Karl Wahl
Encyclopedia
Karl Wahl was the Nazi Gauleiter
of Swabia from the Gau inception in 1928 until the collapse of Nazi Germany
in 1945.
, then in the Kingdom of Württemberg
, in 1892.
Upon finishing his schooling, he wished to join the Kaiserliche Marine
but his father would not allow him. Instead, he entered the Bavarian Army
in Aschaffenburg
in 1910, signing on as a volunteer for two years. He became a paramedic
in the army and was promoted to sergeant
.
He served in the First World War as a paramedic but was wounded in 1915. After the war, he became a civil servant at the Augsburg
city council, where he remained until 1933. His first position was at the city slaughterhouse
.
Wahl joined the SA (Storm troopers) and the NSDAP in 1922 and became the leader of the SA in Swabia in 1923. In 1928, he became a member of the Bavarian Landtag, the state parliament, a seat he held until 1933, when he was elected to the German Reichstag.
Wahl established the first Nazi-owned newspaper in Augsburg in 1931, the Neue National-Zeitung, which engaged in hate propaganda against Jews, the workers movement and the political opposition. The newspaper, under his leadership, also called for a boycott of Jewish businesses already in 1931.
Wahl became Gauleiter of Swabia on 1 October 1928 and held this position until the end of the Second World War in May 1945, when the Gaue were abolished. Originally, the office of Gauleiter was purely a party office, but with the Nazi Machtergreifung
in January 1933, the position became much more an administrative one and by 1934, the Gauleiters had supplanted the still existing office of Minister President of Bavaria as the leading administrative authority in Bavaria. Additionally, Wahl also held the office of Regierungspräsident (Head of Government) of Swabia from 1 July 1934, a state office, therefore combining civilian and party administration, like so many other Gauleiter.
In Swabia, a relatively small Gau, the local Gauleiter Wahl had to initially fend off attempts by his more powerful neighbor, Adolf Wagner
, Gauleiter of the Munich-Upper Bavaria region, to incorporate Swabia into his Gau. Wahl was the only one of the Bavarian Gauleiter not to have graduated from university. Unlike Wagner, who was a personal friend of Hitler, Wahl wielded no real influence with the party leadership.
The Gauleiter was directly appointed by Hitler and only answerable to him. In practice, Hitler interfered little in the affairs of the local leaders and their power was almost absolute.
Wahl joined the SS and was promoted to SS-Gruppenführer on 9 September 1934.
In his time as Gauleiter, Wahl, raised a Protestant but married to a Roman Catholic, enjoyed good relations with the church, something not appreciated within the higher party ranks, especially by Himmler and Bormann
. He nevertheless held a close friendship to Auxiliary Bishop
Franz Xaver Eberle (1874-1951) of Augsburg throughout the time of the Third Reich and Hitler himself complimented Wahl in 1937, saying "Wahl, your auxiliary bishop is the most sympathetic priest that I have ever met".
On 12 July 1938, Wahl presided over the annexation of Jungholz
and the Kleinwalsertal
to the Gau Schwaben. Both communities had previously been part of Austria
but could only be reached overland from Swabia. Both were returned to Austria in September 1945.
With the beginning of the Second World War, Wahl noticed that the excitement within the German population for another war was very limited. Compared to the patriotism he encountered and felt himself in 1914, he now mostly felt people were resigned and stunned in the face of another conflict.
In May 1941, he held a rather telling speech at the Messerschmitt
factory, voicing his belief in Hitler and his mission from God.
He also spent six weeks with a Swabian mountain division (German:Gebirgsjäger
) in the Donetsk
region.
He was promoted to SS-Obergruppenführer on 1 August 1944.
With the worsening war situation, Wahl and the Gau Schwaben came under the military command of Paul Giesler
in 1944, who was in charge of Swabia and three of the formerly Austrian Gaue.
He met Hitler for a last time on 25 February 1945 in Berlin. Wahl was well aware then that the war was lost. The latter issued on this occasion in front of a large number of Gauleiter the statement that "the German people did not have the inner strength they were perceived to have" and therefore were losing the war. Wahl attributed this harsh statement to the stress the Führer
was in and perceived him to be mortally ill. Nevertheless, he could not understand why Hitler continued the war.
In the last days of the war, Wahl made no effort to prevent the handover of Augsburg to the allies, knowing full well that the city could not be defended; shortly after he was arrested.
He was also a witness at the Nuremberg trials
in 1946.
