Fritz Weitzel

From Metapedia
Jump to: navigation, search
Fritz Weitzel
Fritz Weitzel I.jpg
Fritz Weitzel was a man of intellect and knew his history, and his heritage. He also recognized that the strength of a people can only be derived from their roots, and in order for any great society to flourish it must have a cultural identity from which to draw that strength.
Birth name Friedrich Philipp Weitzel
Nickname Fritz
Birth date 27 April 1904
Place of birth Frankfurt am Main, Province of Hesse-Nassau, Kingdom of Prussia, German Empire
Death date ⚔ 19 June 1940 (aged 36)
Place of death Düsseldorf, Rhine Province, German Reich
Place of burial North Cemetery, Düsseldorf (Field 89, Grave 696)
Allegiance  National Socialist Germany
Service/branch SA-Logo.png Sturmabteilung
Flag Schutzstaffel.png SS
Years of service 1924–1926
1926–1940
Rank SS-Obergruppenführer
Service number NSDAP #18,833
SS rune.png #408
Battles/wars World War II
Awards Golden Party Badge
Grand Officer of the Italian Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus
Relations ∞ 1933 Betty Wengenroth
Other work Metalworker (Schlosser)

Friedrich "Fritz" Philipp Weitzel (27 April 1904 – 19 June 1940) was a German SA member, SS rune.png general, politician, member of the Reichstag, police president and Prussian State Council.

Life

Fritz Weitzel (standing) and Sepp Dietrich
Dienstaltersliste der Schutzstaffel der NSDAP (1 December 1936)
Fritz Weitzel II.jpg
  • 1910–1918 Attended school in Frankfurt am Main
  • After a metalworker (Schlosser) apprenticeship (1918–1921), he worked in that trade until 1927.
    • until 1923, he was a member of the Socialist Workers' Youth (Sozialistische Arbeiter-Jugend; SAJ)
  • 1923 Jioned the NSDAP, which was banned shortly afterwards
  • 1924 Joined the SA (Spielmann of the SA-Spielmannszug Frankfurt/Main)
  • 1925 Employee at the office of SA leader Hermann Hirt (b. 14 April 1897)
  • September 1925 Re-joined the NSDAP
  • 1926 Transfer from the SA to the Allgemeine SS
  • 1927 Transferred to the Frankfurt SS when it was founded as SS-Sturmbannführer and leader of the SS in Frankfurt/Main
    • He helped form and lead the SS unit in Frankfurt and in 1927 he was in charge of the SS in Gau Hesse-Nassau Süd. Over the next two years, he led the SS units in Gau Rheinland-Süd, Gau Rheinpfalz and Gau Hesse-Nassau Nord.
  • 1927–1929 Machinist with the Plaubel company in Frankfurt am Main
    • 1929 Member of the workers council (Betriebsrat) of Plaubel company
  • 1 May 1928 to 11 July 1930 Commander of SS-Standarte 2, based in Frankfurt am Main
  • 11 July to 18 November 1929 SS-Standartenführer III (position, not rank) Hessen (with effect from 1 May 1929)
  • 18 November 1929 Appointed head of the SS-Brigade West (Gau-SS-Führer Rheinland), what would become SS-Oberabschnitt (Main District) "West", a senior command comprising all of Wehrkreis (Military District) VI, which he would hold until 20 April 1940.
    • Throughout these years, he was arrested and fined multiple times for fighting communists of the KPD and carrying illegal firearms (which was necessary since murder by leftists was a constant threat). He was known as an experienced brawler, afraid of nothing and no one.
  • 20 July 1930 to 6 October 1932 Leader of the SS-Abschnitt V (Essen)
  • 27 July 1930 SS-Oberführer West (with effect from 20 July 1930)
  • September 1930 In the German Reich election, Weitzel was elected to the Reichstag as a NSDAP deputy from electoral constituency 19 (Hessen-Nassau). He would be reelected from there several times until the election of 1936 when he switched to constituency 22 (Düsseldorf-East), the seat he held until his death.
    • On 12 May 1932, Weitzel was involved in an attack on the left-wing journalist Helmuth Klotz in the Reichstag restaurant. Weitzel, together with three other NSDAP deputies, was barred from parliament for 30 days. However, the session had to be adjourned when they refused to leave the Reichstag chamber. On 14 May 1932, Weitzel, along with deputies Edmund Heines and Wilhelm Stegmann, was sentenced by a Berlin court to three months in prison for assault.
  • 1931 to July 1932 "Brigadeführer West" der SS
  • July 1932 to 16 November 1933 Führer der SS-Gruppe West
  • 1 May 1933 Provisionally entrusted with the administration of the police headquarters (Polizeipräsidium) in Düsseldorf
  • 11 July 1933 Appointed to the Prussian State Council (Preußischer Staatsrat) by Göring
  • 1 November 1933 Appointed Police President of Düsseldorf by Prussian Minister of the Interior Hermann Göring
    • As head of police, he banned processions and public appearances by church groups in the city and published a pamphlet against Catholic priests and religious orders.
  • 16 November 1933 to 20 April 1940 Führer des SS-Oberabschnitts West
  • 30 March 1935 Appointed Provincial Councilor for the Rhine Province (Preußischer Provinzialrat der Rheinprovinz)
    • He was also made head of the SS and police court in Düsseldorf.
  • 1937 As of the Dienstaltersliste der Schutzstaffel der NSDAP (1 December 1937) he was a member of Lebensborn, his wife was a member of the SS-Sippengemeinschaft (SS Clan Community)
  • 27 May 1937 RFSS prohibits Weitzel, who had taken flying lessons, to pilot an airplane himself; he was too important and the risk of a plane crash was too great.
  • March/April 1938 Leader of the security staff for the referendum on 10 April 1938 in the SS West Section (SS-Oberabschnitt West)
  • 11 June 1938 Appointed as Higher SS and Police Leader (HSSPF) "West" ("Höherer SS- und Polizeiführer bei den Oberpräsidenten von Westfalen, Hannover, der Rheinprovinz und beim Reichsstatthalter in Lippe und Schaumburg-Lippe im Wehrkreis VI"), based in Düsseldorf, by Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler.
    • As such, he commanded all SS, SD, SiPo and uniformed police in Wehrkreis VI.
  • 2 January 1940 By order of the Reichsführer SS, he was assigned to the Leibstandarte-SS "Adolf Hitler" for 3 days a week in the month of January 1940 for informational training
  • 20 April 1940 During the Second World War, after Operation Weserübung, Weitzel was transferred to become HSSPF "Nord" with headquarters in Oslo, Norway.
    • subordinated to the Reich Commissioner for the occupied Norwegian territories

