Michael Kitzelmann
Michael Kitzelmann (born January 29, 1916 in Horben, today a part of Gestratz ; † June 11, 1942 in Orel ) was executed as an officer in the Wehrmacht during the Second World War for " degrading military strength ".
Life
As a budding theologian
Michael Kitzelmann, who came from a strict Catholic farming family, came to the humanistic grammar school in Dillingen an der Donau in 1928 with the support of his teacher and pastor , where he lived in the Catholic boys' college and graduated from high school in 1936. In the same year he completed the Reich Labor Service at Pfronten-Ried and in September 1936 began studying three semesters at the St. Stephan Theological Academy in Augsburg with the aim of becoming a priest.
In 1937 he also applied to the teacher training institute in Pasing near Munich. His application was rejected because he was unwilling to join one of the compulsory Nazi organizations .
As an officer
To complete his military service, Kitzelmann moved to the Luitpold barracks ( Lindau on Lake Constance ) in 1937 . He then joined the 91st Infantry Regiment as a reserve officer candidate.
He wrote to a friend on January 9, 1938:
“So for two years I have to endure this terrible yoke of ridiculous and dreary military drills. I find that pretty mind-numbing after just a few weeks. "
In March 1938, Kitzelmann was involved in the invasion of Austria on the occasion of the so-called Anschluss .
Just before his two years' service was over, the war began. In 1939 Kitzelmann took part in the attack on Poland . Tickelmann , who has meanwhile been promoted to NCO, reported to his parents from Osieck on the Vistula:
"The horror images that I had to look at on the corpse field have engraved themselves so deeply in my soul that I will never forget them."
After the victory over France in 1940 , he expressed his enthusiasm in a letter to his father when he was promoted to lieutenant:
“A soldier is just happy when he moves forward and his weapons are successful. The sharpness of our sword will be well known to everyone. "
In June 1941 the war against the Soviet Union began . Kitzelmann got involved in the merciless fighting on the Eastern Front. He took part in the Smolensk Kettle Battle in July 1941 and the early stages of the Battle of Leningrad . He received the Iron Cross second class for bravery as a company commander . In letters to his parents and in conversations with comrades, he expressed criticism of the war of extermination and those responsible for it out of his basic Christian attitude :
"Everyone's only thought and wish is: End of the war, out of Russia and back home."
"We have become an eternally wandering, robbing army."
In the winter of 1941 he was used in the fight against partisans . From January to May 1942, Kitzelmann witnessed atrocities committed by Einsatzgruppen against Russians and Jews. Traumatized and shocked by these experiences, after an examination of his conscience, Kitzelmann began to hate the Nazis and openly criticize orders. His rejection of the war and the Nazi leadership responsible for it, resulting from his basic Christian attitude, he now showed more and more clearly in letters home and conversations with comrades:
"If these rags win, then I cannot and will not live anymore."
"At home they tear the crosses from the schools - here we are shown to fight against godless Bolshevism ..."
The end
His remarks were his undoing. A comrade denounced him while he was in the hospital in Orel in March 1942. Kitzelmann returned to his division and was arrested in early April. On Good Friday 1942, the field war tribunal of the 262nd Infantry Division sentenced him to death for " undermining military strength " .
Michael Kitzelmann was shocked by the impending tragic end of his life, but according to the diary entries he has received, he was not particularly surprised. At the age of twenty-four he was a company commander, was awarded the Iron Cross 2nd class for bravery in combat and the gold wound badge for several wounds.
He described his thoughts and despair during his two-month detention on death row as follows:
“Now I know the full rage of these defense laws. Overnight I was branded a criminal for making some derogatory remarks about the government. And for that I obviously have to lose my life, my honor, my friends and my place in human society ... Didn't I honorably serve my country for four years? I was at the front for two years, took part in three campaigns and showed my loyalty often enough. Is that the thanks of my fatherland? "
His mother, a farmer from Allgäu, tried to save him, drove to Berlin in a hurry and tried to submit a petition for clemency, but was rejected with the words:
“What do you actually expect, Ms. Kitzelmann? Be satisfied if we don't bring you and your husband to justice. See this batch of letters here - you and your son wrote that. "
Michael Kitzelmann was executed by shooting in the Wehrmacht prison Orel on June 11, 1942 , losing his "military worth" . Before the execution he forgave the sergeant who had denounced him.
