Max Amann (November 24 1891 – March 30 1957) 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 with the honorary rank of
SS-ObergruppenführerObergruppenführer 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...
, politician and journalist.
Amann was born in
MunichMunich is the capital city of Bavaria, Germany. It is located on the River Isar north of the Bavarian Alps. Munich is the third largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Hamburg...
on November 24 1891; during World War I he was
Adolf HitlerAdolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , popularly known as the Nazi Party...
's
SergeantSergeant is a rank used in some form by most militaries, police forces, and other uniformed organizations around the world. Its origins are the Latin serviens, "one who serves", through the French term Sergent....
. Amann lost an arm in a grenade attack. He joined the NSDAP in October 1921 and became its chairman in 1922 and president of the
Reichspressekammer (
ReichReich is a German loanword cognate with the English reign, but used most often to designate an empire, realm, or nation. The qualitative connotation from the German is " sovereign state." It is also cognate with the Latin word and the Scandinavian rike/rige, , , ; as found in bishopric...
Media Chamber) in 1933.
Max Amann (November 24 1891 – March 30 1957) 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 with the honorary rank of
SS-ObergruppenführerObergruppenführer 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...
, politician and journalist.
Amann was born in
MunichMunich is the capital city of Bavaria, Germany. It is located on the River Isar north of the Bavarian Alps. Munich is the third largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Hamburg...
on November 24 1891; during World War I he was
Adolf HitlerAdolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , popularly known as the Nazi Party...
's
SergeantSergeant is a rank used in some form by most militaries, police forces, and other uniformed organizations around the world. Its origins are the Latin serviens, "one who serves", through the French term Sergent....
. Amann lost an arm in a grenade attack. He joined the NSDAP in October 1921 and became its chairman in 1922 and president of the
Reichspressekammer (
ReichReich is a German loanword cognate with the English reign, but used most often to designate an empire, realm, or nation. The qualitative connotation from the German is " sovereign state." It is also cognate with the Latin word and the Scandinavian rike/rige, , , ; as found in bishopric...
Media Chamber) in 1933. He also led the publishing company Eher-Verlag, which, among other things, published the SS magazine
Das Schwarze KorpsDas Schwarze Korps was the official newspaper of the Schutzstaffel . This newspaper was published on Wednesdays and distributed for free. Each SS member was supposed to read the publication and urge others to do so as well. The chief editor was SS leader Gunter d'Alquen; the publisher was Max...
. Perhaps Amann's most notable contribution to history was persuading Hitler to retitle his first book from
Four and a Half Years (of Struggle) Against Lies, Stupidity and Cowardice to
Mein KampfMein Kampf, in English: My Struggle, is a book by Adolf Hitler. It combines elements of autobiography with an exposition of Hitler's political ideology...
, which he also published, and became a major source of Eher-Verlag's income.
During the Third Reich, he became (by forced appropriation) the largest newspaper publisher in Germany and made enormous profits off Nazism. In this role, he established Nazi control over the industry and gradually closed down those newspapers that did not fully support
HitlerAdolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , popularly known as the Nazi Party...
's regime.
However, as a party official, Amann lacked talent, being a poor speaker and debater. In addition, his handwriting was illegible, thus his deputy, Rolf Rienhardt, performed these duties for him.
Arrested by Allied troops after the
warWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including all great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, Amann was found guilty of being a
Hauptschuldiger (Prominent Guilty Party) and sentenced to ten years in a labour camp on September 8 1948, but was released in 1953. He also lost his property and pension rights and died in poverty on March 30 1957, in
MunichMunich is the capital city of Bavaria, Germany. It is located on the River Isar north of the Bavarian Alps. Munich is the third largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Hamburg...
.