Freikorps
Encyclopedia
Freikorps are German
volunteer military or paramilitary
units. The term was originally applied to voluntary armies formed in German lands from the middle of the 18th century onwards. Between World War I
and World War II
the term was also used for the paramilitary organizations that arose during the period of the Weimar Germany. Freikorps units fought both for and against the German state. They formed the vanguard of the Nazi movement.
in the 18th century during the Seven Years' War
. The Freikorps were regarded as unreliable by regular armies, so they were mainly used as sentries and for minor duties.
During the Napoleonic Wars
, Freikorps were formed for the purpose of shaking off French rule in Germany
. Those led by Ferdinand von Schill
were decimated in the Battle of Stralsund (1809)
, many of their members killed in battle or executed at Napoleon's command in the aftermath. Later, Ludwig Adolf Wilhelm von Lützow
, a survivor of Schill's Freikorps, formed the Lützow Free Corps
which took part in the German War of Liberation. The anti-Napoleonic Freikorps often operated behind French lines, as a kind of commando or guerrilla force.
Throughout the 19th Century, these anti-Napoleonic Freikorps were greatly praised and glorified by German Nationalists, and a heroic myth built up around their exploits. It was this myth which was invoked, in considerably different circumstances, the aftermath of Germany's defeat in World War I
.
organizations that sprang up around Germany
as soldiers returned in defeat from World War I
. They were the key Weimar paramilitary groups
active during that time. Many German veterans felt disconnected from civilian life, and joined a Freikorps in search of stability within a military
structure. Others, angry at their sudden, apparently inexplicable defeat, joined up in an effort to put down Communist uprisings or exact some form of revenge (see Dolchstoßlegende). They received considerable support from Minister of Defense Gustav Noske
, a member of the Social Democratic Party of Germany
, who used them to crush the German Revolution of 1918–1919 and the Marxist Spartacist League
and arrest Karl Liebknecht
and Rosa Luxemburg
, who were killed on 15 January 1919. They were also used to defeat the Bavarian Soviet Republic
in May 1919.
On 5 May 1919, 12 workers (most of them members of the Social Democratic Party, SPD) were arrested and killed by members of Freikorps Lützow in Perlach
near Munich
based on a tip from a local cleric saying they were communists. A memorial on Pfanzeltplatz in Munich
today commemorates the incident.
Freikorps also fought in the Baltic
, Silesia
, and Prussia after the end of World War I, sometimes with significant success. They raped and murdered with abandon, and Anti-slavic racism
was present, although the ethnic cleansing
ideology and anti-Semitism that would be expressed in later years was not developed yet.
Though officially "disbanded" in 1920, many Freikorps attempted, unsuccessfully, to overthrow the government in the Kapp Putsch
in March 1920. Their attack was halted when German citizens who were loyal to the state went on strike, cutting off many services, and making daily life so problematic that the Putsch was called off.
In 1920, Adolf Hitler
had just begun his political career as the leader of the tiny and as-yet-unknown German Workers Party (soon renamed the National Socialist German Workers Party, NSDAP) in Munich. Numerous future members and leaders of the Nazi Party had served in the Freikorps, including Ernst Röhm
, future head of the Sturmabteilung
, or SA, Heinrich Himmler
, future head of the Schutzstaffel
, or SS, and Rudolf Höß
, the future Kommandant of the Auschwitz concentration camp
.
Hermann Ehrhardt
, founder and leader of Marinebrigade Ehrhardt
, and his deputy Commander Eberhard Kautter, leaders of the Viking League, refused to help Hitler and Erich Ludendorff
in their Beer Hall Putsch
and conspired against them.
(SA) and Schutzstaffel
(SS) on November 9, 1933 in a huge ceremony. Historian Robert Waite claims that Hitler had many problems with certain aspects of the Freikorps. Many of the Freikorps had joined the SA, so when the Night of the Long Knives
came, they were among those targeted for killing or arrest, including Ehrhardt and Röhm. He claims that in Hitler's "Röhm Purge" speech to the Reichstag on July 13, 1934, the third group of "pathological enemies of the state" that Hitler lists are, in fact, the Freikorps fighters. . As the following list shows, the Freikorps were largely fanatically right wing fighters, part of Europe wide conflict like the White Guard
in Finland, and subsequently formed the core of the Nazi establishment.
Resources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freikorps
Germans
The Germans are a Germanic ethnic group native to Central Europe. The English term Germans has referred to the German-speaking population of the Holy Roman Empire since the Late Middle Ages....
volunteer military or paramilitary
Paramilitary
A paramilitary is a force whose function and organization are similar to those of a professional military, but which is not considered part of a state's formal armed forces....
units. The term was originally applied to voluntary armies formed in German lands from the middle of the 18th century onwards. Between World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
and World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
the term was also used for the paramilitary organizations that arose during the period of the Weimar Germany. Freikorps units fought both for and against the German state. They formed the vanguard of the Nazi movement.
First Freikorps
The first Freikorps were recruited by Frederick II of PrussiaFrederick II of Prussia
Frederick II was a King in Prussia and a King of Prussia from the Hohenzollern dynasty. In his role as a prince-elector of the Holy Roman Empire, he was also Elector of Brandenburg. He was in personal union the sovereign prince of the Principality of Neuchâtel...
in the 18th century during the Seven Years' War
Seven Years' War
The Seven Years' War was a global military war between 1756 and 1763, involving most of the great powers of the time and affecting Europe, North America, Central America, the West African coast, India, and the Philippines...
