Karl Kaufmann

Karl Kaufmann (10 October 1900 in Krefeld[1] – 4 December 1969 in Hamburg) was a Nazi Gauleiter in Hamburg—head of the Nazi Party, and government of Hamburg from 1933 until 1945.

For the Austrian painter, see Karl Kaufmann (painter).
Karl Kaufmann
Karl Kaufmann
Reichsstatthalter of Hamburg
In office
16 May 1933 – 3 May 1945
Preceded byOffice created
Succeeded byOffice abolished
Gauleiter of Hamburg
In office
15 April 1929 – 3 May 1945
Preceded byHinrich Lohse
Succeeded byOffice abolished
Personal details
Born10 October 1900
Krefeld, German Empire
Died4 December 1969(1969-12-04) (aged 69)
Hamburg, West Germany
NationalityGerman
Political party NSDAP

Early life

Kaufmann was born in Krefeld on 10 October 1900. He served as a war volunteer in World War I and in the Brigade Ehrhardt (1919–1920).[2]

Career
Gauleiter, Reichsstatthalter, and SS-Obergruppenführer Kaufmann visiting Norway July 1942 in his capacity as Reichskommissar für die deutsche Seefahrt (RKS). Josef Terboven, Reichskommissar for Norway during the Nazi occupation 1940–1945, to his left.
Photo: National Archives of Norway

A founding member of the NSDAP in 1921; after the re-establishment of the party, he rejoined in 1925 and quickly became one of Adolf Hitler's favourites. He was appointed Gauleiter of the Gaus North Rhineland and Ruhr between the years 1925 and 1928,[2] then Gauleiter of Hamburg on 15 April 1929, a post he was to hold until 1945.[3] He was also elected a member of the German Reichstag in November 1932.[1] After Hitler gained power, Kaufmann was appointed Reichsstatthalter (Reich Governor) of Hamburg on 16 May 1933[4] with absolute power over some 1.8 million people. One of his first acts was to turn over control of the city's Fuhlsbüttel Prison to the SA and SS, where it quickly became the nucleus of the notorious Kola-Fu concentration camp.

At the start of the Second World War on 1 September 1939, Kaufmann was appointed Reich Defense Commissioner for Wehrkreis (Military District) X which encompassed his Gau as well as Gau Schleswig-Holstein, Gau Weser-Ems and much of Gau Eastern Hanover. In September 1941, after Allied bombing of Hamburg had rendered many people homeless, Kaufmann petitioned Hitler to allow him to deport local Jews so that he could confiscate their property to rehouse bombed-out citizens. Hitler quickly responded, allowing Kaufmann the dubious distinction of being the first Nazi leader to deport German Jews, in this instance to the Łódź Ghetto in Poland.

A member of the SS since 1933, Kaufmann was promoted to SS-Obergruppenführer on 30 January 1942. On 16 November 1942, the jurisdiction of the Reich Defense Commissioners was changed from the Wehrkreis to the Gau level, and he retained control only over Gau Hamburg.[3] Adolf Hitler declared Hamburg a fortress, similar to the Festung Warschau, the cities of Poznań, or Kolberg. In April 1945, Kaufmann and Commander Generalmajor Alwin Wolz wanted, independently of each other, to capitulate without further struggle. After negotiations and the publication of a pamphlet prepared by Kaufmann—without Kaufmann's consent—Hamburg was declared an "open city" by Admiral Karl Dönitz, then president of Germany.[5]

After the war

Arrested shortly after the occupation of Hamburg by British forces in 1945, in 1946 Kaufmann was witness at the Nuremberg Trials;[2] he was subsequently tried for war crimes and sentenced to a term of imprisonment, but released soon after on the grounds of ill health after an accident. He was to be arrested twice more before being finally released in 1953. Kaufmann died on 4 December 1969 in Hamburg.[2]

Apologetic account

In his book Das letzte Kapitel (The last chapter) published in 1947, Kurt Detlev Möller described Kaufmann as a "good Gauleiter", a "rebel against the leader", and the "rescuer of Hamburg", because of the capitulation without struggle of the city of Hamburg.[2]

References
  1. "Datenbank der deutschen Parlamentsabgeordneten Basis: Parlamentsalmanache/Reichstagshandbücher 1867 - 1938" (in German). Bayerische Staatsbibliothek. Retrieved 2009-09-23.
  2. Stubbe-da Luz, Helmut (2005). "Kaufmann, Karl". In Franklin Koplitzsch and Daniel Tilgner (ed.). Hamburg Lexikon (in German) (3 ed.). Ellert&Richter. p. 267. ISBN 3-8319-0179-1.
  3. Höffkes, Karl (1986). Hitlers Politische Generale. Die Gauleiter des Dritten Reiches: ein biographisches Nachschlagewerk. Tübingen: Grabert-Verlag. p. 51. ISBN 3-87847-163-7.
  4. "Erste Bürgermeister Hamburgs 1507-2008" (PDF) (in German). Senat der Freien und Hansestadt Hamburg, Senatskanzlei. Retrieved 2009-09-22. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  5. Verg, Erich; Verg, Martin (2007). Das Abenteuer das Hamburg heißt (in German) (4th ed.). Hamburg: Ellert&Richter. p. 182. ISBN 978-3-8319-0137-1.
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