Blood Purge: captured/arrested at Munich - killed in Berlin

[Zsasz]

In the interim I managed to track down Krauss' papers. Nothing too fancy here.

However, at least I can present to you folks his precise personal data: Friedrich "Fritz" Krauss (also called Fritz Kraus-Crusius) was vorn on March 14th 1894 in Fürth.

There is one letter of the National Organisation of the NSDAP pertaining to the fuzzy issue of his diverging names:

"Dem Parteigenossen Fritz Krauss wurde auf Grund einer der Reichsleitung vorgelegten Aufnahme Erklärung mit Wirkung vom 1. August 29 unter der mgl 143.678 und unter dem Name Crusius in die NSDAP aufngeommen und mit Rücksicht auf seinen Wohnsitz der Ortsgruppe Berlin zugeteilt. Seit 1.3.35 wird der Genannte als Mgl der Ortsgruppe Braunes Haus unter dem Namen Krauss-Crusius geführt."


Now for something different: Does anyone have access to the book "Geheimakte Gerlich/Bell" bei Richardi? I've been told that there is a picture of Röhm's protege Martin Schätzl in it. If anyone is in a position to get hold of that book and has the technical means to scan that picture - it would be much appreciated if he or she could post that picture here.

[Zsasz]

Here a rarely seen little something a friend of mine uncovered during a visit to Munich.

[Michal78]

Good portrait of von Detten. (ullsteinbild)
Michal

[hstinv]

On Keilhaus I've still got to do some research. Can you point out to me the titles of the books you read that encapsulate some info on him? I could look at them myself to search for information on archival material on him in the literature section and/or the endnotes and check it out when time permits.

Regarding Keilhaus:
- Lehmann, Rudolf: Leibstandarte, vol I
- Philippon, Jean: Nuit des Longes Couteaux
- Weingartner, James: Hitler's Guard

These two contain quite detailed information of activities at Lichterfelde on 30.6-2.7.1934. Unfortunately, only Lehmann provides exact sources. Weingartner and Lehmann can be seen supplementing each other since both fail to use all relevant BDC etc. sources but the noteworthy point is that Lehmann has an insider's edge.

--

I think it would be quite simple to try to get names to all those LAH members who were involved in purge proceedings either in Munich or in Berlin. According to Lehmann, there were 24 in total who all were promoted one rank. Of this number, following ones can be subtracted based on their promotion data in DAL/October 1934 or their otherwise assured involvement:
- Sepp Dietrich
- Albin von Reitzenstein (Ostuf. 1.7.1934)
- Alfred Holstein (Ostuf. 1.7.1934)
- Wilhelm Keilhaus (Ostuf. 4.7.1934)
- Bernhard Siebken (Ostuf 4.7.1934)

Now there is 19 left. What is known from testimonies of Dietrich and Keilhaus is that 6 NCOs formed the firing squad at Stadelheim and 8 men (it is unclear if "men" refers to enlisted or also includes NCOs as a concept) + drum major at Lichterfelde. If these are further subtracted, only 4 are left. These must also be ranks below SS-Sturmführer since no other promotions of Leibstandarte members on a suitable timeframe (30.6-4.7) can be traced.

I assume that with "the 24" Lehmann only meant actual LAH members and not for example members of SS-Begleitkommando (although DAL lists them technically as Leibstandarte affiliates) such as Gesche, Schädle, Dirr or Kempka who all seem to have been promoted.

What is especially interesting is that two such major participants as Otto Reich and Martin Kohlroser did not receive promotions. There might of course be administrative reasons for that such as their current postings or rather recent promotions (Reich -> Ostubaf: 30.1.1934, Kohlroser -> Stubaf: 1.10.1933).

BTW: One more intesting fact I learnt the other day: The Röhm Purge victim Nixdorf was a brother of the mother of the infamous Holocaust denier Horst Mahler who is still mentioned every now and them in the media in our days due to the appaling histrionics he frequently pulls off.

Once again, a confusing but nevertheless interesting piece of information.

Do you happen to have any additional background data about Nixdorf? As a Feldjäger-Obersturmführer he must have been one of the company commanders (or an officer with comparable responsibility) as part of the Feldjäger-Bereitschaft IIIA Breslau.

