The Naumann Circle ( German: Naumann-Kreis , also the Düsseldorf Circle or the Gauleiter Circle) was a conspiratorial Nazi organization in Germany in the early 1950s. XX century., Which represented a group of Nazi leaders of the Third Reich, rallied around the former Secretary of State of the Imperial Ministry of Public Education and Propaganda , Deputy Joseph Goebbels Werner Naumann . In 1952/1953 this group of conspirators tried to lead the neo-Nazi movement in Germany and use the structures of the Free Democratic Party of Germany for the Nazis to penetrate the legislative and executive authorities of Germany, primarily in the lands of North Rhine-Westphalia , Lower Saxony and Hesse .
Content
History
By the beginning of the 1950s, many different neo-Nazi organizations operated in the newly formed Federal Republic of Germany , but the organizational neo-Nazi movement was fragmented. However, it was in 1951-1952. it acquired a solid cadre of former SS men and senior officials of the Hitler Youth . It was from among them that the coordination and steering circle was formed.
In an environment of enormous scope of the propaganda campaign, orienting the FRG public to the “cold war” and anti-communism , right-wing ideologists then considered that it was time to gather neo-Nazi groups dispersed into a single large organization, which could incorporate small neo-Nazi organizations and groups unsuccessfully running in the elections .
This became possible after the ex-state secretary of the Imperial Ministry of Public Education and Propaganda, Deputy Joseph Goebbels Werner Naumann, entered the legal position in the summer of 1950 in Düsseldorf . With his return, the Nazi underground received as a protagonist a member of the narrowest group of trustees A. Hitler , M. Bormann and J. Goebbels. V. Nauman immediately became known not only as the only executor of M. Borman’s last will, but also as a cold-blooded Nazi “real politician” and at the same time as a propagandist “worthy” of Goebbels. As soon as he appeared, the former members of the SS and the Hitler Youths offered him to take the lead on them, which in turn made it easier for him to include them in the “Dusseldorf Circle” that was formed around him. Subsequently, due to the fact that a large number of former Nazi gauleiters became members of the “Naumann circle”, it was also called the “gauleiters circle”.
In 1951, the authority of the “Düsseldorf Circle” in the eyes of the neo-Nazis increased significantly after it was joined by the former deputy R. Heydrich for the RSHA, the former Reich Commissar of Denmark, Werner Best . V. Nauman and V. Best created an effective organizational and propaganda network that united former members of the SS and CA and created an “inner ring” in the organization. At that time, they established close contact with the leadership of the “Society for Mutual Assistance of SS Troops” (HIAG) ( Hilfsgemeinschaft auf Gegenseitigkeit der Soldaten der ehemaligen Waffen-SS ), which was headed by SS Oberstgruppenführer Paul Hausser , as well as with the leadership of other unions of former soldiers and officers of the Wehrmacht .
From the very beginning, the activities of the “Naumann Circle” were aimed at gaining positions in the civil authorities (obtaining deputy mandates, positions of mayors and mayors of cities), at the formation of neo-Nazi groups by profession and interest. The program of the “Naumann circle” envisaged penetration into large parties, the conquest by neo-Nazis of leadership positions in the land organizations of such parties, in order to create their own neo-Nazi party.
In the autumn of 1951, the leadership of the “Nauman circle” established close ties with the leadership of the FDP, and in the course of further meetings a clear plan emerged that acquired final form by mid-1952. It provided for, through ongoing personal and political implementation, the seizure of the FDP, the Union of the Exiled and Deprived of Rights, and, to a large extent, the German Party, in the lands of North Rhine-Westphalia and Lower Saxony, and then, first of all, from the FDP position, to call for the creation of the "National Association". The result should have been the creation of a large neo-Nazi party, its coming to power in the Federal Republic and the redirection of the development of Germany in the Nazi direction.
The Naumann Circle sought to transform the FDP towards National Socialism through targeted penetration. This was facilitated by the fact that in the already very nationalist-oriented land organization of the FDP in North Rhine-Westphalia (in Hesse and Lower Saxony the situation was similar in the early 1950s) new members were received with open arms to expand their electoral base at the expense of rightist electorate and, according to Friedrich Middelhof , chairman of the FDP in North Rhine-Westphalia, integrate former Nazis into parliamentary democracy.
