Adam Durein

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Adam Durein (born September 20, 1893 in Mechtersheim , today part of Römerberg (Pfalz) ; † January 14, 1948 in Mainz ) was a functionary of the NSDAP and the SA during the National Socialist era . He became known in 1933 as the commandant of the "early concentration camp" in Neustadt an der Haardt (today Neustadt an der Weinstrasse , Rhineland-Palatinate ).

Life

Adam Durein was the son of the small farmer Ludwig Durein and was baptized Catholic . After primary school in Mechtersheim, he attended the teacher training college in Speyer until 1913 . On April 2, 1921, he married Maria Anslinger from Deidesheim , with whom he had a son.

From 1914 to 1918 Durein took part in the First World War as a volunteer . In 1915 he became a lieutenant in the reserve and in 1916 a company leader . He was wounded four times and was awarded EK I and EK II.

After the war, Durein worked as a teacher in Homburg until February 1919 , and from March 1919 to December 1922 in Ludwigshafen . In 1923 he became the manager of his father-in-law's wine shop in Deidesheim, where he lived until shortly before his death. In 1933 he resigned from the church.

politics

In March 1931 Durein became a member of the district assembly in Neustadt and in 1937 a member of the district assembly of the Palatinate . After he became a member of the supervisory board of Westmarkwerke AG in Ludwigshafen, the forerunner of today's Pfalzwerke , he was proposed to the Reichstag in April 1938 ; however, his candidacy was unsuccessful.

NSDAP and SA

NSDAP

On November 1, 1930, Durein joined the NSDAP, where he received membership number 400.120. On the day he joined the party, he founded the Deidesheim branch, whose head he remained until March 1, 1934. From May 1, 1931 to the end of 1932, he was also district manager of Neustadt-Bad Dürkheim and district manager of Neustadt.

SA

On September 22, 1932, Durein became SA Standartenführer , and from March 1, 1935, he held the post full-time. On May 1, 1937 he was promoted to SA-Oberführer, on January 30, 1939 to SA-Brigadführer . Corresponding ranks were in the Reichswehr Colonel for Standartenführer and in the later Wehrmacht Major General for Brigade Leaders; there was no equivalent for Oberführer .

In 1934/35 there was an internal SA trial against Durein. He was accused of having made “critical omissions” in connection with the so-called Röhm Putsch (June 30, 1934). The SA-Gruppe Kurpfalz closed the case by giving Durein a "severe reprimand" on March 27, 1935.

A substitute command of Durein as leader of the SA group Oder in Frankfurt (1940-1942) ended prematurely because it was difficultCar accident, which he had suffered in November 1941, impaired health. From November 1, 1942, the SA group leader Kurpfalz entrusted him with special tasks.

Concentration camp commander

Turenne barracks in the 1920s
Camp regulations from 1933

On March 10, 1933, a good month after the so-called seizure of power , the National Socialists set up one of the so-called “early concentration camps” in part of the Turenne barracks in Neustadt , which they euphemistically referred to as “protective custody camps”. Durein became the commandant, who held this position until the camp was closed in June 1933.

The camp regulations for political prisoners posted on March 18, 1933 bear his name and are the oldest known from Nazi camps; it was then used as a model in other camps.

None of the prisoners was killed, but torture was common . For example, the 24-year-old inmate Hermann Zahm (born January 17, 1909 in Neustadt; † December 11, 1983 in Erlangen), a typesetter from Neustadt, a member of the SPD and the Reichsbanner , had to endure considerable abuse during interrogation , which "was particularly frequent and brutal ”. In the camp, he was again accused of participating in a political attack on July 10, 1932 in Neustadt, although there had been no evidence against him in the completed investigation . After several days of torture to extort a confession , he attempted suicide on March 16, 1933 by jumping down onto the pavement from a window on the third floor. The controlled press kept silent about the torture, wrote instead of “ protective custody ” and “interrogation” and cited as the alleged reason for Zahm's act of desperation, “that he somehow knew about the shooting at the time.” Because of serious injuries to the head and fractures to three vertebrae and on Zahm spent a year and four months in the hospital and was 70% physically disabled. Nevertheless, he was imprisoned in Straubing prison for three years on July 10, 1935, for allegedly preparing a “treasonable enterprise” .

Criminal case and death

After the end of the Second World War , criminal proceedings were initiated against Durein for crimes against humanity and dangerous physical harm . However, because the accused had died in 1948 of the long-term consequences of the car accident in 1941 ( see above ), the Frankenthal Regional Court closed the case on March 6, 1950.

literature

  • Franz Maier: Biographical organization manual of the NSDAP and its structures in the area of ​​today's state of Rhineland-Palatinate (=  publications of the commission of the state parliament for the history of the state of Rhineland-Palatinate . Volume 28 ). 2nd Edition. Verlag v. Hase & Koehler, Mainz 2009, ISBN 978-3-7758-1408-9 .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k Durein, Adam / 1893–1948. Rhineland-Palatinate personal database, accessed on October 13, 2018 .
  2. ↑ Friends of the memorial for Nazi victims in Neustadt (ed.): Information board with photo from the city archive . 2013.
  3. ^ A b Friends' Association Memorial for Nazi Victims in Neustadt (ed.): Information board with a copy of the copy from the city archive . 2013.
  4. ^ A b Friends' Association Memorial for Nazi Victims in Neustadt (ed.): Information boards, some with pictures . 2013.
  5. ↑ a b Wolfgang Benz, Barbara Distel, Angelika Königseder (ed.): The place of terror . History of the National Socialist Concentration Camps. tape 2 : Early camp, Dachau, Emsland camp . Verlag CH Beck, Munich 2005, ISBN 3-406-52962-3 , p. 173, 174 ( limited preview in Google Book search).
  6. ↑ a b c Eberhard Dittus, Martina Ruppert-Kelly: The memorial for Nazi victims in Neustadt an der Weinstrasse . Eds .: State Center for Political Education Rheinland-Pfalz (=  leaves to the country . No. 76 ). Mainz 2017, p. 4 ( online [PDF]).
  7. ↑ In the Weimar Republic 1918–1933. (No longer available online.) SPD City Association Neustadt, archived from the original on May 19, 2015 ; accessed on October 13, 2018 .
  8. ↑ a b Palatine courier: Overturned from the third floor of the Neustadt barracks . Neustadt March 18, 1933 ( copy of the newspaper report [PDF] - on p. 5 of the sheets on Land No. 76 (2017) the newspaper report bears the publication date March 18 and the creation date March 17; the suicide attempt is made with reference to the latter "Dated yesterday evening".).
  9. ↑ Regina Heilweck: Perpetrator and / or victim. Friends of the memorial for Nazi victims in Neustadt, accessed on October 13, 2018 .
personal data
SURNAME Durein, Adam
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German SA brigadier and commander of an early concentration camp
DATE OF BIRTH September 20, 1893
PLACE OF BIRTH Mechtersheim
DATE OF DEATH January 14, 1948
Place of death Mainz