Adolf Beckerle

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Adolf Beckerle

Adolf Heinz Beckerle (born February 4, 1902 in Frankfurt am Main ; † April 3, 1976 there ) was involved in the deportation of Jews to the areas occupied by Bulgaria in World War II as the German envoy in Sofia during the Nazi era . Beckerle was a high-ranking member of the SA and a member of the NSDAP in the Weimar and National Socialist Reichstag .

Life

Education and Early Political Activity

The son of the Post-Oberamtmann Hans Beckerle and his wife Margarethe, born Kammerer, attended elementary school and the Realgymnasium in Frankfurt from 1908 to 1921 and passed the Abitur at the Wöhlergymnasium there in March 1921 . At the University of Frankfurt he took up a degree in economics, economics and philosophy, which he graduated in 1927 with a degree in economics . During his studies he became a member of the Frankonia Landsmannschaft in the Coburg Convent . In 1921 and 1922 he volunteered with the Reichswehr while studying . Beckerle interrupted his studies several times: From May 1925 to June 1926 he was an officer candidate for the Prussian police at the police school in Hannoversch Münden . Other interruptions were due to trips abroad to North and South America and work in banks, as a nurse and in commercial and industrial professions.

In 1922 Beckerle became a member of the Association of Nationally Minded Soldiers and the Wiking Association . On August 29, 1922, he briefly joined the NSDAP (membership no. 7197). After completing his studies, Beckerle became a member of the NSDAP again on September 1, 1928 ( membership number 80,983) and also joined the SA. On April 1, 1929, Beckerle took over the leadership of SA Storm 68 in Frankfurt; From January 1, 1930 to April 13, 1932, he headed the SA Standard II there as SA standard leader. From July 1931 to April 1932 he also took over the leadership of the SA sub-group Hessen-Nassau-Süd. On April 24, 1932, Beckerle was elected to the Prussian state parliament for the NSDAP , but resigned this office when he received a seat in the Reichstag on July 31 of the same year . He broke off a law degree he had previously taken up in 1932. In July 1932 Beckerle became Gauführer of the " NS-Reichsbund for physical exercises " in Hessen-Nassau .

In the time of National Socialism

After the " seizure of power " by the National Socialists, Beckerle was promoted to SA group leader on March 1, 1933 and to SA group leader on November 9, 1937. From July 1, 1933 to January 31, 1942, he took over the management of the SA group in Hessen. From September 14, 1933 he was acting police chief of Frankfurt, from February 1934 to June 1941 he finally took over this function. In connection with the " Röhm Putsch " in July 1934, he was temporarily relieved of his office as police chief. On February 27, 1935, Beckerle married Silke Edelmann.

After the German attack on Poland , Adolf Heinz Beckerle took over the role of police chief in Łódź, Poland , in October and November 1939 . In 1939 and 1940 he was a war volunteer on the Western Front , and was discharged from the Wehrmacht as a reserve lieutenant .

Together with Hanns Ludin and Manfred von Killinger, Beckerle belonged to a group of higher SA leaders who, after Hitler's criticism of the German professional diplomats, were appointed as new ambassadors by Foreign Minister Ribbentrop in the Southeast European countries . These "SA diplomats" also served as a counterweight to the ambitions of the Reichsführer of the SS there , Heinrich Himmler . Beckerle was released from his functions in Frankfurt in February 1941 on vacation.

From June 28, 1941 he was the German envoy in Sofia. In this function he had to justify to the Foreign Office again and again why he was unable to bring Bulgaria "onto the German line". He replied resignedly that Bulgaria could not be won over to participate in the Russian campaign because of its ethnic relatives. Bulgaria had also always avoided declaring war on the Soviet Union. The USSR then declared war on Bulgaria for its part shortly before its invasion in September 1944. When asked about Bulgaria's hesitant attitude towards “Jewish policy”, Beckerle reaffirmed that the Bulgarians had no understanding of anti-Semitism due to their mentality.

According to investigations by the German post-war justice system, Beckerle was “significantly” involved in the deportation and murder of around 11,000 Jews, for which the SS was directly responsible: Jews from Macedonia and Thrace , areas that Bulgaria had annexed in 1941, were deported to extermination camps .

