Julius Streicher

Julius Streicher
Gauleiter of Franconia Weimar Republic National Socialist Germany
In office 1 March 1929 – 16 February 1940
Leader	Adolf Hitler
Preceded by	Office established
Succeeded by	Hans Zimmermann (1906–1984) (acting, 1940) Karl Holz (acting from 1942, permanent from 1944)
Gauleiter of Nuremberg-Fürth Weimar Republic
In office 1 October 1928 – 1 March 1929
Leader	Adolf Hitler
Preceded by	Office established
Succeeded by	Himself
Gauleiter of Nordbayern Weimar Republic
In office 2 April 1925 – 1 October 1928
Leader	Adolf Hitler
Preceded by	Office established
Succeeded by	Himself
Born	12 February 1885(1885-02-12) Fleinhausen, Kingdom of Bavaria, German Empire
Died	16 October 1946 (aged 61) Nuremberg Prison, Nuremberg, Allied-occupied Germany
Nationality	German
Political party	NSDAP (1921–1945)
Other political affiliations	DSP (1918–1921)
Spouse(s)	Kunigunde Roth (m. 1913, died 1943) Adele Tappe (m. 1945)
Children	2 (Lothar and Elmar)
Profession	Teacher, publisher, activist
Military service
Allegiance	German Empire
Service/branch	Royal Bavarian Army Imperial German Army
Years of service	1914–1918
Rank	Leutnant der Reserve
Unit	6th Bavarian Reserve Infantry Regiment
Battles/wars	World War I
Awards	Iron Cross

Julius Sebastian Streicher (b. 12 February 1885 in Fleinhausen; d. 16 October 1946 in Nuremberg) was a German teacher, officer and prominent National Socialist in Germany prior to and during World War II. He was the publisher of Der Stürmer, a major newspaper in Germany.

Life

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 Imperial German Army in 1914. Streicher won the Iron Cross and reached the rank of Leutnant der Reserve (lieutenant of the reserves) by the time the Armistice was signed in 1918.

NSDAP and Der Stürmer

In 1919 Streicher was active in the Schutz- und Trutzbund (de). In 1919 he turned to the newly established German Socialist Party (Deutschsozialistische Partei), a group whose platform was close to that of Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei (NSDAP). Streicher moved it towards tackling the Jewish Question head-on.

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 Völkisch movements. In 1922, Streicher merged his personal following with that of Adolf Hitler, almost doubling the membership of the NSDAP. He participated in the March on the Feldherrnhalle in 1923.

In 1923 Streicher founded, Der Stürmer a paper which was severely critical of what it percieved to be Jewish criminal activity. 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 (Weimar Republic). He claimed that Jews were mainly responsible for the prostitution in the country.

In Mein Kampf, Hitler praised Streicher for subordinating the German Socialist Party to the NSDAP. In 1929 Streicher became Gauleiter (regional leader) of Franconia. In July 1932, Streicher was elected as a deputy of the Reichstag from electoral constituency 26, Franconia, a seat that he would hold throughout the National Socialist regime. Streicher remained on good terms with Hitler and was loyal to him till the very end.

Post-war

On 23 May 1945, two weeks after Germany's surrender, Streicher was captured by US-American troops.

Death

Trial and execution

At the Nuremberg Show Trials, Streicher was indicteded with sensational and emotional personal charges with little or no legal basis and sentenced to death.

"Nuremberg defendant Julius Streicher, who was eventually hanged because he published a sometimes sensational anti-Jewish weekly paper, was brutally mistreated following his arrest. He was badly beaten, kicked, whipped, spat at, forced to drink saliva and burned with cigarettes. His genitals were beaten. Eyebrow and chest hair was pulled out. He was stripped and photographed."

"The IMT transcript itself contains an informative passage relating to the testimony of Julius Streicher. His testimony describes the manner in which he was tortured. In response to a prosecution objection, the passage was expunged from the transcript, but not the Court’s discussion of whether or not the passage should be expunged."

Family

In 1913, Streicher married Kunigunde Roth, a baker's daughter, in Nürnberg. They had two sons:

• Lothar (born 1915)
• Elmar (born 1918)

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

Quotes

Who knows the truth and does not speak it out, is a deplorable coward.

—Julius Streicher

And if I were still a teacher, I would say every day at the beginning of the lesson and at the end of the lesson. Children, never forget... Christ said the jews have been murderers since the beginning, and their father is the devil.

—Julius Streicher

Awards, decorations and honours

• Iron Cross (1914), 2nd and 1st Class
• Military Merit Order (Bavaria)
• Military Merit Cross (Austria-Hungary), 3rd Class with the ribbon of the Austrian Bravery Medal
• Participant badge (Teilnehmerabzeichen des „Deutschen Tags Nürnberg 1./2. September 1923“)
• Blood Order
• Goldenes Ehrenzeichen der NSDAP
• Honour Chevron for the Old Guard (Ehrenwinkel der Alten Kämpfer)
• Ehrenkreuz für Frontkämpfer
• Honorary citizen of Fürth (Ehrenbürger der Stadt Fürth) in October 1933
  • Large plaque of honorary citizen (Große Ehrenbürgerplakette der Stadt Fürth)
• Honorary citizen of Türkheim (Ehrenbürgerschaft von Türkheim)

Gallery

• 

  Julius Streicher in 1923

• 

  Julius Streicher and Adolf Hitler, 1920s

• 

  Rudolf Hess, Adolf Hitler, Julius Streicher and others, Nuremberg Rally, 1927

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  Hitler and party members (like Streicher, Hess, Lutze, etc.), Nuremberg Rally, 1935

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See also

• The Poisonous Mushroom

External links

• The Torture of Julius Streicher, A Documentary Expose
• NOT GUILTY AT NUREMBERG: The German Defense Case - Detailed descriptions and criticisms of the alleged evidence against each of the accused at the IMT.
• Julius Streicher and His Notorious Anti-Jewish Weekly, Der Stürmer