The Gau Thuringia (German: ''Gau Thüringen'') formed on 6 April 1925, was an

administrative division Administrative divisions (also administrative units, administrative regions, subnational entities, or constituent states, as well as many similar generic terms) are geographical areas into which a particular independent sovereign state is divi ...

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 ...

in the Free State of :Thuringia from 1933 to 1945. Before that, from 1925 to 1933, it was the regional subdivision of the

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 ...

in that area.

History

The Nazi Gau (plural Gaue) system was originally established in a

party A party is a gathering of people who have been invited by a Hospitality, host for the purposes of socializing, conversation, recreation, or as part of a festival or other commemoration or celebration of a special occasion. A party will oft ...

conference on 22 May 1926, to improve administration of the party structure. From 1933 onwards, 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 ...

, the Gaue increasingly replaced the German states as administrative subdivisions in Germany. At the head of each Gau stood a ''

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 ...

'', a position which became increasingly more powerful, especially after the outbreak of 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 ...

, with little interference from above. Local ''Gauleiters'' often held government positions as well as party ones and were in charge of, among other things, propaganda and surveillance and, from September 1944 onward, the ''

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 ...

'' and the defense of the Gau. The position of ''Gauleiter'' in Thuringia was originally held by Artur Dinter. On 30 September 1927 Fritz Sauckel, his Deputy ''Gauleiter'', took over and held this position until the end of the war. Sauckel also served as the Reich General Plenipotentiary for Labor Allocation. He was convicted at the

Nuremberg trials #REDIRECT Nuremberg trials {{redirect category shell, {{R from other capitalisation{{R from move ...

and executed for

war crimes A war crime is a violation of the laws of war that gives rise to individual criminal responsibility for actions by combatants in action, such as intentionally killing civilians or intentionally killing prisoners of war, torture, taking hos ...

and

crimes against humanity Crimes against humanity are certain serious crimes committed as part of a large-scale attack against civilians. Unlike war crimes, crimes against humanity can be committed during both peace and war and against a state's own nationals as well as ...

on 16 October 1946. His deputies were

Hans Severus Ziegler Hans Severus Ziegler (13 October 1893 – 1 May 1978) was a German publicist, theater manager, teacher and Nazi Party official. A leading cultural director under the Nazis, he was closely associated with the censorship and cultural co-ordination of ...

(1927-1931), Willy Marschler (1931–32), Fritz Wächtler (1932–35) and Heinrich Siekmeier (1936–45).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. 36, . The

Buchenwald concentration camp Buchenwald (; 'beech forest') was a German Nazi concentration camp established on Ettersberg hill near Weimar, Nazi Germany, Germany, in July 1937. It was one of the first and the largest of the concentration camps within the Altreich (pre-1938 ...

was located in the Gau Thuringia. Of the 238,980 prisoners that were sent to the camp 43,045 were killed.

References

External links

Illustrated list of Gauleiter
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gau Thuringen 1933 establishments in Germany 1945 disestablishments in Germany Former states and territories of Thuringia Thuringen Thuringia