Werner Blankenburg

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Werner Blankenburg (born June 19, 1905 in Caputh ; † November 28, 1957 in Stuttgart ) was in the National Socialist German Reich as head of Office IIa in the Fuehrer's office and was one of the main people responsible for the National Socialist "euthanasia" murders (" Action T4 ") ), the extermination of Polish Jews in “ Aktion Reinhardt ” and the X-ray castration experiments in Auschwitz concentration camp .

Life

Werner Blankenburg was born on June 19, 1905 in Caputh , Zauch-Belzig district (today Potsdam-Mittelmark district ).

On April 1, 1929, he joined the NSDAP ( membership number 124.744) and the SA . In 1938, as Oberreichsleiter and with the rank of SA-Obersturmführer , he headed Amt IIa in the Fuehrer's office . He was thus the representative of Oberdienstleiter Viktor Brack as head of Office II, which was responsible for state and party affairs. He later became its successor.

From around the end of July 1939, planning began for the mass killings of the mentally ill and disabled ( called “ Action T4 ” in post-war parlance ). In October 1939, Blankenburg dictated to a secretary Hitler's authorization, which was backdated to September 1, 1939, to carry out the National Socialist “euthanasia” program. Therein Philipp Bouhler and Hitler's personal physician Karl Brandt determined as "euthanasia" Envoy. Bouhler largely transferred the management of Aktion T4 to Viktor Brack. As its permanent representative, Blankenburg was thus involved in the T4 campaign in a leading position.

Since neither the Fuehrer's chancellery nor the health department of the Reich Ministry of the Interior , which was also involved in Operation T4 , should appear to the outside world, bogus companies were founded that only existed on paper and only served as camouflage. The Hauptamt II of the Führer’s Chancellery, for its tasks regarding the selection and deployment of T4 staff, the establishment and control of the “euthanasia” killing centers, etc., was called the “Reichsarbeitsgemeinschaft Heil- und Pflegeenstalten”. The staff at the Fiihrer's office used cover names in this context. Blankenburg signed as the representative of the head of the non-medical staff, Viktor Brack, with " Brenner ". When hiring the non-medical staff for the T4 organization and the various "euthanasia" killing centers, u. a. Blankenburg also invited the selected applicants into the National Socialist “euthanasia” program and assured them that the measures had been ordered by the Führer and were therefore legal. Nevertheless, the action would have to be carried out in secret. Applicants could still resign after a short period of reflection without incurring any disadvantages. Only the confidentiality obligation is binding.

Even after the end of the first phase of the “euthanasia” program on August 24, 1941, the activities of the Führer Chancellery and the central organization T4 continued in the second phase of the “euthanasia” program, known as decentralized. Personnel that became available were used for the " Reinhard Campaign ". In terms of personnel law, this remained subordinate to the central organization T4, while they received the technical instructions for their deployment from the SS and police leader of the Lublin district , Odilo Globocnik . Blankenburg arrived in October 1943 for the funeral of Johann Niemann , who was buried near Chelm with others who had been killed in the Sobibor uprising .

In April 1945 Blankenburg was joined with other members of the Führer’s office, u. a. Viktor Brack and Albert Bormann , flown to Bavaria. After the end of the war he went into hiding in Stuttgart-Wangen with the false name "Werner Bieleke" (the maiden name of his wife) . He worked as a representative of a building society in Ludwigsburg and later as a representative of a textile factory in Freudenstadt . On February 19, 1949, he became engaged to a nurse. Although he was wanted by the judiciary from the summer of 1945 until his death, he managed to lead a life in secret and also to maintain contact with his parents, who were housed in an old people's home in Ulm. There were also lively connections to former T4 employees.

Werner Blankenburg died on November 28, 1957 in Stuttgart-Wangen and was buried there under his false name Werner Bieleke. Several former T4 members took part in the funeral, including Dietrich Allers and Erwin Lambert . He was officially declared dead by the Berlin District Court of Tempelhof-Kreuzberg (70-60 II 450/55) at the request of his wife from March 15, 1956 to December 31, 1945.

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Martin Cüppers et al .: Photos from Sobibor - The Niemann Collection on Holocaust and National Socialism . Metropol-Verlag, Berlin 2020, ISBN 978-3-86331506-1 , pp. 57 and 87.
  2. ↑ For more information on this and on the X-ray castration experiments, see u. Viktor Brack , whom Blankenburg represented and who therefore had the same level of knowledge.
  3. ↑ Martin Cüppers et al .: Photos from Sobibor - The Niemann Collection on Holocaust and National Socialism . Metropol-Verlag, Berlin 2020, ISBN 978-3-86331506-1 , pp. 282f.
personal data
SURNAME Blankenburg, Werner
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Bieleke, Werner (nickname)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German head of office in the Fuehrer's office, one of the main people responsible for the National Socialist murders
DATE OF BIRTH June 19, 1905
PLACE OF BIRTH Caputh
DATE OF DEATH November 28, 1957
Place of death Stuttgart