Hans Karl Leistritz

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Hans Karl Leistritz (born May 10, 1909 in Tannhausen , Lower Silesia ; † November 23, 1994 in Küssaberg , Baden-Württemberg ) was a German Nazi functionary and one of the initiators of the book burning on May 10, 1933 . Later he became a leading propaganda functionary in the main training office of the NSDAP .

Life

Leistritz was the son of a school principal. After graduating from high school, he studied law , was a corporation student and a member of the Academic Gymnastics Federation . In 1933 he joined the NSDAP and became head of the Office for Physical Education in the Main Office for Political Education of the German Student Union (DSt). He was also a member of the SA university storm.

In April and May 1933 Leistritz was head of the “Main Office for Press and Propaganda” in the Reich leadership of the DSt. In this function he was a leader in the book burnings organized by the DSt throughout the Reich, the so-called "Action against the un-German spirit". Leistritz planned this as a four-week overall campaign. He planned to attract the greatest possible media attention to the book burning in Munich and in a letter dated April 20, 1933 , asked the Bavarian Broadcasting Corporation for a report and space for two lectures.

1935 doctorate Leistritz in Frankfurt Dr. jur. He then worked as a publishing editor . In 1936 he published the 11th edition of the German Citizens' Pocket Book under the title State Handbook of the People's Comrades. Afterwards he worked in the Reich organizational management of the NSDAP, in the main training office he was head of the office for training letters. Leistritz was one of the leading anti-Semitic spokesmen; as early as 1938 he called for a "race war" against the Jews. He was also editor-in-chief of the magazine “Weltanschauung und Schule”. After internal criticism of his work, which among other things came from the Rosenberg office , he had to give up responsibility for the newspaper.

During the Second World War , Leistritz was in administration in Norway ( Organization Todt ) and later on the Eastern Front . In 1943 he returned to the leadership of the Reich organization and was appointed Reich training speaker. He was commissioned to develop an anti-Bolshevik propaganda program with new technical means . After the war he offered this to the Americans.

During his interrogation in the denazification process in 1948, he tried to play down his visit to the Warsaw ghetto and the Sachsenhausen concentration camp and to present himself as a strict anti-communist. The case is closed.

In the post-war period, Leistritz u. a. active as a specialist book author. In 1952 he published an export dictionary on behalf of the Frankfurt am Main Chamber of Commerce and Industry . In addition, he published two philosophical-political books: "The Art of Politics: Analysis of the Political Rules of the Game" and "The Spirit of the Epoch and the Mindless States - Thoughts on the Political Present".

His main occupation from 1948 to the 1990s was the reduction of engine noise and engine exhaust. As an industry outsider, he developed several technical processes for soundproofing and exhaust gas reduction, and registered around 100 corresponding patents. His invention of the "Frankfurter Topf" - a motorcycle muffler that noticeably reduced the noise through resonance shifts - meant that the federal government at the time was able to reduce the statutory noise limits. The "Frankfurter Topf" was produced and installed under license by several silencer manufacturers and motorcycle manufacturers for many years. Already decades before the automotive industry, Leistritz advocated the massive reduction and elimination of car exhaust fumes and developed technical processes for this purpose. His process for reducing exhaust gas through thermal post-combustion was a forerunner of today's catalyst technology.

Publications (selection)

  • The legal concept of property - history and task , Berlin 1936, 91 pp.
  • The Reich Organization Leader of the NSDAP, Ed .: The training letter. The central monthly newspaper of the NSDAP and DAF. From the main training office of the NSDAP and the training office of the DAF. Central publishing house of the NSDAP , Munich 1934-1944 (Issue 3–4). Periodical, numerous Contribution of the Leistritz
  • State manual of the Volksgenossen. Sudau, Berlin 1936, 976 pp.
  • Legal action among Germans. Sudau, Berlin 1937, 128 pp.
  • German People's Handbook. Sudau, Berlin 1939, 383 pp.
  • The Bolshevik world deception. Deutscher Rechtsverlag, Berlin 1943, 155 pp.
  • Foreign trade yearbook 1952 (with Karlrobert Ringel). Wirtschaftsdienst, Frankfurt am Main 1952, 504 pp.
  • Foreign trade yearbook 1952/53 (with Karlrobert Ringel). Economic Service, Frankfurt am Main 1953, 736 pp.
  • Foreign trade lexicon (with Karlrobert Ringel). Economic Service, Frankfurt am Main 1956, 1140 pp.
  • The art of politics. Analysis of the political rules of the game. Callwey, Munich 1968, 292 pp.
  • The spirit of the age and the spiritless states. Thoughts on the political present. Vowinckel , Berg am See 1982, ISBN 3-921655-24-2

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Werner Treß: Leistritz, Hans Karl . In: Handbuch des Antisemitismus Volume 2/2: Personen (L – Z). De Gruyter Saur, Berlin 2009, ISBN 978-3-598-24072-0 , pp. 466-467.
  2. Gode ​​Japs: " Verfeuert, ostracized, forgotten ", Deutschlandfunk , May 10, 2008.
  3. Original letter published. In: Book Burning: Propaganda and Bureaucracy ( Memento from June 29, 2008 in the Internet Archive )
  4. The Art of Politics: Analysis of the Political Rules of the Game. Retrieved December 11, 2017 .
  5. The spirit of the epoch and the spiritless states - thoughts on the political present. Retrieved December 11, 2017 .
  6. The Two Lives of Dr. Hans Karl Leistritz. (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on December 13, 2017 ; accessed on December 11, 2017 . 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 / www.rfl.rnolde.de