Hans Weidel (19 July 1903 – 19 September 1985) was a German lawyer, Nazi activist and military judge.

Life

Weidel was born in Neustadt, Upper Silesia (now Prudnik, Poland).[1] He studied law in Munich and Breslau.[2] He joined the Nazi Party in 1932,[3][4] and in July of that same year he became a judicial assessor in Leobschütz.[5] Later, he started working as a lawyer. He was an SS member since January 1933.[3][4][5][6] He gained the rank of an Oberscharführer in Oppeln. He was also a member of Luftschutzbund, Bund Deutscher Osten, Reichskolonialbund, NS-Reichskriegerbund and NS-Volkswohlfahrt.[7]

Weidel's application for the position of Landrat in Neustadt (Prudnik)

As a "loyal supporter of the [Nazi] movement" he ran for the position of Landrat in Neustadt (then Landkreis Neustadt O.S., present-day Prudnik County) in February 1937.[7] He opened his law office by the Prudnik Town Hall.[5] He bought shares in a local brewery and a disused cement plant, where he arranged apartments and rented warehouses.[7]

Weidel's appointment as a Chief Staff Judge

From 1939 to 1941, Weidel was Kreisgruppenführer (district group leader) of the National Socialist Association of Legal Professionals in the district of Leobschütz.[8] He joined the German army at the start of World War II. In March 1941, he took training as a military judge in Nazi-occupied Warsaw. He became a military judge at the Warsaw commandant’s office in July 1941.[7] On 12 October 1944, Adolf Hitler appointed him a Chief Staff Judge. He was responsible for sentencing opponents of the Third Reich.[9]

In May 1945, he settled in Gütersloh, Westphalia with his family.[7] In November 1948, the Bielefeld tribunal opened a case against Weidel for "membership of a criminal organization".[2] He defended himself by claiming he was insignificantly involved in Nazi politics, and that he joined the Nazi Party and SS in spring 1933. In actuality, he joined those organisations before Hitler's rise to power.[7] During the Nazi era, he declared loyalty towards the Nazi Party: "Even before the September 1930 election, I voted National Socialist and actively campaigned in the movement’s election propaganda".[2] During a 1948 hearing, Weidel claimed to have no knowledge of Nazi's treatment of Jews and of the SS's crimes.[7] Prosecutors closed the case against Weidel, citing a lack of evidence.[5]

He opened a law office in Gütersloh.[5] He became a leader of the local Federation of Expellees and sought compensation for his property left in Upper Silesia.[7] In the 1970s, police in North Rhine-Westphalia and Hamburg reopened investigations into Weidel, but failed to prosecute him.[2]

Private life

He married Lucie Plüme, teacher of the girls' class at the agricultural school in Neustadt,[10] in October 1936. She was also a member of the Nazi Party.[7] His granddaughter, Alice Weidel, is a co-chairwoman of the far-right Alternative for Germany party. [2]

References

  1. ^ Kunz, Samira (2024-11-03). "Alice Weidels Grossvater machte grosse NS-Karriere" [Grandfather of Alice Weidel had a great career in the Nazi era]. 20 Minuten (in German). Retrieved 2025-02-12.
  2. ^ a b c d e Banse, Dirk; Müller, Uwe; Nöstlinger, Nette (2024-11-02). "The hidden Nazi heritage of Germany's far-right leader". Politico. Retrieved 2025-02-05.
  3. ^ a b "Alice Weidel: Die unbekannte Geschichte von Weidels Großvater - WELT". DIE WELT (in German). 2024-11-15. Archived from the original on 2024-12-23. Retrieved 2025-02-25.
  4. ^ a b "The hidden Nazi heritage of Germany's far-right leader". POLITICO. 2024-11-02. Archived from the original on 2 November 2024. Retrieved 2025-01-04.
  5. ^ a b c d e Ogiolda, Krzysztof (2025-01-31). "Liderka AfD ma opolskie korzenie. Nie wymawia polskiej nazwy tego miasta". Opolska360 (in Polish). Retrieved 2025-02-05.
  6. ^ "Nazi-Vergangenheit: Alice Weidels Grossvater war Mitglied bei NSDAP und SS". Tages-Anzeiger (in German). 2024-11-03. Retrieved 2025-02-05.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i "Mroczna przeszłość dziadka szefowej skrajnie prawicowej partii w Niemczech. Ślady prowadzą do Głubczyc i Prudnika". Onet Wiadomości (in Polish). 2024-11-02. Retrieved 2025-02-05.
  8. ^ Rademacher, Michael (2000). Handbuch der NSDAP-Gaue 1928–1945: Die Amtsträger der NSDAP und ihrer Organisationen auf Gau- und Kreisebene in Deutschland und Österreich sowie in den Reichsgauen Danzig-Westpreußen, Sudetenland und Wartheland [Handbook of the Nazi Party Gaue 1928–1945: The Officials of the Nazi Party and Its Organisations at Gau and District Level in Germany and Austria as Well as in the Reichsgaue Danzig-West Prussia, Sudetenland and Wartheland] (in German). Vechta: Author's edition. pp. 178–179. ISBN 3-8311-0216-3.
  9. ^ "NSDAP, SS und Militärrichter: Alice Weidel will nichts von der NS-Karriere ihres Großvaters gewusst haben". Der Spiegel (in German). 2024-11-02. ISSN 2195-1349. Retrieved 2025-02-05.
  10. ^ "Wir haben uns verlobt!". Der Oberschlesische Wanderer. Gleiwitz: Neumanns Stadtbuchdruckerei. 1936-08-20. p. 12.
Allikas: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hans_Weidel
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