Gustav Adolf Scheel
Encyclopedia
Gustav Adolf Scheel was a German
physician
and "multifunctionary" in the time of the Third Reich (SA
and SS
member, Leader of the National Socialist Students' Federation, Organizer of the SD
in the southwest, Superior SS and Police Leader in Salzburg, Gauleiter
in Salzburg
from November 1941). As commander of the Security Police and the SD, he organized in October 1940 the deportation of Karlsruhe
's Jews to the death camps in the east.
in Mannheim
. Even while still a schoolboy he became involved in rightwing circles of the German Youth Movement.
Beginning in the summer semester of 1928, he studied law
, political economy and theology
in Heidelberg
to become a minister. He intensified his coöperation in rightwing student circles and in the winter semester of 1928-29 he became a member of the Verein Deutscher Studenten (VDSt), a German Studentenverbindung
. A year later he was the club's chairman.
In 1929 he joined the National Socialist German Students' League
(NSDStB), on 1 October 1930 the SA and on 1 December 1930 the NSDAP. He moved for a short time to Tübingen
and began studies in medicine
that he continued in Heidelberg
.
Once he had come back to Heidelberg, he quickly rose to become one of the main Nazi propagandists
at the college. As NSDStB College Group Leader (Hochschulgruppenführer) he led the Heidelberg Nazi student rallies against the pacifist
Emil Gumbel (1891–1966) which led to the removal of Gumbel's teaching entitlement.
In 1933, Scheel became chairman of the Heidelberg General Students' Board (AstA). During this time, he also became Hanns-Martin Schleyer's mentor, getting him to join the NSDAP and the SS. Furthermore, Scheel exerted influence over the university's appointments and personnel policy in his capacity as the Heidelberg student leader and member of the vice chancellor's leadership staff.
In 1934, Scheel sat his State medical examination, was appointed to the NSDStB leadership, and (in July) became an SD member. He rose swiftly in this secret Nazi organization. Between 1935 and 1939 he led the SD Upper Division Southwest. As a former student official, he brought along with him to the SD a great many young Nazi academics who went on to mass murder
against the Soviet Union
after the war broke out. Among them were Dr. Walter Stahlecker, Dr. Martin Sandberger
, Dr. Erwin Weinmann, Albert Rapp, Erich Ehrlinger
, and Eugen Steimle, all of whom went into various divisions of the Reichssicherheitshauptamt (RSHA) to become leaders of murder squads of the various Einsatzgruppen
.
Scheel, who was already fighting vehemently for the exclusion of "students of Jewish lineage" from the "benefits of social institutions at the university" became in October 1940 the organizer of the deportation of Karlsruhe's Jews to their certain deaths in the east.
Scheel's further rise within the Nazi repression apparatus kept on unabated. In 1941, he was already an SS Brigadeführer
and a Police Major General
. In the same year, he was installed as Gauleiter
and Reich Governor (Reichsstatthalter) in the Gau of Salzburg
. After the discovery of resistance groups in Salzburg, he organized a widespread wave of arrests and had quite a few railwaymen put to death.
In 1943 he took a position against the White Rose
(Weiße Rose) resistance group by declaring that its members should be "executed not as students", but rather as "antisocial former Wehrmacht
members". Scheel's point of view was that these "criminals" should not be allowed to stain the student body's image. From this time also came Scheel's declaration:
As a Nazi "multifunctionary", Scheel held the following functions (other than those already mentioned):
As Nazi Germany
's defeat loomed in 1944-45, Scheel was furthermore made leader of the Volkssturm
in the Gau of Salzburg. On 29 April 1945, Adolf Hitler
assigned him in his will to the position of Reich Minister for Science, Art, and National Education.
on 4 May, Scheel fled. In St. Veit he was arrested by the Americans and interned. After spending time in many camps and prisons, he was released on 24 December 1947. After once again being interned, he was transferred to Heidelberg to undergo Denazification
. A local court sentenced him in 1948 to five years in a labour camp, and classified him as a Hauptschuldiger (literally "main culprit"). He was however released on 24 December 1948.
Afterwards, he first worked as a night worker at Hamburg
Harbour, and as of summer 1949, he was a doctor in a Hamburg hospital
, then an assistant doctor at Rautenberg Hospital in Hamburg.
