Karl Fritsch (politician)

Karl Fritsch

Karl Johann Erhard Fritsch (born June 16, 1901 in Hof (Saale) , † April 22, 1944 in Dresden ) was a German politician ( NSDAP ). Fritsch was Saxony's interior minister from 1933 to 1943.

Life

After graduating from the humanistic grammar school in Hof, Fritsch was a member of the 1st Bavarian Rifle Regiment in April and May 1919, which belonged to the Epp Freikorps . In 1920 he took part in battles against armed groups around Max Hoelz in the Vogtland as a temporary volunteer in the Reichswehr . In 1919, Fritsch was one of the founders of the Hof local group of the German National Guard and Defense Association . In 1922 he switched to the NSDAP ( membership number 12.130) and was involved in the founding of the local groups in Erlangen and Hof.

Fritsch began studying medicine at the University of Erlangen in 1919, but switched to political science after one semester . He was a member of the Baruthia Corps . After an interruption between 1923 and 1925, Fritsch finished his studies in 1926 with a doctorate on "The brewing trade in Hof and the surrounding East Upper Franconian border district" .

In November 1923, Fritsch was deputy district manager for Upper Franconia in the NSDAP. During the ban on the NSDAP as a result of the Hitler putsch , he headed the Upper Franconia-East district of the Völkisch Bloc . After the re-admission of the NSDAP, Fritsch rejoined the party on June 1, 1926 (membership number 43,073) and became district leader for Upper Franconia. On January 1, 1927, he moved to the Gauleitung Sachsen under Gauleiter Martin Mutschmann . From February 1, 1928, Fritsch was deputy Gauleiter for Saxony; he held this office between 1933 and 1937 until a time that is not exactly known. From 1930 to 1933 Fritsch led the NSDAP parliamentary group in the Saxon state parliament . He became a member of the National Socialist Lawyers' Association .

After the " seizure of power " by the National Socialists, Fritsch was appointed Minister of the Interior of Saxony on May 6, 1933. In November 1933 he received a seat in the Reichstag that was meaningless during the Nazi era. He lived in the Villa Hoflößnitzstrasse 72 in Oberlößnitz . On January 15, 1934, he resigned as standartenführer in the SS (member NR. 127642) and was promoted on November 9, 1934 oberführer and on 30 January 1936 SS brigade leader. Fritsch was also the Saxon state chairman and "general chief" of the German Red Cross .

As Saxon Minister of the Interior, Fritsch ordered numerous dissolutions and bans on associations and organizations, particularly those from the labor movement . By November 1933, 961 people had been dismissed in the area of his ministry under the Law for the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service ; a further 106 proceedings were initiated. In 1935 he supported the ban on Jews in parts of Saxony from visiting public swimming pools. During the National Socialist murders , the “People's Care” department in the Ministry of the Interior was an important interface between the Saxon state agencies and the Berlin central office T4 . Fritsch, who had already spoken out in favor of compulsory sterilization in 1933 , also intervened personally and, for example, had a chief doctor removed who had resisted the killings.

At the beginning of 1936, Fritsch had accused his wife of “criminal instincts” in a marriage challenge and justified this with a conviction of his mother-in-law for stealing . In addition, Fritsch claimed that his father-in-law's SPD membership had been concealed from him. In court proceedings it was proven that the father-in-law, as long-time chairman of the Hof brewery trade union, had supported Fritsch in preparing his dissertation. In addition, the wife was able to prove the marital infidelity of Fritsch, so that the proceedings in the second instance ended with the divorce , whereby Fritsch had to bear the costs of the proceedings. As a result of the outcome of the proceedings, Fritsch had "made himself look ridiculous in large circles of his own party and was politically decisive". Corruption allegations and further "sexual escapades" led to Fritsch losing the support of Reichsleiter Martin Bormann and Heinrich Himmler in August 1943 . Previously, in January 1943, Fritsch had been given leave of absence as Minister of the Interior by the Gauleiter and Prime Minister Mutschmann and had been charged with “behavior harmful to the party ” before the party court.