After his time in prison, he changed his profession and became a textile
merchant
. After receiving permission from the denazification
authorities, he started writing his autobiography in 1952 and 1953, which was published in Augsburg in 1954.
He later worked in the library of the Messerschmitt factory from 1958 to 1968, thanks to his friendship with Willy Messerschmitt
, established in the Nazi era.
His grave in Augsburg-Göggingen, where he is buried together with his wife, carries the message: "Do not tire of doing good deeds" (German: Werdet nicht müde das Gute zu tun).
, returning on front leave to Swabia, who told him of the extermination of Jewish people in Eastern Europe. Wahl further says, he contacted a personal friend at the Reichssicherheitshauptamt to enquire whether there was any substance to the rumour and was told it was a lie. He was asked to disclose the names of the soldiers who had approached him.
Wahl's own statement after the war was that "nobody could be found in Swabia who had personally been harmed by him", but makes no reference to the last 500 Jewish citizens of Augsburg, who disappeared in concentration camps in the years following the Kristallnacht
, when the Augsburg Synagogue
was destroyed.
He also later published a second book in Offenbach am Main in 1973:
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:...
of Swabia from the Gau inception in 1928 until the collapse of 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...
in 1945.
Early life
Karl Wahl was born as the thirteenth child of a boilerman in AalenAalen
Aalen is a city in the German state of Baden-Württemberg, about east of Stuttgart and north of Ulm. It is the seat of the Ostalbkreis district, and its largest city, as well as the largest city within the Ostwürttemberg region. In spatial planning, Aalen is designated a Mittelzentrum...
, then in the Kingdom of Württemberg
Kingdom of Württemberg
The Kingdom of Württemberg was a state that existed from 1806 to 1918, located in present-day Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It was a continuation of the Duchy of Württemberg, which came into existence in 1495...
, in 1892.
Upon finishing his schooling, he wished to join the Kaiserliche Marine
Kaiserliche Marine
The Imperial German Navy was the German Navy created at the time of the formation of the German Empire. It existed between 1871 and 1919, growing out of the small Prussian Navy and Norddeutsche Bundesmarine, which primarily had the mission of coastal defense. Kaiser Wilhelm II greatly expanded...
but his father would not allow him. Instead, he entered the Bavarian Army
Bavarian army
The Bavarian Army was the army of the Electorate and then Kingdom of Bavaria. It existed from 1682 as the standing army of Bavaria until the merger of the military sovereignty of Bavaria into that of the German State in 1919...
in Aschaffenburg
Aschaffenburg
Aschaffenburg is a city in northwest Bavaria, Germany. The town of Aschaffenburg is not considered part of the district of Aschaffenburg, but is the administrative seat.Aschaffenburg is known as the Tor zum Spessart or "gate to the Spessart"...
in 1910, signing on as a volunteer for two years. He became a paramedic
Paramedic
A paramedic is a healthcare professional that works in emergency medical situations. Paramedics provide advanced levels of care for medical emergencies and trauma. The majority of paramedics are based in the field in ambulances, emergency response vehicles, or in specialist mobile units such as...
in the army and was promoted to sergeant
Sergeant
Sergeant is a rank used in some form by most militaries, police forces, and other uniformed organizations around the world. Its origins are the Latin serviens, "one who serves", through the French term Sergent....
.
He served in the First World War as a paramedic but was wounded in 1915. After the war, he became a civil servant at the Augsburg
Augsburg
Augsburg is a city in the south-west of Bavaria, Germany. It is a university town and home of the Regierungsbezirk Schwaben and the Bezirk Schwaben. Augsburg is an urban district and home to the institutions of the Landkreis Augsburg. It is, as of 2008, the third-largest city in Bavaria with a...
city council, where he remained until 1933. His first position was at the city slaughterhouse
Slaughterhouse
A slaughterhouse or abattoir is a facility where animals are killed for consumption as food products.Approximately 45-50% of the animal can be turned into edible products...
.
Wahl joined the SA (Storm troopers) and the NSDAP in 1922 and became the leader of the SA in Swabia in 1923. In 1928, he became a member of the Bavarian Landtag, the state parliament, a seat he held until 1933, when he was elected to the German Reichstag.
Wahl established the first Nazi-owned newspaper in Augsburg in 1931, the Neue National-Zeitung, which engaged in hate propaganda against Jews, the workers movement and the political opposition. The newspaper, under his leadership, also called for a boycott of Jewish businesses already in 1931.