. The Freikorps were regarded as unreliable by regular armies, so they were mainly used as sentries and for minor duties.
During the Napoleonic Wars
Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars declared against Napoleon's French Empire by opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionised European armies and played out on an unprecedented scale, mainly due to...
, Freikorps were formed for the purpose of shaking off French rule in Germany
Confederation of the Rhine
The Confederation of the Rhine was a confederation of client states of the First French Empire. It was formed initially from 16 German states by Napoleon after he defeated Austria's Francis II and Russia's Alexander I in the Battle of Austerlitz. The Treaty of Pressburg, in effect, led to the...
. Those led by Ferdinand von Schill
Ferdinand von Schill
Ferdinand Baptista von Schill was a Prussian officer who revolted unsuccessfully against French domination in May 1809.-Life:...
were decimated in the Battle of Stralsund (1809)
Battle of Stralsund (1809)
The Battle of Stralsund on 31 May 1809 was a battle during the War of the Fifth Coalition, part of the Napoleonic Wars, between Ferdinand von Schill's freikorps and Napoleonic forces in Stralsund...
, many of their members killed in battle or executed at Napoleon's command in the aftermath. Later, Ludwig Adolf Wilhelm von Lützow
Ludwig Adolf Wilhelm von Lützow
Ludwig Adolf Wilhelm Freiherr von Lützow was a Prussian lieutenant general notable for his organization and command of a Lützow Freikorps of volunteers during the Napoleonic Wars...
, a survivor of Schill's Freikorps, formed the Lützow Free Corps
Lützow Free Corps
Lützow Free Corps was a voluntary force of the Prussian army during the Napoleonic Wars. It was named after its commander, Ludwig Adolf Wilhelm von Lützow. They were also widely known as "Lützower Jäger" or "Schwarze Jäger" .-Origins:...
which took part in the German War of Liberation. The anti-Napoleonic Freikorps often operated behind French lines, as a kind of commando or guerrilla force.
Throughout the 19th Century, these anti-Napoleonic Freikorps were greatly praised and glorified by German Nationalists, and a heroic myth built up around their exploits. It was this myth which was invoked, in considerably different circumstances, the aftermath of Germany's defeat in World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
.
Post-World War I
The meaning of the word "Freikorps" changed over time. After 1918, the term was used for the paramilitaryParamilitary
A paramilitary is a force whose function and organization are similar to those of a professional military, but which is not considered part of a state's formal armed forces....
organizations that sprang up around Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
as soldiers returned in defeat from World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
. They were the key Weimar paramilitary groups
Weimar paramilitary groups
Paramilitary groups were formed throughout the Weimar Republic in the wake of Germany's defeat in World War I and the ensuing German Revolution. Some were created by political parties to help in recruiting, discipline and in preparation for seizing power. Some were created before World War I....
active during that time. Many German veterans felt disconnected from civilian life, and joined a Freikorps in search of stability within a military
Military
A military is an organization authorized by its greater society to use lethal force, usually including use of weapons, in defending its country by combating actual or perceived threats. The military may have additional functions of use to its greater society, such as advancing a political agenda e.g...
structure. Others, angry at their sudden, apparently inexplicable defeat, joined up in an effort to put down Communist uprisings or exact some form of revenge (see Dolchstoßlegende). They received considerable support from Minister of Defense Gustav Noske
Gustav Noske
Gustav Noske was a German politician of the Social Democratic Party of Germany . He served as the first Minister of Defence of Germany between 1919 and 1920.-Biography:...
, a member of the Social Democratic Party of Germany
Social Democratic Party of Germany
The Social Democratic Party of Germany is a social-democratic political party in Germany...
, who used them to crush the German Revolution of 1918–1919 and the Marxist Spartacist League
Spartacist League
The Spartacus League was a left-wing Marxist revolutionary movement organized in Germany during World War I. The League was named after Spartacus, leader of the largest slave rebellion of the Roman Republic...
and arrest Karl Liebknecht
Karl Liebknecht
was a German socialist and a co-founder with Rosa Luxemburg of the Spartacist League and the Communist Party of Germany. He is best known for his opposition to World War I in the Reichstag and his role in the Spartacist uprising of 1919...
and Rosa Luxemburg
Rosa Luxemburg
Rosa Luxemburg was a Marxist theorist, philosopher, economist and activist of Polish Jewish descent who became a naturalized German citizen...
, who were killed on 15 January 1919. They were also used to defeat the Bavarian Soviet Republic
Bavarian Soviet Republic
The Bavarian Soviet Republic, also known as the Munich Soviet Republic was, as part of the German Revolution of 1918–1919, the short-lived attempt to establish a socialist state in form of a council republic in the Free State of Bavaria. It sought independence from the also recently proclaimed...
in May 1919.
