Hermann Neubacher | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Neubacher in 1943 | |
| Reich plenipotentiary forGreece | |
| In office November 3, 1943 – October 12, 1944 | |
| Preceded by | Günther Altenburg |
| Succeeded by | Position abolished |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 24 June 1893 |
| Died | 1 July 1960 (aged 67) |
| Party | NSDAP |
Hermann Neubacher (24 June 1893 – 1 July 1960) was anAustrianNazi politician who held a number of diplomatic posts in theThird Reich. During theSecond World War, he was appointed as the leading German foreign ministry official forGreece and theBalkans (includingSerbia,Albania, andMontenegro).
Born inWels, he was educated inKremsmünster andVienna before his service on theItalian Front inWorld War I.[1] Initially connected to theSocial Democratic Party of Austria through his friendship with a number of leading members when he was in charge of a housing project in Vienna, Neubacher became attracted toPan-Germanism and in 1925 founded his ownÖsterreichisch-Deutscher Volksbund as a society for the school of thought.[1] He was also a member of theDeutsche Gemeinschaft secret society and in this group he built up friendships with the fellow membersEngelbert Dollfuß andArthur Seyss-Inquart.[1]
Neubacher became a member of theNazi Party inAustria, which he felt was the best way to bring aboutAnschluss although he was more in tune withAnton Reinthaller's moderate faction than with the extremists underTheodor Habicht.[2] After a spell as assistant toJosef Leopold, he becameLandesleiter of the Austrian Nazi Party in 1935 and attempted to restructure the banned group. His tenure came to an end the same year when he was imprisoned in June for distributing illegal material. Upon his release under theJuliabkommen, Neubacher dropped out of politics to take up a role withIG Farben.[2]
Under the Nazis, Neubacher was chosen to serve asMayor of Vienna but soon incurred disfavor for his habit of working with former Social Democrats and his lax attitude towards theJews. Before long, he was downgraded to the role of general representative ofJosef Bürckel.[2]
When war broke out, Neubacher took on the role of a special plenipotentiary envoy in theBalkans andGreece and initially served as an economic adviser inRomania before taking on the role of ambassador to the same country and afterwardsGreece as well.[2] In Greece, he was joined by theItalian Alberto D'Agostino, with the two men given full authority over economic and financial matters after discussions between the Greek government and the occupiers aimed at reducing occupation costs.[3]
From October 1942, Neubacher was given the task of containing inflation,[4] which had skyrocketed after theexile of the prewar government and of theBank of Greece in April 1941.[5] Neubacher immediately suspended payments to Wehrmacht and Greek government contractors, forced contractors to sell gold fordrachmas, and banned export of foodstuffs.[4] The techniques worked well for a while, as prices fell during the winter of 1942–1943, but continuedseignorage ultimately caused inflation to resume and accelerate from spring 1943 onwards.
Neubacher was the general manager ofDEGRIGES, a German monopoly company for trade in Greece.
During the final days of the occupation of Greece, the more moderate Neubacher became embroiled in a struggle withSicherheitspolizei chiefWalter Blume, who had suggested that the Nazis should undertake a policy of executing all members of the political elite that were suspected of having links to theUnited Kingdom to leave the country leaderless (the so-called "Chaos Thesis").[6] Neubacher rejected that as counterproductive and argued that as long as politicians opposed the work of the Communist-controlledNational Liberation Front and theGreek People's Liberation Army, their British ties would not help them in establishing control. In the end, Neubacher's line was approved, and Blume was withdrawn, a move that ultimately left in place a strong anti-Communistright wing governing class in post-liberation Greece.[7]
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In 1943, Neubacher devised the Neubacher Plan as a means to improve German occupation in the Balkans. In a wide-ranging raft of reforms, he suggested five main ideas toJoachim von Ribbentrop. These were:
Ultimately only point 4 of his proposals was approved, although he did succeed in ending German military reprisals and in combating to an extent theUstaše genocide againstSerbs.[9]
After the war Neubacher faced trial in theSocialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and in 1946 a military court in Belgrade sentenced him to 20 years of hard labor, although he was not ultimately required to serve the full sentence.[2] He served his prison term in Belgrade, in the building of the former Gestapo headquarters. He was released from prison in November 1952 due to poor health. Back in Austria, he worked as a building constructor in Salzburg, and from 1954–1956, he worked in Ethiopia as a consultant toEmperorHaile Selassie. He died in Vienna, aged 67.[citation needed]
Media related toHermann Neubacher at Wikimedia Commons
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Mayor of Vienna 1938–1940 | Succeeded by |
