Werner Ballauff

Werner Ballauff (born September 21, 1890 in Düsseldorf , † January 10, 1973 ibid) was a German farmer , businessman, member of the Reichstag of the NSDAP , SS brigade leader and major general of the Waffen SS .

Life

origin

Werner was the son of the businessman Arnold Friedrich Heinrich Ballauff (born September 1, 1860 in Soest; † March 24, 1930 in Bad Homburg) and his wife Emmy Auguste Wilhelmine nee. Berlin (born September 30, 1861 in Düsseldorf).

1890 to 1933

Ballauff attended pre-school and secondary school in Düsseldorf from 1896 to 1909 , where he graduated from high school . From 1909 to 1911 Ballauff studied law at the Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn , the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität Munich and the Kaiser-Wilhelms-Universität Strasbourg . There he became a member of the Corps Suevia Strasbourg in 1926 .

In 1909 he served as a one-year volunteer in the machine gun division No. 10 of the Prussian Army in Schlettstadt in Alsace . From 1911 he began his career as an officer with the Uhlan Regiment "Graf Haeseler" (2nd Brandenburgisches) No. 11 in Saarburg . Even before the First World War , he was promoted to deputy sergeant and flag junior . In December 1914 he was wounded on long-distance patrol and taken prisoner by the French . In 1918 he was exchanged and taken over into the Reichswehr in the following year , but in April 1920 retired as Rittmeister from the army at his own request .

In civil life, Ballauff worked as an employee of various companies and later in an independent position at home and abroad. From 1930 he ran a farm near Quickborn (Holstein).

In 1929 and 1930 Ballauff was a member of the Völkisch Tannenberg Association . On June 1, 1931, he joined the NSDAP (membership number 585.143) and the SA in November of that year . He headed a local group within the NSDAP.

1933 to 1945

After the transfer of power to the NSDAP, Ballauff became a member of the now insignificant Reichstag in November 1933 . On March 29, 1936, he was proposed again for election, but received no mandate. Between August 1933 and October 1934 Ballauff was a State Councilor in the Hamburg Senate .

On June 18, 1933, Ballauff switched to the Allgemeine SS (SS-No. 66,679) and on August 7, 1933, he took over the leadership of the 28th SS standard in Hamburg. From March 1, 1934 he was temporarily staff leader in the SS upper section "North" based in Stettin. In June he returned to Hamburg and in October 1934 took over the leadership of SS Section XV in Altona , which he held until March 1935.

On March 26, 1935, Ballauff joined the SS disposal force , a barracked and constantly armed special unit of the SS. There he took over the leadership of the 9th Company in III. Battalion of the Hamburg-based standard “Germania”. In September 1935 he moved up as the successor of SS-Sturmbannführer Egon Buch to the commander of the SS-Nachrichten-Sturmbannes in Berlin-Adlershof , whose further and complete list he carried out from then on responsible. On July 1, 1936, he changed to the staff of the SS standard "Germany". A little later to the commander of the III. Appointed battalion, he took part in the occupation of the Sudetenland and in November 1938 was assigned to the staff of the new SS regiment "Der Führer" .

Since January 1939 in the rank of SS-Standartenführer , Ballauff was SS site commander of Prague from January 1940 during World War II . From January 1941 to June 1941 he led the 10th SS Totenkopfstandarte stationed in occupied Poland , then for two months a regiment of the 6th SS Mountain Division "North" , which was used in Finland in the Continuation War. Until the end of 1941 Ballauff was assigned to the SS leadership main office, including as inspector of the infantry. In 1942 he took over as commander of the SS Junker School in Braunschweig , which was relocated to Posen-Treskau in June 1944 due to severe bomb damage . Officially, he remained their commander until February 1945. With his last promotion on May 1, 1943, he held the rank of SS Brigade Leader and Major General of the Waffen SS .

At the beginning of 1945 Ballauff set up the "Kampfgruppe Ballauff", which was deployed in the middle section of the fortress front Oder-Warthe-Bogen, from two SS Junker battalions as well as replacement units of Kampfgruppe Hauser . As the leader of the combat group, Ballauff is said to have been surprised by an opposing force in the Zielenzig area and only narrowly escaped capture. In doing so, he apparently lost the exact plans of the tank works on the Oder bend in his possession, which made it much easier for the Soviet armed forces to advance.

1945 to 1973

In May 1945, a British commando arrested him in Hamburg, where Ballauff was staying with relatives. He was transferred to England for three years with prisoner number 560.269. On March 10, 1947 he was transferred from Camp 252 to Island Farm Special Camp 11 (Bridgend, Wales), and on July 5, 1947 to the District Prison in London. On October 6, 1947, he was transferred via Camp 43 to the Neuengamme internment camp , where he was released in the summer of 1948. After returning to his hometown of Düsseldorf, he took over his parents' household goods business as owner, in which he worked until his death. The company employed up to 400 people in the 1960s.

literature

Dermot Bradley (ed.), Andreas Schulz , Günter Wegmann: The generals of the Waffen-SS and the police. The military careers of the generals, as well as the doctors, veterinarians, intendants, judges and ministerial officials with the rank of general. Volume 1: Abraham – Gutenberger. Biblio Publishing House. Bissendorf 2003. ISBN 3-7648-2373-9 . Pp. 45-48.
Bernhard Kiekenap : SS Junker School. SA and SS in Braunschweig. Appelhans, Braunschweig 2008, ISBN 978-3-937664-94-1 .
Joachim Lilla , Martin Döring, Andreas Schulz: extras in uniform. The members of the Reichstag 1933–1945. A biographical manual. Including the ethnic and National Socialist members of the Reichstag from May 1924. Droste, Düsseldorf 2004, ISBN 3-7700-5254-4 , pp. 17-18.

Web links

Werner Ballauff in the database of members of the Reichstag
Werner Ballauff on the website of www.specialcamp11.co.uk

Individual evidence

↑ See the handbook of the Reichstag, 9th electoral period 1933–1936 and Lilla, extras , p. 17f.
↑ Kösener Corpslisten 1960, 101 , 223.
↑ Ballauff in the manual of the Reichstag
↑ Heinz Höhne : The order under the skull . In: Der Spiegel . No. 9 , 1967, p. 67 ( Online - Feb. 20, 1967 ).
↑ Stadtarchiv Düsseldorf: Holdings 4-104-0: Ballauff, Werner, Fa., Retail GmbH & Co. KG (1887–2001), retail for household a. Gift items ( Memento from May 11, 2005 in the Internet Archive ).

personal data
SURNAME	Ballauff, Werner
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Ballauf, Werner
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	German officer, politician (NSDAP), SS-Brigadführer, MdR
DATE OF BIRTH	September 21, 1890
PLACE OF BIRTH	Dusseldorf
DATE OF DEATH	January 10, 1973
Place of death	Dusseldorf

[1] See the handbook of the Reichstag, 9th electoral period 1933–1936 and Lilla, extras , p. 17f.

[2] Kösener Corpslisten 1960, 101 , 223.

[3] Ballauff in the manual of the Reichstag

[4] Heinz Höhne : The order under the skull . In: Der Spiegel . No. 9 , 1967, p. 67 ( Online - Feb. 20, 1967 ).

[5] Stadtarchiv Düsseldorf: Holdings 4-104-0: Ballauff, Werner, Fa., Retail GmbH & Co. KG (1887–2001), retail for household a. Gift items ( Memento from May 11, 2005 in the Internet Archive ).