Friedrich "Fritz" Philip Weitzel (27 April 1904 – 19 June 1940) was a German 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 ...

'' and

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 ...

politician during the

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

. He was killed in an air raid early in the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

Early life and rise in the SS

Weitzel was born in

Frankfurt Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...

and attended ''

Volksschule The German term ''Volksschule'' () generally refers to compulsory education, denoting an educational institution every person (i.e. the people, ''Volk'') is required to attend. In Germany and Switzerland it is equivalent to a combined primar ...

'' there. After a

locksmithing Locksmithing is the work of creating and bypassing locks. Locksmithing is a traditional trade and in many countries requires completion of an apprenticeship. The level of formal education legally required varies by country, ranging from no formal ...

apprenticeship Apprenticeship is a system for training a potential new practitioners of a trade or profession with on-the-job training and often some accompanying study. Apprenticeships may also enable practitioners to gain a license to practice in a regulat ...

, he worked in that trade and as a

machinist A machinist is a tradesperson or trained professional who operates machine tools, and has the ability to set up tools such as milling machines, grinders, lathes, and drilling machines. A competent machinist will generally have a strong mechan ...

. In 1924, he became a member 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) and, in September 1925, he joined the

(membership number 18,833). As an early Party member, he would later 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 ...

. In 1926, Weitzel became one of the earliest 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) (SS number 408). He helped form and lead the SS unit in Frankfurt and in 1927 he was in charge of the SS in Gau Hesse-Nassau Süd. Over the next two years, he led the SS units in Gau Rheinland-Süd, Gau Rheinpfalz and Gau Hesse-Nassau Nord. On 1 May 1928, he became the commander of SS-''

Standarte In Nazi Germany, the ''Standarte'' (pl. ''Standarten'') was a paramilitary unit of Nazi Party (NSDAP), ''Sturmabteilung'' (SA), NSKK, NSFK, and ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS). Translated literally as "Regimental standard", the name refers to the flag pa ...

'' 2, based in Frankfurt. On 18 November 1929, he was selected to head what would become SS-'' Oberabschnitt'' (Main District) "West", a senior command comprising all of ''

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 dist ...

'' (Military District) VI, which he would hold until 20 April 1940. Throughout these years, he was arrested and fined multiple times for street violence, breach of the peace, resisting arrest and carrying illegal firearms. In the

1930 German federal election A federal election was held in Germany on 14 September 1930 to elect the fifth Reichstag of the Weimar Republic. Despite losing ten seats, the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) remained the largest party in the Reichstag, winning 143 of ...

, Weitzel was elected to the '' Reichstag'' as a Nazi Party deputy from electoral constituency 19 (

Hesse-Nassau The Province of Hesse-Nassau () was a Provinces of Prussia, province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1868 to 1918, then a province of the Free State of Prussia until 1944. Hesse-Nassau was created as a consequence of the Austro-Prussian War of ...

). He would be reelected from there several times until the election of March 1936 when he switched to constituency 22 ( Düsseldorf East), the seat he held until his death. On 12 May 1932, Weitzel was involved in a physical attack on the journalist Helmuth Klotz in the ''Reichstag'' restaurant. Weitzel, together with three other Nazi deputies, was barred from parliament for 30 days. However, the session had to be adjourned when they refused to leave the ''Reichstag'' chamber. On 14 May Weitzel, along with deputies Edmund Heines and Wilhelm Stegmann, was sentenced by a Berlin court to three months in prison for assault.

Career in Nazi Germany

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 ...

, Weitzel was appointed Police President of Düsseldorf on 1 May 1933 by Prussian Minister of the Interior

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 ...

. Without any formal police training, but as a convinced National Socialist, he was selected to replace the democratic police chief . In July 1933, Göring also appointed Weitzel to 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 ...

. Under Weitzel, there were extremely brutal attacks by the police, SS and SA against their political opponents in the city. Numerous

Communists 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, d ...

and

Social Democrats Social democracy is a social, economic, and political philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy and a gradualist, reformist, and democratic approach toward achieving social equality. In modern practice, s ...

were arrested and beaten, and Weitzel was reported to have personally taken part in interrogations and torture. Weitzel also took a clear stance against Catholicism. As chief of police, he banned processions and public appearances by church groups in the city and published a pamphlet against Catholic priests and religious orders.Hans Günter Hockert: ''The morality trials against Catholic religious and priests 1936–1937. A study on the National Socialist technique of domination and the church struggle''. Matthias Grünewald Verlag, Mainz 1971, ISBN 3-7867-0312-4. On 9 September 1934, Weitzel was promoted to SS-''

''. On 30 March 1935, he was made a Provincial Councilor for the

Rhine Province The Rhine Province (), also known as Rhenish Prussia () or synonymous with the Rhineland (), was the westernmost Provinces of Prussia, province of the Kingdom of Prussia and the Free State of Prussia, within the German Reich, from 1822 to 1946. ...

