Working group of former members of the defense

Commemorative plaque for Wilhelm Canaris , attached by former members of the military in the Flossenbürg concentration camp

The consortium former defense related (AGEA) was active in the 1960s and 1970s group of 14 people who during the Nazi - dictatorship in the German " defense had been working."

Origin and organization

On April 9, 1964, Colonel a. D. Otto Wagner invited numerous former members of the military to a memorial service on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the murder of Wilhelm Canaris in the Flossenbürg concentration camp , where a memorial plaque was placed on April 9, 1965. An April 9th committee was formed to prepare and carry out this celebration. On October 10th, 1966 it was renamed the April 9th Working Group . The plan was to found a nationwide but regionally structured association of former members of the Defense Force, but a survey of the 191 people recorded by addresses at the time showed only a low level of approval, so that the working group on April 9th, 1967 on January 26th, 1967 in the Working Group of Former Defense Members (AGEA ) renamed and continued its work with 14 members; The founding date of the AGEA was retrospectively set to October 10, 1966. Chairman became General a. D. Gerhard Henke, 1934–1937 head of the defense office in Königsberg , editor -in- chief Lieutenant Colonel ret. D. Hans Jochen Rudloff, head of the “finance office” for “material issues” Lieutenant Colonel ret. D. Franz Seubert.

For all interested former members of the defense, the AGEA organized a meeting at irregular intervals, in 1969 in Bingen and 1970, 1971 and 1973 in Würzburg, with foreign guests - u. a. high-ranking officers from the Resistance - were present.

aims

Recording of journalistic attacks at home and abroad against institutions and members of the former military defense, especially those from the east.
Collection of factual material that is suitable for objectively refuting and correcting these distorting and defamatory attacks, as well as its appropriate evaluation and design.
Constant briefing of the members of the former defense through the news organ The rearguard about attacks and their defense, defense-related questions, memories, historical studies, book publications, internal personnel matters, etc. a. m.
Maintaining contacts with the domestic and foreign press, the mass media, publishers and similar institutes.
Liaison service to parliamentary, state, semi-official and private institutions that stand up for the German reputation in the world.
Maintaining good human and comradely relationships with and between former members of the Abw.

Publications

The rearguard

As an internal, non-public information organ for members of the former military defense. From April 1967 to February 1975, the AGEA published a total of 32 booklets Die Nachhut, each with a volume of 22 pages, not permitted in the book and magazine trade . In short articles, mostly two or three pages long, predominantly former senior intelligence officers reported on their activities in different places in Europe. A substantial part of the booklet was made up of reviews of books on the subject of defense. In addition, there are organizational notifications and tables of deceased members of the defense. The logo of the booklet on the front page was a graphic representation of the three monkeys .

What is striking is the large number of richly illustrated articles on the life of Admiral Canaris , who is also repeatedly presented in other articles as a shining example of a clever and talented defense chief. A critical examination of the role of the defense in the aggressive war waged by the Wehrmacht is completely lacking. Only in general is there now and then talk of crimes committed by the National Socialists , to which Canaris, who is revered by the AGEA, fell victim. The defeat of the Abwehr in the spring of 1944 by the Reich Security Main Office is regretted as the end of the Abwehr, which is characterized by good comradeship, but there is no discussion of why almost all Abwehr members - so and so. a. Oscar Reile and Hermann J. Giskes - apparently without resistance, continued to work within the newly structured communication system of the RSHA led by the SS .

Gert Buchheit

The writer Gert Buchheit , "an old comrade in the regiment" of General Henke, had been in close contact with the April 9th Committee since 1965 . Buchheit , the editor in charge of the rearguard from September 1969 to the end of 1971, fought a bitter journalistic duel with the East German "greasy finch" Julius Mader , not least in numerous articles from the rearguard . Buch's main work The German Secret Service (1966), which is essentially based on the statements of former members of the defense, should be a well-founded counter-statement against the attacks led by Mader since 1960 on the - according to Mader - defense successor organization BND and its boss Reinhard Gehlen . Gehlen himself avoided any contact with the AGEA, which for its part only presented its relationship with the BND once.

resolution

Due to age, the group of former members of the defense became smaller and smaller after 1970, so that Managing Director Seubert stated in November 1974: “[...] four comrades have already left the small group of the AGEA through death. The surviving members have reached an age that it seems time to release them from their commitment. There is no offspring. ”At the same time, he once again recalled the main objective of the AGEA:“ Today we are parting from a sworn circle of comrades and believe that we have fulfilled the assignment given to us. H. having successfully maintained and successfully defended the honor and reputation of their troops as the rearguard of the old comrades in arms. "

The AGEA files handed down in the Federal Archives still contain documents up to 1979.

