Gerhard Erren

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Gerhard Josef Arnold Erren (born March 4, 1901 in Mittenbrück ; † July 17, 1984 in Hamburg-Bergedorf ) was a German National Socialist who was employed as an area commissioner in Slonim , Belarus , during the Second World War , where he was responsible for the murder of thousands of Jews was responsible.

Life

After the First World War, Erren belonged to various voluntary corps and border protection associations. After completing his teacher training, he worked as a sports teacher in Upper Silesia . Since the beginning of October 1928 he was married to Maria, née Müller.

Politically, he turned to the National Socialists at the beginning of the 1930s. However, he was only able to join the NSDAP after the handover of power to the National Socialists on May 1, 1933 , as he belonged to the Upper Silesian state riflemen, which had been integrated into the Reichswehr . From 1933 he worked at a Gausport school of the party in Upper Silesia and from 1934 he held the office of political leader of the NSDAP. After completing a special course at the Ordensburg Vogelsang , he was a comradeship leader on the NS-Ordensburg Krössinsee from 1937 to 1939 .

After the beginning of the Second World War , he was drafted into the Wehrmacht from December 1939 to July 1941 . After the German occupation of Belarus, he was area commissioner in Slonim from August 1941 to July 1944, where he was also local and political leader of the NSDAP. Erren was responsible for the murder of Jews on a large scale in Slonim .

“When I arrived, the Slonim area counted approx. 25,000 Jews, of which approx. 16,000 in the city of Slonim alone, i.e. over two thirds of the entire city population. Establishing a ghetto was impossible because there were neither barbed wire nor security facilities. So I made preparations for a major future action from the outset. First of all, the expropriation was carried out and all German offices, including Wehrmacht headquarters, were equipped with the furniture and equipment. [...] Stuff that could not be used by Germans was released to the city for sale to the population and the proceeds were donated to the official treasury. This was followed by an exact recording of the Jews according to number, age and occupation, a removal of all craftsmen and skilled workers, their identification through ID cards and separate accommodation. The SD on November 13th. the action carried out freed me from unnecessary eaters; and the approx. 7000 Jews now present in the city of Slonim are all involved in the work process, work willingly due to constant fear of death and will be carefully checked and sorted out in the spring for further reduction. "

- Gerhard Erren in a situation report on January 25, 1942

During this action , Erren appeared in the ghetto with gun in hand while the Jews were being beaten out of their houses. After further murders of Jews, Erren reported in a report in September 1942: "I am glad to see the 25,000 Jews originally in the area melted down to 500". Erren, who was accepted into the SS on March 2, 1944 with the rank of SS-Sturmbannführer , was from February 1945 leader for ideological training with the Waffen-SS .

After the end of the war, Erren was interned by the British until January 1948 . Erren was able to resume his teaching profession at the technical high school "Am Brink" in Hamburg-Bergedorf in 1949 through false information about himself . The Hamburg judiciary initiated an investigation against Erren in 1960, which was not carried out with particular energy, since the preliminary investigations could not be completed until 1969. After the initiation of the investigation against him for the murder of Jews, he was dismissed from school in 1960. From 1961 to 1971 Erren was a teacher at a private school. It was not until June 25, 1974, that Erren was sentenced to life imprisonment by the Hamburg Regional Court . The court had ruled that he was "guilty of the deaths of 15,000 Jews." He was a gentleman who "walked through Slonim with a whip and dog and beat Jews in public." Erren did not have to serve the prison sentence, however, as the judgment was overturned by the Federal Court of Justice on September 16, 1975 for formal reasons and the trial was referred to the Hamburg Regional Court. The re-trial in 1976 did not take place because Erren was unable to stand trial.

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Ernst Klee: Das Personenlexikon zum Third Reich , Frankfurt am Main 2007, p. 139.
  2. ↑ http://www.ortsfamilienbuecher.de/famreport.php?ofb=leobschuetz&lang=de&modus=&ID=I88936&nachname=ERREN
  3. ^ A b c d e Hans-Dieter Arntz : Nazi perpetrators benefit from the helplessness of the judiciary: Another contribution to the discussion about the alleged "perpetrators" of the castles of the order
  4. ^ A b c Alfred Bernd Gottwaldt, Norbert Kampe: NS-Tyranny: Contributions to historical research and legal reappraisal , Edition Hentrich, 2005, p. 231.
  5. ↑ Quoted from: Hans Dieter Arntz: Nazi perpetrators benefit from the helplessness of the judiciary: Another contribution to the discussion about the alleged "perpetrators" of the Order Castles of September 22, 2007 / fully printed as Doc. VEJ 8/61 in: Bert Hoppe (edit.): The persecution and murder of European Jews by National Socialist Germany 1933-1945 (source collection) Volume 8: Soviet Union with annexed areas II. Berlin 2016, ISBN 978-3-486-78119-9 , p. 204 -208.
  6. ↑ Bert Hoppe (edit.): The persecution and murder of European Jews by National Socialist Germany 1933-1945 (source collection) Volume 8: Soviet Union with annexed areas II. Berlin 2016, ISBN 978-3-486-78119-9 , p. 36.
  7. ↑ Quoted by Ernst Klee: Das Personenlexikon zum Third Reich , Frankfurt am Main 2007, p. 139 / printed in full as Doc. VEJ 8/190 in: Bert Hoppe (edit): The persecution and murder of European Jews by National Socialist Germany 1933-1945 (source collection) Volume 8: Soviet Union with annexed areas II. Berlin 2016, ISBN 978-3-486-78119-9 , quotation p. 433.
  8. ^ A b Christian Gerlach: Calculated murders. German economic and extermination policy in Belarus 1941 to 1944 , Hamburger Edition, 1999, p. 624.
  9. ↑ DER SPIEGEL 15/1971: Justice / Nazi proceedings - bomb loose
  10. ↑ Justice. Old comrades . . In: Der Spiegel , issue 26 of June 28, 1982, p. 68.
  11. ^ Justice and Nazi crimes Case 810. (No longer available online.) Stichting voor wetenschappelijk onderzoek van nationaal-socialist misdrijven, archived from the original on December 31, 2014 ; Retrieved August 21, 2012 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www1.jur.uva.nl
personal data
SURNAME Erren, Gerhard
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Erren, Gerhard Josef Arnold (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German National Socialist and area commissioner
DATE OF BIRTH March 4, 1901
PLACE OF BIRTH Mittenbrück
DATE OF DEATH 17th July 1984
Place of death Hamburg-Bergedorf