Theo M. Loch

Theo Maria Loch (born August 17, 1921 in Erlangen , † February 18, 1987 in Bornheim near Bonn ) was a German journalist .

Life

Loch attended high school and boarding school in Günzburg with a USA exchange year in 1937/38 at Choate Rosemary Hall, a private school in Connecticut popular with celebrities .

In 1940 he volunteered for the Waffen SS in the elite unit Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler , in which he served himself up to the rank of SS-Obersturmführer . In this unit he took part in the Second World War until 1945 . Among other things, he served in the 12th Company of the 3rd Battalion in Greece and in the USSR. On January 30, 1944, Loch was promoted to Obersturmführer, after which he was with the staff of the 12th SS Corps, where he became company commander.

Loch was also a member of the NSDAP.

After his return from captivity, he studied economics and journalism in Munich. He also became a qualified interpreter. Loch was editor-in-chief of Europa magazine until 1959 . He then moved to the Deutsche Zeitung as head of foreign policy . From 1964 to 1965 he was deputy editor-in-chief of the Handelsblatt , then until 1968 in the same function at Rheinischer Merkur .

Since 1969 he has been a commentator and editor at WDR radio. From May 1975 to 1977 he headed the WDR studio in Bonn. From August 1977 to October 31, 1983 he was editor-in-chief of WDR television. He then worked as a commentator and correspondent for the station.

At the funeral were u. a. Philipp Jenninger (President of the Bundestag) and Heinrich Windelen (Minister for Internal German Relations) were present. Walter Scheel and Friedrich Nowottny gave an eulogy.

Loch had been a member of the KDB Sigfridia zu Bonn in the RKDB since 1967 . He was also a member of the CDU.

Controversy about the SS past

In the post-war period, Loch always mentioned the rank of first lieutenant in order to keep the SS rank of Obersturmführer secret. Only in 1983 did this fact become known. Only when filling out the WDR personnel form in 1969 did he indicate his service with the Waffen SS. In the summer of 1983, around one hundred WDR journalists requested Loch's immediate leave of absence because they had found out about Loch's membership in the Waffen SS from newspapers. At the same time WDR director Friedrich-Wilhelm von Sell was criticized there. The WDR board of directors was asked to clarify, among other things, the allegation by Sell critics that the director had withheld from the councils the SS career of Loch, which he obviously knew. The board member Heinz Kühn spoke of "a mistake in the personnel department", for which the director was also responsible. Friedrich-Wilhelm von Sell remained in his office.

Honorary positions and awards

• President of the Europa-Union Deutschland (1973–1980), then its honorary president
• Vice President of the German Council of the European Movement
• Member of the Board Atlantic Institute , Paris
• Member of the Presidium of the German Society for Foreign Policy
• Member of the Board of Trustees of the Peace Prize of the German Book Trade

• 1968: European Journalism Prize for Politics
• 1978: Large European medal of the VdH
• 1979: Federal Cross of Merit, 1st class
• 1983: Joseph Bech Prize from the FVS Foundation

family

From 1944 Loch was with Elisabeth "Else" Hedwig geb. Wienforth, married and had a son born in 1945 with her.

Works

• Theo M. Loch: The Nine of Brussels . Europa Union Verlag, Cologne 1963, DNB  453150489 .
• Theo M. Loch: Adenauer, de Gaulle . Balance sheet d. State visits. Athenaeum Verlag, Bonn 1963, DNB  453150470 .
• Theo M. Loch: Ways to Europe . Pontes-Verlag, Andernach 1967.
• Theo M. Loch: Europe 1980 . 2., revised. u. exp. Edition. Eichholz-Verlag, Bonn 1968.
• Theo M. Loch: Walter Hallstein . Eurobuch-Verlag Lutzeyer, Freudenstadt 1969, DNB  457446552 .
• Theo M. Loch: The association and preference policy of the EC . Europa-Union-Verlag, Bonn 1974, ISBN 978-3-7713-0047-0 .
• Theo M. Loch: Interdependencies . Edition Interfrom, Zurich 1975.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Theo M. Loch in the Munzinger Archive ( beginning of article freely accessible)
2. ↑ ^{a b c d} First shot . In: Der Spiegel . No. 26 , 1983 ( online ).
3. ↑ The ring. Issue 1/1987, Ed .: RKDB and RKAB , Bonn
4. ^ Karl Kossert (ed.): Complete directory of the RKB. Berlin 1967.
5. ↑ DIED Theo M. Loch . In: Der Spiegel . No. 9 , 1987 ( online ).