Josef Leopold | |
|---|---|
| Landesleiter ofAustria | |
| In office 29 January 1935 – 21 February 1938 | |
| Succeeded by | Hubert Klausner |
| Gauleiter ofLower Austria | |
| In office 29 August 1927 – 21 February 1938 | |
| Preceded by | Leopold Eder |
| Succeeded by | Hugo Jury |
| DeputyGauleiter of Lower Austria | |
| In office 5 September 1926 – 29 August 1927 | |
| Preceded by | Position established |
| Additional positions | |
| 1938–1941 | HonoraryGauleiter |
| 1938–1941 | Reichstag Deputy |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1889-02-18)18 February 1889 |
| Died | 24 July 1941(1941-07-24) (aged 52) |
| Citizenship | Austrian,German (after 1938) |
| Political party | Nazi Party |
| Other political affiliations | Social Democratic Party of Austria Deutsche Nationalsozialistische Arbeiterpartei |
| Spouse | Sidonie Saxeneder |
| Occupation | Military officer |
| Civilian awards | Golden Party Badge Blood Order |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |  Austria-Hungary Austria Nazi Germany |
| Branch/service | Austro-Hungarian Army Volkswehr German Army |
| Years of service | 1910-1918 1918-1933 1939-1941 |
| Rank | Stabsfeldwebel Hauptmann Oberstleutnant |
| Unit | 49th Infantry Regiment 6th Infantry Regiment |
| Commands | 1stFeldjäger Battalion |
| Battles/wars | World War I World War II |
| Military awards | Medal for Bravery (Austria-Hungary), 1st and 2nd class Iron Cross, 2nd class |
Josef Leopold (18 February 1889 – 24 July 1941) was theNazi PartyGauleiter ofLower Austria from 1927 to 1938, as well as the Party'sLandesleiter (state leader) and the head of theSturmabteilung (SA) for all ofAustria from 1935 to 1938. He belonged to the faction withinAustrian Nazism that supported an independent Austrian Nazi state rather than a union with Germany.Adolf Hitler removed him from office just before theAnschluss with Germany. At the outbreak of theSecond World War, Leopold joined theGerman Army and was killed duringthe invasion of the Soviet Union.
Leopold was born inLangenlois, in the ruralWaldviertel region ofLower Austria, and attendedVolksschule there until 1904. After one year of study at a specialized fruit andviticulture school, he worked on his father's small farm. Leopold then decided on a military career, joining the 49th Infantry Regiment of theAustro-Hungarian Army on 7 October 1910. Following the outbreak of theFirst World War, he served as a platoon leader with the rank ofStabsfeldwebel, and saw action on theeastern front until 1 August 1915, when he was captured by forces of theImperial Russian Army. He was sent toSiberia as aprisoner of war where he remained until February 1918 when he escaped, returning to Austria.[1]
Leopold became an instructor of new recruits in Vienna and, after the end of the war, he remained in military service with theVolkswehr. Following the reorganisation of the military after the establishment of the republic, he was retained in the newly renamedBundesheer and attended the military school atEnns. Commissioned as aLeutnant in March 1919, he was assigned to the 6th Infantry Regiment in July 1920, based inKrems an der Donau. He became its training officer in August 1923, where he remained until 1925. By 1927, he was promoted toOberleutnant and assigned as an artillery officer in a mountain howitzer battery. Advanced to the rank ofHauptmann in January 1931, he became the commander of the 1stFeldjäger Battalion on 1 July 1931.[2]
Leopold's initial involvement in politics came in December 1918 when he joined theSocial Democratic Party of Austria. However, by March 1919 he had switched sides to joinWalter Riehl'sDeutsche Nationalsozialistische Arbeiterpartei and he became a convinced activist in the party after hearingAdolf Hitler speak at Krems in 1920.[1] Leopold quickly rose through the Party ranks, fromOrtsgruppenleiter in Krems in 1924 toKreisleiter of the Waldviertel district in 1925 and, by September 1926, he formally joined the Nazi Party (membership number 50,416) and was made leader of theSturmabteilung in Lower Austria, as well as DeputyGauleiter of that region. As an early member of the Party, he would later be awarded theGolden Party Badge. On 29 August 1927, he was personally appointed by Hitler to the post ofGauleiter of Lower Austria. From 21 May 1932 to 23 June 1933, he was a member of the Lower AustrianLandtag and leader of the Nazi faction in that body, as well as a member of theLandesrat (state council).[3]
Leopold belonged to the pro-independence faction within Austrian Nazism and insisted thatAdolf Hitler was only a spiritual leader rather than the future Austrian leader.[4] Leopold's faction within Austrian Nazism was underground in nature and frequently launched terrorist attacks.[5] His position as an extremist who supported independence meant that he clashed with the pro-Greater Germany wing ofTheodor Habicht and the constitutional pro-independence wing underAnton Reinthaller.[6]