On 5 May 1919, 12 workers (most of them members of the Social Democratic Party, SPD) were arrested and killed by members of Freikorps Lützow in Perlach
Perlach
Perlach may refer to:*Ramersdorf-Perlach, one of 25 boroughs/districts of Munich, Germany*Perlachturm, , a bell tower built in 1182 in Augsburg, Germany*Andreas Perlach, court astrologer to Archduke Ferdinand of Habsburg...
near Munich
Munich
Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...
based on a tip from a local cleric saying they were communists. A memorial on Pfanzeltplatz in Munich
Munich
Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...
today commemorates the incident.
Freikorps also fought in the Baltic
Freikorps in the Baltic
After 1918, the term Freikorps was used for the paramilitary organizations that sprang up around the German Empire, including in the Baltic states as soldiers returned in defeat from World War I...
, Silesia
Silesian Uprisings
The Silesian Uprisings were a series of three armed uprisings of the Poles and Polish Silesians of Upper Silesia, from 1919–1921, against German rule; the resistance hoped to break away from Germany in order to join the Second Polish Republic, which had been established in the wake of World War I...
, and Prussia after the end of World War I, sometimes with significant success. They raped and murdered with abandon, and Anti-slavic racism
Racism
Racism is the belief that inherent different traits in human racial groups justify discrimination. In the modern English language, the term "racism" is used predominantly as a pejorative epithet. It is applied especially to the practice or advocacy of racial discrimination of a pernicious nature...
was present, although the ethnic cleansing
Ethnic cleansing
Ethnic cleansing is a purposeful policy designed by one ethnic or religious group to remove by violent and terror-inspiring means the civilian population of another ethnic orreligious group from certain geographic areas....
ideology and anti-Semitism that would be expressed in later years was not developed yet.
Though officially "disbanded" in 1920, many Freikorps attempted, unsuccessfully, to overthrow the government in the Kapp Putsch
Kapp Putsch
The Kapp Putsch — or more accurately the Kapp-Lüttwitz Putsch — was a 1920 coup attempt during the German Revolution of 1918–1919 aimed at overthrowing the Weimar Republic...
in March 1920. Their attack was halted when German citizens who were loyal to the state went on strike, cutting off many services, and making daily life so problematic that the Putsch was called off.
In 1920, Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
had just begun his political career as the leader of the tiny and as-yet-unknown German Workers Party (soon renamed the National Socialist German Workers Party, NSDAP) in Munich. Numerous future members and leaders of the Nazi Party had served in the Freikorps, including Ernst Röhm
Ernst Röhm
Ernst Julius Röhm, was a German officer in the Bavarian Army and later an early Nazi leader. He was a co-founder of the Sturmabteilung , the Nazi Party militia, and later was its commander...
, future head of the Sturmabteilung
Sturmabteilung
The Sturmabteilung functioned as a paramilitary organization of the National Socialist German Workers' Party . It played a key role in Adolf Hitler's rise to power in the 1920s and 1930s...
, or SA, Heinrich Himmler
Heinrich Himmler
Heinrich Luitpold Himmler was Reichsführer of the SS, a military commander, and a leading member of the Nazi Party. As Chief of the German Police and the Minister of the Interior from 1943, Himmler oversaw all internal and external police and security forces, including the Gestapo...
, future head of the Schutzstaffel
Schutzstaffel
The Schutzstaffel |Sig runes]]) was a major paramilitary organization under Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party. Built upon the Nazi ideology, the SS under Heinrich Himmler's command was responsible for many of the crimes against humanity during World War II...
, or SS, and Rudolf Höß
Rudolf Höß
Rudolf Franz Ferdinand Höss was an SS-Obersturmbannführer , and from 4 May 1940 to November 1943, the first commandant of Auschwitz concentration camp, where it is estimated that more than a million people were murdered...
, the future Kommandant of the Auschwitz concentration camp
Auschwitz concentration camp
Concentration camp Auschwitz was a network of Nazi concentration and extermination camps built and operated by the Third Reich in Polish areas annexed by Nazi Germany during World War II...
.
Hermann Ehrhardt
Hermann Ehrhardt
Hermann Ehrhardt was a German Freikorps commander during the period of turmoil in Weimar Republic Germany from 1918 to 1920, he commanded the famous II.Marine Brigade, better known as the Ehrhardt Brigade or Marinebrigade Ehrhardt.Born in Diersburg, now part of Hohberg, Baden-Württemberg, he later...
, founder and leader of Marinebrigade Ehrhardt
Marinebrigade Ehrhardt
The Marinebrigade Ehrhardt was a Free Corps group of around 6,000 men formed by Captain Hermann Ehrhardt in the aftermath of World War I, also known as II Marine Brigade or the Ehrhardt Brigade...
, and his deputy Commander Eberhard Kautter, leaders of the Viking League, refused to help Hitler and Erich Ludendorff
Erich Ludendorff
Erich Friedrich Wilhelm Ludendorff was a German general, victor of Liège and of the Battle of Tannenberg...
in their Beer Hall Putsch
Beer Hall Putsch
The Beer Hall Putsch was a failed attempt at revolution that occurred between the evening of 8 November and the early afternoon of 9 November 1923, when Nazi Party leader Adolf Hitler, Generalquartiermeister Erich Ludendorff, and other heads of the Kampfbund unsuccessfully tried to seize power...
and conspired against them.
Relations with Hitler
Freikorps leaders symbolically gave their old battle flags to Hitler's SturmabteilungSturmabteilung
The Sturmabteilung functioned as a paramilitary organization of the National Socialist German Workers' Party . It played a key role in Adolf Hitler's rise to power in the 1920s and 1930s...
