Otto Wolff (economic functionary)

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Otto Wolff (born October 26, 1907 in Kiel ; † November 8, 1991 ) was a German economic functionary , SS standard leader and provisional district economic advisor to the NSDAP in Hamburg from 1940 to 1945.

Life until 1945

Wolff came from a middle-class family and after graduating from high school in 1928 he was employed by the Reichsbahn , where he was promoted to Reichsbahn secretary in 1931 and to Reichsbahn inspector in 1934. In addition to his job, Wolff studied economics at the University of Hamburg and in 1934 passed the examination as a graduate economist. In 1935 he was promoted to Dr. rer. pole. PhD . The topic of his dissertation was: The nature and meaning of the seaport exception tariffs of the Deutsche Reichsbahngesellschaft .

In 1936 Wolff became the main clerk of the Hamburg district economic advisor Carlo Otte and, after Otte had been assigned to head the main economics department at the Reichskommissar Norway in Oslo in 1940 , provisional district economic advisor for Hamburg. From 1940 to 1945 Wolff was a member of the supervisory board of the Hypothekenbank in Hamburg .

Wolff was also head of the economic management staff in military district X, member of the board of HAPAG , chairman of the armaments commission in military district X and the military district commissioner of the Reich Minister for Armaments and Ammunition. From 1942 to 1944 he was also a member of the councilors ' assembly, a kind of municipal pseudo-parliament in Hamburg.

Wolff joined the NSDAP as early as 1930 ( membership number 412.311) and, as an SS member (SS number 357.281), achieved the rank of SS standard leader in August 1943 .

League player at FC St. Pauli

Wolff played from 1925 to 1935 and temporarily again in the 1939/40 season in the first team of FC St. Pauli in the right wing position. He was part of the team that became district league champions in 1929/30. "For the FC striker Otto Wolff, who would later become a central figure in the Nazi reign of terror in Hamburg, this victory was the greatest success of his football career."

Activities in the Gauwirtschaftsamt

Wolff was already involved in numerous " Aryanizations " during his time as the main clerk of the district economic adviser Otte , for example at the private bank MM Warburg & Co and the Köhlbrandwerft . During the war, Wolff also dealt with the liquidation of Jewish property throughout Europe, which he had transferred to Hamburg in various ways. Wolff himself acquired two “Aryanized” houses in Hamburg-Harvestehude and in Elbchaussee in 1939 and 1942 .

From 1940 he had a decisive influence as a provisional regional economic advisor on measures relating to armaments. On August 4, 1943, Otto Wolff, previously head of the War Economy Staff, was appointed “General Commissioner for the Entire Economy” in the Gau. He was thus responsible for the armaments industry as well as for the food and supply companies in Hamburg and chaired a committee made up of senior military officials and top representatives from business and authorities. In this position he also played a central role in the organization of forced labor , cooperating closely with the commandant of the Neuengamme concentration camp .

After 1945

After the liberation of Hamburg, Wolff was interned, from which he was released in April 1948. He was then denazified after a trial in Hamburg-Bergedorf : He had to pay a fine of 5,000 marks due to his membership in the SS. He had to pay 20,000 marks in compensation to the heirs of a house he had acquired in the course of the Aryanization, and he was not prosecuted.

Together with the former Gauleiter Karl Kaufmann , he founded the Dr. Otto Wolff Versicherungen KG and lived in Hamburg as a respected citizen. After 1945 he was again fully integrated socially at FC St. Pauli, for example by being active as an "old gentleman kicker". In 1960 Wolff was listed as one of 30 bearers of the "golden badge of honor" in a "roll of honor" in the festschrift for the 50th anniversary of the association. In an obituary at the beginning of 1992 in the club newspaper of the FC St. Pauli it was noted: “ During the war, our senior in a prominent position had a beneficial effect on our country, on our brown / white colors. “Only in a publication on the history of FC St. Pauli in 2007 was the association's handling of the“ Nazi criminal Wolff ”discussed and compared with the behavior towards victims of National Socialism in the decades after the Nazi dictatorship. At the annual general meeting of FC St.Pauli on November 14, 2010, the golden club pin was posthumously revoked because of his activities during the Nazi dictatorship.

Quotes

The Hamburg Justice Senator Hans-Harder Biermann-Ratjen described Wolff as "one of the worst and most brutal henchmen of absolute anti-Semitism in the economy ".

Fonts

  • Otto Wolff: Nature and meaning of the seaport exception tariffs of the Deutsche Reichsbahngesellschaft. Dissertation University of Hamburg, 1935, 109 pp.

literature

  • Frank Bajohr : "Aryanization" in Hamburg. The displacement of Jewish entrepreneurs 1933-1945 (= Hamburg contributions to social and contemporary history. Vol. 35). Christians, Hamburg 1997, ISBN 3-7672-1302-8 , 415 pp.
  • Daniel Bohé: FC St. Pauli at the time of the Nazi dictatorship: A critical examination of the personal details of Wilhelm Koch and Otto Wolff. Grin-Verlag, Norderstedt 2009, ISBN 978-3-640-45481-5 , 24 pp.
  • René Martens: A vain desk clerk. In: the daily newspaper . Print archive, March 5, 2009.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ 1871–1996 Hypothekenbank in Hamburg, Ed. Hypothekenbank in Hamburg, Hamburg 1996, ISBN 3000006605 , p. 159
  2. ^ Lista 749 - SS-Standartenführerów General SS and Waffen-SS. In: Dws-xip.pl (Otto Wolff on the seniority list).
  3. ↑ René Martens: There are always miracles. The history of FC St. Pauli. Göttingen 2007, ISBN 3-89533-540-1 , p. 36.
  4. ^ René Martens: A vain desk clerk. In: the daily newspaper . Print archive, March 5, 2009.
  5. ^ Friederike Littmann: Forced laborers in the war economy. In: Hamburg in the “Third Reich”. Published by the Research Center for Contemporary History in Hamburg, Hamburg 2005, ISBN 3-89244-903-1 , p. 213 and p. 240.
  6. ↑ Daniel Bohé: FC St. Pauli at the time of the Nazi dictatorship: A Critical analysis of the personal Wilhelm Koch and Otto Wolff. Norderstedt 2009, p. 7.
  7. ↑ Daniel Bohé: FC St. Pauli at the time of the Nazi dictatorship: A Critical analysis of the personal Wilhelm Koch and Otto Wolff. Norderstedt 2009, p. 6.
  8. ↑ René Martens: There are always miracles. The history of FC St. Pauli. Göttingen 2007, ISBN 3-89533-540-1 , pp. 256-261.
  9. ^ Frank Bajohr : "Aryanization" in Hamburg. The displacement of Jewish entrepreneurs 1933–1945. Hamburg 1997, p. 177.
personal data
SURNAME Wolff, Otto
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German economic functionary and NSDAP regional economic advisor
DATE OF BIRTH October 26, 1907
PLACE OF BIRTH Kiel
DATE OF DEATH November 8, 1991