Suadicant and von Riedesel

[BB-WA]

Suadicant and von Riedesel
Does anyone have any information on Fraulein Dr. Suadicant and Baronin Jul. op den Oort Fraulein von Riedesel , both were mentioned in a list by Jost Schnieder in regards to SS-Hauptamt. Even though they are listed in the SS-Hauptamt and it should maybe go under the SS & Polizei section of the forum, I thought I might have more success here in Women in the Reich.

per Jost Schnieder list
Amtsgruppe D - SS-Hauptamt.
Amt D I -Planung - Planning.: -
Leiter.: -
00.00.1944. - 00.00.1945. - SS-Hauptsturmführer. A. Dolezalek -
00.00.0000. - 00.00.0000. - Fraulein Dr. Suadicant - also noted as Leiter, Hauptabteilung für Frauenarbeit (is this to do with Reichsschule-SS at Oberenheim / Alsace, and the SS-Helferinnen Korps, which was an independent SS-HA department??)
AND
(Hauptabteilung für Germanische Frauenarbeit)
00.00.1944. - 00.00.1945. - Baronin Jul. op den Oort Fraulein von Riedesel - needs checking out - from Jost Schneider list
00.00.0000. - 00.00.0000. - Fraulein Dr. Suadicant - )

What was Fraulein Dr. Suadicant a doctor of, and possibly her christian name. Note she is also listed as Leiter, Amt. D I. - She must of had good qualifications.
Baronin Jul. op den Oort Fraulein von Riedesel - (this was as written on the list) - Apart from being a Baroness the rest I don't have a clue. (possibly Dutch, from theden Oort, ??)
Is there any information on the Reichsschule-SS at Oberenheim / Elsaß (Alsace), later moved to Heidenheim (an independent SS-HA department) - that trained the SS-Helferinnen Korps.?

Any information or comments welcome.
Regards
Brian

[Heimatschuss]

Hello Brian,

there was an inquiry about Fräulein von Riedesel last year that didn't produce any results. See http://forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic. ... &p=1173454

Fräulein Dr. Suadicant: I think the name is not correct. A search with German google does not produce any meaningful results. Most likely her family name was Suadicani. Surprisingly this name originates in Denmark though there are a very few bearers in Germany.

Seidler's book on females in the military which has a chapter on the training of the SS signals auxiliaries in Oberehnheim does not mention any of the names you asked for.

References:
F.W. Seidler
Frauen zu den Waffen?
2nd ed., Bernard & Graefe Verlag; Bonn; 1998

Best regards
Torsten

[MaartenM]

Baronin Jul. op den Oort Fraulein von Riedesel: I think you made a typo here: I know of a baroness Julia op ten Noort (Amsterdam, 9 november 1910 - near Fulda, 1996). She was active in the 30's in the Oxfort movement where she met Himmler. She was in 1937 for a few months a member of the German Nationalsozialistische Frauenschaft and she was a member of the NSB (dutch national socialist movement). She was a friend of the radical Rost van Tonningen and belonged to his "group" of radicals, who tried to change the course of the movement in a more german-like antisemit radical greater-German direction. She was one of the leaders of the NSVO (dutch Frauenschaft of the NSB) and was because of her greater-German ideas in constant conflict with the leader of the NSB (Mussert). He wanted to fire her but she was protected by Himmler. In 1941 she was finaly fired. Several sourced note that she was pregnant and went to a German mother-house. Roumers are that the child was Himmlers... A very small pic can be found on http://www.tonbiesemaat.nl/putten/img/noort.jpg
best
Maarten

[BB-WA]

Hi Torsten and Maarten

Thanks for the replies and name corrections.
Torsten
Fräulein Dr. Suadicant (Suadicani). Thanks for the correction on her surname. I'm afraid I assumed the connection between the Hauptabteilung für Germanische Frauenarbeit and the Reichsschule-SS at Oberenheim seeing as both were to do with the SS-Hauptamt. My reasons were because the Hauptabteilung für Germanische Frauenarbeit (Germanic Female Workers-my translation) was probably a recruiting office. Then once recruited they were then trained at Reichsschule-SS at Oberenheim for future assignment. I also note from your post she was more likely to have been Danish going by her surname. Google doesn't give any results for her although there are quite a few Dr. Suadicani's listed.