Follow-up
The Legal Affairs Committee of the German Parliament adopted 26 August 2009 unanimously adopted a resolution recommendation to the Bundestag to rehabilitate the convicted for war treason. The Bundestag did this (in its last session of the electoral term) on September 8, 2009, a good 64 years after the end of the war (see repeal of unjust Nazi judgments ). According to historians, arbitrary death sentences were then imposed.
Appreciation
In May 1986 this memorial plaque was inaugurated at the Johann-Michael-Sailer-Gymnasium in Dillingen an der Donau:
- "Michael Kitzelmann, high school graduate born in 1936, executed on June 11, 1942. He died for freedom of thought and belief."
The Catholic Church accepted Michael Kitzelmann as a witness of faith in the German martyrology of the 20th century .
literature
(in order of appearance)
- Annedore Leber (Ed.): The conscience stands up. 64 life pictures from the German resistance 1933–1945. Published in collaboration with Willy Brandt and Karl Dietrich Bracher . Mosaik Verlag, Berlin et al. 1954, English translation under the title Conscience in Revolt in particular of Kitzelmann's diary entries .
- Tickle Man, Michael . In: Wilhelm Kosch : Biographisches Staats Handbuch . Lexicon of politics, press and journalism . Continued by Eugen Kuri. Second volume. A. Francke Verlag, Bern and Munich 1963, p. 662.
- Friedemann needy (ed.): The great lexicon of the Third Reich. Südwest-Verlag, Munich 1985, ISBN 3-517-00834-6 .
- Karl Schweizer: National Socialism in the City and District of Lindau. In: Werner Dobras, Andreas Kurz (Ed.): At home in the Lindau district. Stadler Verlagsgesellschaft, Konstanz 1994, ISBN 3-7977-0281-7 , pp. 113-135.
- Francis L. Carsten : The German Resistance to Hitler. Resistance thinking on foreign policy. Batsford, London 1970 (In German: Resistance against Hitler. The German workers and the Nazis. Insel Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 1996, ISBN 3-458-16806-0 ).
- Helmut Moll (Ed. On behalf of the German Bishops' Conference): Witnesses for Christ. The German Martyrology of the 20th Century , Paderborn a. a. 1999, 7th revised and updated edition 2019, ISBN 978-3-506-78012-6 , Volume I, pp. 75-79.
- Hans Hümmeler: Michael Kitzelmann. Man - soldier - Christian. 1st edition, unchanged reprint. Eos-Verlag, St. Ottilien 2000, ISBN 3-8306-7020-6 (letters and diary entries from death row).
- Alexander Dallin : German Rule in Russia, 1941–1945. A Study of Occupation Policies. 2nd edition. Palgrave, Basingstoke 2001, ISBN 0-333-21695-4 .
- Jakob Knab : Outrage over the ideological war of annihilation in the east. The Catholic Lieutenant Michael Kitzelmann . In: Wolfram Wette (ed.): Moral courage. Outraged, helpers and rescuers from the Wehrmacht, police and SS (= Fischer pocket books 15852). Fischer-Taschenbuch-Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 2004, ISBN 3-596-15852-4 , pp. 35-49.
Web links
- Karl Schweizer: The Nazi regime shot Michael Kitzelmann . In: SZON Süddeutsche Zeitung Online , August 25, 2009, with portrait
- In Our Century The Martyrs Have Come Back In: Die Welt Online , October 11, 1999
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b see English online version at Literature Annelore Leber.
- ↑ a b c d e f see web link "Karl Schweizer".
- ↑ a b Michael Kitzelmann in the Italian language Wikipedia.
- ↑ according to American sources "army captain" = captain.
- ↑ lisbetheng.blogspot.com
- ↑ The quote is an attempt to translate the text back into English. As soon as a knowledgeable Wikipedian has the original text, please insert it here.
- ↑ Last words and farewell letter ( memento of the original from June 29, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ see announcement in Beck-aktuell (end of August 2009).
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Tickle Man, Michael |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German officer, was executed for undermining military strength |
| DATE OF BIRTH | January 29, 1916 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Gestratz |
| DATE OF DEATH | June 11, 1942 |
| Place of death | Oryol |