Hermann Johann Heinrich Behrends (11 May 1907 – 4 December 1948) was a Nazi Party member and SS official with the rank of lieutenant general (Gruppenführer).[1]
Born in Rüstringen, Oldenburg, the son of a provincial innkeeper, he was educated to doctorate level in law at Marburg University but struggled to find employment in an economically depressed Weimar Germany.[2] He joined the Nazi Party in January 1932 and the SS the following month.[3] With no military experience he initially floundered but soon attracted the attentions of Reinhard Heydrich, who valued academic expertise, and he was transferred to the Sicherheitsdienst (SD).[4]
Becoming a close friend of Heydrich, Behrends was the first chief of the SD in Berlin.[5] He also served as Chief of Staff to Werner Lorenz in his capacity as head of the Hauptamt Volksdeutsche Mittelstelle (VOMI).[6] During the Second World War he was sent to Yugoslavia to lead the regional arm of the VOMI.[5] His star had fallen somewhat after Heydrich's death as Heinrich Himmler was unimpressed by him, sensing that he was too ambitious.[4]
On 5 July 1945, he faced charges from the British services in Flensburg. He was interned with the number 560294 in the Island Farm Special Camp in Bridgend, South Wales.[citation needed] On 16 April 1946 he was extradited to Yugoslavia. He was hanged in Belgrade on 4 December 1948.[5]
Decorations and awards
- 1939 Iron Cross 2nd Class[1]
- War Merit Cross 2nd Class[1]
References
- ^ a b c Miller 2006, p. 90.
- ^ Lumans 1993, p. 50.
- ^ Lumans 1993, pp. 50–51.
- ^ a b Lumans 1993, p. 51.
- ^ a b c Snyder 1994, p. 242.
- ^ Lumans 1993, p. 45.
Sources
- Lumans, Valdis O. (1993). Himmler's auxiliaries : the Volksdeutsche Mittelstelle and the German national minorities of Europe, 1933-1945. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press. ISBN 0-585-02731-5. OCLC 42329294.
- Miller, Michael (2006). Leaders of the SS and German Police, Vol. 1. San Jose, CA: R. James Bender. ISBN 978-93-297-0037-2.
- Snyder, Louis (1994) [1976]. Encyclopedia of the Third Reich. Da Capo Press. ISBN 978-1-56924-917-8.
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