Maarten
Baronin Jul. op den Oort Fraulein von Riedesel (baroness Julia op ten Noort). Thanks for the correction on her name and the fact she was Dutch. Does the Fraulein von Riedesel belong to the full name or am I asking about two people here? I see the baroness Julia op ten Noort was active in politics and womens organizations from 1937 to 1941, when you say she was fired. Could she have come out of retirement to head the Hauptabteilung für Germanische Frauenarbeit at this later date, 1944. - 1945?

From the offices name (Germanische Frauenarbeit) they headed and the fact they were both considered Germanische at least that part fits.

Any further corrections and replies welcome
Regards
Brian

[MaartenM]

Hi Brian,

I've checked in some books that I have, but there's not much info on Julia op ten Noort. Most books only state that she's the one that introduced Rost van Tonningen (the 3rd man in the NSB, main man in the radical greater Germany group and main competitor of the leader Mussert) to Himmler.

Now the "von Riedesel" I've never heard of or seen mentioned.

The extra info I found:

In the biography of Rost van Tonningen by David Barnouw it says that Julia Adriana op ten Noort was an actractive woman in her 20's. she was active in the Oxfort group untill she had a difference in opinion about the Sudeten-Germans in Czechoslovakia. She thought they should be helped and already then contacted Himmler. She then turned away from the Oxfort group and became a member of the NSB. According to Van Geelkerken (2nd man in the NSB), Himmler told him once proudly that he showed Julia the way to National Socialism. Her relation with Himmler was always special, so special that when she became an (unmarried) mother in 1943 and called her son Heinrich, insider thought she was pregnant of him. She always denied this and said the father was a married army doctor who helped her with her child-wish to produce a little germanic baby. At the time she was a teacher at the Reichsschule für Mädel in the south of Limburg and wanted to bear ther child there. The german leaders din't think that was a good idea due to reactions of the parents. In accordance with Himmler she moved for the childbirth to a Lebensbornhaus in Bavaria, Germany.

In the Biography of Mussert by Jan Meyer, the author states after an intervue with Van Maarsdijk (a friend of Rost van Tonningen) that the child WAS in fact Himmler's

Finally in the extensive "Geschiedenis van het koninkrijk der Nederland in de tweede wereldoorlog" by Lou de Jong, part 5, the author states that she became a cook in the Lebensborn house where she ended up. After the war she was tried for treason. (don't know how many years she got)

Sorry mate, that's all I can help you with!

Best
Maarten

[BB-WA]

Hi Maarten
Many thanks for the detailed reply. Baroness Julia Adriana op ten Noort was certainly a woman ahead of the times. To be as active in National Socialist politics (rightly or wrongly) and the desire to be a single mother may seem "blasse" today but in this era it was a different matter. Any idea where the Baroness title came from, obviously an inhertited family title as she was single?
Your source "Geschiedenis van het koninkrijk der Nederland in de tweede wereldoorlog" intrestingly says the Lebensborn Home she gave birth in she also worked as a cook. This is certainly a lot different to Jost Schneider's listing for her!

As for "von Riedesel" I did see an earlier post inquiring about her in this forum, with no replies, so I guess she remains a mystery along with Dr. Suadicani. Wonder where Jost got his information for his list?

If your reading this Phil N maybe you have an insight on this?

Regards
Brian

[Heimatschuss]

Hello Brian,

Hi Maarten

Your source "Geschiedenis van het koninkrijk der Nederland in de tweede wereldoorlog" intrestingly says the Lebensborn Home she gave birth in she also worked as a cook. This is certainly a lot different to Jost Schneider's listing for her!

As for "von Riedesel" I did see an earlier post inquiring about her in this forum, with no replies, so I guess she remains a mystery along with Dr. Suadicani. Wonder where Jost got his information for his list?

Regards
Brian

That Baroness op ten Noort worked as a cook in the Lebensborn home (Steinhöring I presume) is not necessarily a contradiction to Schneider's data. To keep the pregnancy secret the women arrived at the Lebensborn homes several months before giving birth. Some also stayed a while there after giving birth. The duration of the stay depended very much on the individual situation of each woman.
With a shortage in manpower due to the war on the one hand and some need for occupational therapy for the mothers-to-be spending months in the homes on the other, it would be a win-win situation if the inmates could be employed in some capacity inside the Lebensborn. I've just skipped through the autobiography of a secretary that went to the Lebensborn home in Wernigerode and worked there for the last months of her pregnancy. The head of the clinic also offered her to say there because he was very pleased with her skills. I've read similar things about clerks and nurses coming to the Lebensborn home in Hohehorst near Bremen. I would not necessarily regard the cook job in Steinhöring as the final stage of op ten Noort's professional career.