After an appeal proceeding in 1952, Scheel was classified as a Belasteter ("bonded one"). From 1951 to 1953, he belonged – along with other Nazi leaders such as Werner Best
– to the "Naumann Circle", and owing to this was arrested in January 1953 by British
police, who suspected him of building up a secret organization; he was later handed over to German authorities. He was released on 17 June 1953. On 3 December 1954, his trial was suspended for want of any adequate suspicion of wrongdoing. From February 1954 until 8 April 1977, he was the owner of a medical practice in Hamburg.
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...
physician
Physician
A physician is a health care provider who practices the profession of medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring human health through the study, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, injury and other physical and mental impairments...
and "multifunctionary" in the time of the Third Reich (SA
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...
and SS
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...
member, Leader of the National Socialist Students' Federation, Organizer of the SD
Sicherheitsdienst
Sicherheitsdienst , full title Sicherheitsdienst des Reichsführers-SS, or SD, was the intelligence agency of the SS and the Nazi Party in Nazi Germany. The organization was the first Nazi Party intelligence organization to be established and was often considered a "sister organization" with the...
in the southwest, Superior SS and Police Leader in Salzburg, Gauleiter
Gauleiter
A Gauleiter was the party leader of a regional branch of the NSDAP or the head of a Gau or of a Reichsgau.-Creation and Early Usage:...
in Salzburg
Salzburg
-Population development:In 1935, the population significantly increased when Salzburg absorbed adjacent municipalities. After World War II, numerous refugees found a new home in the city. New residential space was created for American soldiers of the postwar Occupation, and could be used for...
from November 1941). As commander of the Security Police and the SD, he organized in October 1940 the deportation of Karlsruhe
Karlsruhe
The City of Karlsruhe is a city in the southwest of Germany, in the state of Baden-Württemberg, located near the French-German border.Karlsruhe was founded in 1715 as Karlsruhe Palace, when Germany was a series of principalities and city states...
's Jews to the death camps in the east.
Life
Born as an Evangelical minister's son in Rosenberg in North Baden, Scheel went to the Karl-Friedrichs-GymnasiumGymnasium (school)
A gymnasium is a type of school providing secondary education in some parts of Europe, comparable to English grammar schools or sixth form colleges and U.S. college preparatory high schools. The word γυμνάσιον was used in Ancient Greece, meaning a locality for both physical and intellectual...
in Mannheim
Mannheim
Mannheim is a city in southwestern Germany. With about 315,000 inhabitants, Mannheim is the second-largest city in the Bundesland of Baden-Württemberg, following the capital city of Stuttgart....
. Even while still a schoolboy he became involved in rightwing circles of the German Youth Movement.
Beginning in the summer semester of 1928, he studied law
Law
Law is a system of rules and guidelines which are enforced through social institutions to govern behavior, wherever possible. It shapes politics, economics and society in numerous ways and serves as a social mediator of relations between people. Contract law regulates everything from buying a bus...
, political economy and theology
Theology
Theology is the systematic and rational study of religion and its influences and of the nature of religious truths, or the learned profession acquired by completing specialized training in religious studies, usually at a university or school of divinity or seminary.-Definition:Augustine of Hippo...
in Heidelberg
Heidelberg
-Early history:Between 600,000 and 200,000 years ago, "Heidelberg Man" died at nearby Mauer. His jaw bone was discovered in 1907; with scientific dating, his remains were determined to be the earliest evidence of human life in Europe. In the 5th century BC, a Celtic fortress of refuge and place of...
to become a minister. He intensified his coöperation in rightwing student circles and in the winter semester of 1928-29 he became a member of the Verein Deutscher Studenten (VDSt), a German Studentenverbindung
Studentenverbindung
A Studentenverbindung is a student corporation in a German-speaking country somewhat comparable to fraternities in the US or Canada, but mostly older and going back to other kinds of...
. A year later he was the club's chairman.
In 1929 he joined the National Socialist German Students' League
National Socialist German Students' League
The National Socialist German Students' League was founded in 1926 as a division of the NSDAP with the mission of integrating University-level education and academic life within the framework of the National Socialist worldview...
(NSDStB), on 1 October 1930 the SA and on 1 December 1930 the NSDAP. He moved for a short time to Tübingen
Tübingen
Tübingen is a traditional university town in central Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated south of the state capital, Stuttgart, on a ridge between the Neckar and Ammer rivers.-Geography:...
and began studies in medicine
Medicine
Medicine is the science and art of healing. It encompasses a variety of health care practices evolved to maintain and restore health by the prevention and treatment of illness....
that he continued in Heidelberg
Heidelberg
-Early history:Between 600,000 and 200,000 years ago, "Heidelberg Man" died at nearby Mauer. His jaw bone was discovered in 1907; with scientific dating, his remains were determined to be the earliest evidence of human life in Europe. In the 5th century BC, a Celtic fortress of refuge and place of...
