Ernst Zörner

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Ernst Emil Zörner

Ernst Otto Emil Zörner (born June 27, 1895 in Nordhausen ; missing since 1945, declared dead in 1960) was a German businessman, NSDAP politician, President of the Braunschweig Landtag , member of the Reichstag , Lord Mayor of Dresden and governor of the Lublin district in the Generalgouvernement .

Life

youth

After completing elementary school, Zörner switched to a secondary school in Braunschweig . This was followed by a three-year apprenticeship and three semesters at the higher commercial school in Hanover . When the First World War broke out in 1914, he volunteered for the front. At the end of the war he was a company commander with the rank of lieutenant . In 1918 Zörner worked for the East Border Guard in Gdansk and again worked as a businessman the following year. In 1924 he set up his own business in Braunschweig with a coffee roastery and a grocery store .

National Socialist from the very beginning

Zörner joined the NSDAP in 1922 and was a co-founder of the party in Braunschweig. After the party was banned, he rejoined the NSDAP in 1925 ( membership number 3.218). He quickly made a career for the NSDAP. In February 1928 he became the first NS city councilor in Braunschweig, and in 1929 he was the leader of the National Socialists' faction. In 1930 Zörner was a member of the Braunschweig Landtag and became its president in September of the same year.

Zörner became a member of the Reichstag in 1932 and was appointed Vice President of the Reichstag on March 21, 1933, shortly after the National Socialists " seized power " .

A telegram from Hitler

Ernst Zörner is said to have a special relationship with Adolf Hitler . In addition to Carl Heimbs and Heinrich Wessel (both DVP), in the run-up to the election as Reich President in 1932 , Zörner ensured that the stateless Hitler received the German nationality required to participate in the election . In addition, he offered Hitler to register with him as a subtenant, as Hitler had to prove a residence in Braunschweig at the residents' registration office in order to be naturalized. On February 26, 1932, Hitler sent the following telegram to Zörner: "Please register me as a subtenant with you - Adolf Hitler". However, he never lived at the given address at Hohetorwall 7 or at any other address in Braunschweig.

Confrontation with the prime minister of Brunswick

Even before Hitler was naturalized, Zörner got into a heated argument with the NSDAP Prime Minister of the Free State of Braunschweig, Dietrich Klagges , which led to proceedings before the Supreme Party Court of the NSDAP in Munich , whereupon the re-election of Zörner as President of the Braunschweig State Parliament, which was planned for April 1933, was thwarted .

Lord Mayor of Dresden

Through Hitler's mediation, Zörner became Lord Mayor of Dresden in August 1933 and held this office until July 1939.

In 1936/37 Zörner was accused of financial irregularities, whereupon he lost his office in 1937. He was initially deported to a post as one of Albert Speer's deputies , where he should deal with the redesign of the Reich capital ( world capital Germania ). He also sat on the Presidential Council of the Reich Chamber of Fine Arts .

World War II - Generalgouvernement

Hans Frank , “Governor General” in occupied Poland and a special friend of Zörner, brought him to the General Government shortly after the occupation of Poland in 1939, where Zörner replaced the Polish mayor of Krakow on September 27, 1939 . He held this office until January 1940. On February 1, 1940, he was appointed governor of the Lublin district to succeed Friedrich Schmidt .

Confrontation with the SS

During his time in Lublin, the local Polish rural population was expelled with great brutality by the SSPF Lublin, Odilo Globocnik , and his troops in Aktion Zamość 1942/43 . An ongoing power struggle between Zörner and Globocnik, as well as Zörner's criticism of the nature and implementation of the occupation policy in occupied Poland, led to Zörner being relieved of his post on April 10, 1943 by order of the Reichsführer SS , Heinrich Himmler , and ordered back to the German Reich , where he was subordinated to the Todt Organization .

In the turmoil of the final phase of the Second World War , his trace is then lost. In the spring of 1945, Zörner in to the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia stopped and there is rumored suicide committed. He has been considered missing since 1945, on March 25, 1960, Ernst Zörner was declared dead retrospectively to December 21, 1945 at the request of his daughter. However, his second wife was not named in the certificate. Therefore, Bogdan Musiał does not rule out that the Zörner couple went underground under false names in 1945.

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b c d e f Bogdan Musial: German civil administration and persecution of Jews in the Generalgouvernement. Wiesbaden 1999, p. 399 f.
  2. ↑ Werner Präg, Wolfgang Jacobmeyer (ed.): The service diary of the German Governor General in Poland 1939-1945. Stuttgart 1975, pp. 955 f.
predecessor Office successor
Wilhelm Külz Lord Mayor of Dresden
1933–1937 		Rudolf Kluge
personal data
SURNAME Zörner, Ernst
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Zörner, Ernst Otto Emil (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German businessman and politician (NSDAP), MdR
DATE OF BIRTH June 27, 1895
PLACE OF BIRTH Nordhausen
DATE OF DEATH after 1945