Udo von Woyrsch
Encyclopedia
Udo Gustav Wilhelm Egon von Woyrsch (24 July 1895 – 14 January 1983) was a high ranking Nazi, who rose to the rank of SS Obergruppenführer
and was responsible for numerous murders during The Holocaust
.
, in Silesia
in 1895. His family owned an estate there. His family had originally come from Southern Bohemia
, and had established themselves around 1500 in Troppau / Opava
(Moravian Silesia). The family were recognised minor nobility : one ancestor had even served as a Prussian royal chamberlain and his uncle was the Prussian General Field Marshal Remus von Woyrsch
(1847–1920).
From early 1914 to 9 February 1919 Udo von Woyrsch served with the Germany Army as an Oberleutnant (first lieutenant) in the Great War. From 10 February 1919 to 23 August 1920 he was associated with an organization called the Grenzschutz ("border protection"). He was awarded a variety of medals during the war, including the Iron Cross
(First Class) and later the Cross of Honour 1914-1918 Combatants.
Woyrsch married his first wife Marie-Eva von Eichborn (* 5 March 1902; †?) on 25 June 1924 at Gut Pisch Kowitz in Lower Silesia
. She was the daughter of the landowner Wolfgang von Eichborn Kowitz. This marriage was dissolved on 19 May 1933 in Brzeg
(Lower Silesia). His second marriage was to Inez Freiin Tschammer und Quaritz (* December 21, 1908 in Lower Tschirnau, Guhrau District, Lower Silesia; †?) on 21 September 1934 in Bad Salzbrunn (Lower Silesia). She was the daughter of the landowner Siegfried Freiherr von Tschammer und Quaritz (of the House Stephanshain).
Woyrsch had been involved in the Freikorps
during the 1920s. Early on Woyrsch joined the NSDAP (Membership number 162,349) and the SS (Member Number 3,689). Himmler charged him with organising the SS in the Nazi Gau Silesia
; as such von Woyrsch became the first commander of the SS-Oberabschnitt Südost
.
In 1933 von Woyrsch was elected to the Reichstag
. He was the SS and Police Leader
in Elbe
, and in 1934 Von Woyrsch participated in the Night of the Long Knives
, ordering the execution of his SS rival Emil Sembach
. On 30 June 1934 "he took command in Silesia, and on the orders of Göring arrested a number of SA leaders, disarmed all SA headquarters' guards and occupied the Breslau police headquarters. Von Woyrsch's men murdered some of the SA officers as a result of an on-going private feud."
Udo von Woyrsch had a close friendship with Heinrich Himmler
and Reinhard Heydrich
, and was on Himmler's personal staff. On 1 January 1935 he was promoted to SS Obergruppenführer
(then the second-highest rank in the SS).
In September 1939 Woyrsch commanded the Einsatzgruppen
("Special Purpose Operational Group") specifically charged with, and adept at, terrorizing and murdering the Jewish population of Poland
. The brutality of this Einsatzgruppen
in Kattowitz was such that outraged Wehrmacht
officers interceded with the Gestapo
to have it withdrawn.
Between 20 April 1940 and February 1944 Woyrsch was the Higher SS and Police Leader
in military district IV and district leader in Dresden
. According to Richard Grunberger
Woyrsch was part of Himmler's entourage trailing about northern Germany
in 1945.
Obergruppenführer
Obergruppenführer 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...
and was responsible for numerous murders during The Holocaust
The Holocaust
The Holocaust , also known as the Shoah , was the genocide of approximately six million European Jews and millions of others during World War II, a programme of systematic state-sponsored murder by Nazi...
.
Early life
Udo von Woyrsch was born in Schwanowitz or Zwanowice, Brzeg CountyZwanowice, Brzeg County
Zwanowice is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Skarbimierz, within Brzeg County, Opole Voivodeship, in south-western Poland. It lies approximately east of Skarbimierz, south-east of Brzeg, and north-west of the regional capital Opole....
, in Silesia
Silesia
Silesia is a historical region of Central Europe located mostly in Poland, with smaller parts also in the Czech Republic, and Germany.Silesia is rich in mineral and natural resources, and includes several important industrial areas. Silesia's largest city and historical capital is Wrocław...
in 1895. His family owned an estate there. His family had originally come from Southern Bohemia
Bohemia
Bohemia is a historical region in central Europe, occupying the western two-thirds of the traditional Czech Lands. It is located in the contemporary Czech Republic with its capital in Prague...
, and had established themselves around 1500 in Troppau / Opava
Opava
Opava is a city in the northern Czech Republic on the river Opava, located to the north-west of Ostrava. The historical capital of Czech Silesia, Opava is now in the Moravian-Silesian Region and has a population of 59,843 as of January 1, 2005....
(Moravian Silesia). The family were recognised minor nobility : one ancestor had even served as a Prussian royal chamberlain and his uncle was the Prussian General Field Marshal Remus von Woyrsch
Remus von Woyrsch
William Martin Remus von Woyrsch , was a Prussian Field Marshal, a member of the Preußischen Herrenhauses from 1908–1918, and an Ehrenkommendator or Honorary Commander of the Order of St...
(1847–1920).
From early 1914 to 9 February 1919 Udo von Woyrsch served with the Germany Army as an Oberleutnant (first lieutenant) in the Great War. From 10 February 1919 to 23 August 1920 he was associated with an organization called the Grenzschutz ("border protection"). He was awarded a variety of medals during the war, including the Iron Cross
Iron Cross
The 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....
