Martin Bormann

Martin Bormann with the membership badge of the Frontbann (de)

Martin Ludwig Bormann (17 June 1900 – 2 May 1945) was a German veteran of the Imperial German Army and an influential official in National Socialist Germany. He was an officer of the SA and the SS, became Chief-of-Staff and personal secretary to Rudolf Hess, and then Adolf Hitler. After Rudolf Hess's flight to Britain in 1941 Bormann became head of the NSDAP's Chancellery.

Early life

From left to right: Adolf Hitler, Martin Bormann, Hermann Göring and Baldur von Schirach in front of the Teehaus (tea house) on the Mooslahnerkopf hill near the Berghof, 1936

SS-Obergruppenführer Bormann

Generalmajor Cranz briefs Adolf Hitler in 1939 during the Poland Campaign, second from left Martin Bormann.

Bormann to Gerdy Troost (de), Widow of Professor Paul Ludwig Troost (de)

The families of Martin Bormann and Albert Speer as guests of Adolf Hitler in the "great hall" (Große Halle) of the Berghof.

Born in Wegeleben (now in Saxony-Anhalt) in the Province of Saxony of the Kingdom of Prussia in the German Empire, Bormann was the son of Theodor Bormann (1862–1903), on the staff of the Post Office, and his second wife, Antonie Bernhardine Mennong. The family was Lutheran. He had two half-siblings (Else and Walter Bormann) from his father's earlier marriage to Louise Grobler, who died in 1898. Antonie Bormann gave birth to three sons, one of whom died in infancy. Martin and Albert (1902–1989) survived to adulthood. Theodor died when Bormann was three, and his mother soon remarried.

Bormann's studies at an agricultural trade high school were interrupted when he was required for service in The Great War and joined the 55th Field Artillery Regiment as a gunner in June 1918. In training, he never saw action before the war ended months later, but served in garrison duty until February 1919. Bormann subsequently became estate manager of a large farm in Mecklenburg. Shortly after starting work at the estate, Bormann joined a landowners association. He later joined the Freikorps organisation headed by Gerhard Roßbach (de) in 1922, acting as section leader and treasurer.

National Socialists

In 1927, Bormann joined the National Socialist Party (NSDAP), working on the staff of the SA from 1928 to 1930, and while there he founded the National Socialist Automobile Corps, precursor to the National Socialist Motor Corps. On 1st July 1933 he was appointed Chief-of-Staff to the office of Rudolf Hess. On 10 October 1933, Hitler named Bormann Reichsleiter (national leader – the second highest political rank) of the Party, and in November he was named a Reichstag deputy. By June 1934, Bormann was gaining acceptance into Hitler's inner circle and accompanied him everywhere, providing briefings and summaries of events and requests. In 1935, Bormann was appointed as overseer of renovations at the Berghof, Hitler's property at Obersalzberg. On 1 January 1937, he joined the Schutzstaffel (SS).

Influence

When Captain Karlheinz Pintsch, Rudolf Hess's adujtant, arrived at the Berghof to tell Hitler of Hess's unexpected flight to Britain in May 1941, Pintsch told Bormann of it in the corridor on the way to lunch. His response was "Don't involve me! I don't know anything about it, Pinsch!" After lunch Pinsch was arrested and imprisoned for three years. He survived the war.

According to Heinrich Heim, whom Bormann ordered to record Hitler's Table Talk as well as a minute chronicle of all the important events at the Fuhrer's court, Bormann stated "at my suggestion Heydrich was appointed Reich Protector" of Bohemia and Moravia, having spoken up for Heydrich to Hitler. Heim subsequently stated that Bormann's motive was to separate SS-Reichsfuhrer Heinrich Himmler from Heydrich. Reinhard Heydrich (who was assassinated in 1942) was said to be investigating Bormann as a possible Soviet spy. Later, in his 'Memoirs', the National Socialist intelligence officer and later head of West German intelligence Reinhard Gehlen stated that Bormann had been a Soviet spy: these have been debunked. Also others have made similar claims.

Death

After Hitler committed suicide, Bormann, in the company of Hans Baur (d.1993), Erich Kempka (d.1975), Johann Rattenhuber (d.1957), Heinz Linge (d.1980) and Dr. Ludwig Stumpfegger, "all wearing steel helmets" prepared to flee central Berlin on 30 April/1 May 1945. (Stumpfegger was shot in the leg during the escape and committed suicide on 2nd May.) There has been a great deal of controversy and debate and many theories on Bormann having survived and sightings were reported at points all over the world. Bormann's body was not found until 1972 in Berlin. Various methods including genetic DNA testing have supported the identification. It appears he died, possibly by suicide, near the Lehrter Bahnhof (Station).

Nuremburg

At the Nuremburg Show Trials Bormann was tried in absentia and sentenced to death.