Nazi era
Machtergreifung
Machtergreifung is a German word meaning "seizure of power". It is normally used specifically to refer to the Nazi takeover of power in the democratic Weimar Republic on 30 January 1933, the day Hitler was sworn in as Chancellor of Germany, turning it into the Nazi German dictatorship.-Term:The...
in January 1933, the position became much more an administrative one and by 1934, the Gauleiters had supplanted the still existing office of Minister President of Bavaria as the leading administrative authority in Bavaria. Additionally, Wahl also held the office of Regierungspräsident (Head of Government) of Swabia from 1 July 1934, a state office, therefore combining civilian and party administration, like so many other Gauleiter.
In Swabia, a relatively small Gau, the local Gauleiter Wahl had to initially fend off attempts by his more powerful neighbor, Adolf Wagner
Adolf Wagner
Adolf Wagner was a German soldier and high-ranking Nazi Party official born in Algrange, Alsace-Lorraine.He served in World War I as an officer in the German Army...
, Gauleiter of the Munich-Upper Bavaria region, to incorporate Swabia into his Gau. Wahl was the only one of the Bavarian Gauleiter not to have graduated from university. Unlike Wagner, who was a personal friend of Hitler, Wahl wielded no real influence with the party leadership.
The Gauleiter was directly appointed by Hitler and only answerable to him. In practice, Hitler interfered little in the affairs of the local leaders and their power was almost absolute.
Wahl joined the SS and was promoted to SS-Gruppenführer on 9 September 1934.
In his time as Gauleiter, Wahl, raised a Protestant but married to a Roman Catholic, enjoyed good relations with the church, something not appreciated within the higher party ranks, especially by Himmler and Bormann
Martin Bormann
Martin Ludwig Bormann was a prominent Nazi official. He became head of the Party Chancellery and private secretary to Adolf Hitler...
. He nevertheless held a close friendship to Auxiliary Bishop
Auxiliary bishop
An auxiliary bishop, in the Roman Catholic Church, is an additional bishop assigned to a diocese because the diocesan bishop is unable to perform his functions, the diocese is so extensive that it requires more than one bishop to administer, or the diocese is attached to a royal or imperial office...
Franz Xaver Eberle (1874-1951) of Augsburg throughout the time of the Third Reich and Hitler himself complimented Wahl in 1937, saying "Wahl, your auxiliary bishop is the most sympathetic priest that I have ever met".
On 12 July 1938, Wahl presided over the annexation of Jungholz
Jungholz
Jungholz is a small town in the Austrian district of Reutte, Tyrol that is only accessible via Germany. It has a total resident population of 323 people in its 7 km². The lack of a road connection to anywhere else in Austria led to Jungholz being included in the German customs area until...
and the Kleinwalsertal
Kleinwalsertal
Kleinwalsertal is a part of Austria, but only accessible from Germany to the north, and thus is an Austrian "practical exclave" or "pene-exclave". Prior to Austria joining the European Union, the area had tax-free status....
to the Gau Schwaben. Both communities had previously been part of Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
but could only be reached overland from Swabia. Both were returned to Austria in September 1945.
With the beginning of the Second World War, Wahl noticed that the excitement within the German population for another war was very limited. Compared to the patriotism he encountered and felt himself in 1914, he now mostly felt people were resigned and stunned in the face of another conflict.
In May 1941, he held a rather telling speech at the Messerschmitt
Messerschmitt
Messerschmitt AG was a famous German aircraft manufacturing corporation named for its chief designer, Willy Messerschmitt, and known primarily for its World War II fighter aircraft, notably the Bf 109 and Me 262...
factory, voicing his belief in Hitler and his mission from God.
He also spent six weeks with a Swabian mountain division (German:Gebirgsjäger
Gebirgsjäger
Gebirgsjäger, in English Mountain Riflemen, is the German designation for mountain infantry. The word Jäger is the traditional German term for rifleman...
) in the Donetsk
Donetsk
Donetsk , is a large city in eastern Ukraine on the Kalmius river. Administratively, it is a center of Donetsk Oblast, while historically, it is the unofficial capital and largest city of the economic and cultural Donets Basin region...
region.
He was promoted to SS-Obergruppenführer on 1 August 1944.