. He was also made head of the SS and police court in Düsseldorf. On 11 June 1938, he was appointed by ''

Reichsführer-SS (, ) was a special title and rank that existed between the years of 1925 and 1945 for the commander of the (SS). ''Reichsführer-SS'' was a title from 1925 to 1933, and from 1934 to 1945 it was the highest Uniforms and insignia of the Schut ...

Heinrich Himmler Heinrich Luitpold Himmler (; 7 October 1900 – 23 May 1945) was a German Nazism, Nazi politician and military leader who was the 4th of the (Protection Squadron; SS), a leading member of the Nazi Party, and one of the most powerful p ...

Higher SS and Police Leader The title of SS and Police Leader (') designated a senior Nazi Party official who commanded various components of the SS and the German uniformed police ('' Ordnungspolizei''), before and during World War II in the German Reich proper and in the ...

(HSSPF) "West", based in Düsseldorf. As such, he commanded all SS, SD, SiPo and uniformed police in ''Wehrkreis'' VI. During the

, after the occupation of Norway by German troops, Weitzel was transferred to become HSSPF "Nord" on 20 April 1940, with headquarters in

Oslo Oslo ( or ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of 1,064,235 in 2022 ...

. Only two months later, Weitzel was fatally injured by shrapnel in an RAF air raid on Düsseldorf while he was home on leave. At the time of his death, Weitzel was the fourth most senior officer in the SS. He was given a lavish state funeral in Düsseldorf, in which the Chief of the ''

Ordnungspolizei The ''Ordnungspolizei'' (''Orpo'', , meaning "Order Police") were the uniformed police force in Nazi Germany from 1936 to 1945. The Orpo was absorbed into the Nazi monopoly of power after regional police jurisdiction was removed in favour of t ...

'', SS-''Obergruppenfuhrer''

Kurt Daluege Kurt Max Franz Daluege (15 September 1897 – 24 October 1946) was a German ''SS-Oberst-Gruppenführer'' and ''Generaloberst'' of the police, the highest ranking police officer, who served as chief of ''Ordnungspolizei'' (Order Police) of N ...

, the Rhenish ''Oberpresident'' and '' Reichskommissar'' for Norway Josef Terboven and Düsseldorf ''

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 ...

'' Friedrich Karl Florian all took part. Just two days after Weitzel's death, the SS-''Standarte'' 20 (Düsseldorf) received the honorary name ''SS-Standarte Fritz Weitzel''.

SS ranks

References

Sources

* Birn, Ruth Bettina: ''The Higher SS and Police Leaders. Himmler's representative in the Reich and in the occupied territories.'' Droste Verlag, Düsseldorf, 1986. * Fleermann, Bastian/Frank Sparing/Astrid Wolters: ''From the place of terror to the memorial. On the history of the Düsseldorf town hall'', in: Memorial Site Circular, ed. by Thomas Lutz on behalf of the Topography of Terror Foundation, Volume 155 (2010), pp. 18–25. * Fleermann, Bastian: ''"...follow up to destruction". Wave of arrests and violence against political opponents in the spring of 1933 in Düsseldorf'', in: Rhein-Maas. Studies in history, language and culture. Edited by Jörg Engelbrecht, Simone Frank, Christian Krumm and Holger Schmenk, 1/2010, pp. 167–198. * Köhler, Thomas: ''Himmler's extended arm in Rhineland and Westphalia. The Higher SS and Police Leaders West'', in: Dams, Carsten/Dönecke, Klaus/Köhler, Thomas (eds.): "Service to the people"? Düsseldorf police officers between democracy and dictatorship, Frankfurt am Main 2007, pp. 203-234. * Lilla, Joachim: ''The State Police Administration in Düsseldorf 1926-1945'', in: Düsseldorfer Jahrbuch 73 (2002), pp. 217-294. * * *

Early life and rise in the SS

Career in Nazi Germany

SS ranks

See also

References

Sources

External links