Dr.
Alfred Meyer (October 5, 1891 – April 11, 1945) was a
NaziNazism, known officially in German as National Socialism , is the totalitarian ideology and practices of the Nazi Party or National Socialist German Workers’ Party under Adolf Hitler, and the policies adopted by the dictatorial government of Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1945.Nazism is often considered...
official, achieving the rank of
Staatssekretär and Deputy Reichsminister in the
Reich Ministry for the Occupied Eastern TerritoriesThe Reich Ministry for the Occupied Eastern Territories was created in July 1941 and headed by the Nazi theoretical expert and Baltic German, Alfred Rosenberg. Alfred Meyer was Rosenberg's deputy. This ministry was created to control the vast areas captured by the Germans in Eastern Europe and...
(
Reichministerium für die Besetzten Ostgebiete or
Ostministerium).
Meyer was born in
GöttingenGöttingen is a college town in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is the capital of the district of Göttingen. The Leine river runs through the town. In 2006 the population was 129,686.-General information:...
, the son of a government official. He was educated at the
GymnasiumA gymnasium is a type of school providing secondary education in some parts of Europe, comparable to English grammar schools or sixth form colleges and U.S. college preparatory high schools...
in
SoestSoest is a town in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is the capital of the Soest district. After Lippstadt, a neighbouring town, Soest is the second biggest town in its district.-Geography:...
, graduating in 1911. In 1912 he became a
Fahnenjunker (cadet officer) with Infanterieregiment 68 (Koblenz), passing his officer exam in 1913.
Dr.
Alfred Meyer (October 5, 1891 – April 11, 1945) was a
NaziNazism, known officially in German as National Socialism , is the totalitarian ideology and practices of the Nazi Party or National Socialist German Workers’ Party under Adolf Hitler, and the policies adopted by the dictatorial government of Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1945.Nazism is often considered...
official, achieving the rank of
Staatssekretär and Deputy Reichsminister in the
Reich Ministry for the Occupied Eastern TerritoriesThe Reich Ministry for the Occupied Eastern Territories was created in July 1941 and headed by the Nazi theoretical expert and Baltic German, Alfred Rosenberg. Alfred Meyer was Rosenberg's deputy. This ministry was created to control the vast areas captured by the Germans in Eastern Europe and...
(
Reichministerium für die Besetzten Ostgebiete or
Ostministerium).
Early life
Meyer was born in
GöttingenGöttingen is a college town in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is the capital of the district of Göttingen. The Leine river runs through the town. In 2006 the population was 129,686.-General information:...
, the son of a government official. He was educated at the
GymnasiumA gymnasium is a type of school providing secondary education in some parts of Europe, comparable to English grammar schools or sixth form colleges and U.S. college preparatory high schools...
in
SoestSoest is a town in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is the capital of the Soest district. After Lippstadt, a neighbouring town, Soest is the second biggest town in its district.-Geography:...
, graduating in 1911. In 1912 he became a
Fahnenjunker (cadet officer) with Infanterieregiment 68 (Koblenz), passing his officer exam in 1913. During
World War IWorld War I , also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All Wars, was a global military conflict which involved most of the world's great powers, assembled in two opposing alliances: the Triple Entente and the Triple Alliance...
he fought with Infanterieregiment 363 on the
Western FrontFollowing the outbreak of World War I in 1914, the German army opened the Western Front by first invading Luxembourg and Belgium, then gaining military control of important industrial regions in France. The tide of the advance was dramatically turned with the Battle of the Marne...
, winning the
Iron CrossThe Iron Cross was a military decoration of the Kingdom of Prussia, and later of Germany, which was established by King Friedrich Wilhelm III of Prussia and first awarded on 10 March 1813 in Breslau...
twice. In 1917 he was injured and captured by the French. Released in March 1920, he left the army with the rank of Oberleutnant.
