Gerhard von Mende
Encyclopedia
Dr. Gerhard von Mende was a Baltic German
who was head of the Caucasus
division at the Reich Ministry for the Occupied Eastern Territory, or Ostministerium
, in Nazi Germany
. He was a scholar on Asiatic and Muslim minorities within the Soviet Union
and was considered the pioneer of mobilising them as a fifth column
against the Communists, while being one of their staunchest advocates within Nazi Germany and post-war West Germany. Following World War II
, he established the Research Service Eastern Europe through financing by the West German foreign office, a company which replicated his activities at the Ostministerium, becoming an intelligence asset for the CIA and BND
.
from 1920–1923, and at the University of Berlin from 1927–1932, focusing on Russian, history, and Turkish. von Mende would attend the Institut National des Langues et Civilisations Orientales
in Paris
, and in 1933 he was awarded a doctorate from the University of Breslau for his writing "Studien zur Kolonization in der Sovietunion." Later he was awarded a doctorate in Slavic studies from the Wirtschaftshochschule Berlin. During this time he had become fluent in Russian, Latvian and French, as well as knowledgeable in Turk and Arabic.
In 1934 he wrote "Die Völker der Sowjetunion," about the struggles of German minorities in the Soviet Union.
. During this time he wrote "Der nationale Kampf der Russlandtürken" in 1936, about the oppression of the Turkish minorities under Soviet rule.
's specialist on minorities in the Soviet Union. With the outbreak of World War II and subsequent invasion of the East by the Wehrmacht, von Mende was appointed head of the Caucasus division at the Reich Ministry for the Occupied Eastern Territory, although he kept his university position at the University of Berlin.
to fight the Soviet Union. These groups included Tatars, Turks, Georgians, Azerbaijanis, Chechens, Kazakhs, Uzbeks, and Armenians, as well as other non-Russian nationalities. Considered their "Lord-Protector", they were frequently invited into his home in Berlin for long dinners, and he worked with Claus Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg
to provide them equal status in receiving care, compensation, quarters, and other measures. His work within the General Policy Office of the Reich Ministry for the Occupied Eastern Territory led to him being considered the pioneer of using minorities as a fifth column against the Communists in the Soviet Union. Some authors suggest von Mende was the origin of modern "Jihad" through his work at the Ministry.
, whereby von Mende, faced with little employment prospects of his own with his Nazi past, decided to look after them. He wrote to the British Army explaining his vast intelligence sources on Soviet people, whereby interest was taken initially by them.
, where von Mende would employee many former Nazis specializing in anti-Communist propaganda along with his fifth columnists. He managed to receive funding for the Muslims helping him through the West German government to help provide care and shelter for them. This operation was essentially a recreation of the Reich Ministry for the Occupied Eastern Territory. The main task of the RSEE was to ensure that the fifth columnist Muslims stayed under the control of the West German government, although during this time von Mende collaborated with the CIA.
. von Mende however resented foreign interference with West German residents and believed that Muslims living in West Germany should be aligned with their operations. He brought in former Muslim S.S. officer Nurredin Nakibhodscha Namangani to be established as the Hauptimam of West Germany's Muslims, working on the payroll of the West German government.
In 1958 Namangani introduced an initiative called the Mosque Construction Commission, which eventually led to funding securing a home for the Muslims through the creation of a mosque in Munich.
However, by 1960, the commission in Munich had fallen under control of Said Ramadan
, a U.S. asset and associate of Gacaoglu, who weakened the West German government's influence by introducing Munich as a center for European Muslims instead of just West German Muslims. Gacaoglu and the U.S. would use "new" revelations of the Holocaust to further weaken the credibility of von Mende and the RSEE, thus wrestling control of the fifth columnist Muslims from the West Germans in the end.
. von Mende died at his desk in Düsseldorf on December 16, 1963 of a heart attack.
