Hans Globke

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Hans Josef Maria Globke
File:Globke hans.jpg
Born(1898-09-10)September 10, 1898
Düsseldorf, Germany
DiedFebruary 13, 1973(1973-02-13) (aged 74)
NationalityGermany German
Occupation(s)Lawyer, Politician
Known forNational Security Advisor position for Konrad Adenauer
Political partyCDU

Hans Josef Maria Globke (10 September 1898–13 February 1973) was a jurist and high ranking public servant after World War II in the newly formed Federal Republic of Germany.

Early life and studies

Hans Josef Maria Globke was born in Düsseldorf to Josef and Sophie (Erberich) Globke, both devout Roman Catholics and Zentrum-supporters. Shortly after Hans Globke's birth the family moved to Aachen, where his father opened a draper's shop. When he finished his high school studies at the Catholic Kaiser-Karl-Gymnasium in 1916, he was drafted into the army until 1918. After World War I he studied Law and Political Sciences at the universities of Bonn and Cologne, graduating in 1922 from the University of Gießen with a dissertation on the immunity of the members of the Reichs- and Landtags.

During his studies - having joined while being enlisted in the army - he was a member of Katholische Deutsche Studentenverbindung Bavaria Bonn, which was the local chapter of the Cartellverband der katholischen deutschen Studentenverbindungen. The close contacts with fellow KdStV-members together with his membership since 1922 in the Zentrum Party played a significant role in his later political life. This was also true for Augusta Vaillant, a sister of one of Globke's Bundesbruders. Globke and Augusta Vaillant married in 1934.

Pre-war public service

Having finished his Assessorexamen in 1924, he was briefly active as a judge in the police court of Aachen, after which he climbed to vice police-chief of Aachen in 1925 and Regierungsassessor in 1926. In December 1929 Globke became administrative councillor to the Prussian Ministry of the Interior.

Role in Nazi Germany

He helped to formulate the "emergency" legislation that gave Hitler unlimited dictatorial powers. He was also the author of the law concerning the dissolution of the Prussian State Council in 10 July 1933, and of further legislation which 'co-ordinated' all Prussian parliamentary bodies.[1]

He also wrote a law commentary on the new Reich Citizenship Law (The Nuremberg Laws -introduced at Hitler's request at the Nazi Party Congress in September 1935, it revoked the citizenship of German Jews). [1] [2]

His membership application for the Nazi Party was rejected on 24 October, 1940 by Martin Bormann, reportedly due to his close alliance with the Zentrum Party, which had been representing Roman Catholic voters in Weimar Germany.[3] He thus escaped de-Nazification and the War Crime Trials. However, in 1938, Globke had been appointed "Ministerial Counsel" for the Third Reich due to his "extraordinary efforts in drafting the law for the Protection of the German Blood" and "his services to the Nazi regime were highly appreciated by the party hierarchy and he was highly rewarded" (Tetens p.39).

Post-war public service and controversy

He was Director of the Federal Chancellory of West Germany between 1953 and 1963 and as such was one of the closest aides to Federal Chancellor Konrad Adenauer.

Globke's key position as a national security advisor to Adenauer and his involvement in anticommunist activities in post-war West Germany made both the West German government and CIA officials wary of exposing his Nazi past, which is documented in Tetens 1961 (pp. 37-42), where Tetens writes "under Globke's direct authority is (as of 1961) the operation of a supersecret organization headed by Hitler's former spy chief, Lieutenant General Reinhard Gehlen, leader of the post-war ODESSA and Die Spinne covert political operations.

This led for instance to the withholding of Adolf Eichmann's alias from the Israeli government and Nazi hunters in the late '50s, and CIA pressure in 1960 on Life magazine to delete references to Globke from its recently obtained Eichmann memoirs.[4] [5]

Works

  • Globke, Hans (1922). Die Immunität der Mitglieder des Reichstages und der Landtage. Gießen, Germany: n/a.
  • Stuckart, Wilhelm (1936). Kommentar zur deutschen Rassengesetzgebung. Munich, Germany: n/a. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Wistrich, Robert (2002). Who's Who in Nazi Germany. Routledge. ISBN 0-415-26038-8.
  2. ^ Template:Pl icon Bartosz Wieliński (2006). "CIA kryła Eichmanna". Gazeta Wyborcza (2006-06-08). Retrieved 2006-06-08. {{cite journal}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |month= (help)
  3. ^ Norbert Jacobs (1992). "Der Streit um Dr. Hans Globke in der öffentlichen Meinung der Bundesrepublik Deutschland 1949-1973". {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  4. ^ Yen, Hope (June 6 2006). "Papers: CIA knew of Eichmann whereabouts". Associated Press. Retrieved 2006-06-07. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  5. ^ Shane, Scott (June 6 2006). "Documents Shed Light on CIA's Use of Ex-Nazis". The New York Times. Retrieved 2006-06-07. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)

Bibliography

  • Tetens, T.H. The New Germany and the Old Nazis. Random House/Marzani & Munsel, New York, 1961. LCN 61-7240.
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