Karl Maas

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Karl Maas (born on November 13, 1885 in Winnweiler ; died on March 6, 1955 in Frankfurt am Main ) was a football pioneer from West Palatinate, a district judge and a victim of National Socialism . He had a decisive influence on the early years of 1. FC Kaiserslautern and was persecuted by the National Socialists on the basis of the Nuremberg Laws .

Life

Professional career

Karl Maas was born in 1885 as the son of the Jewish businessman Moritz Maas. In 1912 he started his professional career as a lawyer at the Kaiserslautern Regional Court . In the First World War he served as a commissioned officer of the 3rd Company of the Bavarian 8th Infantry Regiment For his services he was awarded the Cross of Honor for Front Fighters . he became a prisoner of war and was not released until 1920. In February of the same year he succeeded in gaining a foothold again as a local attorney at the Homburg and Waldmohr District Court . In May 1921 he became a district judge at the Kaiserslautern District Court and in March 1930 he was promoted to the District Court Councilor.

Athletic career

As early as 1910, Maas became secretary of the football club Kaiserslautern 1900 (FVK 1900) founded the year before. He held this office until 1914. He was also in demand in other sports disciplines. He was a referee at the 8th National Track and Field Competitions in 1914 and, together with Georg Pöppl, was responsible for the establishment of two tennis courts. After the war he was in the competition management at the district competition games of 1921 and at the XI. National Olympic competitions on the Betzenberg in 1922. On July 11, 1925, he was also appointed to the honorary committee of the national swimming festival by the Poseidon swimming club.

In 1928 and 1929 he served as acting head of the football department together with Karl Benz. He also wrote several leading articles for the association newspaper of the FVK Phönix. His club career ended when the National Socialists seized power. Uncharacteristic of the National Socialist dealings with Jewish functionaries, his name was not kept secret. In 1939 he was named by Der Kicker , the then central organ for football in the NSRL, as an important functionary from the early phase of 1. FC Kaiserslautern.

His younger brother Albert Maas was a team doctor at the FV Kaiserslautern and emigrated to the United States in 1936, where he committed suicide a short time later.

Persecution by the National Socialists

After the seizure of power in 1933, he could no longer exercise his office as a judge. As a combatant at the front, he was initially spared from being dismissed and retired under the law for the restoration of the civil service of April 7, 1933, but his German national sentiments did not help him from persecution due to the National Socialist racial hygiene . As early as March 10, 1933, he was prevented from entering the court. Although he was still listed in the address book of the city of Kaiserslautern as a district judge in 1934, in fact he was no longer able to exercise this office. According to the Reich Citizenship Act of 1935, he was given leave of absence on October 31, 1935 and retired on January 1, 1936.

Together with his wife Liesel he moved to Frankfurt am Main, where he was arrested on November 12, 1938 after the Reichskristallnacht and taken to Buchenwald concentration camp . However, he was released again and was initially able to continue working as a forced laborer in factories and as a grave digger , as he lived in a so-called " mixed marriage ". He was arrested again in February 1945 and taken to the Theresienstadt ghetto . There he was liberated by the Soviet Army on May 10th .

Post-war years

On August 1, 1945, he began his career in the Hessian judicial service as a local judge at the Frankfurt am Main district court . On April 1, 1946, he was appointed district court director and on September 7, 1947, district court president. He retired on April 1, 1951. He died five years later on March 6, 1955 in Frankfurt am Main. He also volunteered for the Eintracht Frankfurt soccer club . His wife, however, prevented an appointment as club president.

Posthumous honor

After his death, Eintracht Frankfurt competed in their first home game in a mourning ribbon . In addition to various obituaries, he was also mentioned in Stefanie Zweig's autobiographical novels as a fatherly friend of Walter Redlich . Mention can be found in Nirgendwo in Afrika (1995) and Irgendwo in Deutschland (1996).

literature

  • Markwart Herzog: 4. Jewish biographies and fates: District judge Karl Maas - West Palatinate football pioneer . In: The "Betze" under the swastika. 1. FC Kaiserslautern in the time of National Socialism . Verlag die Werkstatt, Göttingen 2006, ISBN 978-3-89533-541-9 , p. 32-36 .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Markwart Herzog: 4. Jewish biographies and fates: District judge Karl Maas - West Palatinate football pioneer . 2006, p. 32 .
  2. ↑ a b Markwart Herzog: 4. Jewish biographies and fates: District judge Karl Maas - West Palatinate football pioneer . 2006, p. 33 .
  3. ↑ a b Markwart Herzog: 4. Jewish biographies and fates: District judge Karl Maas - West Palatinate football pioneer . 2006, p. 35 .
  4. ↑ Biographies . In: 11 Friends : Lost Heroes . 11 Freunde Verlag, Berlin 2014, p. 14 ( 11freunde.de [PDF]).
  5. ↑ a b c Markwart Herzog: 4. Jewish biographies and fates: District judge Karl Maas - West Palatinate football pioneer . 2006, p. 34 f .
personal data
SURNAME Maas, Karl
BRIEF DESCRIPTION West Palatinate football pioneer, magistrate and victim of National Socialism
DATE OF BIRTH November 13, 1885
PLACE OF BIRTH Winnweiler
DATE OF DEATH March 6, 1955
Place of death Frankfurt am Main