Karl Hanke | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Hanke in February 1945 | |
| 5thReichsführer-SS | |
| In office 29 April 1945 – 8 May 1945 | |
| President | Adolf Hitler Karl Dönitz |
| Chancellor | Adolf Hitler Joseph Goebbels Lutz Graf Schwerin von Krosigk |
| Preceded by | Heinrich Himmler |
| Succeeded by | Office abolished |
| Chief of the German Police | |
| In office 29 April 1945 – 8 May 1945 | |
| Preceded by | Heinrich Himmler |
| Succeeded by | Office abolished |
| Gauleiter ofGau Lower Silesia | |
| In office 27 January 1941 – 8 May 1945 | |
| Appointed by | Adolf Hitler |
| Preceded by | New Gau created |
| Succeeded by | Office abolished |
| Oberpräsident of theProvince of Lower Silesia | |
| In office 1 February 1941 – 8 May 1945 | |
| Preceded by | Office created |
| Succeeded by | Office abolished |
| State Secretary for theMinistry of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda | |
| In office 26 November 1937 – 27 January 1941 | |
| Appointed by | Adolf Hitler |
| Preceded by | None |
| Succeeded by | Leopold Gutterer |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Karl August Hanke (1903-08-24)24 August 1903 |
| Died | 8 June 1945(1945-06-08) (aged 41) |
| Political party | Nazi Party |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 1 |
| Alma mater | Berufspädagogisches Institut, Berlin |
| Profession | Politician |
Karl August Hanke (24 August 1903 – 8 June 1945) was an official of theNazi Party (NSDAP) during itsrule over Germany who served as the fifth and finalReichsführer of theSchutzstaffel (SS). He also served asGauleiter ofGau Lower Silesia from 1941 to 1945 and asOberpräsident of the PrussianProvince of Lower Silesia. Captured on 6 May 1945, he was shot and wounded during an escape attempt and then beaten to death byCzech guards on 8 June, after the war had ended.
Hanke was born inLauban (present-day Lubań) inSilesia, on 24 August 1903.[1] His older brother was killed inWorld War I. Hanke was too young for service in the war and attendedGymnasium throughObersekunda. He served in theReichswehr as aZeitfreiwilliger (temporary volunteer) in the 19th Infantry Regiment (von Courbiere) atFrankfurt/Oder from 1920 to 1921.[2][3]
Hanke obtained an education as a milling engineer by attending the German Millers' School atDippoldiswalde. He then decided to obtain a year's practical experience as a railway workshop apprentice before returning to milling.[3] From 1921 to around 1926, Hanke mainly worked in the milling industry, serving as a business manager for mills in the vicinity ofSilesia,Bavaria, andTyrol.[3] He later attended theBerufspädagogische Institut inBerlin, receiving a degree that qualified him to teach milling at vocational schools.[3] Later in 1928, he worked inBerlin-Steglitz as a master miller. After this he became a vocational instructor at a technical school in Berlin.[2]
Hanke joined theNazi Party on 1 November 1928, withmembership number 102606.[3] Hanke began his career at the somewhat low level ofAmtswalter, a low ranking speaker and factory cell organizer in Berlin.[4] He joined theSturmabteilung (SA) Reserve in 1929; that same year he became a deputy street cell leader. In 1930 he was promoted to street cell leader (Strassenzellenleiter) and then a section leader (Sektionsführer) in Berlin.[4][5]
Hanke was fired from his teaching position at the vocational school in April 1931 for his political agitation for the Nazi Party. He went to work full-time for the party.[4] By late 1931, he wasKreisleiter (ward leader) ofWestend in Berlin, working under Berlin'sGauleiterJoseph Goebbels.[4] In 1932, Hanke was made chief Gau organizational director and on 1 April 1932, personal adjutant andReferent (advisor) to Goebbels in his capacity as propaganda director of the NSDAP (Reichspropagandaleiter der NSDAP).[4][6]
In his position asKreisleiter of Westend in Berlin, Hanke was the first party official to establish contact with the young architectAlbert Speer. Hanke contracted Speer to convert a villa in the western suburbs into an office for the local party organization in 1932.[7] Hanke and Speer became close friends. In 1944, according to Speer's book (Inside the Third Reich), Hanke strongly advised Speer never to visit "acamp inUpper Silesia" (Auschwitz) for any reason. Hanke had "seen something that he was not allowed to describe and indeed could not describe".[8]
Adolf Hitler took an early liking to the outspoken young Hanke, who by April 1932 had become a Nazi Party deputy to theLandtag of Prussia.[4] In November 1932, Hanke was elected to the national parliament (Reichstag) as a Nazi deputy from electoral constituency 4 (Potsdam II, reconfigured as Berlin East in March 1936). He held this seat until the end of the war in Europe.[9]