On February 1, 1943, Fritsch was drafted into the Waffen SS and initially assigned to a flak unit in East Prussia. From April 12 to December 1943 he was a member of the SS Panzer Grenadier Division “Totenkopf” , most recently with the rank of SS squad leader of the reserve.

In April 1944, after divorcing his second wife, Fritsch committed suicide in the Dresden-Friedrichstadt hospital . Alfred Fernholz , psychiatrist and head of the “People's Care” department in the Ministry of the Interior, claimed in a later report that Fritsch was characterized by a “ psychopathic constitution”, “unpredictability” and “imbalance”.

literature

Christine Pieper, Mike Schmeitzner : Karl Fritsch. Deputy Gauleiter and Saxon Interior Minister. In: Dies., Mike Schmeitzner, Gerhard Naser (Hrsg.): Braune Karrieren. Dresden perpetrators and actors in National Socialism. Sandstein, Dresden 2012, ISBN 978-3-942422-85-7 , pp. 32-40.
Joachim Lilla , Martin Döring, Andreas Schulz: extras in uniform. The members of the Reichstag 1933–1945. A biographical manual. Including the national and national socialist members of the Reichstag from May 1924. Droste, Düsseldorf 2004, ISBN 3-7700-5254-4 , pp. 163–164.

Web links

Literature by and about Karl Fritsch in the catalog of the German National Library
Karl Fritsch in the database of members of the Reichstag
Dr. rer. pole. Karl Fritsch , entry on the website of the Saxon State Ministry of the Interior, an overview of the Saxon interior ministers (with picture)

Individual evidence

↑ Handbuch des Kösener Corpsstudenten , edited by the board of directors. Verb. Alter Corpsstudenten e. V. (VAC), Würzburg, coordinated by Hartmut Fischer, 6th edition, Würzburg 1985, Volume 1, Chapter 10, Department III. "Politics and the public, a. Heads of State and Ministers ”, p. 225.
↑ Pieper, Schmeitzner, Fritsch , pp. 35f.
↑ Pieper, Schmeitzner, Fritsch , pp. 34, 36f.
↑ Pieper, Schmeitzner, Fritsch , p. 38 f.
↑ This assessment in Pieper, Schmeitzner, Fritsch , p. 39.
↑ Lilla, extras , p. 163.
↑ Thomas Schilter: Inhuman discretion. The National Socialist “euthanasia” killing center in Pirna-Sonnenstein 1940/41. Gustav Kiepenheuer, Leipzig 1998, ISBN 3-378-01033-9 , p. 85.
↑ Quoted in Pieper, Schmeitzner, Fritsch , p. 38.

personal data
SURNAME	Fritsch, Karl
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Fritsch, Karl Johann Erhard (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	German politician (NSDAP), MdR, Minister of the Interior of Saxony
DATE OF BIRTH	June 16, 1901
PLACE OF BIRTH	Hof (Saale)
DATE OF DEATH	April 22, 1944
Place of death	Dresden

[1] Handbuch des Kösener Corpsstudenten , edited by the board of directors. Verb. Alter Corpsstudenten e. V. (VAC), Würzburg, coordinated by Hartmut Fischer, 6th edition, Würzburg 1985, Volume 1, Chapter 10, Department III. "Politics and the public, a. Heads of State and Ministers ”, p. 225.

[2] Pieper, Schmeitzner, Fritsch , pp. 35f.

[3] Pieper, Schmeitzner, Fritsch , pp. 34, 36f.

[4] Pieper, Schmeitzner, Fritsch , p. 38 f.

[5] This assessment in Pieper, Schmeitzner, Fritsch , p. 39.

[6] Lilla, extras , p. 163.

[7] Thomas Schilter: Inhuman discretion. The National Socialist “euthanasia” killing center in Pirna-Sonnenstein 1940/41. Gustav Kiepenheuer, Leipzig 1998, ISBN 3-378-01033-9 , p. 85.

[8] Quoted in Pieper, Schmeitzner, Fritsch , p. 38.