Viktor Lutze (December 28, 1890–May 2, 1943) was the commander of the
SAThe , abbreviated SA , functioned as a paramilitary organization of the Nazi Party...
succeeding Ernst Röhm as Stabschef.
Lutze was born in Bevergern,
WestphaliaThe Province of Westphalia was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia and the Free State of Prussia from 1815-1946.-History:Napoleon Bonaparte founded the Kingdom of Westphalia, which was a client state of the First French Empire from 1807-13...
, the son of a peasant craftsman. After a short career in the post office, he joined the
German ArmyThe German Army is the land component of the armed forces of the Federal Republic of Germany. Traditionally the German military forces have been composed of Army, the Navy, and an Air Force after World War I. It was reinstalled in 1955 as the West German Army and as a part of the newly formed...
in 1912, serving with the 55th Infantry Regiment. He fought in the 369th Infantry Regiment and 15th Reserve Infantry Regiment 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 became a company commander and was heavily wounded four times, including loss of his left eye.
Viktor Lutze (December 28, 1890–May 2, 1943) was the commander of the
SAThe , abbreviated SA , functioned as a paramilitary organization of the Nazi Party...
succeeding Ernst Röhm as Stabschef.
Lutze was born in Bevergern,
WestphaliaThe Province of Westphalia was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia and the Free State of Prussia from 1815-1946.-History:Napoleon Bonaparte founded the Kingdom of Westphalia, which was a client state of the First French Empire from 1807-13...
, the son of a peasant craftsman. After a short career in the post office, he joined the
German ArmyThe German Army is the land component of the armed forces of the Federal Republic of Germany. Traditionally the German military forces have been composed of Army, the Navy, and an Air Force after World War I. It was reinstalled in 1955 as the West German Army and as a part of the newly formed...
in 1912, serving with the 55th Infantry Regiment. He fought in the 369th Infantry Regiment and 15th Reserve Infantry Regiment 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 became a company commander and was heavily wounded four times, including loss of his left eye. After the war, Lutze became a merchant and joined the police force. He joined the
National Socialist German Workers PartyThe National Socialist German Workers' Party , commonly known in English as the Nazi Party , was a political party in Germany between 1919 and 1945...
(Nazi Party) in 1922, and the
PrussiaPrussia was a historic state originating out of the Duchy of Prussia and the Margraviate of Brandenburg. For centuries this state had substantial influence on German and European history...
n State Council. He became an associate of
Franz Pfeffer von SalomonFranz Pfeffer von Salomon was the first commander of the SA after its 1925 restoration, which followed its temporary abolition in 1923 after the abortive Beer Hall Putsch....
, the first leader of the SA. Together, they determined the structure of the organization.
He also worked with
Albert Leo SchlageterAlbert Leo Schlageter was a member of the German Freikorps and a martyr-figure for the Nazis.- Life :Schlageter was born in Schönau im Schwarzwald to strict Catholic parents....
in the resistance/sabotage of the Belgian and French
occupation of the RuhrThe Occupation of the Ruhr between 1923 and 1924, by troops from France and Belgium, was a response to the failure of the German Weimar Republic under Chancellor Cuno to pay reparations in the aftermath of World War I.- Background :...
in 1923. His organization of the Ruhr for the SA became a model for other regions after 1926. With the assumption of power by the NSDAP in March 1933, he was appointed police president of
HanoverHanover or Hannover , on the river Leine, is the capital of the federal state of Lower Saxony , Germany and was once by personal union the family seat of the Hanoverian Kings of Great Britain, in their dignities as the dukes of Brunswick-Lüneburg Hanover or Hannover , on the river Leine, is...
and later provincial governor and state counselor.
Lutze's participation in the
Night of the Long KnivesThe Night of the Long Knives or "Operation Hummingbird", was a purge that took place in Nazi Germany between June 30 and July 2, 1934, when the Nazi regime carried out a series of political executions, most of those killed being members of the Sturmabteilung , the paramilitary Brownshirts.Hitler...
in 1934 was very important, as it was he who informed
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...
about
Ernst RöhmErnst Julius Röhm, was an Imperial German army officer and later a Nazi leader. He was a co-founder of the Sturmabteilung , the Nazi Party militia and later was the SA commander. In 1934, he was executed on Hitler's orders as a potential rival.-Early career:Ernst Röhm was born in Munich...
's anti-regime activities. (Hitler at first said "We'll have to let the thing ripen"). In preparation for the purge, both
Heinrich HimmlerHeinrich Luitpold Himmler , one of the most powerful men in Nazi Germany, served as Chief of the German Police and Minister of the Interior...
and his deputy
Reinhard HeydrichReinhard Tristan Eugen Heydrich was an SS-Obergruppenführer and General der Polizei, chief of the Reich Main Security Office and Stellvertretender Reichsprotektor of Bohemia and Moravia...