Hanke again secured a task for Albert Speer in July 1932, having him build a headquarters for the Berlin NSDAP in the centre of the city (atVossstrasse 11).[10] Following the Nazi takeover of power and the parliamentary elections of March 1933, Goebbels established the Propaganda Ministry (Propagandaministerium). Hanke followed his boss there as his private secretary and aide.[11] At the time, Hanke was a favorite of Goebbels and accompanied his boss on official visits to Italy and Poland.[12] On 15 February 1934, Hanke joined theAllgemeine SS or general SS with membership number 203,103.[13] He was attached to the6th SS-Standarte which was situated in Berlin. This led to Hanke serving as a special duties officer on the staff of theReichsfuhrer-SSHeinrich Himmler from January 1935 through 1 April 1936. Then in late 1937, he was promoted to State Secretary (Deputy Minister) in the Propaganda Ministry. The effective date for the promotion being 15 January 1938.[14] Also in January 1938, he became second vice president of theReichskulturkammer (Reich Chamber of Culture; RKK) succeedingWalther Funk.[14]
Hanke's seemingly unstoppable ascent on the coattails of Goebbels came to a sudden, albeit temporary, halt when he was drawn into the marital affairs ofJoseph Goebbels and his wife,Magda. Goebbels had many extramarital affairs. By the winter of 1937, Goebbels began an intense affair with theCzech actressLída Baarová.[15] After Magda Goebbels learned of this, she had a long conversation with Hitler about it on 15 August 1938.[16] Hitler was very fond of Magda and the Goebbels's young children.[16] He demanded that Goebbels break off the affair. Thereafter, Joseph and Magda seemed to reach a "truce" until the end of September.[16] The couple had another falling out at that point. Goebbels asked Hanke to act as a mediator with Magda on his behalf, but things did not go well. Hanke also spoke with Hitler as to the matter, who stated he would discuss it in private with Joseph Goebbels.[17] Hitler became involved to make the couple stay together.[18] Later in July 1939, Magda confessed to her husband that beginning in October 1938, she had had an affair with Hanke.[19] Hitler once again became involved and told the Goebbels they had to stay together and the affair was ended.[20] Joseph Goebbels immediately sent Hanke off on vacation. Hanke did not subsequently return to his position at the Propaganda Ministry.[21]
In July 1939, Hanke was called up for military service, having previously obtained a reserve officer's commission in 1937. From September to October 1939, he served with the3rd Panzer Division in Poland.[22] In May 1940, sensing a good opportunity to further his career, Hanke served under GeneralErwin Rommel in France with the7th Panzer Division, 25th Panzer Regiment through June of that year. He "got along" well with Rommel who appreciated good "public relations".[22][23] Hanke was removed from Rommel's staff by Rommel after an incident in the officer's mess in which Hanke suggested that he had the power to remove Rommel from his command, Hanke was already well known and disliked on Rommel's staff on account of his high handed attitude. Along with his removal Rommel made a long report about Hanke to Hitler's adjutant.[24] Hanke was awarded theIron Cross in Second and First Class. He was discharged from the German Army in 1941 with the rank of 1st lieutenant (Oberleutnant).[25]
He left active military service and inBreslau, Hitler appointed Hanke to the position ofGauleiter of the newly formedGau Lower Silesia on 27 January 1941.[26] On 1 February, he was appointedOberpräsident of the PrussianProvince of Lower Silesia, thus uniting under his control the highest party and governmental offices in the province. Finally, on 9 February Hanke was namedReich Defense Commissioner forWehrkreis (Military District) VIII, which included his Gau as well asGau Upper Silesia and the eastern sections ofReichsgau Sudetenland.[27] On 20 April 1941, Himmler promoted him to the rank of SS general (SS-Gruppenführer). Hanke was a fanatical enforcer of Nazi policy: during his rule in Breslau more than 1,000 people were executed on his orders, earning him the nickname "Hangman of Breslau".[28] On 16 November 1942, the jurisdiction of the Reich Defense Commissioners was changed from theWehrkreis to the Gau level, and Hanke remained Commissioner only for his Gau.[27] On 30 January 1944, Hanke was promoted to SS-Obergruppenführer.
