00.03.1936 Suffered his first heart attack. His health problems were the subject of rumors throughout the SS- it was alleged that he was impotent and mentally unstable due to syphilis. The impotence rumor was quashed when Frau Daluege gave birth to a son in 1938, however speculation continued to exist that Daluege’s alleged mental problems and lack of intelligence (he was known in some circles by the unflattering nickname “Dummi-Dummi”) had been brought about by venereal disease. The U.S. Army psychiatrist Dr. Leon Goldensohn, who interviewed Daluege on 26.01.1946, confirms the syphilis rumor in The Nuremberg Interviews, pp. 277-278:
"He said that he inherited syphilis from his father, but it was not discovered until he was thirty-six. He has taken yearly treatments for the past ten years. His father lived to be seventy-three, had syphilis for years, but it never affected his health. Daluege was told that his syphilis was inherited and that it was unusual for the type of syphilis he had to go undiscovered for many years without symptoms. During the first ten years of his marriage, he was childless, and thought that the syphilis caused him to be sterile. However, after a few years of treatment, he was able to have children."
The following is excerpted from Dr. Leon Goldensohn's psychiatric assessment of Daluege (based on an interview conducted 26.01.1946):
"... Did he feel guilty of anything? 'No.' He was in charge of the police force of Germany, and everything had gone all right as far as he knew. The general impression he leaves is that he is insensitive, hard-boiled, capable of great ruthlessness, amoral, conscienceless.... Emotionally, he seems callous, affectless, unimaginative, and there is evidence of obsessive character.... He presents himself as being just an officeholder, the son of an officeholder; knows nothing about atrocities and so forth. It is clear that he would be the kind of executive who would neatly and obsessively be well informed about everything his forces did, and in fact exert a rigid control over them.... That it is fairly improbably to get much emotional response out of this man, I am convinced. There is a long-conditioned hardness, an outer shell which has been worn and used so long, probably nothing exists beneath it. Having dealt with force, violence, and easy dispositions of the lives of others, it is questionable as to how much value he puts on life in general, including his own in particular. This was not discussed with him, though it would be interesting to get some information on that point. Getting a sincere or emotionally meaningful answer from him is like trying to bail water from a long-dry well." (Source: Dr. Goldensohn, The Nuremberg Interviews, pp. 277-278)
~ Mike“I had the opportunity to follow [Daluege’s] career closely for about two years, from the middle of 1933 to the middle of 1935, and honesty forces me to say that he had his good points. His reputation was for a long time worse than his behavior. I might put it that he was not the type of an utterly lost soul, but rather the model of one utterly corrupted. Stupid, immeasurably vain, but on the other hand neither hungry for power nor steeped in falsehood, his first reaction was usually decent, never malicious. If one took instant advantage of this reaction- if, for example, one had taken the precaution of bringing documents for signature- he often let himself be persuaded to take steps that required amazing courage. It was only when he had a chance to make calculations that he became a scoundrel. For if he were given time to consider what his Führer really thought, or what Goebbels might reply, or whether Göring agreed, or how Himmler would behave, or whether his own action might endanger his position- the hope was lost.” (Source: Gisevius, To the Bitter End, pp. 138-139)
“Supporting Document
SS-Oberst-Gruppenführer D a l u e g e has demonstrated the greatest efforts in the reorganization of the entire Ordnungspolizei, especially the establishment, after commencement of the war, of SS-Polizei-Regiments plus a Land- und Stadtwacht [Rural and Municipal Constabulary]. The resulting units have shown great promise in combating bandits and saboteurs at the front as well as in homeland areas. Special merit for SS-Oberst-Gruppenführer D a l u e g e has been achieved through the taut organization of the police based air defense units, especially the Luftschutz-Polizei [Air Defense Police].
As a result of these efforts I consider him worthy of decoration with the Ritterkreuz des Kriegsverdienstkreuzes and request this award for him.”
“I request the award of the Deutsche Kreuz in Silber for SS-Oberst-Gruppenführer und Generaloberst der Polizei Kurt D a l u e g e.
In his capacity as Chef der Ordnungspolizei, SS-Oberst-Gruppenführer Daluege, who has already been decorated with the Kriegsverdienstkreuz 2. and 1. Klasse mit Schwertern, commands 270,000 men of the Police, the entire active and volunteer Feuerschutzpolizei, the Riesenorganisation des bisherigen Sicherheits- und Hilfsdienstes (today known as the Luftschutzpolizei), as well as the Technische Nothilfe.
Die Verbände des Generalobersten Daluege haben sich in diesem Winter als Frontverbände, obwohl sie für diesen Einsatz nicht ausgerüstet waren, an vielen Stellen der Front bewähren können. Seine Verbände in der Heimat haben den schweren Luftangriffen im Westen und Norden des Reiches in vorbildlicher Weise gearbeitet und an allen Stellen Gefahren abgewehrt und geholfen.
Die Schlagkraft der gesamten Ordnungspolizei ist in erster Linie das Verdienst dieses alten Nationalsozialisten und SS-Mannes, der sich durch seine aussergewöhnlichen Organisationsgaben und durch seinen, auch in schweren Zeiten niemals geschwundenen Mut und seine Tatkraft auszeichnet.
Ich bitte daher gehorsamst meinen Verleihungsvorschlag zu genehmigen.”
[signed] H.H.
f.d.R. [für die Richtigkeit / for the record] [Rudolf] Brandt”
~ Mike“Berlin, 24.10.1941
NW 7, Unter den Linden 74
Chef der Ordnungspolizei
Kdo.g2(01) Nr. 514 II/41(g)
Secret!
Express Letter
Subject: Evacuation of Jews from the Altreich and the Protectorate.
1) During the period 1.11. to 4.12.1941, the Sicherheitspolizei of the Altreich, the Ostmark and the “Reichsprotektorat Böhmen und Mähren” will ship 50,000 Jews to the East into the vicinities of Riga and Minsk. Resettlement will take place by means of the Reichsbahn, with each train carrying 1,000 persons. The transport trains will be assembled in Berlin, Hamburg, Hannover, Dortmund, Münster, Düsseldorf, Köln, Frankfurt/Main, Kassel, Stuttgart, Nürnberg, München, Wien, Breslau, Prague, and Brünn.
2) Based on agreements with the Chief of the Sicherheitspolizei and Sicherheitsdienst, the transport trains will be guarded by Ordnungspolizei, which will furnish escort units, each 1 [person in command] to 12 [policemen] in strength. Details must be worked out with the appropriate local administrative branches of the Sicherheitsdienst.
The task of the escort units will be completed as soon as they have delivered the transports properly to the appropriate Sicherheitspolizei branches at the places of destination. They will then return without delay to their home stations.
3) The costs arising from furnishing escort units will be born by the Chief of the Sicherheitspolizei. An account of the costs incurred by the police administrations is to be handed in to the Chief of the Sicherheitspolizei at the termination of each transport.
[Signed] Daluege”
Edited. I meant to write that 'I never had the impression that he was not intelligent.'stcamp wrote:I never had the impression that he was not intelligent. To survive, and prosper, among the people, and power games they played, showed at a minimum he was cunning. A bigraphy of him would be an interesting read. Of course he knew what was going on as far as the killings in the east. I believe Hitler kept him in power because he shared the same views, was ruthless, and served as a check on Himmler and Heydrich.
I also believe, although I have no proof, that he pushed hard for the use of Police Battalions as einsatzgruppes in order to maintain his relevance in the Nazi orginization. It also helped him curry favor with Hitler. When I say 'einsatzgruppes' I mean as units tasked to do nothing but kill civillians.
Steve
