Hinrich Lohse | |
|---|---|
 Lohse in 1941 | |
| Reichskommissar for the Ostland | |
| In office 25 July 1941 – 13 August 1944 | |
| Appointed by | Adolf Hitler |
| Preceded by | Office established |
| Succeeded by | Erich Koch |
| Oberpräsident Province of Schleswig-Holstein | |
| In office 25 March 1933 – 6 May 1945 | |
| Preceded by | Heinrich Thon [de] |
| Succeeded by | Otto Hoevermann [de] (acting) |
| Gauleiter Gau Schleswig-Holstein | |
| In office 27 March 1925 – 6 May 1945 | |
| Führer | Adolf Hitler |
| Preceded by | Office established |
| Succeeded by | Office abolished |
| Legislative positions | |
| 1933–1945 | Reichstag Deputy |
| 1932 | Reichstag Deputy |
| 1928–1933 | Landtag of Prussia Deputy |
| 1924–1930 | Altona City Councilor |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 2 September 1896 |
| Died | 25 February 1964 (aged 67) Mühlenbarbek,Schleswig-Holstein,West Germany |
| Political party | Nazi Party |
| Occupation | Bank clerk |
| Civilian awards | Golden Party Badge Nuremberg Party Day Badge |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance | German Empire |
| Branch/service | Imperial German Army |
| Years of service | 1915–1916 |
| Unit | Reserve Infantry Regiment 76 Reserve Infantry Regiment 94 |
| Battles/wars | World War I |
| Military awards | Wound Badge, in black |
Hinrich Lohse (2 September 1896 – 25 February 1964) was a GermanNazi Party official, politician and convicted war criminal. He served as theGauleiter andOberpräsident ofSchleswig-Holstein and was an SA-Obergruppenführer in the Naziparamilitary organization, theSturmabteilung (SA). He is best known for his rule of theReichskommissariat Ostland, during theSecond World War. TheReichskommissariat comprised the modern-day states ofLithuania,Latvia, andEstonia, as well as parts ofBelarus, and was the scene ofHolocaust-related atrocities. Lohse was sentenced to ten years in prison in 1948 but was released in 1951.
Hinrich Lohse was born into a peasant family in the town ofMühlenbarbek in theProvince of Schleswig-Holstein. From 1903 to 1912 he attended theVolksschule in his home town and, for the next year, atrade school inHamburg. In 1913, he began working at theBlohm & Vossshipyard in Hamburg. During theFirst World War, he wasconscripted into Reserve Infantry Regiment 76 of theImperial German Army on 23 September 1915. He served in combat on thewestern front with Reserve Infantry Regiment 94 until he was severely wounded on 9 August 1916. He was awarded theWound Badge in black, and was discharged from the military with a ten-percent war disability in November. He returned to employment in the shipbuilding industry and later moved into banking. From 1919, Lohse was an associate at the Schleswig-Holstein Farmers' Association and, as of 1920, business manager inNeumünster of theSchleswig-Holstein Farmers and Farmworkers Democracy, the regional agrarian political party.[1]
In early 1923, Lohse joined theNazi Party (membership number 7,522) and was appointed the Party'sGauleiter forSchleswig-Holstein on 27 March 1925. As an early Party member, he would later be awarded theGolden Party Badge. During the time that the Party was banned in the wake ofAdolf Hitler's failedBeer Hall Putsch of November 1923, Lohse joined theVölkisch-Social Bloc, a Nazifront organization, and was elected under its banner to the city council ofAltona. When Hitler refounded the Nazi Party in February 1925, Lohse became theOrtsgruppenleiter (local group leader) of Altona, and formally re-enrolled in the Party on 13 June. He continued to sit on the city council as a Nazi Party member until 1930.[2]
In September 1925, Lohse joined theNational Socialist Working Association, a short-lived group of northern and western GermanGaue, organized and led by Reich Organization LeaderGregor Strasser, which unsuccessfully sought to amend theParty program. It was dissolved in 1926 following theBamberg Conference. In May 1928, Lohse was elected to theLandtag of Prussia where he served until it wasdissolved by the Nazis in October 1933.[3]
Between 3 September 1928 and 15 April 1929, Lohse also temporarily administeredGau Hamburg before the appointment ofKarl Kaufmann asGauleiter. In August 1929, he attended theparty rally in Nuremberg for which he was awarded theNuremberg Party Day Badge. During this time, he also led into the Nazi Party various nationally-oriented farming associations in northern Germany, such as theRural People's Movement. On 15 July 1932, he was appointed asLandesinspekteur-North. In this position, he had oversight responsibility for hisGau and three others (Hamburg,Mecklenburg-Lubeck, andPomerania). This was a short-lived initiative by Strasser to centralize control over theGaue. However, it was unpopular with all theGauleiter and was repealed on Strasser's fall from power in December 1932. Lohse then returned to hisGauleiter position in Schleswig-Holstein.[4]
