Hermann Behrends

German Nazi official (1907–1948)
Hermann Behrends
Born(1907-05-11)11 May 1907
Rüstringen, Grand Duchy of Oldenburg, German Empire
Died4 December 1948(1948-12-04) (aged 41)
Belgrade, FPR Yugoslavia
NationalityGerman
Alma materMarburg University
Years active1932-1945
OrganizationSS
TitleGruppenführer
Political partyNazi party
Criminal statusexecuted
Criminal chargewar crimes
Penaltydeath by hanging

Hermann Johann Heinrich Behrends (11 May 1907 – 4 December 1948) was a Nazi Party member and SS official with the rank of lieutenant general (Gruppenführer).[1]

Born in Rüstringen, Oldenburg, the son of a provincial innkeeper, he was educated to doctorate level in law at Marburg University but struggled to find employment in an economically depressed Weimar Germany.[2] He joined the Nazi Party in January 1932 and the SS the following month.[3] With no military experience he initially floundered but soon attracted the attentions of Reinhard Heydrich, who valued academic expertise, and he was transferred to the Sicherheitsdienst (SD).[4]

Becoming a close friend of Heydrich, Behrends was the first chief of the SD in Berlin.[5] He also served as Chief of Staff to Werner Lorenz in his capacity as head of the Hauptamt Volksdeutsche Mittelstelle (VOMI).[6] During the Second World War he was sent to Yugoslavia to lead the regional arm of the VOMI.[5] His star had fallen somewhat after Heydrich's death as Heinrich Himmler was unimpressed by him, sensing that he was too ambitious.[4]

On 5 July 1945, he faced charges from the British services in Flensburg. He was interned with the number 560294 in the Island Farm Special Camp in Bridgend, South Wales.[citation needed] On 16 April 1946 he was extradited to Yugoslavia. He was hanged in Belgrade on 4 December 1948.[5]

Decorations and awards

References

  1. ^ a b c Miller 2006, p. 90.
  2. ^ Lumans 1993, p. 50.
  3. ^ Lumans 1993, pp. 50–51.
  4. ^ a b Lumans 1993, p. 51.
  5. ^ a b c Snyder 1994, p. 242.
  6. ^ Lumans 1993, p. 45.

Sources

  1. Lumans, Valdis O. (1993). Himmler's auxiliaries : the Volksdeutsche Mittelstelle and the German national minorities of Europe, 1933-1945. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press. ISBN 0-585-02731-5. OCLC 42329294.
  2. Miller, Michael (2006). Leaders of the SS and German Police, Vol. 1. San Jose, CA: R. James Bender. ISBN 978-93-297-0037-2.
  3. Snyder, Louis (1994) [1976]. Encyclopedia of the Third Reich. Da Capo Press. ISBN 978-1-56924-917-8.
  • v
  • t
  • e
Yugoslav World War II war crimes trials
December 1944 – May 1945
without trial
death
Hungarian military and political officials
Vojvodina Supreme Court
death
German police officials (3rd trial)
9–22 December 1946
death
imprisoned
  • Ernst Hesterberg
German officers (4th trial) at Belgrade
5–13 February 1947 verdict 16 February
death
imprisoned
German occupation officials in Serbia (5th trial)
Military Court of the Yugoslav 3rd Army at Belgrade
27 February–3 March 1947
death
  • Rudolf Berg
  • Walter Böhme
  • Karl Freiherr von Bothmer
  • Walter Firow
  • Adolf Jostel
  • Georg Kiessel
  • Ernst Ludwig
  • Langemann Schulze
  • Franz Tritschler
  • Harald Turner
German officers (6th trial) at Belgrade
5 April 1947
death
German officers held at Belgrade
22–31 October 1947
death
imprisoned
Authority control databases Edit this at Wikidata
International
  • ISNI
  • VIAF
National
  • Germany
People
  • Deutsche Biographie