Walter Eichholz

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Walter Eichholz (born May 14, 1894 ; † September 1, 1953 ) was a German engineer and from 1943 to 1945 chairman of the board of August-Thyssen-Hütte (ATH) AG.

Life

After the First World War , Eichholz studied metallurgy in Aachen and Clausthal and received his doctorate in Aachen on March 25, 1924; In 1927 he took over the management of the Siemens-Martin-Stahlwerk II. In 1933 Eichholz joined the NSDAP , in 1937 he became operational director of the metallurgical department. In 1941 he became a board member in the field of business administration and plant manager. In October 1943 he became CEO of ATH AG and (in personal union) head of ATH; In 1944 he received the Fritz Todt Prize for the development of new steel processes. In April 1945 he briefly resigned with other members of the executive committee, but was arrested by the military government on his return in late April 1945. The process of so-called denazification ended for him on July 11, 1947 with the classification notification for level IV ( followers ). Eichholz did not return to the board of the August-Thyssen-Hütte after his denazification process; the reasons for this are unclear. Walter Eichholz was a member of the Corps Montania Clausthal student union and the father-in-law of Karl-Heinrich Jakob .

Forced labor

After Eichholz took over the chairmanship of the board in 1943, the struggle against so-called loafing intensified , loafing should be pursued sharply and ruthlessly and led to the establishment of an internal special camp.

In August 1943 Eichholz reported a Soviet prisoner of war and forced laborer to the Gestapo , who was murdered in the Buchenwald concentration camp in October 1943 in the course of further punishments . Although ATH AG did not employ any Jewish slave laborers, Eichholz's correspondence shows strong similarities with the inhumane language of the Third Reich (LTI): Examples are terms such as “human material” and “operational value” when it comes to the requirement of slave labor.

literature

  • Johannes Bär: Thyssen in the Adenauer time: Group formation and family capitalism. Paderborn 2015, ISBN 978-3-506-78194-9 .
  • Michael Alfred Kanther: Forced Labor in Duisburg, 1940-45. Duisburg 2004, ISBN 978-3-87463-365-9 .
  • Wilhelm Treue , Wilhelm Uebbing: The fires never go out: August Thyssen-Hütte 1926–1966. Düsseldorf, Vienna 1969.
  • Thomas Urban: Forced labor at Thyssen: "Steel Association" and "Baron Group" in World War II. Paderborn 2014, ISBN 3-506-76629-5 .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Wilhelm loyalty , Helmut Uebbing: The fires never go out: August Thyssen-Hütte 1926-1966. Econ Verlag, 1969, p. 121.
  2. ↑ Reich Ministry for Armaments and War Production: State Documents Referat R 4, 1936-1946 Berlin-Lichterfelde. R 3/1549 vol. 5 1944.
    • January 10, 1944: Meeting of the Gau and district propaganda leaders in the barracks of the SS Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler in Berlin-Lichterfelde
    • January 1, 1944: Meeting of the Panzer Commission
    • February 8, 1944: First award of the Dr. Fritz Todt Prize to: Obering. August Coender, Dr.ing. Karl Daeves, Dr.ing. Walter Eichholz
  3. ^ Landesarchiv Nordrhein-Westfalen (Ed.): Files . NW 1004 G6.1 / 25 (digitized). Duisburg.
  4. ↑ Thomas Urban: Forced Labor at Thyssen: "Steel Association" and "Baron Group" in World War II . Paderborn 2014, ISBN 3-506-76629-5 , pp. 161 .
  5. ^ Address list of the Weinheimer SC. 1928, p. 74.
  6. ↑ Thomas Urban: Forced Labor at Thyssen: "Steel Association" and "Baron Group" in World War II . Paderborn 2014, ISBN 3-506-76629-5 , pp. 129-131 .
  7. ↑ Thomas Urban: Forced Labor at Thyssen: "Steel Association" and "Baron Group" in World War II . Paderborn 2014, ISBN 3-506-76629-5 , pp. 108 .
  8. ↑ Thomas Urban: Forced Labor at Thyssen: "Steel Association" and "Baron Group" in World War II. Paderborn 2014, ISBN 3-506-76629-5 , p. 59.
personal data
SURNAME Eichholz, Walter
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German engineer, CEO of August-Thyssen-Hütte
DATE OF BIRTH May 14, 1894
DATE OF DEATH September 1, 1953