Hans Wesemann (27 November 1895, Nienburg on the Weser – 23 October 1971,

Caracas Caracas ( , ), officially Santiago de León de Caracas (CCS), is the capital and largest city of Venezuela, and the center of the Metropolitan Region of Caracas (or Greater Caracas). Caracas is located along the Guaire River in the northern p ...

) was a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

journalist and

Gestapo The (, ), Syllabic abbreviation, abbreviated Gestapo (), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe. The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of F ...

agent.

Early life

Wesemann was born into the family of Fritz Wesemann and his wife Margarethe Hars. He lived with them and his three siblings Sigrid, Greta and Freiedrich on a large farm. He served on the Eastern Front 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 ...

Career

His breakthrough as a journalist came when he was able to interview

Ernst Toller Ernst Toller (1 December 1893 – 22 May 1939) was a German author, playwright, left-wing politician and revolutionary, known for his Expressionist plays. He served in 1919 for six days as President of the short-lived Bavarian Soviet Republic, ...

in 1923. Following his brief spell as President of the

Bavarian Soviet Republic The Bavarian Soviet Republic (or Bavarian Council Republic), also known as the Munich Soviet Republic (), was a short-lived unrecognised socialist state in Bavaria during the German revolution of 1918–1919. A group of communists and anarchist ...

, Toller was still being held in Niederschönenfeld Prison and Wesemann had to overcome the suspicions of the warders to gain access to the political prisoner. By 1935, Wesemann had become a

agent and conducted the first known kidnapping outside Germany by the Nazis. This was the kidnapping of German pacifist journalist Berthold Jacob in

Basel Basel ( ; ), also known as Basle ( ), ; ; ; . is a city in northwestern Switzerland on the river Rhine (at the transition from the High Rhine, High to the Upper Rhine). Basel is Switzerland's List of cities in Switzerland, third-most-populo ...

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

, on 9 March 1935. He was subsequently arrested by the local police, and in September 1935 Jacob was returned to Switzerland following an intervention by the

Swiss Federal Council The Federal Council is the federal cabinet of the Swiss Confederation. Its seven members also serve as the collective head of state and government of Switzerland. Since World War II, the Federal Council is by convention a permanent grand co ...

. On 6 May 1936, Wesemann was found guilty of kidnapping by a Basel court. He was sentenced to three years in prison and fined 1,500

Swiss franc The Swiss franc, or simply the franc, is the currency and legal tender of Switzerland and Liechtenstein. It is also legal tender in the Italian exclave of Campione d'Italia which is surrounded by Swiss territory. The Swiss National Bank (SNB) iss ...

s. Wesemann was released from prison in March 1938, after which he was deported from Switzerland. He later moved to

Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wesemann, Hans 1895 births 1971 deaths German Army personnel of World War I Gestapo agents German emigrants to Venezuela German people imprisoned abroad People convicted of kidnapping Nazis convicted of crimes Nazis in South America Prisoners and detainees of Switzerland