With the worsening war situation, Wahl and the Gau Schwaben came under the military command of Paul Giesler
Paul Giesler
Paul Giesler was a member of the NSDAP, from 1941 NSDAP Gauleiter of Westphalia-South and as of 1942 also acting Gauleiter of the Gau Munich-Upper Bavaria...
in 1944, who was in charge of Swabia and three of the formerly Austrian Gaue.
He met Hitler for a last time on 25 February 1945 in Berlin. Wahl was well aware then that the war was lost. The latter issued on this occasion in front of a large number of Gauleiter the statement that "the German people did not have the inner strength they were perceived to have" and therefore were losing the war. Wahl attributed this harsh statement to the stress the Führer
Führer
Führer , alternatively spelled Fuehrer in both English and German when the umlaut is not available, is a German title meaning leader or guide now most associated with Adolf Hitler, who modelled it on Benito Mussolini's title il Duce, as well as with Georg von Schönerer, whose followers also...
was in and perceived him to be mortally ill. Nevertheless, he could not understand why Hitler continued the war.
In the last days of the war, Wahl made no effort to prevent the handover of Augsburg to the allies, knowing full well that the city could not be defended; shortly after he was arrested.
Post-war
Wahl, Gauleiter of Swabia for almost 17 years, only served a light sentence after the war, being sentenced to 3½ years and loss of all personal funds on 17 December 1948. In this sentence, the 3½ years spent in captivity from April 1945 to September 1948 was credited, meaning he was released without any further time in jail. The majority of his personal funds was later restored to him, losing only 10 %. He was downgraded from a group-I war criminal to a group-II, which explains the refund of parts of his funds.He was also a witness at the Nuremberg trials
Nuremberg Trials
The Nuremberg Trials were a series of military tribunals, held by the victorious Allied forces of World War II, most notable for the prosecution of prominent members of the political, military, and economic leadership of the defeated Nazi Germany....
in 1946.
After his time in prison, he changed his profession and became a textile
Textile
A textile or cloth is a flexible woven material consisting of a network of natural or artificial fibres often referred to as thread or yarn. Yarn is produced by spinning raw fibres of wool, flax, cotton, or other material to produce long strands...
merchant
Merchant
A merchant is a businessperson who trades in commodities that were produced by others, in order to earn a profit.Merchants can be one of two types:# A wholesale merchant operates in the chain between producer and retail merchant...
. After receiving permission from the 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...
authorities, he started writing his autobiography in 1952 and 1953, which was published in Augsburg in 1954.
He later worked in the library of the Messerschmitt factory from 1958 to 1968, thanks to his friendship with Willy Messerschmitt
Willy Messerschmitt
Wilhelm Emil "Willy" Messerschmitt was a German aircraft designer and manufacturer. He was born in Frankfurt am Main, the son of a wine merchant...
, established in the Nazi era.
His grave in Augsburg-Göggingen, where he is buried together with his wife, carries the message: "Do not tire of doing good deeds" (German: Werdet nicht müde das Gute zu tun).
War crimes and the Holocaust
In his book, Wahl claimed, like many Germans and even Nazis, not to have known about the Holocaust. He states that he was approached by soldiers of the WehrmachtWehrmacht
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:...
, returning on front leave to Swabia, who told him of the extermination of Jewish people in Eastern Europe. Wahl further says, he contacted a personal friend at the Reichssicherheitshauptamt to enquire whether there was any substance to the rumour and was told it was a lie. He was asked to disclose the names of the soldiers who had approached him.
Wahl's own statement after the war was that "nobody could be found in Swabia who had personally been harmed by him", but makes no reference to the last 500 Jewish citizens of Augsburg, who disappeared in concentration camps in the years following the Kristallnacht
Kristallnacht
Kristallnacht, also referred to as the Night of Broken Glass, and also Reichskristallnacht, Pogromnacht, and Novemberpogrome, was a pogrom or series of attacks against Jews throughout Nazi Germany and parts of Austria on 9–10 November 1938.Jewish homes were ransacked, as were shops, towns and...
, when the Augsburg Synagogue
Synagogue
A synagogue is a Jewish house of prayer. This use of the Greek term synagogue originates in the Septuagint where it sometimes translates the Hebrew word for assembly, kahal...
was destroyed.