Baltic German
The Baltic Germans were mostly ethnically German inhabitants of the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, which today form the countries of Estonia and Latvia. The Baltic German population never made up more than 10% of the total. They formed the social, commercial, political and cultural élite in...
who was head of the Caucasus
Caucasus
The Caucasus, also Caucas or Caucasia , is a geopolitical region at the border of Europe and Asia, and situated between the Black and the Caspian sea...
division at the Reich Ministry for the Occupied Eastern Territory, or Ostministerium
Reich Ministry for the Occupied Eastern Territories
The Reich Ministry for the Occupied Eastern Territories was created by Adolf Hitler on July 1941 and headed by the Nazi theoretical expert and Baltic German, Alfred Rosenberg. Alfred Meyer was Rosenberg's deputy. This ministry was created to control the vast areas captured by the Germans in...
, in Nazi Germany
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...
. He was a scholar on Asiatic and Muslim minorities within the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
and was considered the pioneer of mobilising them as a fifth column
Fifth column
A fifth column is a group of people who clandestinely undermine a larger group such as a nation from within.-Origin:The term originated with a 1936 radio address by Emilio Mola, a Nationalist General during the 1936–39 Spanish Civil War...
against the Communists, while being one of their staunchest advocates within Nazi Germany and post-war West Germany. Following 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...
, he established the Research Service Eastern Europe through financing by the West German foreign office, a company which replicated his activities at the Ostministerium, becoming an intelligence asset for the CIA and BND
Bundesnachrichtendienst
The Bundesnachrichtendienst [ˌbʊndəsˈnaːχʁɪçtnˌdiːnst] is the foreign intelligence agency of Germany, directly subordinated to the Chancellor's Office. Its headquarters are in Pullach near Munich, and Berlin . The BND has 300 locations in Germany and foreign countries...
.
Early life
von Mende was born on December 25, 1904 in Riga, Latvia, the son of banker. Following the invasion by the Soviet Union during the Latvian War of Independence, his father was rounded up with the bourgeoisie and executed. His mother and six siblings would flee to Germany, where he took an interest in studying oppressed minorities in Russia. He studied at SchulpfortaPforta
Pforta, or Schulpforta, is a former Cistercian monastery, Pforta Abbey , near Naumburg on the Saale River in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt. It is now a celebrated German public boarding school, called Landesschule Pforta...
from 1920–1923, and at the University of Berlin from 1927–1932, focusing on Russian, history, and Turkish. von Mende would attend the Institut National des Langues et Civilisations Orientales
Institut national des langues et civilisations orientales
The Institut National des Langues et Civilisations Orientales is located in Paris, France. It was founded in 1795 after the French Revolution and is now one of the country's Grands établissements with a specialization in African, Asian, East European, Oceanian languages and civilisations...
in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, and in 1933 he was awarded a doctorate from the University of Breslau for his writing "Studien zur Kolonization in der Sovietunion." Later he was awarded a doctorate in Slavic studies from the Wirtschaftshochschule Berlin. During this time he had become fluent in Russian, Latvian and French, as well as knowledgeable in Turk and Arabic.
In 1934 he wrote "Die Völker der Sowjetunion," about the struggles of German minorities in the Soviet Union.
Academia
After traveling through the Balkans following his studies, von Mende became a professor at multiple universities, including the University of Berlin in 1935, University of Posen, and University of HamburgUniversity of Hamburg
The University of Hamburg is a university in Hamburg, Germany. It was founded on 28 March 1919 by Wilhelm Stern and others. It grew out of the previous Allgemeines Vorlesungswesen and the Kolonialinstitut as well as the Akademisches Gymnasium. There are around 38,000 students as of the start of...
. During this time he wrote "Der nationale Kampf der Russlandtürken" in 1936, about the oppression of the Turkish minorities under Soviet rule.
World War two
von Mende was an enthusiastic Nazi who was Alfred RosenbergAlfred Rosenberg
' was an early and intellectually influential member of the Nazi Party. Rosenberg was first introduced to Adolf Hitler by Dietrich Eckart; he later held several important posts in the Nazi government...
's specialist on minorities in the Soviet Union. With the outbreak of World War II and subsequent invasion of the East by the Wehrmacht, von Mende was appointed head of the Caucasus division at the Reich Ministry for the Occupied Eastern Territory, although he kept his university position at the University of Berlin.
