Hermann Cummerow

Hermann Heinrich Karl Ernst Cummerow (born January 10, 1878 in Demmin ; † January 13, 1966 in Greifswald ) was a German officer , most recently a colonel in the Wehrmacht and SS brigade leader in World War II . After his active service in the Saxon Army and Reichswehr , he first joined the SA and later the SS , mainly to look after the training of the next generation of leaders. With Paul Hausser as his supervisor, he was involved in building up the Waffen SS and was responsible for the military training of the SS skull and crossbones associations . From September 1937, he set up training classes in the SS Junker Schools . At the end of the war he was in command of an infantry division.

Life

Cummerow was born as the son of the officer Ernst Cummerow in the administrative district of Stettin in the Prussian province of Pomerania . After attending a grammar school he joined the Oberprima with the High School from.

On April 13, 1896, Cummerow joined the Royal Saxon Army as an officer candidate and served until August 1, 1914, first with the 11th Infantry Regiment No. 139 and then until the outbreak of the First World War with the 3rd Infantry Regiment No. 102 " King Ludwig III. of Bavaria ” . During his period of service from 1900 to 1902 he was deployed abroad to suppress the Boxer Rebellion with the 6th East Asian Infantry Regiment (subordinated to the 3rd East Asian Infantry Brigade of the East Asian Expeditionary Corps). After being promoted to secondary lieutenant in 1897, he graduated from the military academy and was promoted to captain by the end of September 1911 . During the First World War he was a General Staff Officer of the 96th Infantry Division and finally as Major Commander of the 2nd Battalion in the Reserve Infantry Regiment No. 243 of the 53rd Reserve Division . He fought on the territory of the Ottoman Empire , Persia and on the Western Front . For the defensive successes of his battalion west of Soissons , he was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Military Order of St. Henry on October 3, 1918 . In addition, he received both classes of the Iron Cross .

On March 1, 1919, Cummerow was accepted into the Reichswehr and on July 1, 1921, was promoted to lieutenant colonel . He was first in command of the 1st Battalion and served until March 31, 1926 with the staff of the 11th (Saxon) Infantry Regiment in Leipzig . As a colonel, he retired from military service after 30 years of service.

On May 1, 1933, he joined the NSDAP (membership number 2,579,961) and on April 21, 1933 the SA as SA-Sturmbannführer . From April 21, 1933 to June 1, 1935, he was assigned to SA Upper Group I (Berlin) (from which SA Upper Group III (Berlin) emerged in July 1933 ). From April 8, 1934 to May 5, 1934 he was a tactics teacher at the Reichsfuhrer School of the SA in Munich . On November 1, 1934, he was promoted to SA-Obersturmbannführer as head of the SA training office at the head of training . On November 20, he succeeded SA-Sturmbannführer Werner and at the same time became head of the personnel office at the head of the SA training system.

On June 1, 1935, Cummerow transferred from the SA to the SS with the rank of SS-Sturmbannführer on the staff of the Reichsführer SS (membership number 263.268). He was the full-time leader of the General SS from June 1, 1935 to January 28, 1941 . From July 10, 1935 to October 1, 1936 he held the post of head of department A1 in the SS main office . On October 1, 1936, he took over from Paul Hausser as the head of the leadership office in the SS main office, which he handed over to Karl Zech on October 1, 1937 . At the same time, from April 20, 1937 to September 1, 1938 he was chief department head in the personnel staff of the Reichsführer SS. From September 1, 1938 to June 1, 1939 he was Führer z. V. of the SS-Totenkopfverband and concentration camps. From June 1, 1939 to August 1, 1939 he was head of the education and training department in the SS Personnel Main Office . From August 1939 to November 17, 1939 he was deputy head of the group command of the SS-Totenkopfstandarten in all purely military matters and from August 3, 1939 he was deputy of Theodor Eicke in the troop leadership and as such superior of all SS-Totenkopf units. Eicke was to set up his own front -line units (the Waffen-SS ) for the SS , which were to be formed exclusively from volunteers of the Totenkopf-Standarten . From November 17, 1939 to May 25, 1940 he was the commissioner of the inspector general of the reinforced skull standards and was subordinate to August Heissmeyer ; On November 17th, he described Cummerow's tasks as follows: training the troops and their troops and preparing the leaders and troops for their deployment. In addition, from November 9, 1939 to May 25, 1940, Cummerow was head of the training system for the reinforced SS skull standards. from May 25, 1940 to January 28, 1941 he was training inspector of the Waffen SS in the SS main office.

On January 28, 1941, Cummerow ended his full-time job with the SS and joined the Wehrmacht as a colonel . However, he remained as an honorary leader with the Reichsführer SS staff until May 8, 1945. From June 9, 1941 until the end of the war, he was in command of the 62nd Infantry Division .

family

Cummerow was married and had a son and a daughter. The marriage was divorced on June 24, 1924. In addition to German, he also spoke French .

Promotions

In the SA

April 21, 1933: SA-Sturmbannführer
November 1, 1934: SA Obersturmbannführer

In the SS

June 1, 1935: SS-Sturmbannführer
September 15, 1935: SS-Obersturmbannführer
March 11, 1936: SS Standartenführer
April 20, 1937: SS-Oberführer
January 30, 1939: SS brigade leader

Awards

Honorary sword Reichsführer SS

SS ring of honor (SS skull ring )

December 16, 1935: SS Julleuchter

Individual evidence

↑ The Royal Saxon Military St. Heinrichs Order 1736–1918. An honor sheet of the Saxon Army. Wilhelm and Bertha von Baensch Foundation, Dresden 1937, p. 191.
↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Seniority list of the NSDAP's protection staff. As of December 1, 1937, serial no. 220 on p. 20 f. (JPG; 1.32 MB) In: http://www.dws-xip.pl/reich/biografie/1937/1937.html . Retrieved March 14, 2020 .
↑ Hans-Christian Harten: ideological training of the SS and the police in National Socialism: compilation of personal data. 2017, p. 79 (URN: urn: nbn: de: 0111-pedocs-151559 ).

personal data
SURNAME	Cummerow, Hermann
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Cummerow, Hermann Heinrich Karl Ernst (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	German SS brigade leader
DATE OF BIRTH	January 10, 1878
PLACE OF BIRTH	Demmin
DATE OF DEATH	January 13, 1966
Place of death	Greifswald

[1] The Royal Saxon Military St. Heinrichs Order 1736–1918. An honor sheet of the Saxon Army. Wilhelm and Bertha von Baensch Foundation, Dresden 1937, p. 191.

[dal-2] ↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Seniority list of the NSDAP's protection staff. As of December 1, 1937, serial no. 220 on p. 20 f. (JPG; 1.32 MB) In: http://www.dws-xip.pl/reich/biografie/1937/1937.html . Retrieved March 14, 2020 .

[3] Hans-Christian Harten: ideological training of the SS and the police in National Socialism: compilation of personal data. 2017, p. 79 (URN: urn: nbn: de: 0111-pedocs-151559 ).