Franz Schwede
Encyclopedia
Franz Schwede was a German
Nazi politician, administrator, and war criminal. He was also known as "Franz Schwede-Coburg" during World War II
.
, now Dreverna near Klaipėda
, Lithuania
. He learnt the millwright's trade and joined the Imperial German Navy in 1907 as a machinist. By the end of the First World War he was a technical deck officer and after the German fleet was scuttled in Scapa Flow
in 1919, he ended up in British
custody as a prisoner of war
. In 1920 he joined the Reichswehr
, but was discharged after the 100,000-man limit had been set in 1921. Afterwards he was for about a year the technical works leader at a sawmill in Sankt Andreasberg
, before he was hired in March 1922 as the foreman at the Coburg City Works.
on the dissolution of Coburg's city council. On 5 May 1929, this was held, and passed with 67% of the votes. In the ensuing city council election on 23 June 1929, in a campaign that saw, among other things, Adolf Hitler
giving speeches, the Nazis won 43.1% of the vote, and 13 of the 25 seats on city council, marking the first time that they had won an absolute majority in a German city. At the newly elected city council's opening session, it was resolved to promptly hire Schwede once again for the City Works, and to give him status as an official. In the year that followed, Schwede managed on the fifth try, on 28 August 1930, to get himself elected as the third deputy mayor (Bürgermeister), becoming the first Nazi to reach such a position in Germany
. Early in 1931, he was elected as second Bürgermeister, and on 16 November 1931 first Bürgermeister, before being appointed Coburg's mayor
(Oberbürgermeister) in 1933.
n Landtag
, and in November 1933 a member of the Reichstag
. He was appointed president of Lower Bavaria
-Upper Palatinate
(Niederbayern-Oberpfalz) in Regensburg
on 1 July 1934.
of Pomerania, and was appointed Oberpräsident of the province one week later on 28 July. In 1937 he was promoted to SA
Gruppenführer
and in 1938 to SA Obergruppenführer
. In the same year, he became League Leader of the Reich Loyal League of Former Professional Soldiers. In 1939, he was given the title of High President of the Prussia province of Pomerania
, and awarded the suffix "Coburg" as an honorary citizen of Coburg. He was also appointed Reich Defence Commissar for Defence District II, but the basis for his authority was his appointment by Adolf Hitler as Gauleiter
of the Gau of Pomerania
. With this position Schwede-Coburg, as he was now known – or "Nero
" as Pomeranians nicknamed him – swept Pomerania with an iron broom. Under his orders, patients were "removed from asylums, transported to Neustadt... and shot by squads of SS men" in October 1939.
that was bearing down on them, but managed to get himself onto a ship out of Sassnitz
on 4 March 1945 in time to escape to Schleswig-Holstein
, where he once again ended up in British custody as a prisoner of war, interned until 1947. Sentenced by a first court in Bielefeld
to ten years in prison in 1948 for membership in the Nazi Führerkorps, he was later also given ten years' imprisonment by another court in Coburg for abuse of power and grievous bodily harm during the terror in 1933. He was pardoned in 1956, and died four years later in Coburg at the age of 72.
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
Nazi politician, administrator, and war criminal. He was also known as "Franz Schwede-Coburg" during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
.
Early years
Schwede was born in Drawöhnen near Memel, East PrussiaEast Prussia
East Prussia is the main part of the region of Prussia along the southeastern Baltic Coast from the 13th century to the end of World War II in May 1945. From 1772–1829 and 1878–1945, the Province of East Prussia was part of the German state of Prussia. The capital city was Königsberg.East Prussia...
, now Dreverna near Klaipėda
Klaipeda
Klaipėda is a city in Lithuania situated at the mouth of the Nemunas River where it flows into the Baltic Sea. It is the third largest city in Lithuania and the capital of Klaipėda County....
, Lithuania
Lithuania
Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...
. He learnt the millwright's trade and joined the Imperial German Navy in 1907 as a machinist. By the end of the First World War he was a technical deck officer and after the German fleet was scuttled in Scapa Flow
Scapa Flow
right|thumb|Scapa Flow viewed from its eastern endScapa Flow is a body of water in the Orkney Islands, Scotland, United Kingdom, sheltered by the islands of Mainland, Graemsay, Burray, South Ronaldsay and Hoy. It is about...
in 1919, he ended up in British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
custody as a prisoner of war
Prisoner of war
A prisoner of war or enemy prisoner of war is a person, whether civilian or combatant, who is held in custody by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict...