I have long found “the purge” a fascinating subject and so am excited to have found this thread. I have read Lehmann, Weingartner, Gallo, Maracin, Hoffmann and others who have addressed the subject. However, the more I have studied the more I question Lehmann’s facts and question his conclusions relative to the quantity (“24”) of executioners. Given the 6 (Stadelheim) and 8 (Lichterfelde) man firing squad teams that all authors seem to agree on, the volume of prisoners executed, the timeframe to effect the executions, and other factors I am uncertain if the “24” man estimate can possibly be accurate.

Scott

[hstinv]

Another related question - on p. 146-147 of Maracin the author discusses a "young SS recruit" employed as a photographer by the House of Ullstein who was haunted by his participation in the executions of 37 victims. This recruit apparently felt compelled to discuss his activities and remorse then subsequently went missing. Has anyone been able to determine his name and unit? Wondering how he appears on 1934 SS lists? Raises some other important questions.

Scott

[mty]

Scott: since I don't have Maracin's book available now, can you quote me the exact sentence please?

This has a bit similar echo than the rumour of certain "Sturmführer Solm" who claimed that he tried to prevent the murder of von Schleicher. No other books than "Reich Chancellory 1933-1945" by Hegner mention that and no SS DAL I have checked has anything even close to "Solm" as a name. Also the case of "Röhm's Avengers", put forward by a former KL prisoner named Eugen Kogon, was comparable case of repeated hearsay with little or no factual basis.

[Konrad1979]

Dear colleagues!
Stachura has mentioned the "alternative government" by Schleicher in 1934.

Is anywhere any information about it?
And are there any books where Schleicher-Röhm plot is described as the real one, not a fabrication, as well as its collisions and the participayion of Gregor Strasser in it??

[konstantinkrueger]

Alisa
I too am interested in the name von Wimmersperg/berg. I live in a grand house in Silesia, Poland, formerly Prussia, that used to belong to the von Wimmersberg family. They lost the house in a game of cards in about 1858, but had owned it for over 100 years. A recent German visitor was descended from the von Wimmersberg's gardeners. He seems to know a fair amount about that family from the C18. Anyway, nothing to do with the Nazis, which this forum is about, but I am trying to piece together the history of the house I own here
Jim

dear jim,dear alisa,
i am very touched to find your posting-i myself am a garnddaughter of wimmerspergs and i am very interested in this house you spoke about-i know the wimmerspergs ghad two houses in poland-where is yours?one must have been at peterwitz-the other i forgot-i have lost the unterlagen...if you can please write to me to my emailadress:[email protected] you.i hope you will read this though its twi years too late...

[konstantinkrueger]

Hi Jim
Thanks for all your internet posts which I browsed today...including photo's of your home on facebook. What an awesome project you and your family have undertaken. Its quite strange for me to view the pictures of the house and surrounds as I have always been interested in history and my family history. My grandmother's stories of Prussia and castles and family tragedies always made me curious about my father's side of the family. In those days the old Prussia was inaccessible to us except that once my father attended a physics conference and a delegate from Poland (I think) told him he was familiar with the name "von Wimmersperg." I used to pester my grandmother about her first husband and his family (Joachim von Wimmersperg) but never got very far. In 1991/2 I requested that she write to 2 ladies living in Berlin with the "von Wimmersperg" surname. A few weeks later a letter returned to her stating that they did not want any trouble and could not help her. It was all very peculiar.

I was under the impression until a few years ago that I was a "von Wimmersperg." Our family grew up using the first part of our official surname dropping the "Toeller" bit. (I am assuming you have read the previous posts.) If you return to page 2 there is a post by "Heimatschuss" who kindly posted weblinks about the adoptions that a certain Arthur von Wimmersperg benifited from in the 1920's/1930's. It would seem that Arthur von Wimmersperg was born around 1847. In January 1925 he adopted my grandfather, Johann Toeller, who became Joachim von Wimmersperg-Toeller in order to immigrate to the USA. My grandfather was recalled to Germany in May 1934 to explain to the court why he should be allowed to keep his adopted name. I have court testiments which outline his political history and based on this the Nazi court allowed him to keep his adopted surname.

