Friedrich Ludwig Herbert Alpers (March 25, 1901 – September 3, 1944) was a German

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...

 Nazi politician

Politician

A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...

, and SS leader. He was also a Minister of the Free State of Brunswick

Free State of Brunswick

The Free State of Brunswick was the republic formed after the abolition of the Duchy of Brunswick in the course of the German Revolution of 1918–19. It was a state of the German Reich in the time of the Weimar Republic and Nazi Germany.-History:...

, and Minister for Forestry. Friedrich was responsible for numerous war crimes in Brunswick

Braunschweig

Braunschweig , is a city of 247,400 people, located in the federal-state of Lower Saxony, Germany. It is located north of the Harz mountains at the farthest navigable point of the Oker river, which connects to the North Sea via the rivers Aller and Weser....

.

Early Life

Friedrich Alpers, (also known as "Fritz") was born on March 25, 1901 in Sonnenberg

Sonnenberg

Sonnenberg is a municipality in the Oberhavel district, in Brandenburg, Germany....

, Brandenburg

Brandenburg

Brandenburg is one of the sixteen federal-states of Germany. It lies in the east of the country and is one of the new federal states that were re-created in 1990 upon the reunification of the former West Germany and East Germany. The capital is Potsdam...

. He was educated at Martino Katharineum High School in Brunswick, graduating in May 1919. He then studied law

Law

Law is a system of rules and guidelines which are enforced through social institutions to govern behavior, wherever possible. It shapes politics, economics and society in numerous ways and serves as a social mediator of relations between people. Contract law regulates everything from buying a bus...

 and political science at the Universities of Heidelberg

Heidelberg

-Early history:Between 600,000 and 200,000 years ago, "Heidelberg Man" died at nearby Mauer. His jaw bone was discovered in 1907; with scientific dating, his remains were determined to be the earliest evidence of human life in Europe. In the 5th century BC, a Celtic fortress of refuge and place of...

, Munich

Munich

Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...

 and Greifswald

Greifswald

Greifswald , officially, the University and Hanseatic City of Greifswald is a town in northeastern Germany. It is situated in the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, at an equal distance of about from Germany's two largest cities, Berlin and Hamburg. The town borders the Baltic Sea, and is crossed...

. In 1923, he worked as a law clerk, and became a lawyer in 1929. He worked as a lawyer in Brunswick until 1933. In June 1929, Alpers joined the NSDAP. In May 1930 he joined the 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...

. In March 1931 he joined the SS. Friedrich was an active member in the SS, rising to the rank of 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...

. Since October 1930, Friedrich was Minister of the Brunswick State Parliament. Alpers was twice temporarily suspended from the SS in 1933 following complaints of excessive violence made by Friedrich during the Nazi takeover of Brunswick.

Awards

• Iron Cross
  Iron Cross
  The Iron Cross is a cross symbol typically in black with a white or silver outline that originated after 1219 when the Kingdom of Jerusalem granted the Teutonic Order the right to combine the Teutonic Black Cross placed above a silver Cross of Jerusalem....
  
   First and Second Class
• Frontflugspange
• German Cross
  German Cross
  The German Cross was instituted by Adolf Hitler on 17 November 1941 as an award ranking higher than the Iron Cross First Class but below the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross respectively ranking higher than the War Merit Cross First Class with Swords but below the Knight's Cross of the War Merit...
  
   in Gold
• Knight's Cross
  Knight's Cross
  Knight's Cross refers to a distinguishing grade or level of various orders that denotes bravery and leadership on the battlefield....
  
  
• Service Award of the NSDAP in Bronze and Silver
• SS Long Service Award
  SS Long Service Award
  SS Long Service Awards were given in grades of four years, eight years, twelve years, twenty-five years, and forty years. On its reverse side, each award had emblazoned the inscription, in German: "Für treue Dienste in der SS"...
  
  
• Sword of honor RFSS
• SS Totenkopf ring
• Golden Party Badge of the NSDAP