Jost Schneider noted von Riedesel as 'Fräulein' i.e. Miss, so op ten Noort cannot have turned into this 'von Riedesel' via marriage. It must be a different person.

Another thing that may be coincidence but perhaps is not: As we learned Baroness op ten Noort was burried somewhere near Fulda. Lauterbach, a town neighbouring Fulda, is the seat of the Barons von Riedesel zu Eisenbach. A quite wealthy noble family with large land estate and owning several breweries in the region too. Perhaps the mysterious Miss von Riedesel belonged to that family. (I could not find a pedigree and even less a family history.) If Baroness op ten Noort and von Riedesel got along with each other quite well during their time in the Hauptabteilung it would be a possibility that Baroness op ten Noort (not being able to return to the Netherlands) went to the von Riedesel family. I've heard this happen amongst Army signals auxiliaries in a number of cases. Women not able/wanting/daring to return to their home towns in the Soviet occupied zone or in Eastern Germany went to the family of trusted colleagues instead to start a new life from there, backed by them.

Regarding Fräulein Dr. Suadicani: Phil (see http://forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic. ... &p=1173505) also lists her in the Hauptabteilung für germanische Frauenarbeit so I think it's quite probable that she was a Dane.

Best regards
Torsten

[BB-WA]

Hi Torsten

Thaks for another detailed reply. Yes I did see (see viewtopic.php?f=38&t=130509&p=1173505) that was where I got the names and their postings from. I had another look at Jost's list and can now see the comma,,,,,,, between the the two names with the help of a little magnification. I think I need new glasses!
So there is possibly a connection between Fräulein von Riedesel and Baroness Julia op ten Noort. As you say they more than likely met while working at the Hauptabteilung für Germanische Frauenarbeit and befriended each other. After reading your post I also tried looking up the family of the Barons von Riedesel zu Eisenbach at (http://gsteinbe.intrasun.tcnj.edu/royalty/royalty.html) but got nowhere at all. I have used this site before to research names and usually had good results but not this time.
What exactly did the Hauptabteilung für Germanische Frauenarbeit do? I thought it could have been a womens recruitment agency for work in Germany.

Regards
Brian

[Jaybird]

The Suadicani family has it´s roots in the Budweis area (Czech Republik today) and one branch emgigrated to the far North of Germany.

This region has both Danish and German population and culture, some of the courts there being loyal to the Danish king, others to Prussia. One of their descendants became a physician at the Danish royal court, and later the doctor for King Frederik VI.

About a generation later, you find some Suadicani men as architect (an official appointment back then), and mayors in the Schleswig area, where Danish royalty used to reside some og their time. I would therefore guess that the court physician further up the line (he lived i Schleswig permanently) arranged state jobs for his sons in the 19. century.

Since this area became permanently German after the Second Schleswig War of 1864 (and subsequently the plebiscite in 1920), this branch of the family might be the one that your Fräulein Dr. descends from.

[Jaybird]

I found a good deal of information on Dr. Herta Suadicani.

After cross-reading it, here´s the story: she met Alexander Dolezalek during her studies in Berlin (note: one of the Suadicanis I mentioned in my other post was an architect in Schleswig and Berlin). Dolezalek studied Philosophy, History, Economics and Law, not an unusual mix-up for administration-wannabes then, though this list says nothing about his major. My guess would be history or law major, so that would also be her Dr. then.

This Dolezalek became a big shot political thinker in the SS after having served at the front in a SS-Anti Aircraft unit. He was one of these young career-orientated intellectuals who found their playground in the Sicherheitsamt of the SS, and his main field was "Völkerpolitik", including the attempts of remapping Europe by relocating German and Germanic populations closer to the Reich.

One of his first assignments there was to lead the relocation of a German minority in occupied Slowenia (the Gotscheer), who where to be relocated to Lower Styria (which was 3. Reich territorz), where on the other hand the slowenian inhabitants had been removed from their farms. It was in this position that Dr. Suadicani worked for him, and she apparently researched the Lower Styzria relocation-area to get an overview of the housing and working conditions for the expected Gotscheers. However, it seems that she ended up carrying a massive workload including practical execution of the relocation process, because Dolezalek was ordered to Posen and later Marburg, leaving her in charge for his job as well.

