Walther Kirn

Walther Kirn (born June 12, 1891 in Mühlen am Neckar ; † September 9, 1944 in Bruchsal ) was a farmer and German politician of the NSDAP . From 1937 to 1940 he was the NSDAP district leader of Donaueschingen , from 1940 to 1942 he was the district leader of Rappoltsweiler (today: Ribeauvillé). Here he participated in the largest corruption scandal during the occupation of Alsace . In 1943 he was sentenced to nine years in prison by the Strasbourg Special Court as a pest .

Life

School, training and military service

Walther Kirn grew up as the son of a Protestant pastor in Mühlen am Neckar . He attended the elementary and Latin school in Horb am Neckar and the Eberhard-Ludwigs-Gymnasium Stuttgart , where he passed the Abitur in 1909. After one year of military service, he began studying at the Hohenheim Agricultural University in 1911 , which he interrupted after a semester. In 1912 he did an agricultural internship at Eschenau Castle . In 1914 he married Hedwig Bubeck, the daughter of the estate and castle owner Erwin Bubeck. Kirn spent the First World War as an officer on the Western Front from 1914 and on the Eastern Front from 1917. When the German troops withdrew from the Ukraine , he was interned in France in March 1919 , from which he was released in the summer of 1919.

Failed entrepreneur in the Weimar Republic

Kirn's first wife Hedwig died in the autumn of 1920. Two months later he married again with the daughter of a factory owner Therese Thürling. The couple had to leave Eschenau Castle and move to Kirn's parents. It initially lived on Therese's dowry until Kirn found a position as a branch manager at the Württemberg-Hohenzollern milk supply association in Freudenstadt in 1921 . A start-up in 1922 ended in 1924 with two bankruptcies and losses of 130,000 marks for the creditors. In 1927 Kirn's first father-in-law, Erwin Bubeck, died. Kirn bought the Königshof agricultural estate in Deisendorf on Lake Constance with the proceeds from his children's inheritance . In 1939 he had to sell the property at a great loss, despite a debt relief in 1936. His creditors lost RM 41,000. The reasons for the renewed failure were mismanagement and a lush lifestyle.

Party career during the Nazi era

Kirn joined the NSDAP on December 1, 1931 under membership number 730.165 . He became the local group leader of Deisendorf and district young farmer leader of Überlingen . The regional Nazi press later praised him as one of the men "who were the first in the Ueberlingen district, known as the 'Domain of the Center', to help the Fuehrer's idea to break through during the struggle ." Kirn called his son, born in 1932, "Hitler Ernst Walter." “By first name. In October 1933 Walther Kirn was appointed Mayor of Salem (Baden) by the Baden Interior Minister Karl Pflaumer . Kirn enjoyed the protection of the Baden NSDAP member of the state parliament and Überlingen district leader Gustav Robert Oexle , who made him his adjutant after his own appointment to Rudolf Hess's staff in 1935. On October 1, 1937, Gauleiter Robert Wagner appointed Kirn NSDAP district leader in Donaueschingen . In the nomenklatura of the former royal residence town, Kirn enjoyed a dubious reputation as a "parvenue" who was constantly plagued by financial worries. After 1945, his employees accused him of arrogant administration and untruthful information about the professional and political reliability of verified citizens towards the NSDAP Gauleitung.

Biggest corruption scandal in occupied Alsace

After the occupation of Alsace, Kirn was appointed NSDAP district leader of Rappoltsweiler (today: Ribeauville) by Gauleiter Robert Wagner . Together with his party comrade, SS-Obersturmführer Julius Karg , who was appointed Land Commissioner of Rappoltsweiler (today: Ribeauville) by Wagner , he set up a system of black funds , which was mainly fed from the abandoned Jewish assets, but also from other sources of money embezzled by racially and politically persecuted people. Karg set up a debt collection department that managed looted objects from the surrounding area, including Arthur Schwartz's fabric warehouse from Markirch, which spanned 35,000 linear meters, the exquisite wine cellar of the manufacturer Carl Schlumberger and large fabric warehouses and inventory from Lucie Heimendinger. In doing so, Karg and Kirn disregarded the regulations that the confiscated property belonged to the Reich. Instead, they enriched themselves and their accomplices. According to a later assessment by the judicial authorities, Kirns and Kargs raids “in the entire Rappoltsweiler district were in favor of the reputation of the German Reich and the NSDAP. had a devastating effect. ”In April 1942, Gauleiter Robert Wagner quickly took Kirn out of the line of fire and transferred him from Ruthenia to the east as NSDAP staff leader . Kirn left a debt of around 25,000 marks in Rappoltsweiler, for which the Baden NSDAP later had to pay.