(SA) and Schutzstaffel
Schutzstaffel
The Schutzstaffel |Sig runes]]) was a major paramilitary organization under Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party. Built upon the Nazi ideology, the SS under Heinrich Himmler's command was responsible for many of the crimes against humanity during World War II...
(SS) on November 9, 1933 in a huge ceremony. Historian Robert Waite claims that Hitler had many problems with certain aspects of the Freikorps. Many of the Freikorps had joined the SA, so when the Night of the Long Knives
Night of the Long Knives
The Night of the Long Knives , sometimes called "Operation Hummingbird " or in Germany the "Röhm-Putsch," was a purge that took place in Nazi Germany between June 30 and July 2, 1934, when the Nazi regime carried out a series of political murders...
came, they were among those targeted for killing or arrest, including Ehrhardt and Röhm. He claims that in Hitler's "Röhm Purge" speech to the Reichstag on July 13, 1934, the third group of "pathological enemies of the state" that Hitler lists are, in fact, the Freikorps fighters. . As the following list shows, the Freikorps were largely fanatically right wing fighters, part of Europe wide conflict like the White Guard
White Guard
The term White Guard may refer to:* White Guard , part of the White Army of the 1918 Finnish Civil War* White Guard , part of the Axis colaborators in Slovenia during the Second World War* Military arm of the Russian White movement...
in Finland, and subsequently formed the core of the Nazi establishment.
Notable Freikorps members
- Josef Adams, SS Officer
- Ludolf von AlvenslebenLudolf von AlvenslebenLudolf-Hermann Emmanuel Georg Kurt Werner von Alvensleben was a Nazi official in the rank of SS-Gruppenführer and Major General of the Police. His familiar name was "Bubi" .- Background :...
SS General - Kurt Benson, SS Oberführer'
- Rudolph BertholdRudolph BertholdRudolf Berthold was a German World War I flying ace. Between 1916 and 1918 he shot down 44 enemy planes—most of them over the Belgian front. Berthold had the reputation as a ruthless, fearless and—above all—a very patriotic fighter...
, World War I ace - Gottlob BergerGottlob BergerGottlob Berger was a German Nazi who held the rank of Obergruppenführer during World War II and was later convicted of war crimes.In 1939, he was Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler's main recruiting officer...
,SS General - Karl-Heinz Bertling, SS Oberführer
- Wilhelm BittrichWilhelm BittrichWilhelm Bittrich was an SS-Obergruppenführer and Waffen-SS General during World War II.-Overview:...
SS General - Martin BormannMartin BormannMartin Ludwig Bormann was a prominent Nazi official. He became head of the Party Chancellery and private secretary to Adolf Hitler...
, NSDAP Politician/SS General - Wilhelm CanarisWilhelm CanarisWilhelm Franz Canaris was a German admiral, head of the Abwehr, the German military intelligence service, from 1935 to 1944 and member of the German Resistance.- Early life and World War I :...
, Admiral - Friedrich ChristiansenFriedrich ChristiansenFriedrich Christiansen was a World War I German seaplane ace who claimed shooting down twenty planes and an airship; thirteen of those victories were confirmed...
Luftwaffe General - Kurt DaluegeKurt DaluegeKurt Daluege was a German Nazi SS-Oberstgruppenführer and Generaloberst der Polizei as chief of the Ordnungspolizei and ruled the Protectorate Bohemia and Moravia as Deputy Protector after Reinhard Heydrich's assassination.-Early life and career:Kurt Daluege, a son of a Prussian state official,...
, SS General - Karl DiebitschKarl DiebitschProfessor Karl Diebitsch was an artist and soldier responsible for much of the Third Reich SS regalia, including the Chained SS Officer's dagger scabbard. Diebitsch worked with graphic designer Walter Heck to design the all-black SS uniform...
SS Oberführer - Josef Dietrich SS General
- Oskar DirlewangerOskar DirlewangerOskar Paul Dirlewanger was a World War II officer of the SS who commanded the SS-Sturmbrigade Dirlewanger, a penal battalion composed of German criminals...
, SS Colonel - Freiherr Karl von EbersteinKarl von EbersteinFreiherr Freidrich Karl von Eberstein was a member of the German nobility, early member of the Nazi party, the SA, the SS, Reichstag delegate, an HSSPF and SS-Oberabschnitt Führer, head of the Munich Police in World War II, introduced Reinhard Heydrich to Heinrich Himmler, and was a witness at the...
SS General - Johannes Engel, SS General
- Hermann EhrhardtHermann EhrhardtHermann Ehrhardt was a German Freikorps commander during the period of turmoil in Weimar Republic Germany from 1918 to 1920, he commanded the famous II.Marine Brigade, better known as the Ehrhardt Brigade or Marinebrigade Ehrhardt.Born in Diersburg, now part of Hohberg, Baden-Württemberg, he later...
- Hans FrankHans FrankHans Michael Frank was a German lawyer who worked for the Nazi party during the 1920s and 1930s and later became a high-ranking official in Nazi Germany...
