Rudolf Levin

Hermann Max Rudolf Levin (born July 1, 1909 in Dohna ; † probably spring 1945 in Berlin ) was a German humanities scholar, SS-Sturmbannführer or Obersturmbannführer and at the latest from the beginning of the Second World War in the security service of the Reichsführer SS head of the "H special order" "Scientific" study of the witch hunt .

Life

Levin, son of a Protestant cantor , studied history, German, English and philosophy. During his studies he became a member of the Ghibellinia Leipzig fraternity . In 1935 he did his doctorate at the University of Leipzig under Joachim Wach (who had to emigrate from Germany as a “non-Aryan” in the same year ) and Theodor Litt .

From 1938 or from the beginning of the Second World War, Levin was Wilhelm Spengler's successor as head of the "H-Sonderauftrage" initiated by Reichsführer SS Heinrich Himmler within the Security Service (SD) for the (pseudo) scientific investigation of the witch hunt and for the creation of a " witch card archive ". The project was apparently intended to provide material for the general anti-church propaganda of the Nazi regime, evidence that the common Judeo-Christian roots of the Catholic Church in particular were the background of the witch hunts, and material about a pagan-old Germanic folk culture that was allegedly caused by the Witch hunt the church should be destroyed. The "H special order" included several scientists in the service of the SS who carried out their research in over 260 archives and libraries, mostly undercover.

In 1938 Levin sketched out the work profile of his group in connection with the defense against an attempted annexation of the research group of around a dozen employees and the witch topic, which was founded by the Research Association Deutsches Ahnenerbe founded in 1935 . Accordingly, their activities focused on the following problems:

research into the racial and demographic consequences of the witch trials
the valuation of women in witch trials and
an overview of the previous literature on the witch trials as well as the preparation of a thematic bibliography .

From 1939 onwards, the order formed its own department in the Reich Security Main Office , Office II and from 1941 onwards in Office VII (" Weltanschauiche research and evaluation"). From 1941 Levin headed Section C3 “Special Scientific Orders” in Office VII, also a “permanent auxiliary unit for H research”. In addition to his work in the Reichsführer SS Security Service, Rudolf Levin tried to establish himself in the academic world in order to follow in the footsteps of his head of office, Franz Six , but was overshadowed as an assistant. During the Second World War was no longer able Levin, about the topic to habilitation (1942 why he wrote to the Strasbourg historian Gunther Franz ). In 1944 he was rejected by carefully selected professors from the University of Munich . Levin's scientific ambition was greater than his ability. The work plan of 1942 included more than a dozen elaborate treatises, including, for example, a study on the humanities foundations of the H-complex , the economic consequences of H-processes or a land register of H-research . War-related restrictions on the use of archives and libraries also hindered research, research into witch trial files was far less important than the war-important work. On January 19, 1944, the security service stopped the recording work due to the war, as Levin said "now other current political issues are very urgent".

Fonts

The historical concept of positivism with special consideration Mills and the legal philosophical views of John Austin . Dissertation. University of Leipzig. Moltzen, Leipzig 1935.
The image of history and the formation of foreign policy wills. In: Journal of Politics. Volume 33. Nomos, Baden-Baden 1943, pp. 181-184.
Humanities methodology of research on opponents. Basic problems of research into opponents. Reich Security Main Office, 1943, pp. 1–27.

literature

Carsten Klingemann : Sociology and Politics: Social science expert knowledge in the Third Reich and in the early West German post-war period. VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften, Wiesbaden 2009, pp. 28/29, ISBN 978-3-531-15064-2 .
Gerhard Schormann : witch trials in Germany. (Small Vandenhoeck series, 1470) 3rd edition, Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen. 1996, p. 9, ISBN 3-525-33456-7 .
Joachim Lerchenmueller: The science of history in the planning of the security service of the SS. The SD historian Hermann Löffler and his memorandum "Development and tasks of the science of history in Germany" . Dietz, Bonn 2001, ISBN 3-8012-4116-5 .
Barbara Schier: Witch madness and witch hunt. Reception and political preparation of a cultural studies topic in the Third Reich. In: Bayerisches Jahrbuch für Volkskunde 1990, pp. 43–115, online
For the habilitation attempt of the SS witch researcher Dr. Rudolf Levin . Appendix to Wolfgang Behringer: The processor of witch research in the Reich Security Main Office (RSHA): Günther Franz . In: Sönke Lorenz / Dieter R. Bauer / Wolfgang Behringer / Jürgen Michael Schmidt (eds.): Himmlers Hexenkartothek. The interest of national socialism in the witch hunt. Verlag für Regionalgeschichte, Bielefeld 1999, pp. 109–134, here p. 134.
Ernst Klee : The dictionary of persons on the Third Reich . Fischer, Frankfurt am Main 2007, ISBN 978-3-596-16048-8 (updated 2nd edition).
Carsten Schreiber: General Staff of the Holocaust or an academic ivory tower? The 'opponent research' of the security service of the SS. In: Yearbook of the Simon Dubnow Institute 5 (2006), pp. 327–352.
Carsten Schreiber: From the Philosophical Faculty to the Reich Security Main Office. Leipzig doctoral students in the dual system of university and opponent research. In: Ulrich von Hehl (Ed.): Saxony's State University in Monarchy, Republic and Dictatorship. Contributions to the history of the University of Leipzig from the Empire to the dissolution of the State of Saxony in 1952. Evangelical Publishing House, Leipzig 2005.

Individual evidence

↑ ^a ^b Ernst Klee: Das Personenlexikon zum Third Reich , Frankfurt am Main 2007, p. 370.
↑ Obersturmbannführer according to Gerhard Schormann and others; according to Gerd Simon : German studies and security service. Germanists in the SD main office , footnote 2 (pdf; 43 kB), this is "rather unlikely, at least not on record".
↑ From 1938 according to Gerhard Schormann (with reference to the Poznan Findbuch on the witch index) and others; according to Gerd Simon: German studies and security service. Germanists in the SD main office , footnote 2 (pdf; 43 kB), Levin was still working on this project as an employee of Wilhelm Spengler.
^ Directory of members of the Frankenburg-Bau-Verein e. V. Berlin 1940, p. 16.
^ Jan Björn Potthast: The Jewish Central Museum of the SS in Prague: Research on opponents and genocide under National Socialism . Campus, Frankfurt u. New York 2002, p. 324, ISBN 3-593-37060-3 .

personal data
SURNAME	Levin, Rudolf
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Levin, Hermann Max Rudolf (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	German humanities scholar and SS functionary, witch researcher
DATE OF BIRTH	July 1, 1909
PLACE OF BIRTH	Dohna
DATE OF DEATH	uncertain: 1945
Place of death	Berlin

[Klee370-1] Ernst Klee: Das Personenlexikon zum Third Reich , Frankfurt am Main 2007, p. 370.

[2] Obersturmbannführer according to Gerhard Schormann and others; according to Gerd Simon : German studies and security service. Germanists in the SD main office , footnote 2 (pdf; 43 kB), this is "rather unlikely, at least not on record".

[3] From 1938 according to Gerhard Schormann (with reference to the Poznan Findbuch on the witch index) and others; according to Gerd Simon: German studies and security service. Germanists in the SD main office , footnote 2 (pdf; 43 kB), Levin was still working on this project as an employee of Wilhelm Spengler.

[4] Directory of members of the Frankenburg-Bau-Verein e. V. Berlin 1940, p. 16.

[5] Jan Björn Potthast: The Jewish Central Museum of the SS in Prague: Research on opponents and genocide under National Socialism . Campus, Frankfurt u. New York 2002, p. 324, ISBN 3-593-37060-3 .