Creation of Fifth Columnists
Prisoners soon began flowing back West from the occupied territories, where up to a million volunteered for committees established by von Mende to integrate them into the WehrmachtWehrmacht
The Wehrmacht – from , to defend and , the might/power) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the Heer , the Kriegsmarine and the Luftwaffe .-Origin and use of the term:...
to fight the Soviet Union. These groups included Tatars, Turks, Georgians, Azerbaijanis, Chechens, Kazakhs, Uzbeks, and Armenians, as well as other non-Russian nationalities. Considered their "Lord-Protector", they were frequently invited into his home in Berlin for long dinners, and he worked with Claus Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg
Claus Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg
Claus Philipp Maria Justinian Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg commonly referred to as Claus Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg was a German army officer and Catholic aristocrat who was one of the leading members of the failed 20 July plot of 1944 to assassinate Adolf Hitler and remove the Nazi Party from...
to provide them equal status in receiving care, compensation, quarters, and other measures. His work within the General Policy Office of the Reich Ministry for the Occupied Eastern Territory led to him being considered the pioneer of using minorities as a fifth column against the Communists in the Soviet Union. Some authors suggest von Mende was the origin of modern "Jihad" through his work at the Ministry.
Post-war
With the war drawing to a close, von Mende worked through the bureaucracy to ensure that as many of the fifth columnists as possible were moved to the West to avoid capture by the Soviet Union, which would result in execution. Many were left stranded and destitute in MunichMunich
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...
, whereby von Mende, faced with little employment prospects of his own with his Nazi past, decided to look after them. He wrote to the British Army explaining his vast intelligence sources on Soviet people, whereby interest was taken initially by them.
Research Service Eastern Europe
Eventually the West German foreign office would fund his company called the "Research Service Eastern Europe" in DüsseldorfDüsseldorf
Düsseldorf is the capital city of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and centre of the Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan region.Düsseldorf is an important international business and financial centre and renowned for its fashion and trade fairs. Located centrally within the European Megalopolis, the...
, where von Mende would employee many former Nazis specializing in anti-Communist propaganda along with his fifth columnists. He managed to receive funding for the Muslims helping him through the West German government to help provide care and shelter for them. This operation was essentially a recreation of the Reich Ministry for the Occupied Eastern Territory. The main task of the RSEE was to ensure that the fifth columnist Muslims stayed under the control of the West German government, although during this time von Mende collaborated with the CIA.
Fallout with CIA
In 1956 von Mende increasingly became hostile toward the CIA following the creation of their front-group which would rival his RSEE, the American Committee for Liberation from Bolshevism. This group employed former Muslim Nazi Ibrahim Gacaoglu, who would also work for Radio Free EuropeRadio Free Europe
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty is a broadcaster funded by the U.S. Congress that provides news, information, and analysis to countries in Eastern Europe, Central Asia, and the Middle East "where the free flow of information is either banned by government authorities or not fully developed"...
. von Mende however resented foreign interference with West German residents and believed that Muslims living in West Germany should be aligned with their operations. He brought in former Muslim S.S. officer Nurredin Nakibhodscha Namangani to be established as the Hauptimam of West Germany's Muslims, working on the payroll of the West German government.
In 1958 Namangani introduced an initiative called the Mosque Construction Commission, which eventually led to funding securing a home for the Muslims through the creation of a mosque in Munich.
However, by 1960, the commission in Munich had fallen under control of Said Ramadan
Said Ramadan
Said Ramadan was the son-in-law of Hassan al-Banna, founder of the Muslim Brotherhood. Said Ramadan was a major figure in that organization and was expelled from Egypt by Gamal Abdul Nasser for his activities. He moved to Saudi Arabia where he founded the World Islamic League, a charity and...
, a U.S. asset and associate of Gacaoglu, who weakened the West German government's influence by introducing Munich as a center for European Muslims instead of just West German Muslims. Gacaoglu and the U.S. would use "new" revelations of the Holocaust to further weaken the credibility of von Mende and the RSEE, thus wrestling control of the fifth columnist Muslims from the West Germans in the end.
Family and death
von Mende married Karo Espeseth, a Norwegian author, and had children, including Erling von MendeErling von Mende
Erling von Mende has been professor of Sinology at the FU Berlin since 1983. He is specialised in the social and economic history of the early Song dynasty to the end of the Qing dynasty.-Biography:...
. von Mende died at his desk in Düsseldorf on December 16, 1963 of a heart attack.