. In 1920 he joined the Reichswehr
Reichswehr
The Reichswehr formed the military organisation of Germany from 1919 until 1935, when it was renamed the Wehrmacht ....
, but was discharged after the 100,000-man limit had been set in 1921. Afterwards he was for about a year the technical works leader at a sawmill in Sankt Andreasberg
Sankt Andreasberg
Sankt Andreasberg is a town and a former municipality in the district of Goslar, in Lower Saxony, Germany. Since 1 November 2011, it is part of the town Braunlage. It is situated in the Harz, approximately 7 km west of Braunlage proper, and 20 km east of Osterode am Harz.- History :Sankt...
, before he was hired in March 1922 as the foreman at the Coburg City Works.
Nazi party membership
In October 1922, he became a co-founder of the Coburg Nazi Party branch (Ortsgruppe), whose chairmanship he took over a year later, by which time it had about 800 members. After the December 1924 city council elections, the National Socialist Freedom Movement, the now banned Nazi Party's successor organization, won 14.3% of the vote, and thereby three seats on council, the Nazis' first electoral success in Coburg. Schwede, moreover, became a city councillor. In 1928, a badgering and smear campaign against Abraham Friedmann, who ran the Coburg meat business Großmann AG began in the Nazis' party newspaper Der Weckruf ("The Wake-Up Call"). In the end, Friedmann got his own back against the attacks on his good name by suggesting to Schwede's employer, the City Works, that the demands for coke and electricity be adjusted. Since Schwede then refused a declaration of failure to perform his job, the Coburg City Works brought a motion before city council, and their resolution, by a vote of 14 to 10, led to Schwede's firing in 1929.Election to municipal office
The city administration would not agree to Schwede's prompt rehabilitation as demanded by the outraged Nazis, who then felt compelled to start a petition for a referendumReferendum
A referendum is a direct vote in which an entire electorate is asked to either accept or reject a particular proposal. This may result in the adoption of a new constitution, a constitutional amendment, a law, the recall of an elected official or simply a specific government policy. It is a form of...
on the dissolution of Coburg's city council. On 5 May 1929, this was held, and passed with 67% of the votes. In the ensuing city council election on 23 June 1929, in a campaign that saw, among other things, Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
giving speeches, the Nazis won 43.1% of the vote, and 13 of the 25 seats on city council, marking the first time that they had won an absolute majority in a German city. At the newly elected city council's opening session, it was resolved to promptly hire Schwede once again for the City Works, and to give him status as an official. In the year that followed, Schwede managed on the fifth try, on 28 August 1930, to get himself elected as the third deputy mayor (Bürgermeister), becoming the first Nazi to reach such a position in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
. Early in 1931, he was elected as second Bürgermeister, and on 16 November 1931 first Bürgermeister, before being appointed Coburg's mayor
Mayor
In many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....
(Oberbürgermeister) in 1933.
Mistreatment of Jews
In March 1933, the terror against Jews and opponents of the Nazis under Schwede's leadership had reached a high point. By the end of April, 152 people had been arrested, and while in "protective custody", they were harshly mistreated in Schwede's presence. A high point in the personality cult around Schwede in Coburg came in 1933 with the dedication of Coburg City Hall's new bell bearing the rhyming inscription Zu Adolf Hitler ruf ich dich, Franz Schwede-Glocke heisse ich ("To Adolf Hitler I call you, Franz Schwede Bell is what I'm called"). Schwede had become as of October 1930 a Nazi member of the BavariaBavaria
Bavaria, formally the Free State of Bavaria is a state of Germany, located in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the largest state by area, forming almost 20% of the total land area of Germany...
n Landtag
Landtag
A Landtag is a representative assembly or parliament in German-speaking countries with some legislative authority.- Name :...
, and in November 1933 a member of the Reichstag
Reichstag (German Empire)
The Reichstag was the parliament of the North German Confederation , and of the German Reich ....
. He was appointed president of Lower Bavaria
Lower Bavaria
Lower Bavaria is one of the seven administrative regions of Bavaria, Germany, located in the east of the state.- Geography :Lower Bavaria is subdivided into two regions - Landshut and Donau-Wald. Recent election results mark it as the most conservative part of Germany, generally giving huge...
-Upper Palatinate
Upper Palatinate
The Upper Palatinate is one of the seven administrative regions of Bavaria, Germany, located in the east of Bavaria.- History :The region took its name first in the early 16th century, because it was by the Treaty of Pavia one of the main portions of the territory of the Wittelsbach Elector...