After the end of the war

On September 18, 1944, Beckerle was captured by the Red Army in Swilengrad in southern Bulgaria. Beckerle was sentenced to 25 years of forced labor by a Soviet military court according to Ukas 43 for his crimes. During his imprisonment, Beckerle was classified by the central judgment chamber in Hesse on March 22, 1950 in the denazification as the "main culprit". On October 13, 1955, he was one of the last German prisoners whose release had previously been agreed when Konrad Adenauer visited Moscow. He received compensation of 6000 DM from the city of Frankfurt  ; from 1956 to 1966 he was an authorized signatory in Neu-Isenburg . In November 1966 Beckerle was arrested for participating in the deportations of Jews to Bulgaria. In the trial against Beckerle before the Frankfurt jury court, which involved the kidnapping and murder of 11,343 New Bulgarian Jews, his defense counsel repeatedly called for the then Federal Chancellor Kurt Georg Kiesingers to be summoned . The proceedings against Beckerle were discontinued on June 27, 1968 because he was unable to stand trial due to illness. The proceedings against the co-defendant, former Legation Councilor in the Foreign Office, Fritz Gebhardt von Hahn , however, continued and ended on August 18, 1968 with his conviction and a sentence of eight years in prison.

literature

  • Joachim Lilla , Martin Döring, Andreas Schulz: extras in uniform. The members of the Reichstag 1933–1945. A biographical manual. Including the ethnic and National Socialist members of the Reichstag from May 1924. Droste, Düsseldorf 2004, ISBN 3-7700-5254-4 .
  • Martin Schumacher: MdR The members of the Reichstag of the Weimar Republic in the time of National Socialism. 3. Edition. Droste, Düsseldorf 1994, ISBN 3-7700-5183-1 .
  • Raul Hilberg: The annihilation of the European Jews . The Complete History of the Holocaust. Olle and Wolter, Berlin 1982, ISBN 3-88395-431-4 .
  • Bogdan Musial: German civil administration and persecution of Jews in the Generalgouvernement. Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 2000, ISBN 3-447-04208-7 ( Sources and Studies. Volume 10).
  • Gerald Reitlinger : The final solution. Hitler's attempt to exterminate the Jews of Europe 1939–1945. 4th edition. Colloquium, Berlin 1961.
  • Hans-Joachim Hoppe , Bulgaria - Hitler's willful ally. A case study on National Socialist Southeast European policy , studies by the Institute for Contemporary History , Munich, dva Stuttgart 1979 (detailed description of Beckerle's activities in Bulgaria based on correspondence with the Foreign Office).
  • Wolf Oschlies , Bulgaria - a country without anti-Semitism , Erlangen 1976.
  • Ernst Klee : Personal Lexicon for the Third Reich. Fischer, Frankfurt 2005, ISBN 3-596-16048-0 , p. 36.
  • Hermann Weiß (Ed.): Biographical Lexicon for the Third Reich . S. Fischer, Frankfurt am Main 1998, ISBN 3-10-091052-4 .
  • Thomas Klein: Senior officials in the general administration in the Prussian province of Hessen-Nassau and in Waldeck from 1867 to 1945 . 1988, ISBN 3-88443-159-5 , p. 93.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Hans-Joachim Hoppe: Bulgaria - Hitler's willful ally. A case study on the National Socialist Southeast European Policy . Stuttgart 1979.
  2. ^ Wolf Oschlies: Bulgaria - a country without anti-Semitism . Erlangen 1976.
  3. ↑ On Beckerle's participation in the deportation of Jews, entries in Chronologie des Holocaust under: June 19, 1942 ( Memento of September 26, 2007 in the Internet Archive ), October 9, 1942 ( Memento of September 26, 2007 in the Internet Archive ), November 1, 1942 ( Memento of September 26, 2007 in the Internet Archive ), November 16, 1942 ( Memento of September 26, 2007 in the Internet Archive ), February 4, 1943 ( Memento of September 26, 2007 in the Internet Archive ), February 27, 1943 ( Memento of September 26, 2007 in the Internet Archive ), June 7, 1943 ( Memento of September 26, 2007 in the Internet Archive ), August 31, 1943 ( Memento of September 26, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
  4. ↑ Defender calls again for witness Kiesinger. In: Frankfurter Rundschau , February 27, 1968, p. 8.
  5. ↑ The trial against Beckerle failed: suspension due to the defendant's inability to stand trial. In: Frankfurter Rundschau , June 6, 1968.
  6. ^ No precise answer: Kiesinger's interrogation in the Frankfurt murder trial. Richter reprimands the radio. In: Frankfurter Rundschau July 5, 1968, p. 1f.
  7. ↑ Hahn has to go to prison: guilty of murdering 20,000 Jews. In: Frankfurter Rundschau. August 19, 1968. Retrieved April 26, 2010 .
personal data
SURNAME Beckerle, Adolf
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Beckerle, Adolf Heinz (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German SA functionary and politician (NSDAP), MdR
DATE OF BIRTH February 4, 1902
PLACE OF BIRTH Frankfurt am Main
DATE OF DEATH April 3, 1976
Place of death Frankfurt am Main