After the war, Meyer worked for Deutsche Erdöl AG before studying
political sciencePolitical science is a social science concerned with the theory and practice of politics and the description and analysis of political systems and political behavior. It is often described as the pragmatic application of the art and science of politics defined as "who gets what, when and how",...
at the Universities of
BonnThe University of Bonn is a public research university located in Bonn, Germany. Founded in 1818 the University of Bonn is today one of the leading universities in Germany. The University of Bonn offers a large number of undergraduate and graduate programs in a range of subjects. Its library holds...
and then
WürzburgThe University of Würzburg is a university in Würzburg, Germany, founded in 1402. The university is a member of the Coimbra Group.-Name:The University’s official name is Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg which translates to Julius Maximilian University Würzburg but it is commonly referred to...
. He graduated with a
Ph.D.Ph.D. or PHD may stand for:* Doctor of Philosophy, an academic degree* Ph.D. , a 1980s British group* Piled Higher and Deeper, a web comic strip* PhD: Phantasy Degree, a Korean comic series* Parisada Hindu Dharma, an Indonesian organization...
in 1922 and joined the legal department of a
GelsenkirchenGelsenkirchen is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located in the northern part of the Ruhr area. Its population in 2006 was c. 267,000....
mining firm. He married Anna Dorothee Schenker in 1920.
In the Third Reich
In April 1928 he joined the Nazi Party and became a local group leader in October 1929. In September 1930 he became a member of the
ReichstagThe Reichstag was the parliament of the Holy Roman Empire, and subsequently of the North German Confederation, and of Germany until 1945...
and in January 1931 NSDAP Gauleiter in north
WestphaliaWestphalia is a region in Germany, centred on the cities of Arnsberg, Bielefeld, Bochum, Detmold, Dortmund, Gelsenkirchen, Hagen, Minden and Münster and included in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia....
. Following the Nazi seizure of power Meyer was appointed
Reichsstatthalter (deputy governor) of
LippeThe Free State of Lippe was a German state formed after the Principality of Lippe was abolished following the German Revolution of 1918.After the end of World War II, Lippe was restored from Nazi rule. This autonomy ended in January 1947 when British forces incorporated Lippe into the new German...
und
Schaumburg-LippeThe Free State of Schaumburg-Lippe was created following the abdication of Prince Adolf II of Schaumburg-Lippe on the 15 November 1918. It was a state in Germany during the Weimar Republic, headed by a Minister President. The democratic government was suppressed during Nazi rule...
in May 1933 and he was made
Staatsminister (governor) of the federal government for Lippe und Schaumburg-Lippe in August 1936.
In 1939 Meyer was made
Chef der Zivilverwaltung and in 1941 he became deputy to
Alfred Rosenberg' was an early and intellectually influential member of the Nazi Party. Rosenberg was first introduced to Adolf Hitler by Dietrich Eckart; he later held several important posts in the Nazi government...
in the Reich Ministry for the Occupied Eastern Territories. Meyer was responsible for the departments of politics, administration and economics. In this role he directed the exploitation of the occupied
SovietThe Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. The name is a translation of the , tr. Soyuz Sovetskikh Sotsialisticheskikh Respublik, abbreviated СССР, SSSR. The common short name is Soviet Union, from , Sovetskiy Soyuz...
areas, the suppression and murder of its inhabitants, particularly
JewThe Jews , also known as the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group originating in the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East. The Jewish ethnicity, nationality, and religion are strongly interrelated, as Judaism is the traditional faith of the Jewish nation...
s, and the organisation of slave labour.
Meyer attended the
Wannsee conferenceThe Wannsee Conference was a meeting of senior officials of the Nazi German regime, held in the Berlin suburb of Wannsee on 20 January 1942. The purpose of the conference was to inform administrative leaders of Departments responsible for various policies relating to Jews, that Reinhard Heydrich...
in January 1942 as a representative for Rosenberg. In November of that year he was also made
Reichsverteidigungskommissar (Reich Defense Commissioner) of Defense District VI (northern Westphalia).
Death
Meyer was found dead on April 11, 1945, by the River Weser. The cause of death was
suicideSuicide is the intentional killing of one's self. Many dictionaries also note the metaphorical sense of "willful destruction of one's self-interest"...
.
Fictional portrayals
In the 2001 HBO film
Conspiracy, Meyer was played by
Brian PettiferBrian Pettifer is an actor who has appeared in many television shows. Pettifer was born in Lower Durban, South Africa, and briefly brought up in Glasgow, and London. He intended to become a photographer, but pursued a career as an actor...
.