Josef Wagner (Gauleiter)
Encyclopedia
Josef Wagner was from 1928 the Nazi
Gauleiter
of the Gau of Westphalia
-South, and as of January 1935 also of the Gau of Silesia
.
, Alsace-Lorraine
, to miner Nikolaus Wagner. Beginning in the summer of 1913 he went to the teachers' seminary in Wittlich
, and as of June 1917 he was a soldier at the Western Front
during the First World War. There he ended up as a prisoner of war
of the French, but managed to escape in 1918. In 1919 he returned to Germany
by way of Switzerland
. He ended his training as a Volksschule
teacher and first worked as a finance official in Fulda
, and by 1921 at the Bochumer Verein.
. In 1927, he was a Volksschule teacher at the Volksschule Horst-Emscher – and by 1928 at the Gelsenkirchen
branch – from which he was fired for political reasons. In 1928, he was appointed Gauleiter of the Gau of Westphalia, and after the Gau was split in two in 1931, he was given the office of Gauleiter of Westphalia-South, whose seat was in Bochum. From 1928 to 1930, Wagner was among the NSDAP's first twelve members of the Reichstag
in Berlin.
n State Councillor since 1933 – also led the Gau of Silesia in Breslau (nowadays Wrocław, Poland
), where the state offices befitting such a man were transferred to him: He was appointed High President (Oberpräsident) of the Prussian province of Lower Silesia
in Breslau, and furthermore administered the Upper Silesian
High President's business. After Silesia was reunited into one province
, Wagner became its High President in 1938, until the province was split again in January 1941.
On 29 October 1936, Wagner was appointed Reichskommissar for Pricing. From the outbreak of the Second World War on 1 September 1939 he was also Reich Defence Commissar for Silesia (Defence District VIII).
stripped Wagner of all offices. This stemmed from a letter from Wagner's wife to their daughter which had come to official attention, and in which she disapproved of her daughter's planned marriage to an irreligious SS
man on religious grounds. On 12 October 1942 Wagner was kicked out of the Nazi Party for good. His successor as NSDAP Gauleiter was Fritz Bracht
.
First, Wagner moved back to Bochum and lived there. Josef Wagner was then arrested by the Gestapo
after the attempt on Hitler's life
at the Wolf's Lair in East Prussia
on 20 July 1944. The circumstances of his death in 1945 are unclear. Either he was put to death by the SS in Berlin
, or he was shot by a Soviet
soldier.
Nazism
Nazism, the common short form name of National Socialism was the ideology and practice of the Nazi Party and of Nazi Germany...
Gauleiter
Gauleiter
A Gauleiter was the party leader of a regional branch of the NSDAP or the head of a Gau or of a Reichsgau.-Creation and Early Usage:...
of the Gau of Westphalia
Westphalia
Westphalia is a region in Germany, centred on the cities of Arnsberg, Bielefeld, Dortmund, Minden and Münster.Westphalia is roughly the region between the rivers Rhine and Weser, located north and south of the Ruhr River. No exact definition of borders can be given, because the name "Westphalia"...
-South, and as of January 1935 also of the Gau of Silesia
Silesia
Silesia is a historical region of Central Europe located mostly in Poland, with smaller parts also in the Czech Republic, and Germany.Silesia is rich in mineral and natural resources, and includes several important industrial areas. Silesia's largest city and historical capital is Wrocław...
.
Early life and First World War
Josef Wagner was born in AlgringenAlgrange
Algrange is a commune in the Moselle department in Lorraine in north-eastern France....
, Alsace-Lorraine
Alsace-Lorraine
The Imperial Territory of Alsace-Lorraine was a territory created by the German Empire in 1871 after it annexed most of Alsace and the Moselle region of Lorraine following its victory in the Franco-Prussian War. The Alsatian part lay in the Rhine Valley on the west bank of the Rhine River and east...
, to miner Nikolaus Wagner. Beginning in the summer of 1913 he went to the teachers' seminary in Wittlich
Wittlich
The town of Wittlich is the seat of the Bernkastel-Wittlich district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, and thereby the middle centre for a feeder area of 56 municipalities in the Eifel and Moselle area with its population of roughly 64,000...
, and as of June 1917 he was a soldier at the Western Front
Western Front (World War I)
Following the outbreak of World War I in 1914, the German Army opened the Western Front by first invading Luxembourg and Belgium, then gaining military control of important industrial regions in France. The tide of the advance was dramatically turned with the Battle of the Marne...
during the First World War. There he ended up as a prisoner of war
Prisoner of war
A prisoner of war or enemy prisoner of war is a person, whether civilian or combatant, who is held in custody by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict...
of the French, but managed to escape in 1918. In 1919 he returned to Germany
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...
by way of Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
. He ended his training as a Volksschule
Volksschule
A Volksschule was an 18th century system of state-supported primary schools established in the Habsburg Austrian Empire and Prussia . Attendance was supposedly compulsory, but a 1781 census reveals that only one fourth of school-age children attended. At the time, this was one of the few examples...
teacher and first worked as a finance official in Fulda
Fulda
Fulda is a city in Hesse, Germany; it is located on the river Fulda and is the administrative seat of the Fulda district .- Early Middle Ages :...
, and by 1921 at the Bochumer Verein.
