Willi Protsch

Wilhelm "Willi" Protsch (born February 9, 1899 in Berlin ; † 1971/1972 in Heidelberg ) was a German politician ( NSDAP ) and paramilitary activist.

Live and act

Youth and First World War

In his youth Protsch attended the community school. He was then trained as an electrician in a tool shop and in the electrical industry.

From 1917 Protsch took part in the First World War as a war volunteer for a year and a half , during which he was deployed with the 59th Infantry Regiment in France. He was seriously wounded three times at the front and was awarded the Iron Cross of both classes . As a result of his last wound, he had to remain in a hospital with his arm and leg shot until 1920. During this time he was involved in the Association of Nationally Minded Soldiers.

Weimar Republic

After the war Protsch settled in Berlin, where he became a messenger master in 1921, first in a newspaper and then in an insurance company, a position he held until 1932/1933.

Politically, Protsch began to be active in the Völkisch movement in 1919 . In the spring of 1926 he joined the NSDAP with his entire family (father, mother, two sisters and his bride). Since the family lived on Bartelstrasse opposite the KPD headquarters in the Karl-Liebknecht-Haus , this led to frequent clashes with the communists. Also in 1926, Protsch, as a simple SA man, became a member of the Sturmabteilung (SA), the task force of the NSDAP , in which he made a name for himself as a successful hobby boxer as a street fighter ("Willy Protsch's right hook was more feared as a melee weapon than a pistol bullet") .

Around 1927 Protsch became one of the first SA leaders in Berlin as a member of SA Storm 2. At the beginning of 1931, his storm was combined with two other storms to form Sturmbann II / 4 under his command and soon afterwards renamed Sturmbann 4. During his time with the SA Protsch developed close friendship with the Hohenzollern Prince August Wilhelm , who at that time held an important position in the SA.

For a violation of the law for the protection of the republic Protsch was punished at least once in court for his political activities.

At the beginning of the 1930s Protsch was also a district councilor for the Weißensee district .

time of the nationalsocialism

On the day the National Socialists came to power on January 30, 1933, Protsch took part in the famous torchlight procession through Wilhelmstrasse , with which the SA celebrated the appointment of Adolf Hitler as Reich Chancellor.

In March 1933 Protsch was elected as a member of the Prussian state parliament, to which he belonged until this body was dissolved in autumn 1933.

In August 1933, Sturmbann 4, led by Protsch, was raised to Standard 4 and Protsch, as the leader of the standard, was promoted to Standartenführer. He retained this position at least until the events of the Röhm Putsch on June 30, 1934.

As a result of the events of the Röhm Putsch, Protsch began to distance himself from the NSDAP and the SA. Around 1936 he joined the Air Force . In this he was first used as an officer in the airborne division in Diepholz near Hanover before returning to Berlin to work in the Reich Ministry of Aviation .

During the Second World War Protsch took part in the occupation of Crete in 1941 and as a member of Erwin Rommel's staff in the Africa campaign and later in the defense of the Atlantic Wall .

post war period

At the end of the Second World War, Protsch was captured by the Allies and held in an American internment camp in Darmstadt.

In 1950 Protsch settled with his family in Heidelberg , where he worked as senior tax clerk at the local tax office.

Protsch died after being hit by a tram in November 1971 while contracting pneumonia while recovering in hospital .

family

Protsch's marriage to Margarete had five children, including the eldest son Dieter Protsch , whose godfather became Joseph Goebbels , and who later embarked on a successful career in the US Army , and the anthropologist Reiner Protsch .

literature

• Dieter HB Protsch: Be All You Can Be. From Hitler Youth in World War II to a US Army Green Beret. To Immigrant's Memoirs. Trafford, Victoria, BC 2004, ISBN 1-4120-3674-7 .
• Ernst Kienast (Ed.): Handbook for the Prussian Landtag. Edition for the 5th electoral term, Berlin 1933, p. 371.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Cheating in the bone cellar. In: Der Spiegel . Issue 42/2004, October 11, 2004.