In theJuly 1932 parliamentary election, Lohse was elected to theReichstag for electoral constituency 13 (Schleswig-Holstein). While he was not elected at the following two general elections in November and March, he returned as a member for Schleswig-Holstein at theNovember 1933 election and retained this seat until the fall of the Nazi regime in May 1945.[5] Shortly after theNazi seizure of power he was appointed asOberpräsident (high president) of the province of Schleswig-Holstein on 25 March 1933. He thus united under his control the highest Party and governmental offices in the province. On 11 April, he was named as the province'splenipotentiary to theReichsrat, serving until its abolition by the Nazis on 14 February 1934. On 11 July 1933, Lohse was named to the recently reconstitutedPrussian State Council. On 15 November, he was made an honorary SA-Gruppenführer in the Naziparamilitary, theSturmabteilung (SA). In 1934, he took over the chairmanship of theNordische Gesellschaft (Nordic Association). On 1 January 1937, he was promoted to SA-Obergruppenführer. On 16 November 1942, Lohse was appointed theReich Defense Commissioner for hisGau.[6]
On 25 July 1941, after the German conquest of theBaltic states from theSoviet Union, Lohse was appointedReichskommissar for theOstland.[7] Lohse retained his functions in Schleswig-Holstein and shuttled between his two seats ofRiga andKiel. He reported toReichsministerAlfred Rosenberg of theReich Ministry for the Occupied Eastern Territories and was responsible for the implementation ofNaziGermanization policies, which were built on the foundations of theGeneralplan Ost: the killing of almost allJews,Romani people, andCommunists and the oppression of the local population that was its necessary corollary.[8] Lohse did not have direct line authority over the police forces andEinsatzgruppen A whose murderous actions were under the control of SS-Brigadeführer andGeneralmajor der PolizeiFranz Walter Stahlecker, andHigher SS and Police Leader (HSSPF) SS-ObergruppenführerFriedrich Jeckeln, the chief organizer of theRumbula massacre.[9]
Nevertheless, as the leader of the civil administration, he implemented, through a series of special edicts and guiding principles, many of the preparatory acts that facilitated the subsequent policeAktionen (the Nazi euphemism for killing operations). These measures, first put forth in his decree of 27 July 1941, included compiling lists of Jews, mandating that they must wear theyellow badge, confiscating their property and banning them from public transportation, school attendance or employment in the professions. Those considered employable were to be used inforced labor. They were to be gathered together inghettos and were "to be given only as much food as the rest of the population can do without, but no more than suffices for scanty nourishment of the Ghetto inmates."[10] In particular, he shared responsibility with HSSPF SS-ObergruppenführerHans-Adolf Prützmann for the enslavement andghettoization of the Jews of Latvia.
On 31 October 1941,Georg Leibbrandt, a high official in the Reich Ministry, wrote to Lohse requesting an explanation for his order forbidding the execution of Jews inLibau. Lohse replied on 15 November acknowledging that "the cleansing of the East of Jews is a necessary task", but asking whether there was "a directive to liquidate all Jews in the East … without regard to age and sex and economic interests" affecting the war economy. Leibbrandt's deputy,Otto Bräutigam, responded on 18 December, informing Lohse that "Economic considerations should fundamentally remain unconsidered in the settlement of the [Jewish] problem".[11] Though Lohse raised concerns about the murder of Jews that was taking place, like many civil administrators, he did this out of a concern for the impact on the local war economy.[12] After receiving the reply, he continued to remain in his post for the next three years while theHolocaust-related murders continued. Lohse fled theReichskommissariat Ostland without authorization on 13 August 1944 in the face of theRed Army advance, and he was immediately removed asReichskommissar. He was replaced byErich Koch who assumed the post on 21 September. Lohse returned to Gau Schleswig-Holstein where he continued to exercise absolute power asGauleiter and Reich Defense Commissioner until thelast days of the war in Europe.[13]
On 6 May 1945, Lohse was dismissed asOberpräsident of Schleswig-Holstein by German PresidentKarl Dönitz and, shortly thereafter, was imprisoned by theBritish Army. He was tried by the court inBielefeld between October 1947 and January 1948, and was sentenced to 10 years in prison and confiscation of his property. A request by theSoviet Union for his execution was denied. He was held at the prison inEsterwegen until he was released in March 1951 due to ill health (thrombosis). In July of the same year, a finding by the Kieldenazification committee placed him in Group III (lesser offenders) and authorized him to receive a pension of 25% of anOberpräsident's salary.[14] However, in March 1952, the pension was revoked by the German government inBonn under pressure from theLandtag of Schleswig-Holstein in protest of his antidemocratic rule in the province.[15] His appeal of this issue was dismissed by theFederal Administrative Court in October 1955. Lohse spent his later years in his hometown of Mühlenbarbek, where he died in February 1964.[16]
Works related toDirections concerning treatment of Jewish property 13 October 1941 at Wikisource
Media related toHinrich Lohse at Wikimedia Commons Media related toThe Holocaust in Latvia at Wikimedia Commons| International | |
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