Werner Naumann, Werner Best, Franz Alfred Ziks and Hans Fritsche designed the so-called Middelhof for Middelhof The "German Program", a right-nationalist project that was presented at the federal congress of the FDP in late November 1952 in Bad Ems ( Rhineland-Palatinate ), but which, however, lost to the Liberal manifesto of the land organizations of Hamburg , Bremen and Baden-Württemberg .
As a result of the activities of the Naumann Circle during 1952, the neo-Nazis, with the consent or connivance of the then FDP leadership, essentially managed to seize key positions in the FDP organizations in the lands of North Rhine-Westphalia and Lower Saxony.
The meetings of the representatives of the Düsseldorf and Hamburg circles with Nauman himself in November 1952 spoke about the orientation of the conspirators to an even more intensive penetration into the German right parties and the transition to their merger within the framework of the "national association".
The British impeded further implementation of the broadly conceived leadership plans of the Naumann Circle. The fact is that the British occupation authorities, represented by the British High Commissioner I. Kirkpatrick, informed the federal leaders of the FDP Theodore Hoyce (federal president), Franz Blucher (party chairman) and Thomas Deler (federal minister of justice) about the investigation of the British secret police regarding the activities of former Nazis inside the FDP. The British advised to take action, but federal politicians were slow. Then, on the night of January 14-15, 1953, they arrested Naumann and six other leaders of the circle in Düsseldorf, Solingen and Hamburg.
The British occupation authorities transferred the investigation and legal proceedings in the case of the arrested members of the Naumann Circle of West German justice, but the Constitutional Federal Court in Karlsruhe released them and then acquitted them on all counts.
Nevertheless, this whole story led to a political scandal in the Federal Republic of Germany, the society talked about the “Nauman scam” and “FDP Gauleiters”, the public demanded the resignation of the Bonn government. An internal party commission was created in the FDP itself, which issued grave accusations against the leadership of the land organization of the FDP of North Rhine-Westphalia.
Members of the Naumann's Mug
In addition to V. Nauman himself, the following figures belonged to his organization, who held important posts in the era of National Socialism:
1. Gunter d'Alquen , a journalist, editor-in-chief of the central organ of the SS - the newspaper "Black Corps" ( Schwarzen Korps ), Standartenführer SS
2. Werner Best ( Werner Best ), deputy chief of the RSHA Reinhard Heydrich and head of the 1st Directorate of the RSHA, Obergruppenführer SS , head of the Administrative Department in the administration of occupied France, since November 1942 - Reich Commissioner of Denmark
3. Karl Friedrich Bornemann ( Karl Friedrich Bornemann ), the regional leader of the Hitler Youth in gau Düsseldorf, publisher of “KBI-Informationsdienstes”
4. Wolfgang Diewerge , Head of the Broadcasting Directorate of the Imperial Ministry of Education and Propaganda (November 1941 - November 1942), Head of Propaganda Gau Danzig - West Prussia, Director of the Imperial Radio Station in Danzig
5. Friedrich Karl Florian ( Friedrich Karl Florian ), Gauleiter of Dusseldorf (August 1, 1930 - May 8, 1945)
6. Hans Fritsche ( Hans Fritzsche ), Head of the Directorate of Broadcasting of the Imperial Ministry of Public Education and Propaganda (November 3, 1942 - May 2, 1945), Head of the Great German Radio
7. Lydia Gottschewski , former leader of the National Socialist Women's Union (April 26, 1933 - September 13, 1933)
8. Josef Grohé , Gauleiter of Cologne-Aachen (May 31, 1931 - March 1945), Reich Commissioner of the occupied regions of Belgium and Northern France (July 13, 1944 - September 1944)
9. Hans Bernhard von Grünberg ( Hans-Bernhard von Grünberg ), professor of social and political sciences and the last German rector of the University of Königsberg
10. Heinrich Haselmayer , Head of the “Combat Union for German Culture” in Hamburg, Head of the Hamburg Organization of the National Socialist Student Union