On 19 June 1933, 32 auxiliary policemen in Krems were wounded by hand grenades in a terrorist attack by Nazis, and the Austrian government ofChancellorEngelbert Dollfuß responded by outlawing the Nazi Party in Austria.[7] Leopold subsequently was removed from his positions in theLandtag and theLandesrat, and he also was discharged from the Austrian Army on 31 August 1933. The onlyGauleiter who refused to flee Austria, he was arrested on 16 September and held for investigation until 1 February 1934 when he was released for lack of evidence. Rearrested on 5 May of the same year, he wasinterned in Wöllersdorf concentration camp until July.[8]
Leopold was appointed theLandesleiter of the banned Austrian Nazi Party on 29 January 1935 and the leader of all SA troops in Austria in June. However, he was again interned in Wöllersdorf later that month for distribution of propaganda pamphlets.[9] Over a year later, on 11 July 1936, Hitler concluded anagreement with ChancellorKurt Schuschnigg, recognising Austria's sovereignty and agreeing that Austrian National Socialism was a "domestic matter" over which Germany would exert no direct or indirect influence. In return, Austria agreed to an amnesty of imprisoned Nazis, and Leopold obtained his freedom on 23 July.[10] Although officially still the party leader, Leopold found that during his time in prison much of the power within the party passed toFriedrich Rainer andOdilo Globocnik who, on Hitler's express instructions, were seeking to build alliances with more conservative leaders such asArthur Seyss-Inquart and even Schuschnigg.[11]
Later in 1936, Leopold began negotiating with Schuschnigg in an attempt to regain legal status for the Nazi Party. Leopold hoped through this to become part of acoalition government and to eventually form an independent Nazi government in Austria.[12] He then sought to work more closely with other nationalist groups in order to come closer to his ideal of a Nazi Austria and, in this endeavour, won the backing of cabinet ministersEdmund Glaise-Horstenau andOdo Neustädter-Stürmer [de].[13] Despite this, the talks with Schuschnigg came to nothing and Leopold's desires to see the Nazis recognised and to establish a coalition known as theDeutschsozialer Volksbund were left unfulfilled.[14] Indeed, Leopold came out of the negotiations badly, as not only were his plans to reconstitute the Nazi Party as part of theFatherland's Front made public, but he also failed to secure an offer of a cabinet post as he had hoped.[15]
His failures in the negotiations and his pro-independence stance meant that Hitler did not trust Leopold, who he felt might use the SA to try to seize power on his own, perhaps by force. Therefore, he sentWilhelm Keppler to keep a watch on him in July 1937.[16] However, Keppler was told by Leopold that he took orders from no one.[17]Heinrich Himmler made him leader of the AustrianSchutzstaffel in 1937, but he soon grew tired of the quarrelsome Leopold, who also had clashes withHermann Göring,Rudolf Hess,Franz von Papen and his co-leader of the Austrian NazisHermann Neubacher.[15] While leading the Nazis in Vienna during 1938, Leopold boasted toBritish Union of Fascists representativeRobert Gordon-Canning that he was about to lead an uprising with Hitler's aid. However, the conversation was picked up by Schuschnigg who had Leopold's office raided, where documents relating to the coup plot were seized.[18] Hitler finally dismissed Leopold asLandesleiter on 21 February 1938, on the pretext that he wanted Austrian Nazis to follow legality.[16] Hitler, who had been due to hold talks with Schuschnigg, was especially annoyed that Leopold had launched a bombing campaign in the run-up to the meeting, and so acted quickly to remove him.[15]
Following theAnschluss, Leopold was able to continue his career within the Nazi Party in Germany, despite his earlier support for an independent Austria. However, he never attained the level of leadership that he had wielded in Austria. He was considered for the role ofGauleiter ofReichsgau Lower Danube, although this role went toHugo Jury instead.[15] On 21 February 1938, Leopold was granted the title of HonoraryGauleiter. At theparliamentary election of 10 April, he was elected as a Nazi deputy to theReichstag from the newly renamedOstmark. On 23 May, he was appointed as a PartyReichsinspekteur inMunich on the staff of DeputyFührer Hess and promoted to the rank of SA-Gruppenführer. This was followed on 1 June by his being named an honoraryFührer of Vienna's SA-Gruppe Donau. On 30 January 1939, he was awarded the Nazi Party'sBlood Order decoration.[19]
On the outbreak of theSecond World War, Leopold volunteered for service in theGerman Army. With the rank ofOberstleutnant, he commanded of a reserve battalion of Austrian troops in theBattle of France and in the invasion of theSoviet Union. He died on 24 July 1941 at theeastern front as a result of an accident with a Romanian soldier's grenade.[19] He had beenReich MinisterAlfred Rosenberg's choice for the post ofGeneralkommissar forCrimea, but the job ultimately went to fellow-AustrianAlfred Frauenfeld.[20]
In October 1945, Leopold's widow, Sidonie née Saxeneder (16 August 1894 – 19 July 1980) was tried by the Vienna People's Court for her Nazi Party membership. She had been a member since 1927, and had been awarded the Golden Party Badge. On 8 October 1945, Sidonie was sentenced to two-and-a-half years in prison and had her assets confiscated.[21]
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