.
Once he had come back to Heidelberg, he quickly rose to become one of the main Nazi propagandists
Propaganda
Propaganda is a form of communication that is aimed at influencing the attitude of a community toward some cause or position so as to benefit oneself or one's group....
at the college. As NSDStB College Group Leader (Hochschulgruppenführer) he led the Heidelberg Nazi student rallies against the pacifist
Pacifism
Pacifism is the opposition to war and violence. The term "pacifism" was coined by the French peace campaignerÉmile Arnaud and adopted by other peace activists at the tenth Universal Peace Congress inGlasgow in 1901.- Definition :...
Emil Gumbel (1891–1966) which led to the removal of Gumbel's teaching entitlement.
In 1933, Scheel became chairman of the Heidelberg General Students' Board (AstA). During this time, he also became Hanns-Martin Schleyer's mentor, getting him to join the NSDAP and the SS. Furthermore, Scheel exerted influence over the university's appointments and personnel policy in his capacity as the Heidelberg student leader and member of the vice chancellor's leadership staff.
In 1934, Scheel sat his State medical examination, was appointed to the NSDStB leadership, and (in July) became an SD member. He rose swiftly in this secret Nazi organization. Between 1935 and 1939 he led the SD Upper Division Southwest. As a former student official, he brought along with him to the SD a great many young Nazi academics who went on to mass murder
Mass murder
Mass murder is the act of murdering a large number of people , typically at the same time or over a relatively short period of time. According to the FBI, mass murder is defined as four or more murders occurring during a particular event with no cooling-off period between the murders...
against the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
after the war broke out. Among them were Dr. Walter Stahlecker, Dr. Martin Sandberger
Martin Sandberger
Martin Sandberger was an SS Standartenführer and commander of Sonderkommando 1a of the Einsatzgruppe, as well as commander of the Sicherheitspolizei and SD in Estonia. He played an important role in the mass murder of the Jews in the Baltic states...
, Dr. Erwin Weinmann, Albert Rapp, Erich Ehrlinger
Erich Ehrlinger
Erich Ehrlinger was a member of the Nazi SS who, as commander of Special Detachment 1b, was responsible for mass murder in the Baltic states and Belarus.He was also the commander of the Security Police and the...
, and Eugen Steimle, all of whom went into various divisions of the Reichssicherheitshauptamt (RSHA) to become leaders of murder squads of the various Einsatzgruppen
Einsatzgruppen
Einsatzgruppen were SS paramilitary death squads that were responsible for mass killings, typically by shooting, of Jews in particular, but also significant numbers of other population groups and political categories...
.
Scheel, who was already fighting vehemently for the exclusion of "students of Jewish lineage" from the "benefits of social institutions at the university" became in October 1940 the organizer of the deportation of Karlsruhe's Jews to their certain deaths in the east.
Scheel's further rise within the Nazi repression apparatus kept on unabated. In 1941, he was already an SS Brigadeführer
Brigadeführer
SS-Brigadeführer was an SS rank that was used in Nazi Germany between the years of 1932 and 1945. Brigadeführer was also an SA rank....
and a Police Major General
Major General
Major general or major-general is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. A major general is a high-ranking officer, normally subordinate to the rank of lieutenant general and senior to the ranks of brigadier and brigadier general...
. In the same year, he was installed as Gauleiter
Gauleiter
A Gauleiter was the party leader of a regional branch of the NSDAP or the head of a Gau or of a Reichsgau.-Creation and Early Usage:...
and Reich Governor (Reichsstatthalter) in the Gau of Salzburg
Salzburg
-Population development:In 1935, the population significantly increased when Salzburg absorbed adjacent municipalities. After World War II, numerous refugees found a new home in the city. New residential space was created for American soldiers of the postwar Occupation, and could be used for...
. After the discovery of resistance groups in Salzburg, he organized a widespread wave of arrests and had quite a few railwaymen put to death.
In 1943 he took a position against the White Rose
White Rose
The White Rose was a non-violent/intellectual resistance group in Nazi Germany, consisting of students from the University of Munich and their philosophy professor...