Sentenced as a pest by the Strasbourg Special Court to nine years in prison

Robert Wagner's attempt not to let the corruption scandal become public failed due to several criminal charges against Kirn from Rappoltsweiler. In October 1942, Kirn and Karg were arrested and tried in the Strasbourg Special Court . Kurt Kaul , the Higher SS and Police Leader Southwest, counted on the death penalty , but during the trial the commander of the Security Police and SD for Strasbourg - Alsace Hans Fischer informed the prosecutor that “the Gauleiter is no longer the death penalty, but a very great one demanding high prison sentence ”. The Strasbourg Special Court, which was made up of Nazi judges Ernst Rudolf Huber , Georg Dahm and Friedrich Neidhard, sentenced Kirn to nine years in prison on April 20, 1943 as a pest of the people for inciting unfaithfulness . The court attested that he was leading a largely impeccable lifestyle, which had only got out of hand because of the sexual dependence on his lover, who was 24 years his junior. Kirn's accomplice Karg received 12 years in prison. Both perpetrators got away with their lives because, in the view of the court, “the main thing was confiscated Jewish property. [...] For obvious reasons, the inhibitions to assault and enrich oneself with such assets are not so great. ”Kirn began his sentence in Bruchsal penitentiary. Gauleiter Wagner tried as early as autumn 1943 to spare Kirn from imprisonment and to give him the opportunity to "parole". However, the Wehrmacht High Command considered it premature to put Kirn in a punishment battalion for "unworthy of military service ". At the end of June 1944, Reichsführer SS Heinrich Himmler gave the green light. Ernst Kaltenbrunner , the head of the Reich Security Main Office , informed the Reich Ministry of Justice in June 1944 that when assessing Kirn, “the whole atmosphere prevailing in Alsace at that time, the victim of which he was ultimately to be taken into account. The prevailing opinion there at that time was that the numerous assets originating from expellees were abandoned goods or a kind of booty that could be enriched without harming oneself or even making oneself liable to prosecution. "Kaltenbrunner's intention, To put Kirn in a special formation of the Waffen SS failed in autumn 1944 because of his cardiac death in the Bruchsal prison.

family

Walther Kirn's brother Otto (1900–?) Headed the NSDAP local group Mennwangen on Lake Constance, and his wife Betty (1905–?) Headed the Nazi women's group there. Walther's sister Gertrud (1889–1976) was married to the owner of the Überlinger Münster pharmacy, Paul Hähnle (1877–1925). This was a son of the Reichstag member and owner of the United felt factories in Giengen, Hans Haehnle and his wife Lina Hähnle , the founder and long-time chairman of the Federation for Bird Protection (BfV).

literature

Wolf-Ingo Seidelmann: bankrupt, district manager, “public pest” - Walther Kirn . In: perpetrators, helpers, free riders. Nazi victims from the Lake Constance area . Kugelberg Verlag, 2016, ISBN 978-3-945893-04-3 , pp. 115-127 .
Wolf-Ingo Seidelmann: Julius Karg: Biggest corruption scandal in occupied Alsace and the German post-war justice system . In: perpetrators, helpers, free riders. Nazi victims from the south of what is now Baden-Württemberg . Kugelberg Verlag, 2017, ISBN 978-3-945893-08-1 , pp. 144-160 .

Individual evidence

↑ Wolf-Ingo Seidelmann: bankrupt, district leader, “public pest” - Walther Kirn . In: perpetrators, helpers, free riders. Nazi victims from the Lake Constance area . Kugelberg Verlag, 2016, ISBN 978-3-945893-04-3 , pp. 116 .
↑ Wolf-Ingo Seidelmann: bankrupt, district leader, “public pest” - Walther Kirn . In: perpetrators, helpers, free riders. Nazi victims from the Lake Constance area . Kugelberg Verlag, 2016, ISBN 978-3-945893-04-3 , pp. 118 f .
↑ Bodensee-Rundschau of 9/28/1937 quoted from Wolf-Ingo Seidelmann: Bankrotteur, Kreisleiter, “Volksschädling” - Walther Kirn . In: perpetrators, helpers, free riders. Nazi victims from the Lake Constance area . Kugelberg Verlag, 2016, ISBN 978-3-945893-04-3 , pp. 118 .
↑ Wolf-Ingo Seidelmann: bankrupt, district leader, “public pest” - Walther Kirn . In: perpetrators, helpers, free riders. Nazi victims from the Lake Constance area . Kugelberg Verlag, 2016, ISBN 978-3-945893-04-3 , pp. 119 ff .
^ Wolf-Ingo Seidelmann: Julius Karg: Biggest corruption scandal in occupied Alsace and the German post-war justice system . In: perpetrators, helpers, free riders. Nazi victims from the south of what is now Baden-Württemberg . Kugelberg Verlag, 2017, ISBN 978-3-945893-08-1 , pp. 148 f .
↑ verdict of the Special Court from Strasbourg 19./20.4.1943 quoted by Wolf-Ingo Seidel man: bankrupt, district leader, "public enemy" - Walter Kirn . In: perpetrators, helpers, free riders. Nazi victims from the Lake Constance area . Kugelberg Verlag, 2016, ISBN 978-3-945893-04-3 , pp. 124 .
^ Wolf-Ingo Seidelmann: Julius Karg: Biggest corruption scandal in occupied Alsace and the German post-war justice system . In: perpetrators, helpers, free riders. Nazi victims from the south of what is now Baden-Württemberg . Kugelberg Verlag, 2017, ISBN 978-3-945893-08-1 , pp. 150 f .
↑ verdict of the Special Court from Strasbourg 19./20.4.1943 quoted by Wolf-Ingo Seidel man: bankrupt, district leader, "public enemy" - Walter Kirn . In: perpetrators, helpers, free riders. Nazi victims from the Lake Constance area . Kugelberg Verlag, 2016, ISBN 978-3-945893-04-3 , pp. 126 .
^ Letter from Kaltenbrunner to Reich Justice Minister Otto Georg Thierack dated June 30, 1944, quoted from Wolf-Ingo Seidelmann: Bankrotteur, Kreisleiter, “Volksschädling” - Walther Kirn . In: perpetrators, helpers, free riders. Nazi victims from the Lake Constance area . Kugelberg Verlag, 2016, ISBN 978-3-945893-04-3 , pp. 127 .

