Alfred Loritz (born 24 April 1902 inMunich – died 14 April 1979 inVienna) was aGerman lawyer and politician who briefly rose to prominence in the immediate aftermath of theSecond World War.
Loritz was admitted to the bar in Munich in 1929.[1]
Loritz joined the German Economic Party, a splinter group mainly active in Bavaria, and became chair of the party's affiliate in Munich in 1931. However, he was expelled from the party in 1932.[2]
TheCatholic Loritz was a right-wing opponent of theNazi regime. In early 1939, he made contact with a group ofBavarian monarchists in an ultimately-abortive attempt to foment discontent.[3] He claimed to have organized a failed plot on 8 November 1939 to killAdolf Hitler with a bomb in theBürgerbräukeller.[2] Loritz spent most of the war in exile inSwitzerland.[4]
TheAmerican occupation zone authorities gave Loritz permission to form a political party, the Economic Reconstruction Party (WAV), in December 1945.[5] Loritz gained a reputation as a demagogic speaker.[6] A believer in a strongfederal Germany, Loritz's fiery rhetoric attracted attention both in Germany itself and from the occupiers, with some even suggesting that he might prove to be "a newHitler".[6] However, although he belonged to thepolitical right, Loritz'spopulism lacked a strong ideological basis, and he appealed mainly to internal refugees who saw him as a strong voice for their defence.[6]
WAV directly appealed to Germansexpelled from eastern Europe that were ignored by the other parties. WAV placed third in theBavarian Landtag elections of 1946. Loritz joined the state cabinet as the Minister for Political Liberation, which was in charge ofdenazification, in 1947, but was dismissed six months later due to poor administrative work; his successor found over 1,600 unopened letters.[7]
Loritz was arrested for black market activities and perjury after being dismissed from his ministry, but was able to transfer from a jail to a hospital after claiming to be sick. He escaped from the hospital and avoided arrest for thirteen months. He was given 90 days in prison for his escape, but was not convicted on the black market and perjury charges. Hisparliamentary immunity was lifted by the state landtag so that prison guards could sue him for insulting them, but Loritz avoided the lawsuit by being elected to theBundestag.[8]
WAV and Neuburgerbund, a refugee organization, formed an alliance for the1949 election and won 12 seats.[9] However, it largely disintegrated as an organisation and saw its vote collapse in the state elections of 1950 and the municipal elections of 1952, when its vote share had fallen to 0.3%.[6] In the Bundestag, the party quickly fell apart, with four deputies breaking away in October 1950 to link up with theCentre Party.[10] That was followed by six more in December 1951 leaving WAV to join theGerman Party, along with a seventh, who joined theDeutsche Rechtspartei.[10] Loritz became an independent[11] and, although a handful offar-right independents linked up with him in 1953, his influence had largely gone.[10] He was not a candidate in the1953 election.[12]
Loritz attempted to revive his political career inBremen and formed the German Reconstruction Party in 1955. However, he was accused for forging signatures for his party. He was put on trial for five months in 1959 at a cost of 150,000 marks and over 200 witnesses were called. He was found guilty and sentenced to 3 1/2 years in prison.[12]
Loritz fled to Austria and appealed his conviction. TheFederal Court of Justice annulled his trial, but Loritz refused to return for a new trial unless he was given safe passage by Bavaria and Bremen. This condition was refused so he remained in Austria. He was arrested in Salzburg on 25 December 1961, while trying to board a train to Switzerland. West Germany attempted to extradite him from Austria, but Austria refused stating that the charges against Loritz were political.[12] He remained in Austria and died in a Vienna hospital in 1979.[13]
^James Donohoe,Hitler's Conservative Opponents in Bavaria, 1930–1945: A Study of Catholic, Monarchist, and Separatist Anti-Nazi Activities, Brill Archive, 1961, pp. 142–143
^Jose Raymund Canoy,The Discreet Charm of the Police State: The Landpolizei and the Transformation of Bavaria, 1945–1965, BRILL, 2007, p. 65
Dorls(from 13 December 1950 WAV-Gast, from 17 January 1951 WAV, from 26 September 1951 Non-attached, am 23 October 1952 Mandatsaberkennung)
Frommhold(from 7 September 1949 Nationale Rechte, from 5 October 1950 Non-attached (DRP), from 26 March 1952 DP-Gast, from 11 February 1953 Non-attached)
Miessner(from 5 October 1950 FDP-Gast, from 20 December 1950 FDP)
Rößler(from 15 September 1949 Nationale Rechte, from 6 September 1950 Non-attached, from 13 December 1950 WAV-Gast, from 17 January 1951 WAV, from 26 September 1951 Non-attached, until 21 February 1952)
Thadden(from 15 September 1949 Nationale Rechte; 1950 DRP, from 20 April 1950 Non-attached)
Ott(Non-attached, from 4 May 1950 WAV-Gast, from 13 October 1950 BHE/DG, from 21 March 1952 Non-attached, from 26 March 1952 DP/DPB-Gast, from 26 June 1952 Non-attached)
