Gustav Krukenberg

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Gustav Krukenberg (born March 8, 1888 in Bonn , † October 23, 1980 in Bad Godesberg ) was a German lawyer and general with the rank of SS Brigade Leader and Major General of the Waffen SS . Most recently he was in command of the 11th SS Volunteer Panzer Grenadier Division "Nordland" during the Battle of Berlin in April 1945.

Life

He was born in Bonn as the son of the university professor Georg Krukenberg and Elsbeth Krukenberg-Conze , daughter of the archaeologist Alexander Conze . In 1907 he joined the German Army as an ensign . He studied law at the Albert Ludwig University of Freiburg . In 1909 he was reciprocated in the Corps Hasso-Borussia Freiburg . In 1911 he was promoted to Dr. iur. PhD. In World War I he served as orderly and aide before finally in 1918 after graduating from the General Staff training course Sedan for captain was promoted.

After the First World War, Krukenberg worked as a private secretary in the Foreign Ministry and was active in industry as a member of the management of the Reich Association of German Industry . In 1926, Krukenberg opened the office of the Franco-German Study Committee in Paris , which was dedicated to Franco-German elite encounters from the fields of business, humanities, administration and journalism.

He was a member of the Society for the Study of Fascism . In 1932 he joined the NSDAP ( membership number 1.067.635) and worked as a broadcasting commissioner in the Propaganda Ministry after Hitler came to power . In 1932/33 he belonged to the SA , since May 30, 1933 he was a member of the SS (membership number 116,686).

After the outbreak of World War II , he served as a major in the General Staff in the Netherlands and from 1941 in Paris . In 1943 he became chief of staff at the Central Economic Inspectorate in Belarus, before being transferred to the Waffen SS in December of that year with the rank of SS Obersturmbannführer . In January 1944 he became Chief of Staff of the V SS Mountain Corps and was soon promoted to SS Standartenführer and then SS Oberführer . From May 1944 he served again as Chief of Staff at VI. SS volunteer army corps (Latvian) and from July 1944 as commander of the Waffen SS in the Reich Commissariat Ostland .

Due to his experience in Paris and his knowledge of the French language, Krukenberg was appointed inspector of the French units of the Waffen-SS in September 1944 and promoted to SS-Brigadführer. In this function he supervised the formation of the 33rd Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS "Charlemagne" , which consisted largely of French collaborators. In April 1945 he broke through to Berlin, despite heavy fighting and numerous losses . After merging with the 11th SS Volunteer Panzer Grenadier Division "Nordland" , he awarded one of the last knight's cross of the Iron Cross to the French Unterscharfuhrer Eugene Vaulot on April 29, 1945 .

After the capitulation, Krukenberg hid in Berlin-Dahlem for a short time , surrendered to the Soviet occupation authorities in Berlin-Steglitz on May 12, 1945 and was in Soviet captivity until 1956.

After returning from captivity, Krukenberg became involved in the Association of Returnees , and in his spirit he again advocated a Franco-German understanding. He was also an editor at the Donors' Association for German Science .

The historian Werner Conze is his cousin, the historian Peter Schöttler his grandson.

Awards

See also

literature

  • Antony Beevor : Berlin 1945. The end . Goldmann, Munich 2005, ISBN 3-442-15313-1 .
  • Hans Manfred Bock (ed.): French culture in Berlin during the Weimar Republic. Cultural exchange and diplomatic relations . Narr, Tübingen 2005, ISBN 3-8233-6181-3 .
  • Robert Forbes: For Europe: The French Volunteers of the Waffen-SS. Stackpole, 2010. ISBN 0-8117-3581-8 .
  • Maria Keipert (Red.): Biographical Handbook of the German Foreign Service 1871–1945. Published by the Foreign Office, Historical Service. Volume 2: Gerhard Keiper, Martin Kröger: G – K. Schöningh, Paderborn et al. 2005, ISBN 3-506-71841-X .
  • Janusz Piekałkiewicz : The Second World War . Econ, Düsseldorf and Vienna 1985, ISBN 3-430-17479-1 .
  • Peter Schöttler : Three kinds of collaboration. Concepts of Europe and German-French understanding - using the example of the career of SS-Brigadführer Gustav Krukenberg, in: Zeithistorische Forschungen / Studies in Contemporary History , 9 (2012), 3, pp. 365–386 full text . With materials from the estate that Schöttler manages as a grandson.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Kösener Corpslisten 1930, 32/274.
  2. ↑ Dissertation: The Liability of the Reich Military Treasury .
  3. ↑ The audio document "Note 53: There is an easily accessible audio recording of this speech in occupied Charkow ..." , which is no longer linked there: can now be found here , Heinrich Himmler : Speech to SS leaders in the university building of Charkow , March 24, 1943 Also at Wikimedia
personal data
SURNAME Krukenberg, Gustav
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German civil servant and general of the Waffen SS
DATE OF BIRTH March 8, 1888
PLACE OF BIRTH Bonn
DATE OF DEATH October 23, 1980
Place of death bad Godesberg