Joining the Nazis
Wagner joined the Nazi Party quite early on, in 1922, and founded the NSDAP local (Ortsgruppe) in BochumBochum
Bochum is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, western Germany. It is located in the Ruhr area and is surrounded by the cities of Essen, Gelsenkirchen, Herne, Castrop-Rauxel, Dortmund, Witten and Hattingen.-History:...
. In 1927, he was a Volksschule teacher at the Volksschule Horst-Emscher – and by 1928 at the Gelsenkirchen
Gelsenkirchen
Gelsenkirchen is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located in the northern part of the Ruhr area. Its population in 2006 was c. 267,000....
branch – from which he was fired for political reasons. In 1928, he was appointed Gauleiter of the Gau of Westphalia, and after the Gau was split in two in 1931, he was given the office of Gauleiter of Westphalia-South, whose seat was in Bochum. From 1928 to 1930, Wagner was among the NSDAP's first twelve members of the Reichstag
Reichstag (Weimar Republic)
The Reichstag was the parliament of Weimar Republic .German constitution commentators consider only the Reichstag and now the Bundestag the German parliament. Another organ deals with legislation too: in 1867-1918 the Bundesrat, in 1919–1933 the Reichsrat and from 1949 on the Bundesrat...
in Berlin.
Career in the time of the Third Reich
Beginning in 1934, Wagner – who had been a PrussiaPrussia
Prussia was a German kingdom and historic state originating out of the Duchy of Prussia and the Margraviate of Brandenburg. For centuries, the House of Hohenzollern ruled Prussia, successfully expanding its size by way of an unusually well-organized and effective army. Prussia shaped the history...
n State Councillor since 1933 – also led the Gau of Silesia in Breslau (nowadays Wrocław, Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
), where the state offices befitting such a man were transferred to him: He was appointed High President (Oberpräsident) of the Prussian province of Lower Silesia
Province of Lower Silesia
The Province of Lower Silesia was a province of the Free State of Prussia from 1919 to 1945. Between 1938 and 1941 it was reunited with Upper Silesia as the Silesia Province. The capital of Lower Silesia was Breslau...
in Breslau, and furthermore administered the Upper Silesian
Province of Upper Silesia
The Province of Upper Silesia was a province of the Free State of Prussia created in the aftermath of World War I. It comprised much of the region of Upper Silesia and was eventually divided into two administrative regions , Kattowitz and Oppeln...
High President's business. After Silesia was reunited into one province
Province of Silesia
The Province of Silesia was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1815 to 1919.-Geography:The territory comprised the bulk of the former Bohemian crown land of Silesia and the County of Kladsko, which King Frederick the Great had conquered from the Austrian Habsburg Monarchy in the 18th...
, Wagner became its High President in 1938, until the province was split again in January 1941.
On 29 October 1936, Wagner was appointed Reichskommissar for Pricing. From the outbreak of the Second World War on 1 September 1939 he was also Reich Defence Commissar for Silesia (Defence District VIII).
The end
On 9 November 1941, Adolf HitlerAdolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
stripped Wagner of all offices. This stemmed from a letter from Wagner's wife to their daughter which had come to official attention, and in which she disapproved of her daughter's planned marriage to an irreligious SS
Schutzstaffel
The Schutzstaffel |Sig runes]]) was a major paramilitary organization under Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party. Built upon the Nazi ideology, the SS under Heinrich Himmler's command was responsible for many of the crimes against humanity during World War II...
man on religious grounds. On 12 October 1942 Wagner was kicked out of the Nazi Party for good. His successor as NSDAP Gauleiter was Fritz Bracht
Fritz Bracht
Fritz Bracht was Nazi Gauleiter of Upper Silesia. He was directly involved in the mass murder of Jews and Poles....
.
First, Wagner moved back to Bochum and lived there. Josef Wagner was then arrested by the Gestapo
Gestapo
The Gestapo was the official secret police of Nazi Germany. Beginning on 20 April 1934, it was under the administration of the SS leader Heinrich Himmler in his position as Chief of German Police...
after the attempt on Hitler's life
July 20 Plot
On 20 July 1944, an attempt was made to assassinate Adolf Hitler, Führer of the Third Reich, inside his Wolf's Lair field headquarters near Rastenburg, East Prussia. The plot was the culmination of the efforts of several groups in the German Resistance to overthrow the Nazi-led German government...
at the Wolf's Lair in East Prussia
East Prussia
East Prussia is the main part of the region of Prussia along the southeastern Baltic Coast from the 13th century to the end of World War II in May 1945. From 1772–1829 and 1878–1945, the Province of East Prussia was part of the German state of Prussia. The capital city was Königsberg.East Prussia...
on 20 July 1944. The circumstances of his death in 1945 are unclear. Either he was put to death by the SS in Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
, or he was shot by a Soviet
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....
soldier.
Selected works
- Leitfaden der Hochschule für Politik der NSDAP, Munich 1933, published by the Hochschule für Politik der NSDAP (editor)
- Die Reichsindexziffer der Lebenshaltungskosten. Ein Beitrag zu ihrer Reform (diss. rer. pol. Munich 1935), Würzburg 1935
- Die Preispolitik im Vierjahresplan (Kiel discourses 51), Jena 1938
- Gesunde Preispolitik, Dortmund 1938