SA General/Governor-General of Poland - Fritz FreitagFritz FreitagFritz Freitag was a Brigadeführer in the Waffen SS during World War II. He was the commander of the 14th Waffen Grenadier Division Galicia and awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross. He committed suicide at the end of the war in May 1945.-Early years:Fritz Freitag was born on 28 April 1894,...
, SS General - Karl GebhardtKarl GebhardtKarl Gebhardt was a German medical doctor; personal physician of Heinrich Himmler; and one of the main coordinators and perpetrators of surgical experiments performed on inmates of the concentration camps at Ravensbrück and Auschwitz.-Career in the Third Reich:Gebhardt's Nazi career began with his...
, SS General - Richard GlücksRichard GlücksRichard Glücks was a high-ranking Nazi official. He attained the rank of a SS-Gruppenführer and a Generalleutnant of the Waffen-SS and from 1939 until the end of World War II was the head of Amt D: Konzentrationslagerwesen of the WVHA; the highest-ranking Concentration Camps Inspector in Nazi...
, SS General - Arthur GreiserArthur GreiserArthur Greiser was a Nazi German politician and SS Obergruppenfuhrer. He was one of the persons primarily responsible for organizing the Holocaust in Poland and numerous other war crimes and crimes against humanity, for which he was tried, convicted and executed by hanging after World War...
, SS General - Wilhelm HarsterWilhelm HarsterWilhelm Harster was an SS and Police Leader. He was twice convicted of war crimes, by the Dutch and later by West Germany...
SS General - Franz HaylerFranz HaylerFranz Hayler was a German self-employed salesman who rose during the Third Reich to State Secretary and acting Reich Economics Minister as a member of the NSDAP and the SS.-Career:...
SS General - Hans Hayn SA Leader
- Reinhard HeydrichReinhard HeydrichReinhard Tristan Eugen Heydrich , also known as The Hangman, was a high-ranking German Nazi official.He was SS-Obergruppenführer and General der Polizei, chief of the Reich Main Security Office and Stellvertretender Reichsprotektor of Bohemia and Moravia...
, SS General - Richard HildebrandtRichard HildebrandtRichard Hermann Hildebrandt was a politician in Nazi Germany and member of the Reichstag, and an SS-Obergruppenführer. From 1943 until his capture in 1945, he led the SS-Rasse und Siedlungshauptamt , the Office of Race and Settlement of the SS...
SS General - Heinrich HimmlerHeinrich HimmlerHeinrich Luitpold Himmler was Reichsführer of the SS, a military commander, and a leading member of the Nazi Party. As Chief of the German Police and the Minister of the Interior from 1943, Himmler oversaw all internal and external police and security forces, including the Gestapo...
, Reichsführer-SSReichsführer-SSwas a special SS rank that existed between the years of 1925 and 1945. Reichsführer-SS was a title from 1925 to 1933 and, after 1934, the highest rank of the German Schutzstaffel .-Definition:... - Hans HinkelHans HinkelHans Hinkel was a German journalist and ministerial official in Nazi Germany....
, SS Officer - Rudolf Hoess, Kommandant of Auschwitz
- Karl HöferKarl HöferKarl Höfer was a German officer. During World War I he became known as the Held vom Kemmelberge for his actions at the Kemmelberg....
, SS General
- Bernhard von HülsenBernhard von HülsenBernhard Franz Karl Adolf von Hülsen was a German general.On 26 December 1918 after World War I, Hülsen formed the Freikorps Hülsen, a paramilitary unit which participated in the suppression of the Spartacist League in Berlin. In 1921 Generalleutnant von Hülsen commanded units in the Battle of...
, German General - Friedrich Gustav JaegerFriedrich Gustav JaegerFriedrich Gustav Jaeger was a resistance fighter in Nazi Germany and a member of the July 20 Plot.-Life:...
- Dietrich von Jagow, SA General, German Diplomat
- Friedrich JeckelnFriedrich JeckelnFriedrich Jeckeln was an SS-Obergruppenführer who served as an SS and Police Leader in the occupied Soviet Union during World War II...
SS General - Ernst KantorowiczErnst KantorowiczErnst Hartwig Kantorowicz was a German-Jewish historian of medieval political and intellectual history, known for his 1927 book Kaiser Friedrich der Zweite on Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II, and in particular The King's Two Bodies .Kantorowicz was born in Posen to a wealthy, assimilated...
Medieval Historian - Hans KammlerHans KammlerGeneral Dr Ing. Hans Friedrich Karl Franz Kammler was a civil engineer and high-ranking officer of the SS. He oversaw SS construction projects, and towards the end of World War II was put in charge of the V-2 missile programme.He is most commonly referred to as Heinz Kammler or Hans...
, SS General - Wilhelm KeitelWilhelm KeitelWilhelm Bodewin Gustav Keitel was a German field marshal . As head of the Oberkommando der Wehrmacht and de facto war minister, he was one of Germany's most senior military leaders during World War II...
, Field Marshal - Matthias KleinheisterkampMatthias KleinheisterkampMatthias Kleinheisterkamp was an SS Obergruppenführer and a Heer officer who served in both World War I and World War II. During World War II, Kleinheisterkamp commanded the 3. SS-Division Totenkopf, 6. SS-Gebirgs-Division Nord, 2. SS-Division Das Reich, III. SS-Panzerkorps, VII. SS-Panzerkops,...