personal data
SURNAME	Kirn, Walther
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Kirn Walter
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	German NSDAP district leader
DATE OF BIRTH	June 12, 1891
PLACE OF BIRTH	Mills on the Neckar
DATE OF DEATH	September 9, 1944
Place of death	Bruchsal

[1] Wolf-Ingo Seidelmann: bankrupt, district leader, “public pest” - Walther Kirn . In: perpetrators, helpers, free riders. Nazi victims from the Lake Constance area . Kugelberg Verlag, 2016, ISBN 978-3-945893-04-3 , pp. 116 .

[2] Wolf-Ingo Seidelmann: bankrupt, district leader, “public pest” - Walther Kirn . In: perpetrators, helpers, free riders. Nazi victims from the Lake Constance area . Kugelberg Verlag, 2016, ISBN 978-3-945893-04-3 , pp. 118 f .

[3] Bodensee-Rundschau of 9/28/1937 quoted from Wolf-Ingo Seidelmann: Bankrotteur, Kreisleiter, “Volksschädling” - Walther Kirn . In: perpetrators, helpers, free riders. Nazi victims from the Lake Constance area . Kugelberg Verlag, 2016, ISBN 978-3-945893-04-3 , pp. 118 .

[4] Wolf-Ingo Seidelmann: bankrupt, district leader, “public pest” - Walther Kirn . In: perpetrators, helpers, free riders. Nazi victims from the Lake Constance area . Kugelberg Verlag, 2016, ISBN 978-3-945893-04-3 , pp. 119 ff .

[5] Wolf-Ingo Seidelmann: Julius Karg: Biggest corruption scandal in occupied Alsace and the German post-war justice system . In: perpetrators, helpers, free riders. Nazi victims from the south of what is now Baden-Württemberg . Kugelberg Verlag, 2017, ISBN 978-3-945893-08-1 , pp. 148 f .

[6] verdict of the Special Court from Strasbourg 19./20.4.1943 quoted by Wolf-Ingo Seidel man: bankrupt, district leader, "public enemy" - Walter Kirn . In: perpetrators, helpers, free riders. Nazi victims from the Lake Constance area . Kugelberg Verlag, 2016, ISBN 978-3-945893-04-3 , pp. 124 .

[7] Wolf-Ingo Seidelmann: Julius Karg: Biggest corruption scandal in occupied Alsace and the German post-war justice system . In: perpetrators, helpers, free riders. Nazi victims from the south of what is now Baden-Württemberg . Kugelberg Verlag, 2017, ISBN 978-3-945893-08-1 , pp. 150 f .

[8] verdict of the Special Court from Strasbourg 19./20.4.1943 quoted by Wolf-Ingo Seidel man: bankrupt, district leader, "public enemy" - Walter Kirn . In: perpetrators, helpers, free riders. Nazi victims from the Lake Constance area . Kugelberg Verlag, 2016, ISBN 978-3-945893-04-3 , pp. 126 .

[9] Letter from Kaltenbrunner to Reich Justice Minister Otto Georg Thierack dated June 30, 1944, quoted from Wolf-Ingo Seidelmann: Bankrotteur, Kreisleiter, “Volksschädling” - Walther Kirn . In: perpetrators, helpers, free riders. Nazi victims from the Lake Constance area . Kugelberg Verlag, 2016, ISBN 978-3-945893-04-3 , pp. 127 .