Franz Xaver Schwarz (27 November 1875 – 2 December 1947) was a high ranking 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 who served as ''Reichsschatzmeister'' (National Treasurer) of the Party throughout most of its existence. He was also one of the highest ranking members of the ''

Schutzstaffel The ''Schutzstaffel'' (; ; SS; also stylised with SS runes as ''ᛋᛋ'') was a major paramilitary organisation under Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party in Nazi Germany, and later throughout German-occupied Europe during World War II. It beg ...

'' (SS).

Early life

Schwarz was born in

Günzburg Günzburg (; Swabian German, Swabian: ''Genzburg'') is a town in Bavaria, Germany. It is a ''Große Kreisstadt'' and the capital of the Swabian Günzburg (district), district Günzburg. This district was constituted in 1972 by combining the city ...

, the seventh of eight children born to a master baker and his wife. He was educated up to a high school level at the Günzburger vocational training school. Schwarz married Berta Breher on 26 August 1899. From 1900 to 1924, except for the war years of 1914 to 1918, he worked as an "administrative official" in the city government of

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 ...

. During

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 ...

, Schwarz served as a

warrant officer Warrant officer (WO) is a Military rank, rank or category of ranks in the armed forces of many countries. Depending on the country, service, or historical context, warrant officers are sometimes classified as the most junior of the commissioned ...

(''Feldwebelleutnant'') in the Imperial German Army. He served briefly as a

platoon A platoon is a Military organization, military unit typically composed of two to four squads, Section (military unit), sections, or patrols. Platoon organization varies depending on the country and the Military branch, branch, but a platoon can ...

leader but due to gastric troubles which afflicted him for his entire life he was spared field duty beginning in January 1916. He was discharged from active service at the end of the war, given a 30 percent war disability pension, put into the reserves and commissioned a ''

Leutnant () is the lowest junior officer rank in the armed forces of Germany ( Bundeswehr), the Austrian Armed Forces, and the military of Switzerland. History The German noun (with the meaning "" (in English "deputy") from Middle High German «locum ...

'' in 1920. Schwarz went to work in an administrative capacity in the Munich City Council. In 1919 Schwarz joined the ''

Deutschvölkischer Schutz- und Trutzbund The ''Deutschvölkischer Schutz- und Trutzbund'' (German Nationalist Protection and Defiance Federation) was the largest and the most active antisemitic federation in Germany after the First World War,Beurteilung des Reichskommissars für Überwac ...

'', the largest and most influential

antisemitic Antisemitism or Jew-hatred is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who harbours it is called an antisemite. Whether antisemitism is considered a form of racism depends on the school of thought. Antisemi ...

organization in the

Weimar Republic The Weimar Republic, officially known as the German Reich, was the German Reich, German state from 1918 to 1933, during which it was a constitutional republic for the first time in history; hence it is also referred to, and unofficially proclai ...

Nazi Party career

Schwarz joined the

in 1922 and participated in the failed

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 ...

of November 1923. When the Party was banned by the German government, Schwarz joined the Greater German People's Community, a Nazi

front organization A front organization is any entity set up by and controlled by another organization, such as intelligence agencies, organized crime groups, terrorist organizations, secret societies, banned organizations, religious or political groups, advocacy ...

based in Munich. He served as the Treasurer of its governing board from 9 July 1924 until it was disbanded. With the re-establishment of the Nazi Party on 27 February 1925, Schwarz immediately rejoined and became party member number six. As an early party member, he later would be awarded the

Golden Party Badge __NOTOC__ The Golden Party Badge () was an award authorised by Adolf Hitler in a decree in October 1933. It was a special award given to all Nazi Party members who had, as of 9 November 1933, registered numbers from 1 to 100,000 (issued on 1 Oc ...

. He left his job as an accountant at the Munich City Hall to become the full-time Treasurer of the Nazi Party on 21 March 1925. He rebuilt the financial and administrative functions of the party. It was Schwarz who raised the money for the publication of

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 ...

's book, ''

Mein Kampf (; ) is a 1925 Autobiography, autobiographical manifesto by Nazi Party leader Adolf Hitler. The book outlines many of Political views of Adolf Hitler, Hitler's political beliefs, his political ideology and future plans for Nazi Germany, Ge ...

''. In April–May 1930 Schwarz negotiated the purchase of the party headquarters, the Brown House at 45 Brienner Straße in Munich. From December 1929 to October 1934, Schwarz was a City Councilor in Munich. From 16 September 1931 forward, Hitler granted Schwarz

plenipotentiary A ''plenipotentiary'' (from the Latin ''plenus'' "full" and ''potens'' "powerful") is a diplomat who has full powers—authorization to sign a treaty or convention on behalf of a sovereign. When used as a noun more generally, the word can als ...

powers over all financial matters of the Nazi Party. 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 ...

, Schwarz was elected to the '' Reichstag'' in March 1933 from the party's

electoral list An electoral list is a grouping of candidates for election, usually found in proportional or mixed electoral systems, but also in some plurality electoral systems. An electoral list can be registered by a political party (a party list) or can c ...

. At the November 1933 election, he was returned as a deputy from electoral constituency 26,

Franconia Franconia ( ; ; ) is a geographical region of Germany, characterised by its culture and East Franconian dialect (). Franconia is made up of the three (governmental districts) of Lower Franconia, Lower, Middle Franconia, Middle and Upper Franco ...