SS General - Waldemar KlingelhöferWaldemar KlingelhöferWaldemar Klingelhöfer ; died about 1980) was an SS-Sturmbannführer and convicted war criminal.-Early life:...
SS officer - Erich KochErich KochErich Koch was a Gauleiter of the Nazi Party in East Prussia from 1928 until 1945. Between 1941 and 1945 he was the Chief of Civil Administration of Bezirk Bialystok. During this period, he was also the Reichskommissar in Reichskommissariat Ukraine from 1941 until 1943...
, NSDAP leader for East Prussia - Heinrich KreipeHeinrich KreipeKarl Heinrich Georg Ferdinand Kreipe was a German general, who served in World War II. He is most famous for his spectacular abduction by British and Cretan resistance fighters from occupied Crete in April 1944....
, German General - Arthur LiebehenschelArthur LiebehenschelArthur Liebehenschel was a commandant at the Auschwitz and Majdanek death camps during World War II. He was convicted of war crimes after the war and executed.-Biography:...
SS Officer - Georg LindemannGeorg LindemannGeorg Heinrich Lindemann was a German cavalry officer and field commander who served in the German army during World War I and World War II . He was also a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves...
, German General - Wilhelm List, German General
- Wilhelm Friedrich LoeperWilhelm Friedrich LoeperWilhelm Friedrich Loeper was a Nazi politician and a Nazi Gauleiter in the Gau of Magdeburg-Anhalt.- Life :...
, SS General - Bruno LoerzerBruno LoerzerBruno Loerzer was an officer in the German Luftstreitkräfte during World War I and Luftwaffe during World War II....
, Luftwaffe General - Viktor LutzeViktor LutzeViktor Lutze was the commander of the Sturmabteilung succeeding Ernst Röhm as Stabschef.-Early life:...
, SA Leader - Paul Moder, SS General
- Thomas Müller (SS officer) SS Officer
- Friedrich T. NolteniusFriedrich T. NolteniusLieutenant Friedrich Theodor Noltenius was a German flying ace in the First World War, with a total of 21 kills.-Early life and service:...
World War I ace - Karl von OberkampKarl von OberkampSS-Brigadeführer und Generalmajor der Waffen-SS Karl Ferdinand Reichsritter von Oberkamp was a German Heer and Waffen-SS officer who commanded the 7. SS-Freiwilligen-Gebirgs-Division Prinz Eugen, 38. SS-Division Nibelungen and the V.SS-Gebirgs-Korps...
, SS General - Günther PanckeGünther PanckeGünther Friedrich Wilhelm Ludwig Pancke was an SS-Obergruppenführer and the Higher SS and Police Leader of Denmark....
SS General - Heinz PernetHeinz PernetHeinz Pernet was a former lieutenant and Erich Ludendorff's stepson. He was a top figure in the Beer Hall Putsch of November 1923. He was among the nine men tried and convicted along with Adolf Hitler and Erich Ludendorff in 1924. He later became an SA-Brigadeführer....
SA Brigadeführer - Oswald PohlOswald PohlOswald Pohl was a Nazi official and member of the SS , involved in the mass murders of Jews in concentration camps, the so-called Final Solution.-Early years:...
SS General - Hans-Adolf PrützmannHans-Adolf PrützmannHans-Adolf Prützmann was a Superior SS and Police Leader, as well as an SS Obergruppenführer...
, SS General - Hermann-Bernhard RamckeHermann-Bernhard RamckeHermann-Bernhard "Gerhard" Ramcke was a German general. He was a recipient of the Knights Cross of the Iron Cross with Swords, Oak Leaves, and Diamonds, one of only 27 people in the German military so decorated...
Luftwaffe General - Johann RattenhuberJohann RattenhuberJohann Rattenhuber , also known as Hans Rattenhuber, was a German police and SS general . Rattenhuber was the head of German dictator Adolf Hitler's personal bodyguard from 1933 to 1945.-Biography:Rattenhuber was born in Munich, where he made a career as a police officer...
SS General - Hanns Albin RauterHanns Albin RauterJohann Baptist Albin Rauter was a high-ranking Austrian Nazi war criminal. He was the highest SS and Police Leader in the occupied Netherlands and therefore the leading security and police officer there during the period of 1940-1945...
SS Officer - Beppo RömerBeppo RömerJosef “Beppo” Römer was an Oberland Freikorps leader after the war, later a KPD organizer. He worked against the Third Reich and was executed by the regime.- Biography :...
, KPD Member - Emanuel SchäferEmanuel SchäferEmanuel Schäfer was an SS-Oberführer and a protégé of Reinhard Heydrich in Nazi Germany....
SS Colonel - Julian SchernerJulian SchernerJulian Scherner was a Nazi Party official who served in the SS as an SS-Oberführer...
SS Officer
- Albert Leo SchlageterAlbert Leo SchlageterAlbert Leo Schlageter was a member of the German Freikorps. His activities sabotaging French occupying troops after World War I led to his arrest and eventual execution by French forces. His death created an image of martyrdom around him, which was cultivated by German nationalist groups, in...