Offices and memberships
Apart from being Gauleiter of Swabia, Wahl also held the following offices and memberships within the Nazi organisation:- ReichsstatthalterReichsstatthalterThe term Reichsstatthalter was used twice for different offices, in the imperial Hohenzollern dynasty's German Empire and the single-party Nazi Third Reich.- "Statthalter des Reiches" 1879-1918 in Alsace-Lorraine :...
of Swabia - Reichsverteidigungskommissar (Defence commissioner) of Swabia, 1942 to 1945
- SS-Obergruppenführer, promoted 1 August 1944
- SA-ObergruppenführerObergruppenführerObergruppenführer was a Nazi Party paramilitary rank that was first created in 1932 as a rank of the SA and until 1942 it was the highest SS rank inferior only to Reichsführer-SS...
- Regierungspräsident (Head of Government) of Swabia, since 1934
- Member of the German 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...
for Upper Bavaria-Swabia from 12 November 1933 to May 1945 - Member of the Bavarian LandtagLandtagA Landtag is a representative assembly or parliament in German-speaking countries with some legislative authority.- Name :...
1928 to 1933
- NSDAP-membership number: 9 803
- SS-membership number: 228 017
Decorations
- Iron CrossIron CrossThe Iron Cross is a cross symbol typically in black with a white or silver outline that originated after 1219 when the Kingdom of Jerusalem granted the Teutonic Order the right to combine the Teutonic Black Cross placed above a silver Cross of Jerusalem....
1914 - Ehrenkreuz für FrontkämpferCross of HonorThe Cross of Honor, also known as the Honor Cross or, popularly, the Hindenburg Cross, was a commemorative medal inaugurated on July 13, 1934 by Reichspräsident Paul von Hindenburg for those soldiers of Imperial Germany who fought in World War I...
(Cross of honor for front soldiers) - Landesorden (State medal)
- Goldenes Parteiabzeichen (Golden party badge)
- Dienstauszeichnung der NSDAP in Gold (Service decoration of the party in Gold)
- Ehrendegen des Reichsführers 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:...
(Sword of honor of the Reichsführers SS) - TotenkopfTotenkopfThe Totenkopf is the German word for the death's head and an old symbol for death or the dead. It consists usually of the skull and the mandible of the human skeleton...
ring der SS (death's head [skull and cross-bones] ring of the SS)
Speeches
- Wahl held a speech at the MesserschmittMesserschmittMesserschmitt AG was a famous German aircraft manufacturing corporation named for its chief designer, Willy Messerschmitt, and known primarily for its World War II fighter aircraft, notably the Bf 109 and Me 262...
factory on 8 May 1941 in which he declared he considered Adolf Hitler to have a mandate from God to punish all people and countries which have strayed from the path of decency. He denounced the leaders of countries Germany had defeated so far as cowards due to the fact that they fled rather than stayed or died with their people and soldiers. A short recording of this speech was actually preserved.
Autobiography
Wahl published an autobiography in Augsburg in 1954, being the first former Gauleiter to do so after the war:- "... es ist das deutsche Herz", Erlebnisse und Erkenntnisse eines ehemaligen Gauleiters ("...it's the German heart", experiences and insights of a former Gauleiter)
He also later published a second book in Offenbach am Main in 1973:
- Patrioten oder Verbrecher – Aus Liebe zu Deutschland: 17 Jahre als Hitlers Gauleiter (Patriot or criminal - for the love of Germany: 17 years as Hitler's Gauleiter), publisher: Orion-Heimreiter-Verlag, ISBN 3875880706
External links
- Picture of Karl Wahl in Gauleiter uniform Historisches Lexikon Bayerns
- Es ist das deutsche Herz Bookreview of Wahls autobiography by Der SpiegelDer SpiegelDer Spiegel is a German weekly news magazine published in Hamburg. It is one of Europe's largest publications of its kind, with a weekly circulation of more than one million.-Overview:...
, 22 December 1954 - Nazi-Ideologie im Original-Ton: Führer und Masse Bayerischer RundfunkBayerischer RundfunkBayerischer Rundfunk [Bavarian Broadcasting] is the public broadcasting authority for the German Freistaat of Bavaria, with its main offices located in Munich. BR is a member of ARD.- Legal foundation :...
- voice recording of Karl Wahl's speech at the Messerschmitt factory in 1941 - length: 70 seconds - Augsburg sightseeing Pictures of places in Augsburg associated with the Nazis and Karl Wahl, including his grave
Sources
- List of Gaue and Gauleiter Shoa.de website
- Die Gaue der NSDAP
- Biografien der Zeitgeschichte > Gauleiter und Reichsstatthalter - Kurzbiografien Short biographies of the Nazi Gauleiter