Jonathan Schmid (politician)

Jonathan Schmid (born January 21, 1888 in Gebersheim ; † July 15, 1945 in Langenargen ) was a German politician ( NSDAP ), member of the Württemberg state parliament and the Reichsrat , Württemberg interior, justice and economics minister and deputy Württemberg prime minister in the Time of National Socialism .

Personal

Jonathan Schmid came from a Protestant farming family. His parents Gottfried Schmid and Wilhelmine Schmid geb. Hecker ran agriculture in Gebersheim near Leonberg . Jonathan Schmid married Franziska Becker. In March 1942 Schmid resigned from the Protestant church. He suffered from diabetes all his life .

Professional background

Jonathan Schmid passed his Abitur in Stuttgart in 1907 and studied law at the Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen from 1907 to 1909 and joined the Stochdorphia Academic Music Association . In 1909 he moved to the Ludwig Maximilians University in Munich . There he passed the first state examination in law in 1911 and received his doctorate in 1913. jur. From October to December 1913 he served as a volunteer with the infantry body regiment in Munich , but had to be released early for health reasons. With the beginning of the First World War , he had been a volunteer in the field artillery regiment 49 in Ulm since August 1914 . From 1916 to 1918 he served at the front, most recently in the rank of lieutenant. Like many veterans, Schmid later idealized participation in the war in the sense of Ernst Jünger as a community experience that united the German tribes. In 1919 Schmid passed the second state examination in law and settled as a lawyer in Leonberg. In 1922 Schmid became a member of the Leonberg municipal council, to which he belonged until 1928. From 1924 Schmid worked as a lawyer in Stuttgart.

Activity in politics

Schmid became a member of the NSDAP in June 1923 and founded the NSDAP local group in Leonberg. With the help of his printing works (Lindenbergersche Druckerei in Leonberg), which he had already acquired in 1916, Schmid produced numerous propaganda material for the NSDAP and published the Nazi paper Flammenzeichen , which was the Württemberg counterpart of the striker . From 1930 to 1932 Schmid was NSDAP local group leader in Leonberg . In the Württemberg state election on April 24, 1932, he became one of the 23 members of the NSDAP parliamentary group. In the election for the Württemberg state president , he missed an absolute majority of the votes, so that the previous incumbent Eugen Bolz continued the business of the state president. From 1932 onwards, the NSDAP provided the president of the state parliament as the strongest faction. In succession to Christian Mergenthaler , Schmid was briefly President of the Württemberg state parliament from March 15 to April 15, 1933. In this function he was responsible for the arrest of unpopular members of the state parliament, such as Fritz Ulrichs from the SPD , who was arrested as a member of the state parliament and taken to the Heuberg concentration camp in violation of his immunity . From April 1933 Schmid was first ministerial director in the Württemberg Ministry of the Interior, and then on May 12, 1933 he joined the Mergenthaler cabinet as Württemberg Minister of the Interior and Justice . As a result, Schmid often played the role of mediator between Prime Minister Mergenthaler and the Reichsstatthalter and Gauleiter Wilhelm Murr , who were in constant rivalry. The Württemberg Ministry of Justice was abolished in December 1934 and its powers were transferred to the Reich Ministry of Justice. In 1935 Schmid also took over the Württemberg Ministry of Economics as the successor to Oswald Lehnich . At the beginning of the Second World War , the powers of the Württemberg Ministry of the Interior and Economics were transferred to Gauleiter Wilhelm Murr, who had been appointed Reich Defense Commissioner, without Schmid officially resigning from his ministerial offices. From August 27, 1939, he was entrusted with the task of head of the civil administration of the Heimat operation area, which he carried out until June 20, 1940. From June 1940 to the end of July 1942, Schmid was then head of the war administration in France through General Hans Speidel , who came from Württemberg . In this capacity he was directly subordinate to the French military commander in Paris (1940–1942 Otto von Stülpnagel ). Schmid also took part in organizing the deportation of French Jews to the Eastern European extermination camps . For health reasons he returned from Paris to Stuttgart in July 1942. Although still officially the Minister of the Interior of Württemberg, the actual head of the ministry was now the National Socialist Ministerial Director Georg Stümpfig . Together with the Lord Mayor of Stuttgart Karl Strölin , Jonathan Schmid tried to prevent the destruction in connection with the Nero order, which was ordered by Gauleiter Wilhelm Murr in the last days of the war.

In 1943 Schmid had the rank of Obergruppenführer in the SA .

