Johann Menso Folkerts

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Johann Menso Folkerts (born December 14, 1909 in Emden ; † February 22, 1967 in Leer ) was the founder of the Emden NSDAP local group, later district leader of the party and editor of the regional NSDAP organ Ostfriesische Tageszeitung .

Foundation of the local NSDAP group

Folkerts founded the Emden local branch of the NSDAP as a high school student at the age of 18 . To this end, he deliberately chose Republic Day, November 10th. A short time later he also helped found the local NSDAP group in the neighboring town of Aurich .

In the time of National Socialism

Folkerts played a decisive role in the implementation and establishment of the Nazi system in his hometown during the initial phase of National Socialism . He particularly excelled in the forced removal of Mayor Wilhelm Mützelburg , who had been in office since 1913 , who he kidnapped from his office together with a group of National Socialists in October 1933, whereupon that group drove him hooting through the city. Mützelburg was subsequently “on sick leave” and was then replaced by the acting mayor Paul Hinkler , previously the police chief of Altona , and in November 1933 by the Holstein lawyer and NSDAP member Hermann Maas .

In addition, Folkerts worked for a short time in 1933 as chief editor of the Rhein-Ems-Zeitung , the previously left-liberal daily Emdens. In 1938 he took on the same function at the regional party organ Ostfriesische Tageszeitung , a position he held until the end of the war. From 1938, he no longer held political offices in his hometown, which may be due to the fact that Folkerts refused to leave the church. On the other hand, Folkerts was active in the East Frisian landscape , where he headed the “art warden” department and from 1942 had acted as a landscape councilor with responsibility for “ clan research and race care”. In addition, he worked for the NSDAP in matters relating to relations with the Netherlands.

After the time of National Socialism

After the end of the war, Folkerts was initially interned. In the course of denazification he was classified in category 4 (fellow travelers) in 1949 , which the historian Dietmar von Reeken judged as "relatively mild". Folkerts reoriented himself professionally: He left his hometown Emden, but not his home region of East Friesland and built up the district organization of a building society in Leer.

In contrast to his mentor in the East Frisian landscape Hermann Conring , Folkerts was hardly active in politics . His candidacy for a community of voters in Leer in 1964 remained an episode. However, Folkerts remained connected to the East Frisian landscape and continued his work on family research. He died in Leer-Loga at the age of 57.

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Dietmar von Reeken: Johann Menso Folkerts. In online version of the Biographical Lexicon for Ostfriesland , Volume 2, Verlag Ostfriesische Landschaft, Aurich 1997, pp. 122–124 (PDF; 66.68 kB).
personal data
SURNAME Folkerts, Johann Menso
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German founder of the Emden NSDAP local group, later district leader of the party and editor of the regional NSDAP organ Ostfriesische Tageszeitung
DATE OF BIRTH December 14, 1909
PLACE OF BIRTH Emden
DATE OF DEATH February 22, 1967
Place of death Empty