Individual evidence

↑ The committee belonged (all ranks a. D.): Otto Wagner, Colonel Ludwig Dischler, Captain Herbert Wichmann, Corvette Captain Franz Liedig , Lieutenant Colonel Oscar Reile , Ministerialrat Walter Herzlieb, Lieutenant Colonel Hans Kaltenhäuser and Lieutenant Colonel Robert Tarbuk von Sensenhorst. In: Die Nachhut , 31/32 (1975), p. 39.
↑ Only 65 of those contacted reacted positively, 10 negatively, 116 did not react. “Most of them had grown tired of political issues, probably a consequence of the unjustified 'automatic' imprisonment after the war. Many have not yet been able to suppress their personal resentments ; the feelings in favor of cultivating comradeship and the old, tried and tested corps spirit suffered from it. ”F. Seubert: The development of the AGEA since its existence . In: Die Nachhut 11/12 (1971), p. 37.
↑ Address of the editorial office: Munich 8, Perfallstr. 2; the finance office: Munich 12, Geroltstr. 39. After Rudloff resigned from the editorial office, Seubert became managing director in 1971. Die Nachhut , 1 (1967), p. 4, and 11/12 (1971), pp. 37-38. In 1944 Rudloff belonged to the Defense Control Center France , Seubert to the Defense Control Center Vienna .
↑ See the detailed reports of the meetings in Würzburg in 1971 ( Die Nachhut , No. 15/16 (1972), pp. 2–22) and 1973 ( Die Nachhut , No. 25/26, pp. 2–15).
^ The rearguard , 11/12 (1971), p. 38.
↑ From 1971 onwards, double issues were consistently published, each comprising two issue numbers on 44 pages.
↑ The table of contents can be found in issue 13/14 (1971) for nos. 1–12 and in issue 29/30 (1974) for nos. 13–28.
↑ So Henke in his foreword to the first issue of the rearguard .
^ The rearguard , 8 (Sept. 1969), 1st inside; in the rearguard 15/16 (Jan. 1972) no longer mentioned as such.
↑ Examples of the polemics of this dispute are book's articles Important Notice! In: Die Nachhut , 1 (1967), pp. 6-9, and reply . In: Die Nachhut , 19/20 (1972), pp. 22-25.
↑ In the rear guard there is only a very brief, completely neutral rejection of participation in the meeting of former members of the defense in Würzburg in 1973; The rearguard , No. 25/26 (1973), p. 15.
^ Gerhard Henke: BND and AGB . In: Die Nachhut , No. 13/14 (1971), pp. 3-6.
↑ Die Nachhut , 31/32 (1974), p. 41.
↑ Federal Archives, Department Military Archives Freiburg, holdings B 472. For reasons of archival law, these holdings can only be viewed to a limited extent.

[1] The committee belonged (all ranks a. D.): Otto Wagner, Colonel Ludwig Dischler, Captain Herbert Wichmann, Corvette Captain Franz Liedig , Lieutenant Colonel Oscar Reile , Ministerialrat Walter Herzlieb, Lieutenant Colonel Hans Kaltenhäuser and Lieutenant Colonel Robert Tarbuk von Sensenhorst. In: Die Nachhut , 31/32 (1975), p. 39.

[2] Only 65 of those contacted reacted positively, 10 negatively, 116 did not react. “Most of them had grown tired of political issues, probably a consequence of the unjustified 'automatic' imprisonment after the war. Many have not yet been able to suppress their personal resentments ; the feelings in favor of cultivating comradeship and the old, tried and tested corps spirit suffered from it. ”F. Seubert: The development of the AGEA since its existence . In: Die Nachhut 11/12 (1971), p. 37.

[3] Address of the editorial office: Munich 8, Perfallstr. 2; the finance office: Munich 12, Geroltstr. 39. After Rudloff resigned from the editorial office, Seubert became managing director in 1971. Die Nachhut , 1 (1967), p. 4, and 11/12 (1971), pp. 37-38. In 1944 Rudloff belonged to the Defense Control Center France , Seubert to the Defense Control Center Vienna .

[4] See the detailed reports of the meetings in Würzburg in 1971 ( Die Nachhut , No. 15/16 (1972), pp. 2–22) and 1973 ( Die Nachhut , No. 25/26, pp. 2–15).

[5] The rearguard , 11/12 (1971), p. 38.

[6] From 1971 onwards, double issues were consistently published, each comprising two issue numbers on 44 pages.

[7] The table of contents can be found in issue 13/14 (1971) for nos. 1–12 and in issue 29/30 (1974) for nos. 13–28.

[8] So Henke in his foreword to the first issue of the rearguard .

[9] The rearguard , 8 (Sept. 1969), 1st inside; in the rearguard 15/16 (Jan. 1972) no longer mentioned as such.

[10] Examples of the polemics of this dispute are book's articles Important Notice! In: Die Nachhut , 1 (1967), pp. 6-9, and reply . In: Die Nachhut , 19/20 (1972), pp. 22-25.

[11] In the rear guard there is only a very brief, completely neutral rejection of participation in the meeting of former members of the defense in Würzburg in 1973; The rearguard , No. 25/26 (1973), p. 15.

[12] Gerhard Henke: BND and AGB . In: Die Nachhut , No. 13/14 (1971), pp. 3-6.

[13] Die Nachhut , 31/32 (1974), p. 41.

[14] Federal Archives, Department Military Archives Freiburg, holdings B 472. For reasons of archival law, these holdings can only be viewed to a limited extent.