He was also in charge for removing Polish inhabitants of the Warthegau, not sure if she worked on this assignment as well.

There is also an odd American report on her and Dolezalek that states them to be members of a dissident group (Dahlke-Gruppe) that wanted to support Soviet attempts to assasinate Hitler and make Himmler chansellor; alternative plans included Hitler as representative president. This group is also claimed to have remained active after the war, with Dolezalek living in the Soviet Zone and working for the communist SED party (wtf?), smuggling former members of the Reichssicherheitshauptamt to the Soviet Zone (what the heck would they want there, of all places?). Dolezalek himself claimed he was a prisoner of the NKWD, and later worked as a teacher under his mother´s maiden name Bomhoff in the Soviet zone, but found his way to West Germany later. He apparently stayed in contact with Herta Suadicani.

However, Suadicani herself was later assigned to the Europa-Amt (Aug. 44 - May 45), led by Erich Spaarmann who had previously also been assigned to racial and relocation matters. The American report states that she lived with Spaarmann in Munich after the war, though her last name changed to Schütz or Schütze (widowed?).

Anybody know what the Europa-Amt was doing?

[Phil Nix]

Hi Maarten
Many thanks for the detailed reply. Baroness Julia Adriana op ten Noort was certainly a woman ahead of the times. To be as active in National Socialist politics (rightly or wrongly) and the desire to be a single mother may seem "blasse" today but in this era it was a different matter. Any idea where the Baroness title came from, obviously an inhertited family title as she was single?
Your source "Geschiedenis van het koninkrijk der Nederland in de tweede wereldoorlog" intrestingly says the Lebensborn Home she gave birth in she also worked as a cook. This is certainly a lot different to Jost Schneider's listing for her!

As for "von Riedesel" I did see an earlier post inquiring about her in this forum, with no replies, so I guess she remains a mystery along with Dr. Suadicani. Wonder where Jost got his information for his list?

If your reading this Phil N maybe you have an insight on this?

Regards
Brian

Sorry no but Jost when made a POW was employed as a batman serving senior officers waiting trial at Dachau and Gottlob Berger was one of them.
Phil Nix

[Heimatschuss]

Excellent contributions, Jaybird!

This will provide many new clues for trawling the internet. I gave it a short try and found for example http://homepages.uni-tuebingen.de/gerd. ... ezalek.pdf

From page 33 of the document we learn that Dr. Herta Schütze (nee Suadicani) in 1996 lived where?

In Fulda of course!

I must say I'm perplexed, really perplexed. All the leading ladies from the Hauptabteilung ended up in the same spot. Now this really cannot be coincidence. What was going on there?

Best regards
Torsten

[BB-WA]

Hi Phil

Sorry no but Jost when made a POW was employed as a batman serving senior officers waiting trial at Dachau and Gottlob Berger was one of them.
Phil Nix

No need to be sorry the list you posted is where I got the names from in the first place. Thanks for many fine contributions and replies in the forum.

Regards
Brian

[BB-WA]

Hi Jaybird

Excellent post and information on Dr. Herta Suadicani. Now we have her full name. She seems to be quite a high profile woman when considering the occupations open to other women at the time. With her position she must have had a fair bit of authority.

As Torsten also says it seems more than a coincidence that all three women later ended up in Fulda!

Regards
Brian

[Jaybird]

You really got me hooked up on this, because the persons here are pretty interesting.

Dolezalek apparently DID work as a teacher in the soviet zone / East Germany. Herta Schütz(e) stated she had been visiting him there once. He is even said to have been a member of the Volksrat, sort of a predecessor of the East German parliament. I think this might be evidence that he did in fact have contacts to Soviet intelligence circles, elsewise he must have been extremely daring, being so politically outgoing with that Nazi past of his, false name et.al.

Furthermore, it is known that he worked for the newly founded West German Intelligence (Organisation Gehlen) in the 1950´s, an organisation filled with former Nazi elite. This may explain why he was one of the many SS-leaders that where never prosecuted.

I think it is not too daring to say that if there ever where any of the rumoured post-war SS-networks, somebody like him would definitely have been part of it. Maybe the women mentioned here stuck together on those grounds?

If anybody here can find a copy of that US Douglas report on Dolezalek, this should also contain some statement by Herta Schütz(e).

I have ordered an excellent book about the SS-elite by Michael Wildt (I checked it out before, but didn´t specifically research Dolezalek), and hope to find some more post-war bio on Dolezalek there.