Hanke had a long affair withBaroness Freda von Fircks in Breslau, the daughter of a wealthy landowner andUniversity of Berlin lecturer. They were finally married on 25 November 1944, after she gave birth to their daughter in December 1943.[29]
During the waning months of World War II, as the SovietRed Army advanced into Silesia and encircled Fortress Breslau (Festung Breslau), Hanke was named by Hitler to be the city's "Battle Commander" (Kampfkommandant). Hanke oversaw, with fanaticism, the defense of the city during theSiege of Breslau. Goebbels, dictating for his diary, repeatedly expressed his admiration of Hanke during the spring of 1945. During the 82-day siege, Soviet forces inflicted approximately 30,000 civilian and military casualties and took more than 40,000 prisoners, while suffering 60,000 total casualties.[30] However, somewhat quirkily, throughout the siege, the Aviatik tobacco factory produced 500,000 cigarettes a day. Occasionally, concerts were held during lulls in the bombardment.[31] On 6 May, the day before Germany's surrender, GeneralHermann Niehoff surrendered the besieged Breslau, the Soviet army already having reached Berlin. Hanke had flown out the previous day in a smallFieseler Storch plane kept in reserve for him.
Breslau was the last major city in Germany to surrender. Destruction by Soviet aerial and artillery bombardment, along with acts of destruction committed by the SS and Nazi Party members, brought "80 to 90 percent" of Breslau to a state of ruin.[32]
Hanke's fanaticism andunconditional obedience to Hitler's orders impressed Hitler, who in hispolitical testament appointed him to be the lastReichsführer-SS and Chief of the German Police, replacingHeinrich Himmler on 29 April 1945.[33][34] Eight days beforehand, Hanke had been honored with the Nazi Party's highest decoration, theGerman Order, a reward for his defence of Breslau against the advancing Soviet Red Army. Hanke's ascendancy to the rank ofReichsführer-SS was a result of Hitler proclaiming Himmler a traitor for his secretly-attempted surrender negotiations with the Western Allies. Hitler stripped Himmler of all his offices and ranks and ordered his arrest.[33][34]
Hanke received word of his promotion on 5 May 1945. He flew to Prague and attached himself to the18th SS-Freiwilligen-Panzer-Grenadier-Division "Horst Wessel". Hanke chose to wear the uniform of an SS private, to conceal his identity in the event of capture. The group attempted to fight its way back to Germany but, after a fierce battle withCzech partisans, surrendered inNová Ves, southwest ofChomutov, on 6 May. His true identity was not discovered by his captors, and Hanke was thus placed in aprisoner of war (POW) camp alongside low-ranking SS members. There were a total of 65 POWs when the Czechs decided to move them all by foot in June 1945. On 8 June when a train passed the march route, Hanke and several other POWs attempted to escape, clinging to the train. The Czechs opened fire, wounding Hanke and two other POWs. They were then beaten to death with rifle butts by the Czechs.[35]
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| Preceded by | Reich Leader of the SS 1945 | Succeeded by Office abolished |
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| National | |
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