My family history has nothing to do with your beautiful house or with the von Wimmersperg family but it is a fascinating story nevertheless. It would be interesting to ask the descendant of the vW's gardener if he knew an "Arthur vW." Sounds like there must be many colourful anecdotes about the family if the house was lost in a card game. Perhaps this card game led to a situation where the family name had to be sold in order to maintain a certain lifestyle.

You can rule out Udo vW in your family research. He was my father and died last year. You can rule out my brother Julian. There are other vW who may be related. Heinrich and Frances vW who immigrated to USA in 1946 must have descendants you could track down. Heinrich was Arthur's cousin. He was born in 1900 and was the inventor of the "von wimmersperg" machine gun. There is an address of a "Freifrau von Wimmersperg" in Sonnenhofstr 4; D-61462 Koenigstein im Taunus. There is also a "Laura vW" in Berlin who heads a Peace Movement and grew up in Breslau before and during WW2 who could be related to the family who used to live in your house.

It would be fascinating to hear some accounts of the vW in the 1800's.

Alisa

dear alisa,
i am glad to hear from you-i heard your father or husband died two or three years ago-i am a wimmersperg granddaughter and i would love to see fotos of the wimmersperghouse in poland--could you tell me where i can find them in facebook??thank you
all the wimmerspergs i found until now are adopted from arthur wimmersperg who lived in berlin.my mother is a direct descendant-heinrich and frances have descendants too...
all the best
+++

[ottob]

@ Alisa:

I've got another obtrusive request: Could you check the adress books for the city of Basel for the years 1936-1938 on your genealogical website for a person with the first name "James"? [provided you don't need to peruse the adressbook yourself to find the name, but have the possibility to type the name into some research field and get all the people named James listed automatically - since I cannot access that page I don't have a clue as to how the research on that site is organised].
The background is the following: I found a letter by someone whose name I do not know [let's call him Swissman X for the benefit of convenience] written to the Papen aide Hans von Kageneck in 1938. In his letter Swissman X reports to Kageneck that a mysterious man named Bochow, who used to work for Kageneck recently murdered colleague Ketteler, managed to track him [Swissman X] down, even though he [Bochow] didn't know his [Swissman X's] family name, by searching the adress book for the city of Basel for his [Swissman X's] first name James, which Bochow seemed to have memorised during a meeting of X with Ketteler, which Bochow witnessed. Since the first name James was extremly rare in Switzerland in the 1930s, Bochow, according to X, managed to find his full name and adress in the adress book by perusing if for many hours. If you've got a possibility to have the adress book thouroughly searched through within a matter of seconds by some electronic device for everybody named James I'd be grateful - cause it would be way more comfortable for me than to have to skim through the original paper version manually for hour after hour myself.

Hi there,
Forgive the intrusion from a non-professional researcher and first time poster to this forum but, as it so happens, the "mysterious man named Bochow" is more than likely my great grandfather, Walter F. Bochow. Perhaps though this is old news as your posting was many years back now and there are some Wikipedia references (German Wiki) w/r/t him? I have only recently done a little background on him and have learned a bit about this fairly unsavory ancestor. Enough at least that in the relation of it to my wife she seems fairly shocked that I'd be descending from someone who was apparently a Nazi spy. However, as an American and one who is mostly estranged from my paternal line and living quite the mundane American life (Little League coach, etc.) I certainly accept no stigma

He not only appears in the official record as connected in some very ambiguous way with the demise of Herr von Ketteler in Austria '38 but also was associated with Franz von Papen's chancellery back in Berlin in '32 to '34 and was purportedly there during the SS raid on von Papen's offices and during which my great grandpappy's direct boss, Herbert von Bose, was murdered (along with the many others who were similarly murdered during the Roehm Putsch and some of whom you're discussing in this thread). I know virtually nothing about the intervening period and there's some question about exactly when he came in the employ of the Nazi security apparatus (specifically the SD).

I have some questions for you serious researchers that, if I may, I'd like to trouble you with and maybe you could respond if there's still any interest and if you have time?