, anti-French Saboteur - Wilhelm Wilhelm Schmid, SA Leader
- Karl Eberhard SchöngarthKarl Eberhard SchöngarthEberhard Karl Schöngarth was a German Nazi, appointed SS-Brigadeführer und Generalmajor der Polizei on Himmler’s orders in 1943. He was a war criminal who perpetrated mass murder and genocide in occupied Poland during the Holocaust.Schöngarth was born in Leipzig, Saxony...
, SS General - Werner SchraderWerner SchraderWerner Schrader was a German military officer involved in the 20 July plot, a coup d'état attempting to assassinate Adolf Hitler.-Early life:...
,German Army Officer - Julius SchreckJulius SchreckJulius Schreck was an early Nazi Party member and also the first commander of the Schutzstaffel .-Biography:...
, SS Leader - Franz SeldteFranz SeldteFranz Seldte was cofounder of the German Stahlhelm paramilitary organization, a Nazi politician, and Minister for Labour of the German Reich from 1933 to 1945.-Life:...
SA Leader - Hugo SperrleHugo SperrleHugo Sperrle was a German field marshal of the Luftwaffe during World War II. His forces were deployed solely on the Western Front and the Mediterranean throughout the war...
, Luftwaffe General - Felix SteinerFelix SteinerFelix Martin Julius Steiner was a German Reichswehr and Waffen-SS officer who served in both World War I and World War II. He was also a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords...
, SS General - Walter Stennes, SA Leader
- Franz Walter StahleckerFranz Walter StahleckerFranz Walter Stahlecker was Commander of the Sicherheitspolizei and the Sicherheitsdienst for the Reichskommissariat Ostland in 1941/42...
SS General - Walter Staudinger, SS General
- Gregor StrasserGregor StrasserGregor Strasser was a politician of the National Socialist German Workers Party...
, NSDAP Member - Otto StrasserOtto StrasserOtto Johann Maximilian Strasser was a German politician and 'left-wing' member of the National Socialist German Workers Party. Strasser was part of the ‘left-wing’ faction of the party, along with his brother Gregor Strasser, and broke from the party due to disputes with the ‘Hitlerite’ faction...
, NSDAP Member - Wilhelm StuckartWilhelm StuckartWilhelm Stuckart was a Nazi Party lawyer and official, a state secretary in the German Interior Ministry and later, a convicted war criminal.-Early life:...
, SS General - Friedrich Uebelhoer, SS General
- Hans-Jürgen von BlumenthalHans-Jürgen von BlumenthalHans-Jürgen Graf von Blumenthal was a German aristocrat and Army officer in World War II who was executed by the Nazi régime for his role in the July 20 Plot to assassinate Adolf Hitler.-Biography:...
German Army Officer - Franz Ritter von Epp, NSDAP Reichsstatthalter for Bavaria
- Curt von GottbergCurt von GottbergCurt von Gottberg was a Nazi official and military commander. Beginning in October 1942, within a few years he had personally combined the highest civil and military powers in occupied Belarus: from March 1943 as representative of the HSSPF for central Russia, and from October 1943 as the acting...
, SS general - Wolf-Heinrich Graf von HelldorfWolf-Heinrich Graf von HelldorfWolf-Heinrich Graf von Helldorf was a leading figure in the Nazi regime.-Early life:Helldorf was born in Merseburg, a landowner's son, Helldorf served as a lieutenant from 1915 in the First World War, and from 1918 was a member of the Prussian state assembly.-Berlin chief of police:Already by...
, SA member - Maximilian von HerffMaximilian von HerffMaximilian von Herff was a German Schutzstaffel general from Hanover.Herff served as an officer of the Reichswehr in the First World War, attaining the rank of colonel and winning the Iron Cross First and Second Class. During the Second World War, Herff served in North Africa as commander of the...
, SS General - Peter von HeydebreckPeter von HeydebreckHans-Adam Otto von Heydebreck, called Peter von Heydebreck was a German Freikorps- and SA leader, member of the Reichstag and a national socialist....
, SA leader - Manfred Freiherr von KillingerManfred Freiherr von KillingerManfred Freiherr von Killinger was a German naval officer, Freikorps leader, military writer and Nazi politician. A veteran of World War I and member of the Marinebrigade Ehrhardt during the German Revolution, he took part in the violent intervention against the Bavarian Soviet Republic...
- Bolko von RichthofenBolko von RichthofenBolko von Richthofen was a German archaeologist and a distant relative of the family of Manfred von Richthofen, the "Red Baron"...
relative of the Red Baron - Ernst von SalomonErnst von SalomonErnst von Salomon was a German writer and Freikorps member.He was born in Kiel, the son of a criminal investigation officer. From 1913 he was a cadet in Karlsruhe and Berlin-Lichterfelde; starting in 1919, he joined the Freikorps in the Baltic, where he fought against the Bolsheviks...
, Organisation ConsulOrganisation ConsulOrganisation Consul was an ultra-nationalist force operating in Germany in 1921 and 1922. It was formed by members of the Marinebrigade Ehrhardt, a Freikorps unit which disbanded after the Kapp Putsch failed to overthrow the German Weimar Republic...
member - Franz Pfeffer von SalomonFranz Pfeffer von SalomonFranz Pfeffer von Salomon was the first commander of the SA after its 1925 restoration, which followed its temporary abolition in 1923 after the abortive Beer Hall Putsch....