Club activity

Schmid was a member of the officers' association, the Kyffhäuserbund , the Reichskolonialbund and the Swabian Singers Association, of which he was president. He also headed the German Red Cross and the Equestrian Association in the NSDAP district of Württemberg-Hohenzollern .

Life balance

In April 1945 Schmid was arrested while fleeing from Stuttgart towards Lake Constance . He died of insulin deficiency in French captivity . In the judgment of some contemporaries, Schmid was described as a matter-of-fact, reserved and balanced personality, even after 1945, which pleasantly set him apart from many of his fanatical party colleagues. In individual cases, Schmid successfully campaigned for the protection of political prisoners he knew. Nevertheless, this aspect of his biography should not hide the fact that he largely supported the politics of the National Socialist regime in his prominent offices and did nothing to prevent crimes such as the euthanasia in Grafeneck , the Holocaust or the persecution of the political opposition. In the course of the denazification , the Chamber IV in Leonberg posthumously sentenced Schmid to a fine of 7,000 DM (after the currency reform of June 21, 1948) as an “offender” . The amount, which was not insignificant at the time, was placed on the inheritance of his widow Franziska Schmid.

literature

Angela Borgstedt: When in doubt, also with a hard hand. Jonathan Schmid, Württemberg Minister of the Interior, Justice and Economics. In: M. Kießener, J. Scholtyseck (Ed.): The leaders of the province. Nazi biographies from Baden and Württemberg. Universitätsverlag Konstanz, Konstanz 1997, pp. 595–620.
Frank Raberg : Biographical handbook of the Württemberg state parliament members 1815-1933 . On behalf of the Commission for Historical Regional Studies in Baden-Württemberg. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart 2001, ISBN 3-17-016604-2 , p. 797 .

Web links

Dr. Jonathan Schmidt, Minister of the Interior, Minister of Justice and Minister of Economics Schmid's biography on the online portal History of the State Ministries in Baden and Württemberg during the National Socialist era
"Home decree" of November 7th, 1938 of this "balancing character"

References and comments

^ Association of Alter SVer (VASV): Address book. Membership directory of all old men. As of October 1, 1937. Hanover 1937, p. 217.
↑ When Jonathan Schmid actually took over the Württemberg Ministry of Economic Affairs, there is inconsistent treatment in the literature. Bertold Spuler (see following note) on page 648 indicates October 8, 1935 as the end of Oswald Lehnich's term of office, although the author's successor Schmid was not known by name. In the article by Angela Borgstedt (see list of literature), only the year 1936 is mentioned on page 595 as the beginning of Schmid's activity as württ. Economic Minister called. In Frank Raberg's handbook on page 797 (see list of references) January 10, 1935 is mentioned as the inauguration of Jonathan Schmid as württ. Economy Minister mentioned.
↑ Bertold Spuler: Regents and Governments of the World, Part II, Volume 4: Latest Time 1917/18–1964. Ploetz, Würzburg 1964.
^ Ernst Klee : The dictionary of persons on the Third Reich. Who was what before and after 1945. 2nd edition. Fischer, Frankfurt am Main 2005, ISBN 978-3-596-16048-8 , p. 543.

personal data
SURNAME	Schmid, Jonathan
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	German politician (NSDAP) and Minister of the Interior of Württemberg
DATE OF BIRTH	January 21, 1888
PLACE OF BIRTH	Gebersheim
DATE OF DEATH	July 15, 1945
Place of death	Langenargen

[1] Association of Alter SVer (VASV): Address book. Membership directory of all old men. As of October 1, 1937. Hanover 1937, p. 217.

[2] When Jonathan Schmid actually took over the Württemberg Ministry of Economic Affairs, there is inconsistent treatment in the literature. Bertold Spuler (see following note) on page 648 indicates October 8, 1935 as the end of Oswald Lehnich's term of office, although the author's successor Schmid was not known by name. In the article by Angela Borgstedt (see list of literature), only the year 1936 is mentioned on page 595 as the beginning of Schmid's activity as württ. Economic Minister called. In Frank Raberg's handbook on page 797 (see list of references) January 10, 1935 is mentioned as the inauguration of Jonathan Schmid as württ. Economy Minister mentioned.

[3] Bertold Spuler: Regents and Governments of the World, Part II, Volume 4: Latest Time 1917/18–1964. Ploetz, Würzburg 1964.

[4] Ernst Klee : The dictionary of persons on the Third Reich. Who was what before and after 1945. 2nd edition. Fischer, Frankfurt am Main 2005, ISBN 978-3-596-16048-8 , p. 543.