(Niederbayern-Oberpfalz) in Regensburg
Regensburg
Regensburg is a city in Bavaria, Germany, located at the confluence of the Danube and Regen rivers, at the northernmost bend in the Danube. To the east lies the Bavarian Forest. Regensburg is the capital of the Bavarian administrative region Upper Palatinate...
on 1 July 1934.
Career and crimes during Nazi era
Three weeks later, on 21 July 1934, Schwede was appointed GauleiterGauleiter
A Gauleiter was the party leader of a regional branch of the NSDAP or the head of a Gau or of a Reichsgau.-Creation and Early Usage:...
of Pomerania, and was appointed Oberpräsident of the province one week later on 28 July. In 1937 he was promoted to SA
Sturmabteilung
The Sturmabteilung functioned as a paramilitary organization of the National Socialist German Workers' Party . It played a key role in Adolf Hitler's rise to power in the 1920s and 1930s...
Gruppenführer
Gruppenführer
Gruppenführer was an early paramilitary rank of the Nazi Party, first created in 1925 as a senior rank of the SA.-SS rank:...
and in 1938 to SA Obergruppenführer
Obergruppenführer
Obergruppenführer was a Nazi Party paramilitary rank that was first created in 1932 as a rank of the SA and until 1942 it was the highest SS rank inferior only to Reichsführer-SS...
. In the same year, he became League Leader of the Reich Loyal League of Former Professional Soldiers. In 1939, he was given the title of High President of the Prussia province of Pomerania
Pomerania
Pomerania is a historical region on the south shore of the Baltic Sea. Divided between Germany and Poland, it stretches roughly from the Recknitz River near Stralsund in the West, via the Oder River delta near Szczecin, to the mouth of the Vistula River near Gdańsk in the East...
, and awarded the suffix "Coburg" as an honorary citizen of Coburg. He was also appointed Reich Defence Commissar for Defence District II, but the basis for his authority was his appointment by Adolf Hitler as Gauleiter
Gauleiter
A Gauleiter was the party leader of a regional branch of the NSDAP or the head of a Gau or of a Reichsgau.-Creation and Early Usage:...
of the Gau of Pomerania
Pomerania
Pomerania is a historical region on the south shore of the Baltic Sea. Divided between Germany and Poland, it stretches roughly from the Recknitz River near Stralsund in the West, via the Oder River delta near Szczecin, to the mouth of the Vistula River near Gdańsk in the East...
. With this position Schwede-Coburg, as he was now known – or "Nero
Nero
Nero , was Roman Emperor from 54 to 68, and the last in the Julio-Claudian dynasty. Nero was adopted by his great-uncle Claudius to become his heir and successor, and succeeded to the throne in 54 following Claudius' death....
" as Pomeranians nicknamed him – swept Pomerania with an iron broom. Under his orders, patients were "removed from asylums, transported to Neustadt... and shot by squads of SS men" in October 1939.
Post war actions and prosecution
As the Second World War drew to an end, Schwede thwarted a timely and organized evacuation of Pomerania's civil population ahead of the Red ArmyRed Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army started out as the Soviet Union's revolutionary communist combat groups during the Russian Civil War of 1918-1922. It grew into the national army of the Soviet Union. By the 1930s the Red Army was among the largest armies in history.The "Red Army" name refers to...
that was bearing down on them, but managed to get himself onto a ship out of Sassnitz
Sassnitz
Sassnitz is a town on the Jasmund peninsula, Rügen Island, in the Federal State of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. The population as of 2007 was 10,747....
on 4 March 1945 in time to escape to Schleswig-Holstein
Schleswig-Holstein
Schleswig-Holstein is the northernmost of the sixteen states of Germany, comprising most of the historical duchy of Holstein and the southern part of the former Duchy of Schleswig...
, where he once again ended up in British custody as a prisoner of war, interned until 1947. Sentenced by a first court in Bielefeld
Bielefeld
Bielefeld is an independent city in the Ostwestfalen-Lippe Region in the north-east of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. With a population of 323,000, it is also the most populous city in the Regierungsbezirk Detmold...
to ten years in prison in 1948 for membership in the Nazi Führerkorps, he was later also given ten years' imprisonment by another court in Coburg for abuse of power and grievous bodily harm during the terror in 1933. He was pardoned in 1956, and died four years later in Coburg at the age of 72.
Literature
- Initiative Stadtmuseum Coburg e.V.: Voraus zur Unzeit. Coburg und der Aufstieg des Nationalsozialismus in Deutschland, Coburg 2004, ISBN 3-9808006-3-6