Hermann von der Forst

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Hermann von der Forst (born November 8, 1892 in Bad Driburg ; † May 29, 1968 in Melle ) was a German entrepreneur , local politician (NSDAP) and promoter of local cultural institutions in Melle, Osnabrück administrative district (until its dissolution in 1978), district Osnabrück , Lower Saxony .

Life

Hermann von der Forst was born as the son of the mayor on November 8, 1892 in Bad Driburg. His ancestors came from a middle-class Catholic family. His grandfathers were bailiffs and rent masters.

After attending grammar school in Paderborn , which Forst prematurely left without a high school diploma due to poor academic performance, he completed a commercial apprenticeship. As a young soldier in the German army, he fought in the First World War in the Battle of the Somme and the Battle of Verdun and was dismissed from the army in 1919 as a highly decorated lieutenant in the reserve , awarded both classes of the Iron Cross .

In 1920 Forst married Erna Herold, daughter of the wealthy owner of the Herold drive belt factory in Westerhausen (today Westland Gummiwerke), district of Melle, who went bankrupt during the Great Depression in 1932. He converted to the Evangelical Lutheran Church and had three children.

In 1932, Forst joined the NSDAP , of which he was a member until 1945. He had previously joined both the German National People's Party (DVNP) and the SA (1932), which he left in 1934 with the rank of Sturmbannführer. Shortly after the Nazi seizure of power , the city of Melle appointed him mayor in 1933, on the initiative of NSDAP district leader Helmut Seidel, by removing the previous mayor, Hans Gerhard (1931–1933), who was considered an anti-Nazi opponent. 1935 rose to forestry district administrator of the district of Melle on, however, he was in 1943, probably due to dissolution of his office, in the waiting state is added.

At the beginning of the Second World War , after the occupation of France by the German Wehrmacht , Forst was assigned to the military administration of France. Shortly thereafter, however, he was convicted of disobedience and foreign currency offenses and deposed. For his rehabilitation he applied for frontline probation, whereupon the Wehrmacht transferred him to the eastern front as a simple soldier, where he again proved himself and was again decorated and promoted to lieutenant.

After the end of the war, Forst was interned by the British occupying forces and, in a denazification process lasting several years, was initially classified as a major promoter and beneficiary of the Nazi regime, but later denazified as a so-called `` fellow traveler '' due to numerous good credentials from Meller citizens. In the post-war period, Forst worked, among other things, as a liquor seller.

The dignitaries of the city of Melle took Forst, whose friendly and sociable manner was widely appreciated, back into their circle, e. B. as an honorary member of the shooting club and the Kreisreiterverband. Forst died on May 29, 1968 in Melle, honored by the citizens of Melle with numerous obituary notices in the local press.

literature

Web links

  • [1] Image source: Heimatverein Melle, 2018.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Lower Saxony State Archives, Osnabrück branch, denazification files, von der Forst, Hermann, date of birth: November 8, 1892, NLA OS Rep 980, No. 33591
  2. ↑ see here and below: Plaß, Uwe: “A Meller district administrator with a dubious career”. Meller Kreisblatt, May 3, 2018
personal data
SURNAME Forst, Hermann von der
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German NSDAP local politician and district administrator
DATE OF BIRTH November 8, 1892
PLACE OF BIRTH Bad Driburg
DATE OF DEATH May 29, 1968
Place of death Melle