11. Paul Hausser , SS Oberstgruppenführer and Colonel General of the SS Forces , First Chairman of the Mutual Assistance Society of SS Members (HIAG) ( Hilfsgemeinschaft auf Gegenseitigkeit der Soldaten der ehemaligen Waffen-SS )
12. Horst Huisgen , regional leader of the Hitler Youth in Silesia ; land steward of the FDP in Lower Saxony
13. Heinrich Hunke , Professor, Head of the Foreign Policy Propaganda Department of the Imperial Ministry of Public Education Propaganda, developer of Nazi plans for expanding living space in Europe, member of the board of Deutsche Bank , Minister of Health and Financial Affairs, Lower Saxony (Germany)
14. Karl Kaufmann ( Karl Kaufmann ), Gauleiter (April 15, 1929 - May 3, 1945) and the imperial governor of Hamburg (May 16, 1933 - May 3, 1945)
15. Herbert Lucht , Cultural Officer of the Imperial Ministry of Education and Propaganda, Cultural Officer of the Propaganda Department of the German Embassy in France , Head of the Propaganda Department of the Wehrmacht in Paris
16. Wilhelm Meinberg , SS gruppenfuhrer, one of the leaders of the SS Main Directorate for Race and Settlement , member of the Supervisory Board of the Dresden Bank , in 1953-1960 chairman of the German Imperial Party
17. Karl Ott , State Secretary and Member of the Lower Saxony Landtag
18. Karl Scharping, Official, Radio Department, Imperial Ministry of Education and Propaganda
19. Gustav Adolf Scheel ( Gustav Adolf Scheel ), head of the National Socialist Union of Students, imperial student leader (November 5, 1936 - May 8, 1945), Gauleiter (November 18, 1941 - May 8, 1945) and the imperial governor (November 27, 1941 - May 8, 1945) Salzburg
20. Heinz Siepen , NSDAP ortsgruppler and Landrat (Land Counselor), co-owner of steel mills in Solingen
21. Franz Alfred Six ( Franz Alfred Six ), brigadefuhrer SS, head of the VII Office of the RSHA (worldview study) (September 27, 1939 - September 1, 1942), head of the Cultural and Political Department of the Imperial Ministry of Foreign Affairs (September 1, 1942 - May 1945 )
22. Eberhard Taubert , Head of the Anti-Comintern Report ( “Referats Antikomintern” ), Judge of the People’s Court of Justice
23. Albert Urmes , Propaganda Leader, Gau Moselland and Occupied Luxembourg
24. Paul Wegener , Gauleiter and Imperial Viceroy Gau Weser-Ems (May 16, 1942 - May 8, 1945), High Civil Commissioner of the Imperial Defense at the rank of imperial state secretary of the Flensburg Government K. Doenitz (May 2 - 23, 1945 years), Obergruppenfuhrer SS
25. Paul Zimmermann , SS Team Leader , Advisor to the Steel and Cast Iron Economic Association
26. Siegfried Zoglmann , an expert on foreign press in the Imperial Youth Leadership of the NSDAP and the regional leader of the Hitler Youth in the Imperial protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia , head of the liaison office with the Imperial Ministry of Education and Propaganda, FDP functionary in North Rhine Westphalia and the Bundestag deputy from the FDP
27. Edmund Veesenmayer ( Edmund Veesenmayer ), Ambassador and Chief Commissioner of the Reich in Hungary , Brigadeführer SS
28. Ernst Achenbach , Head of the Political Department of the German Embassy in Paris, member of the Cultural and Political Department of the Imperial Ministry of Foreign Affairs, deputy of the Landtag from the Free Democratic Party (FDP), chairman of its foreign policy committee
29. Albert Derichsweiler ( Albert Derichsweiler ), imperial student leader (August 1, 1934 - November 4, 1936) and Reichsamleiter NSDAP
30. Alfred Eduard Frauenfeld ( Alfred Frauenfeld ), Gauleiter of Vienna (January 1, 1930-1933), General Commissioner of the Crimea - Tavria (September 1, 1942 - May 1944)
31. Werner Trumpf, Head of the Liaison Office of the Nazi Imperial Student Manual, CA Obersturmbunführer
32. Friedrich Middelhof , until 1945 - head of the "Western Service" of the Political Radio Propaganda Division of the Imperial Ministry of Foreign Affairs, chairman of the FDP in North Rhine-Westphalia (since November 1952 - second chairman of the FDP)
33. Walter Brand, former adjutant of the Gauleiter and Imperial governor of Sudetenland and head of the Sudetenland People's Party, Conrad Genlein.