, chief of the SS Security Service (SD), assembled dossier's of manufactured evidence to suggest that Röhm was going to overthrow Hitler. Meanwhile Göring, Himmler, Heydrich and Lutze (at Hitler's direction) drew up lists of those who should be liquidated starting with seven top SA officials and ending with many more. At least 85 people died during the purge, although the final death toll may have been in the hundreds. After the purge Lutze succeeded Röhm as
Stabschef SA, but after the Night of the Long Knives, the SA no longer had as prominent a role as it did in the early days of the party. One of Lutze’s major tasks would be overseeing a large reduction in the SA, a task welcomed by the SS and the regular armed forces. On June 30, 1934 Hitler issued a twelve-point directive to Lutze to clean up the SA and wrote that “SA men should be leaders, not ludicrous apes”.
At the Nazi Party Congress in
NurembergNuremberg is a city in the German state of Bavaria, in the administrative region of Middle Franconia. It is situated on the Pegnitz river and the Rhine-Main-Danube Canal and is Franconia's largest city. It is located about 170 kilometres north of Munich, at 49.27° N 11.5° E. The population is...
in September 1934,
William L. ShirerWilliam Lawrence Shirer was an American journalist and historian. He became known for his broadcasts on CBS from the German capital of Berlin through the first year of World War II....
observed Hitler speaking to the SA for the first time since the purge (Hitler absolved the SA from crimes committed by Röhm). Shirer also noted Lutze speaking there (Lutze reaffirmed the SA's loyalty). Shirer described Lutze as possessing a shrill unpleasant voice, and thought the "SA boys received him coolly". In
Leni RiefenstahlHelene Bertha Amalie "Leni" Riefenstahl was a German film director, actress and dancer widely noted for her aesthetics and innovations as a filmmaker. Her most famous film was Triumph des Willens , a propaganda film made at the 1934 Nuremberg congress of the Nazi Party...
's
Triumph of the WillTriumph of the Will is a propaganda film made by Leni Riefenstahl. It chronicles the 1934 Nazi Party Congress in Nuremberg. The film contains excerpts from speeches given by various Nazi leaders at the Congress, including portions of speeches by Adolf Hitler, interspersed with footage of massed...
however, Lutze is seen being mobbed by the SA as he departed at the end of his evening rally speech. His automobile can barely make it through the crowd, in fact. He is also the only speaker other than Hitler who receives the dramatic low angle shots of Lutze alone at the podium. Only Hitler, Himmler, and Lutze are shown in the march to the
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...
cenotaph, where they laid a wreath. The makers of the film were giving the little known (and we now know historically insignificant) Lutze some of the prestige of Hitler.
In 1937, Lutze and the SA were involved in the anti-Christian efforts of the Nazi party which included banning religious ceremony, seizing church property, and the jailing of pastors and priests. After the
AnschlussThe ' , also known as the ', was the 1938 de facto annexation of Austria into Greater Germany by the Nazi regime....
, Lutze traveled to Austria to help reorganize the SA there. The most visible role for the SA after the purge was in assisting the SS in
KristallnachtKristallnacht or the Night of Broken Glass was an anti-Jewish pogrom in Nazi Germany and Austria on 9 to 10 November 1938. It is often called Novemberpogrome or Reichspogromnacht in German....
in November 1938. In February 1939, Lutze reviewed a parade of 20,000 Blackshirts in Rome; and then set of for a tour of Italy’s Libyan frontier with Tunisia. During
World War IIWorld 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...
there is little record of Lutze doing anything of significance.
Lutze’s Death and Funeral
Lutze maintained his position in the weakened SA until his death. On May 1, 1943 he was driving a car near
PotsdamPotsdam is the capital city of the German federal state of Brandenburg and is part of the Metropolitan area of Berlin/Brandenburg. It is situated on the River Havel, some 25 kilometres southwest of the centre of Berlin....
with his entire family (one account suggests they were foraging for food). Driving too fast in a curve caused an accident that badly injured Lutze as well as killing his oldest daughter Inge and greatly injuring his younger daughter. Viktor Lutze died during an operation in a hospital in Potsdam at 10:30 the next evening. (News reports stated that the accident involved another vehicle, keeping the news of reckless driving from the public. This may have contributed to theories that Lutze was killed just as Röhm had been, or that partisans assassinated him). Hitler ordered
Joseph GoebbelsPaul Joseph Goebbels was a German politician and Reichsminister of Propaganda in Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1945...
to convey his condolences to Viktor’s wife Paula and son Viktor Jr. Goebbels, in his diaries, had already described Lutze as a man of "unlimited stupidity" but at his death decided he was a decent fellow. Lutze was 52 years old.
The esteem in which he was held is indicated by the fact that Hitler ordered a lavish state funeral for him on May 7, 1943 in the
Reich ChancelleryThe Reich Chancellery was the traditional name of the office of the German Chancellor . Today the office is usually called Kanzleramt , or more formally Bundeskanzleramt ....
and attended in person, something he rarely did at that stage in the war. Lutze was posthumously awarded the Highest Grade of the
German OrderThe German Order was the most important award that the Nazi Party could bestow on an individual for "duties of the highest order to the state and party". This award was first made by Adolf Hitler posthumously to Reichsminister Fritz Todt at his funeral in February, 1942...
by Hitler. Hitler also took this opportunity to order party, army, and government officials (many of which were in attendance) to curtail speeding (specifically requesting they drive no faster than 50 miles per hour) and other reckless behavior.