, switching to constituency 24,

Upper Bavaria-Swabia Upper may refer to: * Shoe upper or ''vamp'', the part of a shoe on the top of the foot * Stimulant, drugs which induce temporary improvements in either mental or physical function or both * ''Upper'', the original film title for the 2013 found fo ...

, at the March 1936 election and retaining this seat until the fall of the Nazi regime. On 2 June 1933, he was also named a ''

Reichsleiter (, ) was the second-highest political rank in the Nazi Party (NSDAP), subordinate only to the office of . also functioned as a paramilitary rank within the NSDAP and was the highest rank attainable in any Nazi organisation. Each reported d ...

'' (Reich Leader), the second highest political rank of the Nazi Party. On 2 October 1933, Schwarz was made a member of the

Academy for German Law The Academy for German Law () was an institute for legal research and reform founded on 26 June 1933 in Nazi Germany. After suspending its operations during the Second World War in August 1944, it was abolished after the fall of the Nazi regime on ...

at its inaugural meeting.Hans Frank (Ed.): ''Jahrbuch der Akademie für Deutsches Recht'', 1st Edition, 1933-1934. Schweitzer Verlag, München/Berlin/Leipzig, p. 257. Hitler attended Schwarz's 60th birthday celebration on 27 November 1935. Hitler's will, dated 2 May 1938 (which left his entire fortune to the party) included the provision that it be opened in Schwarz's presence. Besides the party treasury (largely based on membership dues), Schwarz was responsible for the central assignment of NSDAP unique membership numbers. When members died or stopped paying dues, the old numbers were not freed up for new members. If old members picked up their dues later a new party number would be assigned. The Nazi Party had 8.5 million members on the books by 1945. Schwarz was regarded as an able administrator who generally kept out of party politics.

SA and SS membership

On 18 December 1931, Schwarz was made an SA-''

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 ''

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), the Nazi

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 ...

organization. In June 1932, Schwarz joined the ''

'', as an SS-''Gruppenführer'', with SS member number 38,500. On 1 July 1933, he was promoted to SS-''

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 ...

''. On 9 November 1933, his SA rank was raised to SA-''Obergruppenführer'' as well. Finally, on 20 April 1942, he was promoted to the newly created rank of SS-'' Oberst-Gruppenführer'', becoming one of only four people to ever hold the rank. On 5 June 1944, Schwarz received a high military award, the

War Merit Cross The War Merit Cross () was a state decoration of Nazi Germany during World War II. By the end of the conflict it was issued in four degrees and had an equivalent civil award. A " de-Nazified" version of the War Merit Cross was reissued in 1957 ...

, 1st class with Swords (''Kriegsverdienstkreuz 1. Klasse mit Schwertern'') by Hitler for his work during the Munich air raids of 24–25 April of that year. Further, Schwarz led a ''

Volkssturm The (, ) was a ''levée en masse'' national militia established by Nazi Germany during the last months of World War II. It was set up by the Nazi Party on the orders of Adolf Hitler and established on 25 September 1944. It was staffed by conscri ...

'' battalion in Grünwald at the end of the war. He was arrested by the Americans and interned at

Camp Ashcan Central Continental Prisoner of War Enclosure No. 32, code-named ''Ashcan'', was an Allied prisoner-of-war camp in the ''Palace Hotel'' of Mondorf-les-Bains, Luxembourg during World War II. Operating from May to August 1945, it served as a proce ...

Death

Schwarz died in another Allied internment camp near

Regensburg Regensburg (historically known in English as Ratisbon) is a city in eastern Bavaria, at the confluence of the rivers Danube, Naab and Regen (river), Regen, Danube's northernmost point. It is the capital of the Upper Palatinate subregion of the ...

on 2 December 1947, due to recurring gastric troubles. He was 72. In September 1948, Schwarz was posthumously classified by the Munich

denazification Denazification () 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 removing those who had been Nazi Par ...

court as a "major offender" and all his assets were confiscated.

Notes

References

* * Hallgarten, George W. F. (1952). "Adolf Hitler and German Heavy Industry, 1931-1933", ''The Journal of Economic History''. * * * Orlow, Dietrich (1973). ''The History of the Nazi Party: 1933-1945''. University of Pittsburgh Press. * * Weinberg, Gerhard L. (1955). "Hitler's Private Testament of May 2, 1938", ''The Journal of Modern History''. * *

External links

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* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Schwarz, Franz Xaver 1875 births 1947 deaths 20th-century German civil servants Deaths from digestive disease German Army personnel of World War I German prisoners of war in World War II held by the United States Greater German People's Community politicians Members of the Academy for German Law Members of the Reichstag 1933 Members of the Reichstag 1933–1936 Members of the Reichstag 1936–1938 Members of the Reichstag 1938–1945 Military personnel of Bavaria Nazis who died in prison custody Nazis who participated in the Beer Hall Putsch Officials of Nazi Germany People from Günzburg People from the Kingdom of Bavaria Prisoners who died in United States military detention Recipients of the War Merit Cross Reichsleiters SA-Obergruppenführer SS-Oberst-Gruppenführer Volkssturm personnel