34. Wolfgang Doering, FDP Business Manager for North Rhine-Westphalia
35. Arthur Stegner, Chairman of the FDP in Lower Saxony
36. Erich Mende, member of the FDP in the Bundestag
37. Herbert Freiberger, former leading functionary of the Hitler Youth
Literature
- Reinhard Opitz "Fascism and neo-fascism." - M., "Progress", 1988. - 280 p. Part II, Ch. 5. “Neo-fascism and its development trends in the federal republic of Germany”
- Heiko Buschke “The German press, right-wing extremism and the national socialist past in the Adenauer era” ( Deutsche Presse, Rechtsextremismus und nationalsozialistische Vergangenheit in der Ära Adenauer ). - “Campus” , Frankfurt, 2003, ISBN 3-593-37344-0 (German)
- Manfred Jenke “The oath is right? Report on the right radicalism in Germany after 1945 "( " Verschwörung von Rechts? Ein Bericht über den Rechtsradikalismus in Deutschland nach 1945 " ). - “Colloquium” , Berlin, pp. 155–199. (him)
- Norbert Frei “The politics of the past. The origins of the Federal Republic and the national socialist past "( " Vergangenheitspolitik. Die Anfänge der Bundesrepublik and die NS-Vergangenheit " ). - Edition 2, revised and enlarged. Beck , Munich 1997, ISBN 3-406-41310-2 (German)
- Hélène Miard-Delacroix “The German National Question and Nationalism.” French selection on German problems of the early fifties ”( “ Question nationale allemande et nationalisme. Perceptions françaises d'une problématique allemande au début des années 50 ” ). - University publications of the North, "Villeneuve d'Ascq" , 2004, ISBN 2-85939-862-7 (fr.) .
- Hans-Peter Schwartz, Ilse Dorothea Pauch, Matthias Jaroch ( Hans-Peter Schwarz , Ilse Dorothee Pautsch , Matthias Jaroch ) “Documents on the Foreign Policy of the Federal Republic of Germany” ( “Akten zur auswärtigen Politik der Bundesrepublik Deutschland” ). - Volume 2. Oldenbourg , Munich, 2001, ISBN 3-486-56560-5 (German)
- Kristian Buchna “National Assembly on the Rhine and Ruhr: Friedrich Middelhof and North Rhine-Westphalian FDP 1945-1953” ( Nationale Sammlung an Rhein und Ruhr: Friedrich Middelhauve und die nordrhein-westfälis19 FDP 19 " ). - Oldenbourg , Munich, 2010, ISBN 978-3-48659-802-5 (German)
- Wilma Ruth Albrecht ( Wilma Ruth Albrecht ) “Liberalism and denazification. On the relation of FDP, FDP and LDP to the issue of denazification "( " Liberalismus und Entnazifizierung. Zur Haltung der FDP, DVP und LDP in der Entnazifizierungsfrage " ). - “Grin” , Munich, 2008 ISBN 3638883175 (German) .
Links
- Reinhard Opitz "Neofascism and its development trends in the Federal Republic of Germany"
- Fritz Neumeier, Thomas Deler, Alfred Onnen "Report of the FDP Investigation Commission on the Nauman Conspiracy", 1984
- Norbert Fry "German Program. How the North Rhine-Westphalian FDP invited convinced Nazis to enter the party in the early fifties, 2002 (not available link)
- Documents in the case of Bornemann, Naumann and others from the National Archives near London, 2008
- The Nazis and the National Assembly: the FDP in the fifties, 2003
- Florian Ozuch "The Brown Legacy in the Landtag of the North Rhine-Westphalia", 2011