(Weiße Rose) resistance group by declaring that its members should be "executed not as students", but rather as "antisocial former Wehrmacht
Wehrmacht
The Wehrmacht – from , to defend and , the might/power) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the Heer , the Kriegsmarine and the Luftwaffe .-Origin and use of the term:...
members". Scheel's point of view was that these "criminals" should not be allowed to stain the student body's image. From this time also came Scheel's declaration:
- "German student, it is not necessary for you to live, but, to be sure, to fulfil your duty to your people."
As a Nazi "multifunctionary", Scheel held the following functions (other than those already mentioned):
- Leader of the Heidelberg Student Body
- Honorary Senator of the University of Heidelberg
- Leader of the Berlin SD School
- Inspector of the Security Police and the SD in StuttgartStuttgartStuttgart is the capital of the state of Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. The sixth-largest city in Germany, Stuttgart has a population of 600,038 while the metropolitan area has a population of 5.3 million ....
- Leader of the Nazi Old Gentlemen's Federation
- Chairman of the Reich Student Works
- President of the German Study Works for Foreigners
- Member of the Reich Labour Chamber
- Commander of the Security Police and the SD under Chief of the civil administration in AlsaceAlsaceAlsace is the fifth-smallest of the 27 regions of France in land area , and the smallest in metropolitan France. It is also the seventh-most densely populated region in France and third most densely populated region in metropolitan France, with ca. 220 inhabitants per km²...
- Member of the ReichstagReichstag (Weimar Republic)The Reichstag was the parliament of Weimar Republic .German constitution commentators consider only the Reichstag and now the Bundestag the German parliament. Another organ deals with legislation too: in 1867-1918 the Bundesrat, in 1919–1933 the Reichsrat and from 1949 on the Bundesrat...
- Leader of the SD Upper Division South (Munich)
- Inspector of the Security Police and the SD under the higher SS and Police leaders South and Main
- Higher SS and Police leader
- Leader of the SS-Oberabschnitt AlpenlandSS-Oberabschnitt AlpenlandSS-Oberabschnitt Alpenland was one of two main division strength commands of the Allgemeine-SS in the country of Austria. The Alpenland Oberabschnitt was formed in 1939, a year after Germany incorporated Austria through the Anschluss...
(Salzburg)
As Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
's defeat loomed in 1944-45, Scheel was furthermore made leader of the Volkssturm
Volkssturm
The Volkssturm was a German national militia of the last months of World War II. It was founded on Adolf Hitler's orders on October 18, 1944 and conscripted males between the ages of 16 to 60 years who were not already serving in some military unit as part of a German Home Guard.-Origins and...
in the Gau of Salzburg. On 29 April 1945, 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...
assigned him in his will to the position of Reich Minister for Science, Art, and National Education.
After 1945
After Salzburg's bloodless handover to the AmericansUnited States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
on 4 May, Scheel fled. In St. Veit he was arrested by the Americans and interned. After spending time in many camps and prisons, he was released on 24 December 1947. After once again being interned, he was transferred to Heidelberg to undergo Denazification
Denazification
Denazification was an Allied initiative to rid German and Austrian society, culture, press, economy, judiciary, and politics of any remnants of the National Socialist ideology. It was carried out specifically by removing those involved from positions of influence and by disbanding or rendering...
. A local court sentenced him in 1948 to five years in a labour camp, and classified him as a Hauptschuldiger (literally "main culprit"). He was however released on 24 December 1948.
Afterwards, he first worked as a night worker at Hamburg
Hamburg
-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
Harbour, and as of summer 1949, he was a doctor in a Hamburg hospital
Hospital
A hospital is a health care institution providing patient treatment by specialized staff and equipment. Hospitals often, but not always, provide for inpatient care or longer-term patient stays....
, then an assistant doctor at Rautenberg Hospital in Hamburg.
After an appeal proceeding in 1952, Scheel was classified as a Belasteter ("bonded one"). From 1951 to 1953, he belonged – along with other Nazi leaders such as Werner Best
Werner Best
Dr. Werner Best was a German Nazi, jurist, police chief, SS-Obergruppenführer and Nazi Party leader from Darmstadt, Hesse. He studied law and in 1927 obtained his doctorate degree at Heidelberg...
– to the "Naumann Circle", and owing to this was arrested in January 1953 by British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
police, who suspected him of building up a secret organization; he was later handed over to German authorities. He was released on 17 June 1953. On 3 December 1954, his trial was suspended for want of any adequate suspicion of wrongdoing. From February 1954 until 8 April 1977, he was the owner of a medical practice in Hamburg.