Commands

  • Police President of Düsseldorf (12 March/1 May 1933 – 19 June 1940)
  • Higher SS and Police Leader (HSSPF) "West" (11 June 1938 – 20 April 1940)
  • Higher SS and Police Leader (HSSPF) "Nord" (20 April 1940 – 19 June 1940), succeeded Wilhelm Rediess

Death

On 19 June 1940, Weitzel was fatally injured by shrapnel in an Royal Air Force bomber air raid on Düsseldorf while he was home on leave. At the time of his death, Weitzel was the fourth most senior officer in the SS. Himmler officially classified him as "fallen".

He was given a lavish state funeral in Düsseldorf, in which the Chief of the Ordnungspolizei, SS-Obergruppenfuhrer Kurt Daluege, the Rhenish Oberpresident and Reichskommissar for Norway Josef Terboven and Düsseldorf Gauleiter Friedrich Karl Florian all took part.

Family

On 2 March 1933, Weitzel married his fiancée Betty Wengenroth, other sources state née Dobrindt, later married again as Wengenroth (8 February 1912 — 4 August 1998). They had three children:

  • Ursula (b. 13 February 1936)
  • Günter (1938–2009)
  • Bettina (b. 18 October 1939)

Promotions

Awards, decorations and honours

Honours

  • On 21 June 1940, the 20. SS-Standarte (Düsseldorf) received the honorary name "Fritz Weitzel"

Gallery

  • Porträt Polizeipräsident Düsseldorf Fritz Weitzel.jpg
  • 1940-06-27 gedenkartikel weitzel.jpg
  • Fritz Weitzel, Betty Wengenroth, grave.jpg

Works

Sources

Retrieved from "http://en.metapedia.org/m/index.php?title=Fritz_Weitzel&oldid=517581"