Rolf-Heinz Höppner

Rolf-Heinz Höppner (sometimes Hoeppner in English; b. 24 February 1910, Kingdom of Saxony, German Empire; d. 23 October 1998 in Bad Godesberg, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany) was a German jurist as well as SA and SS officer. Höppner was one of the leading architects and implementers of German nationalist policy in the Wartheland.

Life

Höppner studied law at Leipzig University. He began a court internship in Chemnitz, Hohenstein-Ernstthal and Leipzig and an internship as a lawyer in Chemnitz, which he completed in 1937 by passing a state examination and obtaining the qualification of an assessor. He got involved in the National Socialist movement during his studies. He enrolled in the NSDAP in 1930 (Nr.: 321,209) and joined the SA a year later. In 1934, at the age of merely 24, he joined the Sicherheitsdienst of the Allgemeine SS (SS-Nr.: 107,136), in which he rapidly advanced. His first position was in the press section of the SD in Chemnitz.

At the outbreak of the war, Höppner was deputy head of the Dresden SD office. He kept this post from 1 November 1937 to 30 April 1940. At the same time, he was named head of the ethnic department in the Reich Governor's Office (Leiter des Volkstumsreferats in der Reichsstatthalterei) in Posen. Höppner was appointed Head of the Posen office of the Security Service replacing SS-Sturmbannfϋhrer Albert Rapp. In May 1940, he was appointed vice-head of the Posen Replacement Centre (Umwandererzentralstelle; UWZ). In this position, he worked closely with Herbert Karl Strickner. Höppner had a number of other functions.

In 1942, he replaced K. A. Coulon as Head of the Main Office for the German People’s List in the Wartheland. On 21 March 1943, he took the leadership of the district party office for nationality matters (Gauamtsleiter für Volkstumsfragen), which was to oversee all nationality-related issues in the Wartheland. Meanwhile, he managed the nationality section (I/50) in the Office of the Reich Governor in the Wartheland (Amtschef in der Reichsstatthalterei) under Arthur Greiser. On 21 June 1944, he was promoted to SS-Obersturmbannführer. In July 1944, Höppner was ordered to Berlin to head the sub-department III A "Ethnic and Legal Issues" in the Reich Security Main Office.

Höppner and the Holocaust / Lebensraum

During the war, Höppner was involved in deportations of Jews and Poles from the territory annexed by Germany to the General Government.

On 16 July 1941, Höppner allegedly sent a letter to Adolf Eichmann containing various proposals related to the Holocaust. However, Eichmann stated he had never seen the alleged letter and was certain he would have remembered it, due to its drastic contents. He also criticized various aspects of form and contents of the alleged letter. Höppner twice denied he was the author.

On 2 September 1941, Höppner allegedly sent a letter to the RSHA containing various other proposals related to Lebensraum.

Holocaust revisionists have also argued that even if the letters are authentic, various aspects of their politically correct interpretation are dubious, and personal opinions and proposals by a subordinate is not evidence for committed atrocities.

See also Lebensraum: Alleged Himmler order to exterminate all Poles on this alleged document, which was used as evidence against Höppner.

Post-war

In June 1945, Höppner was taken prisoner by the British invasion forces and placed in the Flensburg stronghold. He appeared as a defense witness in the Nuremberg show trials. On 25 February 1947, he was handed over to the Polish authorities and soon placed in a Poznań prison. On 15 October 1947, an official investigation was launched aginst Strickner and Höppner. During their time in prison, both remained under constant supervision of the communist Security Office. The Department Head of the Poznań Public Security Office issued a sizeable report dated 24 December 1948, describing, although not without great prejudice and anti-German resentments, the personalities of both prisoners:

“I have found 'S' (Strickner] to strongly love his family, which resides in Germany; his mind is fastidious, crafty and emotional in a German way. Despite having remained a Nazi fanatic, he is absolutely terrified of death and all forms of aggression […]. Höppner has above-average intelligence, is even-tempered and capable of concealing his emotions; even in prison, he displaystypical German impertinence and impudence; much as 'S', he has strong ties to his family, views capital punishment without emotion or panic. Nevertheless, during examination, I have detected signs of cowardice, skilfully masked under a veneer of arrogance. He is for the most part harder to handle in the investigation and more cunning than 'S'."

Höppner was convicted for alleged crimes and sentenced to life on 15 March 1949. SS-Sturmbannführer Dr. phil. Strickner was also found guilty under the same decree and sentenced to death (executed on 7 January 1951). To serve his sentence, Höppner was moved to the prison in Sztum in July 1951. On arrival, he petitioned President Bolesław Bierut for clemency. In September 1956, he applied for early release. His request was granted on 18 December 1956.

Back in West Germany in early 1957, he worked as a senior government councilor in the Ministry of Housing (Oberregierungsrat im Wohnungsbauministerium) and later lived happy and fulfilling years in Cologne and Bad Godesberg.

External links

In downloadable books

• The “Extermination Camps” of “Aktion Reinhardt" - Höppner is discussed at several places in the downloadable book. They can be found with the search tool in a PDF reader.