, SA leader - Fritz von ScholzFritz von ScholzFritz von Scholz, Edler von Rerancze, known as Fritz von Scholz was an Austrian Austro-Hungarian Army and later German Waffen SS officer who served in both the First and Second World Wars....
SS General - Otto Teetzmann SS Oberführer
- Otmar Freiherr von VerschuerOtmar Freiherr von VerschuerOtmar Freiherr von Verschuer was a German human biologist and eugenicist concerned primarily with "racial hygiene" and twin research...
SS Doctor - Hilmar WäckerleHilmar WäckerleHilmar Wäckerle was a German soldier in both the German Imperial Army and the Waffen-SS and the first commandant of Dachau concentration camp.-War service:...
SS officer - Walther WenckWalther Wenck-Captive, prisoner, and death:Wenck was captured and put in a prisoner of war camp. He was released in 1947. In 1982, Wenck died in a car accident in Bad Rothenfelde.-See also:* Battle of Berlin - 1945* Battle of Halbe - 1945* Hans Krebs, Chief of Staff...
, German Army General - Karl WolffKarl WolffKarl Friedrich Otto Wolff was a high-ranking member of the Nazi Schutzstaffel , ultimately holding the rank of SS-Obergruppenführer and General of the Waffen-SS. He became Chief of Personal Staff to the Reichsführer and SS Liaison Officer to Hitler until his replacement in 1943...
, SS General
Resources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freikorps
Notable Freikorps units
- Freikorps OberlandFreikorps OberlandThe Freikorps Oberland was a free corps in the early years of the Weimar Republic, fighting against Communist and Polish insurgents...
- Kurt Benson
- Volunteer Division of Horse Guards (Garde-Kavallerie-Schützendivision)
- murdered Rosa LuxemburgRosa LuxemburgRosa Luxemburg was a Marxist theorist, philosopher, economist and activist of Polish Jewish descent who became a naturalized German citizen...
and Karl LiebknechtKarl Liebknechtwas a German socialist and a co-founder with Rosa Luxemburg of the Spartacist League and the Communist Party of Germany. He is best known for his opposition to World War I in the Reichstag and his role in the Spartacist uprising of 1919...
, Jan 15, 1919 - led by Captain Pabst
- disbanded on order of Defense Minister Gustav NoskeGustav NoskeGustav Noske was a German politician of the Social Democratic Party of Germany . He served as the first Minister of Defence of Germany between 1919 and 1920.-Biography:...
, Jul 7, 1919, after Pabst threatened to kill him
- murdered Rosa Luxemburg
- Freikorps Maercker (Maercker's Volunteer Rifles, or Freiwillige Landesjägerkorps)
- had Reinhard HeydrichReinhard HeydrichReinhard Tristan Eugen Heydrich , also known as The Hangman, was a high-ranking German Nazi official.He was SS-Obergruppenführer and General der Polizei, chief of the Reich Main Security Office and Stellvertretender Reichsprotektor of Bohemia and Moravia...
as a member - founded by Ludwig MaerckerLudwig MaerckerGeorg Ludwig Rudolf Maercker was a German General of World War I.Following the Armistice of 1918 that saw the end of fighting and of the Bolshevik revolution that led to the creation of the Soviet Union, there were many examples of disturbances throughout Germany...
- had Reinhard Heydrich
- Freikorps Roßbach (Rossbach)
- founded by Gerhard RoßbachGerhard RoßbachGerhard Roßbach was a German Freikorps leader and organizer of nationalist groups after World War I....
- rescued the Iron Division after an extremely long march across Eastern Europe.
- had Rudolph Hoess as a member.
- founded by Gerhard Roßbach
- Marinebrigade EhrhardtMarinebrigade EhrhardtThe Marinebrigade Ehrhardt was a Free Corps group of around 6,000 men formed by Captain Hermann Ehrhardt in the aftermath of World War I, also known as II Marine Brigade or the Ehrhardt Brigade...
(The Second Naval Brigade)- participated in the Kapp Putsch of 1920
- disbanded members eventually formed the Organisation ConsulOrganisation ConsulOrganisation Consul was an ultra-nationalist force operating in Germany in 1921 and 1922. It was formed by members of the Marinebrigade Ehrhardt, a Freikorps unit which disbanded after the Kapp Putsch failed to overthrow the German Weimar Republic...
, which performed hundreds of political assassinations
- Iron Division (Eiserne Division, related to Eiserne Brigade)
- Fought in the Baltic.
- Got trapped in Thorensberg by the Latvian Army. Was rescued by the Rossbach Freikorps.
- Freikorps Lützow
- Occupied Munich following the revolution of April, 1919.
- Commanded by Major Schulz
- Sudetendeutsches FreikorpsSudetendeutsches FreikorpsSudetendeutsches Freikorps was a paramilitary fifth-columnist organization formed of Czechoslovak ethnic Germans , with pro-Nazi sympathies. They operated in Czechoslovakia from 1938 to 1939...
- Formed by Czech German nationalists with Nazi sympathies which operated from 1938 to 1939
- Part of Hitler's successful effort to absorb Czechoslovakia into the Third Reich
External links
- Axis History Factbook; Freikorps section – By Marcus Wendel and contributors; site also contains an apolitical forum
- Freikorps Master list on Axis History Forum {reference only}