1) Any way possible I can get a copy or see the contents of the letter to Kageneck from Swissman X? No problem if I can't. Assume it's in German which I can barely puzzle out but I can get it translated if needs be by friends.
2) Anyone ever figure out who this "James" of Basel (aka "Swissman X") was? There is the question of a dossier on the involvement of the von Papen diplomatic mission in helping bring about the Anschluss and the same maybe being spirited out of country. You can see the possible inference I am making here in just why my ancestor would turn up in Basel, flipping through phonebooks.
3) Any ideas on how to get a transcript of the court proceedings or official inquiries into the von Ketteler murder? Apparently, he was the scion of a pretty famous family and some folks were a little non-plussed over his being thrown in the Danube? I guess in '38, the Nazis would still at least go through the motions of conducting inquiries. Pretty sure it was a whitewash though. Maybe the Austrian authorities would have investigated?

That's enough for now. I have found the many posts on this forum quite interesting and hopefully mine offers a little intrigue for some.

The whole thing gives lie to the proverb "may you live in interesting times". I for one am quite ecstatic that I live in near total boredom most days

Cheers!
Otto

[R.J. Orth]

Hi there,
Forgive the intrusion from a non-professional researcher and first time poster to this forum but, as it so happens, the "mysterious man named Bochow" is more than likely my great grandfather, Walter F. Bochow. Perhaps though this is old news as your posting was many years back now and there are some Wikipedia references (German Wiki) w/r/t him? I have only recently done a little background on him and have learned a bit about this fairly unsavory ancestor. Enough at least that in the relation of it to my wife she seems fairly shocked that I'd be descending from someone who was apparently a Nazi spy. However, as an American and one who is mostly estranged from my paternal line and living quite the mundane American life (Little League coach, etc.) I certainly accept no stigma

He not only appears in the official record as connected in some very ambiguous way with the demise of Herr von Ketteler in Austria '38 but also was associated with Franz von Papen's chancellery back in Berlin in '32 to '34 and was purportedly there during the SS raid on von Papen's offices and during which my great grandpappy's direct boss, Herbert von Bose, was murdered (along with the many others who were similarly murdered during the Roehm Putsch and some of whom you're discussing in this thread). I know virtually nothing about the intervening period and there's some question about exactly when he came in the employ of the Nazi security apparatus (specifically the SD).

I have some questions for you serious researchers that, if I may, I'd like to trouble you with and maybe you could respond if there's still any interest and if you have time?

1) Any way possible I can get a copy or see the contents of the letter to Kageneck from Swissman X? No problem if I can't. Assume it's in German which I can barely puzzle out but I can get it translated if needs be by friends.
2) Anyone ever figure out who this "James" of Basel (aka "Swissman X") was? There is the question of a dossier on the involvement of the von Papen diplomatic mission in helping bring about the Anschluss and the same maybe being spirited out of country. You can see the possible inference I am making here in just why my ancestor would turn up in Basel, flipping through phonebooks.
3) Any ideas on how to get a transcript of the court proceedings or official inquiries into the von Ketteler murder? Apparently, he was the scion of a pretty famous family and some folks were a little non-plussed over his being thrown in the Danube? I guess in '38, the Nazis would still at least go through the motions of conducting inquiries. Pretty sure it was a whitewash though. Maybe the Austrian authorities would have investigated?

That's enough for now. I have found the many posts on this forum quite interesting and hopefully mine offers a little intrigue for some.

The whole thing gives lie to the proverb "may you live in interesting times". I for one am quite ecstatic that I live in near total boredom most days

Cheers!
Otto

Dear Mr. Bochow,

by chance I came accross your posting here while googling "Walter Bochow" + Gestapo. Since your great grandfather is playing a fairly central role in a monography which I have recently completed at the History Department at the University of Berlin (it is even including a biographical sketch on his early years which amounts to about 10 pages) I'd like to get in touch with you to compare notes.

If my information on the genealogy of your family is correct, I assume that you are a grandson of Walter Bochow's son from his marriage with Mercedes d'Almeida Otto Paul Bochow (born in Singapore in 1918) who grew up in Shanghai. The last information on him that I managed to find in the holdings of the US National Archives is that he lived in Tokyo in the 1950s as the proprietor of the company Walter Trading and Shipping.

If you are interested in getting in touch with me, you can reach me via email [email protected]

Best regards