The Spy arguments

Lieutenant-General Reinhard Gehlen suggested in his memoirs, Der Dienst, that Bormann had not only been a Soviet spy but had survived the war and was living in Russia under perfect cover. "There was widespread incredulity and scepticism" and the editors of Die Welt, upon approaching Gehlen for detailed confirmation, were turned down. The newspaper stated "conclusive proof is lacking" - "too many questions about Bormann remain unanswered" - "innumerable hot trails". Horst von Glasenapp, a Frankfurt investigating judge, immediately asked Gehlen to record his secret information on Bormann, and the Federal Government gave Gehlen permission to make a statement. Gehlen then said that in 1946 or 1947 one of his contact men had seen the weekly newsreel in an East Berlin cinema; it included a sporting event in Moscow and during the film the camera had swung along the mass of spectators in the stadium. Gehlen's man had detected Bormann among the crowd. This was all Gehlen's statement to Glasenapp amounted to. Moreover, he was not prepared to make the statement, which ran to four foolscap pages, on oath.

Family

Martin Bormann married on 2 September 1929 his fiancée Gerda Buch (de), daughter of the NSDAP judge Major a. D. and SS-Obergruppenführer Walter Hans Buch (de). The marriage produced ten children between 1930 and 1943.

• Adolf Martin „Krönzi“ (b. 14 April 1930; d. 11 March 2013)
  • named after his godfather Adolf Hitler; ordained a Roman Catholic priest and worked in Africa as a missionary (de). He later left the priesthood and married a nun.
• Ilse Renate „Elke“ (b. 9 July 1931; d. 1958)
  • because Ilse was named after her godmother Ilse Heß, her name was changed to Elke, after Rudolf Heß' flight to England 1941 and the fact, he had fallen from grace.
• Ehrengard „Gerda“ Franziska (b. 9 July 1931), Ilse's twin sister, died shortly after birth
• Irmgard „Irmi“ (b. 25 July 1933)
• Rudolf Gerhard „Helmut“ (b. 31 August 1934; d. 28 August 2017)
  • because Rudolf was named after his godfather Rudolf Heß, his name was changed to Helmut for the same reasons as Ilse/Elke.
• Heinrich „Heiner“ Hugo (b. 13 June 1936)
  • named after his godfather Heinrich Himmler
• Eva Ute (b. 4.´ August 1938)
• Gerda (b. 23 October 1940)
• Friedrich "Fred"/"Fritz" Hartmut (b. 4 March 1942)
• Joseph Volker (b. 18 September 1943; d. 1946)

Gerda Bormann's tragic death

Gerda Bormann fell seriously ill with abdominal and cervical cancer in South Tyrol. The Allies, who now knew who she was, refused her the necessary operation. Gerda Bormann died in the evening of 23 March 1946 in Meran at the age of only 36. Her death was tantamount to murder because she was refused treatment. In her last will she named her brother, Kapitänleutnant of the Kriegsmarine Hans-Walter Buch (de), guardian of the children. The youngest, Joseph Volker, is said to have been severely traumatized by the war experiences, refused to eat and died after the death of his mother, which he could not cope with mentally and emotionally. Since Gerda's brother was still a prisoner of war and her father was interned, the bishop of Brixen am Eisack allowed priest Schmitz to take care of the children. He gave him a considerable sum of money from his private fortune. Through the mediation of the priest Josef Obergasser, the children were temporarily placed with German foster families in South Tyrol (Schmitz remained guardian), the older ones attended a Catholic boarding school run by Caritas in Rome (priest Karl Meyer played a large part in the fate of the children). The Italian government's plans to move the Bormann children to orphanages in southern Italy could thus be prevented. In 1950, through the intercession of the priest Anton Weber and Bishop Alois Hudal, the once Protestant children, who had since been baptized as Catholics, received an audience with Pope Pius XII.

Awards and decorations

• Frontbannabzeichen, 1932
• Honour Chevron for the Old Guard (Ehrenwinkel der Alten Kämpfer)
• Goldenes Parteiabzeichen der NSDAP, 1934 as SA-Standartenführer
• Ehrenkreuz des Weltkrieges without Swords
• Deutsche Olympia-Ehrenzeichen, 1st Class, 1936
• Ehrendegen des Reichsführers SS, 1937
• SS-Totenkopfring, 1937 as SS-Gruppenführer
• Blood Order (Blutorden) on 9 November 1938
• Order of the Crown of Italy, Commander
• NSDAP Long Service Awards (Dienstauszeichnungen der NSDAP) in Bronze and Silber for 10 and 15 years
• Long Service Award (SS-Dienstauszeichnung)
• Ehrenzeichen für Verdienste im Volkstumskampf (de)
• Order of the Crown of Italy, Knight Grand Cross
• Order of the Roman Eagle, Knight Grand Cross
• Hungarian Order of Merit, Grand Cross
• Grand Imperial Order of the Red Arrows, Grand Cross, 1943 as SS-Obergruppenführer

Further reading

• Martin Bormann by James McGovern, William Morrow & Co.. New York, 1968.
• Hess - The Man and His Mission, by J. Bernard Hutton, London, April 1970.

External links

• NOT GUILTY AT NUREMBERG: The German Defense Case - detailed descriptions and criticisms of the alleged evidence against each of the accused at the IMT
• Book Review: Hitler’s Traitor: Martin Bormann and the Defeat of the Reich (by Louis Kilzer) : WW2

Biographies

• Martin Bormann, Part One
• Martin Bormann, Part Two
• Biography in English, tracesofwar.com