Julius Streicher

From Metapedia

Julius Streicher (February 12, 1885 – October 16, 1946) was a prominent National Socialist in Germany prior to and during World War II. He was the publisher Der Stürmer, a major newspaper within Germany.

[edit] Early life

Streicher was born in Fleinhausen, Bavaria, one of nine children of the teacher Friedrich Streicher and his wife Anna (née Weiss). He worked as an elementary school teacher until joining the German Army in 1914. Streicher won the Iron Cross and reached the rank of lieutenant by the time the Armistice was signed in 1918. In 1913 Streicher married Kunigunde Roth, a baker's daughter, in Nürnberg. They had two sons, Lothar (born 1915) and Elmar (born 1918).

[edit] National Socialism

In 1919 Streicher was active in the Schutz und Trutz Bund, an anti-Semitic organization. In 1920 he turned to the newly established German Socialist Party (Deutschsozialistische Partei), the platform of which was close to that of the early National Socialist Party. Streicher moved it in more anti-Semitic directions, which aroused opposition. His battles with other members led him to take his followers to yet another organization in 1921, the German Working Community (Deutsche Werkgemeinschaft), which hoped to unite the various anti-Semitic Völkisch movements. In 1922, Streicher merged his personal following with that of Adolf Hitler, almost doubling the membership of the new party. He participated in the Munich Putsch in 1923.

In 1923 Streicher founded, Der Stürmer a paper which was severely critical of Jews. Eventually the newspaper reached a peak circulation of 480,000 in 1935.

Streicher argued in the newspaper that the Jews had contributed to the depression, unemployment, and inflation in Germany which afflicted the country during the 1920's. He claimed that Jews were white-slavers and were responsible for over 90 percent of the prostitutes in the country.

After the refounding of the Party, Streicher became Gauleiter of Franconia. Streicher remained on good terms with Hitler and was loyal to him till the very end. On May 23, two weeks after Germany's surrender, Streicher was captured by the Americans.

Streicher's wife, Kunigunde Streicher, died in 1943 after 30 years of marriage. Streicher was married to his former secretary, Adele Tappe, just days before his arrest.

[edit] Trial and execution

Julius Streicher was found guilty at the Nuremberg trials and sentenced to death on October 1, 1946.

During the trial Streicher declared several times that the jailers had tortured him. For reasons that remain unclear today, all of his comments on this issue were erased from the official protocol. But on the audiotape of the Streitcher's trial these comments are present.

His last words, before execution on October 16, 1946, were "Heil Hitler," and, "The Bolsheviks will hang you one day!".