Adam Hereth

Adam Hereth

Adam Hereth (born January 16, 1897 in Harsdorf near Bayreuth , † July 1, 1934 in Dachau concentration camp ) was a German worker. He became known as one of the victims of the so-called Röhm Putsch .

Live and act

Hereth grew up in the village of Harsdorf near Bayreuth. He earned his living as a cementer and factory worker. After his marriage in 1919 he moved to the village of Laineck. There he was chairman of the ASV Laineck gymnastics and sports club from 1918 or 1919. Hereth was politically active in the Social Democratic Party (SPD). In 1930 he took over the chairmanship of the local SPD association in Laineck, which he held until the National Socialists came to power in the spring of 1933. He was also a member of the Reichsbanner Black-Red-Gold and the Iron Front .

Since 1933, Hereth was banned from his profession and various everyday harassments by the National Socialists . In February 1934 he was arrested by local SA men at Rosenberg in St. Georgen after he had shown himself publicly with an Iron Front badge (three arrows) on the lapel of his suit or coat. He was handed over to the police and initially detained in the St. Georgen prison from February 25 to March 16, 1934. This detention was justified by the fact that Hereth had given "cause for public nuisance" by his appearance. On March 16, 1934, he was transferred to the Dachau concentration camp as a protective prisoner.

On July 1, 1934, Hereth was shot by members of the SS camp guard together with four other prisoners in the camp (Julius Adler, Erich Gans , Häbich and Paul Röhrbein ) during the Röhm affair . Since at least Adler, Gans, Häbich and Hereth do not appear on the Gestapo's official death list as of June 30, it must be assumed that there was no order from Berlin for these shootings, but that the decision to shoot them was an unauthorized act by the Dachau management around Theodor Eicke , who wanted to take advantage of the opportunity to take action against the SA to get rid of some particularly unpleasant prisoners. These shootings were subsequently justified on the grounds that the prisoners had "declared their solidarity with the mutineers".

In September or October 1934, the Hereths family received a death notice from the Dachau commandant's office, in which it was alleged that Hereth had been shot on July 2nd "while trying to escape". The coffin with his body was transported to Laineck under guard and was no longer allowed to be opened. As early as July 24, 1934, the concentration camp administration had informed Hereth's widow that the deceased's remaining effects (1 pair of work shoes, 1 pair of stockings, 1 shirt, 1 pair of underpants and 2 handkerchiefs) had been sent to her.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} Roth: The Security Service of the SS and June 30, 1934 , p. 97.
2. ^ Lothar Gruchmann: Justice in the 3rd Reich 1933-1940 , p. 400.
3. ↑ 100 years SPD Laineck , p. 21.