Hans Weidemann

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Hans Jakob Weidemann (born May 22, 1904 in Essen , † November 1975 ) was a German propagandist at the time of National Socialism .

Life

Weidemann, son of a master carpenter, studied ten semesters at the Düsseldorf Art Academy with the help of a scholarship and was a painter by profession. He joined the NSDAP ( membership number 97,362) at the end of the 1920s . From 1930 Weidemann was head of propaganda in the Essen- Ruhr district and from 1932 deputy district leader under Josef Terboven . After the seizure of power by the National Socialists Weidemann has been with the office of speakers in from March 1933 Reich Ministry of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda provided (RMVP) and was a close associate of Joseph Goebbels . At the same time he held the post of film advisor in the Reich Propaganda Management in the NSDAP. In November 1933 Weidemann became presidential councilor at the Reich Chamber of Culture and also held this position in the Reich Chamber of Fine Arts , where he was also vice-president. Weidemann temporarily headed the cultural office of the Nazi organization Kraft durch Freude (KdF) in 1934, but was removed from this post again by order of Adolf Hitler . The background to this measure was Weidemann's temporary commitment to so-called degenerate art . In the early days of National Socialism, Weidemann, with the support of the Propaganda Minister, had campaigned for the acceptance of some artists who were primarily opposed by the ethnic art politicians around Alfred Rosenberg and the Kampfbund for German culture , such as Nolde , Barlach and Schmidt-Rottluff. Weidemann had organized several public events on the subject with the Berlin chairman of the NSDSTB Fritz Hippler and the NS student representative and painter Otto Andreas Schreiber , calling the ostracism a crime against German culture. In the Berlin gallery Ferdinand Möller , an exhibition of these artists was even set up with the support of Weidemann and some well-known museum directors. In this struggle, however, through Hitler's intervention, Rosenberg's tough stance prevailed, so that Weidemann and his helpers were called to a party court. Thanks to Goebbels' support, they did not receive any severe punishment. Weidemann and his friends were able to continue their careers under National Socialism. Weidemann was soon awarded the NSDAP's golden party badge . In addition, he took on high positions in the RMVP.

From June 1935, Weidemann headed the production of newsreels , which served as an important tool for influencing the population and were a central propaganda tool of the Nazis. The newsreels were re-created every week and shown in the cinema before the main film was shown. They were an important medium of information on, above all, political matters. Weidemann was responsible for the production of the newsreel in the Reich Ministry for Public Enlightenment and Propaganda . His office for this was called Büro Weidemann. To this end, he headed the editorial department at RMVP. In addition, Weidemann became head of the film department in the Reichsfilmkammer in August 1935 and only three months later became vice-president of the Reichsfilmkammer. Weidemann was also involved in other films, for example he was the artistic director of Jugend der Welt , a Nazi film about the 1936 Winter Olympics in Garmisch-Partenkirchen (director: Carl Junghans and Herbert Brieger). He performed the same role in the film Verräter (directed by Karl Ritter , 1936). In 1937 and 1939, Weidemann, together with Junghans and Lothar Bühle, directed the Nazi film Years of Decision , in the meantime (1938) also with Junghans and Gert Stegemann on Die große Zeit .

In April 1938, Weidemann joined the SS (SS no. 293.074). From August 1941, Weidemann was temporarily employed as a war correspondent with the Waffen SS . He wrote the screenplay with Hans Wolfgang Hillers for the anti-British propaganda film Attack on Baku (directed by Fritz Kirchhoff , 1940/41), in whose production management he was involved . In July 1943, the memorandum he had written, Suggestions for initiating a propaganda battle on all fronts, appeared . In 1944, Hans Weidemann headed the Waffen SS propaganda unit in Südstern . Weidemann had been friends with Henri Nannen since 1944 and as SS-Obersturmführer , local commandant of Bevilacqua (Veneto) in the province of Verona .

After the end of the war

After the end of the war, Weidemann first hid in Carolinensiel in East Friesland and worked as a painter under his mother's name because he feared he would be held responsible for his involvement with the Nazis. In 1950 he was denazified by artists in Hamburg with the help of Persil bills . In 1962 Weidemann was press officer at the stocking manufacturer Opal and organized beauty contests with Heinz Fehling . From 1964 to 1970 Weidemann worked for Stern magazine . In the 1970s, Weidemann was the national competition director for the Stern campaigns “ Young people researching ” and “ Young people training for the Olympics ”. Weidemann took a leave of absence from his job at Stern in 1970 and reported himself in Hamburg and Verona. The background was allegations by the journalist Gerhard Löwenthal that Weidemann had knowledge of executions after sabotage by partisans at Bevilacqua during the Second World War or was indirectly involved in them. According to Löwenthal, Nannen should also have known about it. However, the allegations against Weidemann and Nannen were not confirmed. The litigation eventually led to a settlement:

"ZDF was forbidden to claim

  • Weidemann was responsible for the interrogation and execution of partisans in Bevilacqua,
  • Weidemann was responsible for the death of an uninvolved young man after the bridge was blown in the Bevilacqua area.

The ZDF is allowed to claim

  • Weidemann was involved in the events in Bevilacqua,
  • Nannen could be accused of being aware of these alleged war crimes and Weidemann's 'Stern' commitment. "

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Degeners who is it. 1935, p. 1698.
  2. ↑ a b c d e affairs / Weidemann - So burdened . In: Der Spiegel . No. 51 , 1970, pp. 88-89 ( online ).
  3. ↑ a b c d Ernst Klee: The culture lexicon for the Third Reich. Who was what before and after 1945. S. Fischer, Frankfurt am Main 2007, p. 586.
  4. ↑ Industry / Opal - The last stitch . In: Der Spiegel . No. 32 , 1962, pp. 22nd ff . ( online ).
  5. ↑ On TV this week . In: Der Spiegel . No. 6 , 1976, p. 151 f . ( online ).
  6. ^ ZDF / Stern - Knüppel und Sack . In: Der Spiegel . No. 1 , 1971, p. 52 f . ( online ).
personal data
SURNAME Weidemann, Hans
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Weidemann, Hans Jakob
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German propagandist
DATE OF BIRTH May 22, 1904
PLACE OF BIRTH eat
DATE OF DEATH November 1975