(First Class) and later the Cross of Honour 1914-1918 Combatants.
Woyrsch married his first wife Marie-Eva von Eichborn (* 5 March 1902; †?) on 25 June 1924 at Gut Pisch Kowitz in Lower Silesia
Silesia
Silesia is a historical region of Central Europe located mostly in Poland, with smaller parts also in the Czech Republic, and Germany.Silesia is rich in mineral and natural resources, and includes several important industrial areas. Silesia's largest city and historical capital is Wrocław...
. She was the daughter of the landowner Wolfgang von Eichborn Kowitz. This marriage was dissolved on 19 May 1933 in Brzeg
Brzeg
Brzeg is a town in southwestern Poland with 38,496 inhabitants , situated in Silesia in the Opole Voivodeship on the left bank of the Oder...
(Lower Silesia). His second marriage was to Inez Freiin Tschammer und Quaritz (* December 21, 1908 in Lower Tschirnau, Guhrau District, Lower Silesia; †?) on 21 September 1934 in Bad Salzbrunn (Lower Silesia). She was the daughter of the landowner Siegfried Freiherr von Tschammer und Quaritz (of the House Stephanshain).
Nazi career
According to Richard GrunbergerRichard Grunberger
Richard Grunberger was a British historian, who specialised in study of the Third Reich.He was born in Austria to Jewish parents. After the 1938 Anschluss with Hitler's Germany, he was put on the first Kindertransport train to leave Vienna. He was initially housed in a refugee camp at Lowestoft in...
Woyrsch had been involved in the Freikorps
Freikorps
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...
during the 1920s. Early on Woyrsch joined the NSDAP (Membership number 162,349) and the SS (Member Number 3,689). Himmler charged him with organising the SS in the Nazi Gau Silesia
Silesia
Silesia is a historical region of Central Europe located mostly in Poland, with smaller parts also in the Czech Republic, and Germany.Silesia is rich in mineral and natural resources, and includes several important industrial areas. Silesia's largest city and historical capital is Wrocław...
; as such von Woyrsch became the first commander of the SS-Oberabschnitt Südost
SS-Oberabschnitt Südost
SS-Oberabschnitt Südost was a division command of the Allgemeine-SS which encompassed SS activities in southeastern Germany. The command was first formed in 1932 under the command of Udo von Woyrsch. The first headquarters of the Oberabschnitt was in the city of Brieg...
.
In 1933 von Woyrsch was elected to the Reichstag
Reichstag (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...
. He was the SS and Police Leader
SS and Police Leader
SS and Police Leader was a title for senior Nazi officials that commanded large units of the SS, of Gestapo and of the regular German police during and prior to World War II.Three levels of subordination were established for bearers of this title:...
in Elbe
Elbe
The Elbe is one of the major rivers of Central Europe. It rises in the Krkonoše Mountains of the northwestern Czech Republic before traversing much of Bohemia , then Germany and flowing into the North Sea at Cuxhaven, 110 km northwest of Hamburg...
, and in 1934 Von Woyrsch participated in 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...
, ordering the execution of his SS rival Emil Sembach
Emil Sembach
Emil Sembach was an SS-Oberführer attached to the SS headquarters of Silesia. In 1934, after being caught by Reinhard Heydrich's Sicherheitsdienst , for embezzlement and also for having a homosexual relationship with Kurt Wittje, he was expelled from the party and the SS...
. On 30 June 1934 "he took command in Silesia, and on the orders of Göring arrested a number of SA leaders, disarmed all SA headquarters' guards and occupied the Breslau police headquarters. Von Woyrsch's men murdered some of the SA officers as a result of an on-going private feud."
Udo von Woyrsch had a close friendship with 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...
and Reinhard Heydrich
Reinhard Heydrich
Reinhard 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...
, and was on Himmler's personal staff. On 1 January 1935 he was promoted to SS Obergruppenführer
Obergruppenführer
Obergruppenführer 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...
(then the second-highest rank in the SS).
In September 1939 Woyrsch commanded the 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...
("Special Purpose Operational Group") specifically charged with, and adept at, terrorizing and murdering the Jewish population of Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
. The brutality of this 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...
in Kattowitz was such that outraged 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:...
officers interceded with the Gestapo
Gestapo
The Gestapo was the official secret police of Nazi Germany. Beginning on 20 April 1934, it was under the administration of the SS leader Heinrich Himmler in his position as Chief of German Police...
to have it withdrawn.
Between 20 April 1940 and February 1944 Woyrsch was the Higher SS and Police Leader
SS and Police Leader
SS and Police Leader was a title for senior Nazi officials that commanded large units of the SS, of Gestapo and of the regular German police during and prior to World War II.Three levels of subordination were established for bearers of this title:...
in military district IV and district leader in Dresden
Dresden
Dresden is the capital city of the Free State of Saxony in Germany. It is situated in a valley on the River Elbe, near the Czech border. The Dresden conurbation is part of the Saxon Triangle metropolitan area....
. According to Richard Grunberger
Richard Grunberger
Richard Grunberger was a British historian, who specialised in study of the Third Reich.He was born in Austria to Jewish parents. After the 1938 Anschluss with Hitler's Germany, he was put on the first Kindertransport train to leave Vienna. He was initially housed in a refugee camp at Lowestoft in...
Woyrsch was part of Himmler's entourage trailing about northern 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...
in 1945.