlands of Central Eu ...

-Leśnica,

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

). At dawn on 2 July 1934, the two were shot on orders of SS-''Obergruppenführer'' Udo von Woyrsch.

Character and attributes

Heines had developed a reputation for brutality as an enforcer of the SA, known for personally killing political opponents of the NSDAP despite his high-ranking status. In his diaries,

Joseph Goebbels Paul Joseph Goebbels (; 29 October 1897 – 1 May 1945) was a German Nazism, Nazi politician and philologist who was the ''Gauleiter'' (district leader) of Berlin, chief Propaganda in Nazi Germany, propagandist for the Nazi Party, and ...

described Heines as "an unbalanced person, full of storm and urge, a child's head", attributing his violent nature to his background. Contemporary sources often pointed out Heines as being unusually tall and powerfully built but with a contradictory youthful, boyish face.

Awards and decorations

* 1914

2nd Class, 11.03.1916 * 1914

1st Class, 1916 *

Military Merit Order (Bavaria) The Bavarian Military Merit Order () was established on 19 July 1866 by King Ludwig II of Bavaria. It was the kingdom's main decoration for bravery and military merit for officers and higher-ranking officials. Civilians acting in support of the a ...

3rd Class with Crown and Swords, 11.05.1917 *

4th Class with Swords, 05.07.1918 * 1918

Wound Badge The Wound Badge () was a German military decoration first promulgated by Wilhelm II, German Emperor on 3 March 1918, which was first awarded to soldiers of the Imperial German Army, German Army who were wounded during World War I. Between the worl ...

, 1918 * Tiwaz (rune), c.1932 * Honour Chevron for the Old Guard, February 1934

Notes

External links

References

* * * * * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Heines, Edmund 1897 births 1934 deaths 20th-century Freikorps personnel Executed Nazi assassins Gauleiters Gay military personnel German LGBTQ military personnel German Army personnel of World War I German gay politicians German people convicted of manslaughter German people convicted of murder Kapp Putsch participants LGBTQ legislators in Germany LGBTQ people in the Nazi Party Members of the Prussian State Council (Nazi Germany) 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 Nazis convicted of crimes Nazis executed by Nazi Germany by firing squad Nazis killed during the Night of the Long Knives Nazis who participated in the Beer Hall Putsch People convicted of treason against Germany People from Bavaria executed by Nazi Germany Politicians from Munich Politicians from the Kingdom of Bavaria Recipients of the Iron Cross (1914), 1st class Recipients of the Iron Cross (1914), 2nd class SA-Obergruppenführer