Rolf Friedemann Pauls
Encyclopedia
Rolf Friedemann Pauls was a German diplomat
Diplomat
A diplomat is a person appointed by a state to conduct diplomacy with another state or international organization. The main functions of diplomats revolve around the representation and protection of the interests and nationals of the sending state, as well as the promotion of information and...

. He was German Ambassador to the United States
German Ambassador to the United States
The United States has had diplomatic relations with the nation of Germany and its predecessor nation, the Kingdom of Prussia, since 1835. These relations were broken twice while Germany and the United States were at war....

 from 1968 to 1973, and the first ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany
West Germany
West Germany is the common English, but not official, name for the Federal Republic of Germany or FRG in the period between its creation in May 1949 to German reunification on 3 October 1990....

 to Israel, from 1965 to 1968.

Life

Rolf Friedemann Pauls was born in 1915 in Eckartsberga the son of a Protestant clergyman.
After he had graduated from the Naumburg Domgymnasium in 1934, he was a career officer in the infantry of the Wehrmacht
Wehrmacht
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:...

.
Due to a serious injury, suffered as a company commander in Russia, he lost his left arm.
Before he received a General Staff Officer Course, in 1942, he was the military attaché in Ankara
Ankara
Ankara is the capital of Turkey and the country's second largest city after Istanbul. The city has a mean elevation of , and as of 2010 the metropolitan area in the entire Ankara Province had a population of 4.4 million....

, Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...

.
In 1944, he was on the staff of the 363rd Volksgrenadier Division
363rd Volksgrenadier Division (Germany)
The 363rd Volksgrenadier Division was a volksgrenadier division of the Heer during the Second World War, active from 1944 to 1945....

.
In December 1944, Paul was awarded the Knight's Cross.
According to a later report of General Hans Speidel
Hans Speidel
Hans Speidel: Born in Metzingen, was a German general during World War II and the first German NATO Commander during the Cold War.- 1914–1945 :...

, Rolf Friedemann Paul was in the plans to assassinate Hitler on the 20th July 1944, and was only on the basis of silence by others that he escaped arrest.
After the end of 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...

 in 1946, he studied law, graduating with a doctorate on the political system of the Bonn Basic Law in 1949.
Before Paul began to act as a diplomat in the Foreign Service, he worked at the Federal Chancellery, at the junction of the Allied High Commission
Allied High Commission
The Allied High Commission was established by the United States of America, the United Kingdom, and France after the 1948 breakdown of the Allied Control Council to regulate and supervise the development of the newly established Federal Republic of Germany The Allied High Commission (also known...

 as a personal assistant to Walter Hallstein
Walter Hallstein
Walter Hallstein was a German politician and professor.He was one of the key figures of European integration after World War II, becoming the first President of the Commission of the European Economic Community, serving from 1958 to 1967. He famously defined his position as "a kind of Prime...

, State Secretary and Vice Consul in Luxembourg.

He was married twice and had two sons.

Ambassador

In establishing diplomatic relations between the Federal Republic of Germany and the State of Israel (only about 20 years after the Shoah
Shoah
Shoah may refer to:*The Holocaust*Shoah , documentary directed by Claude Lanzmann * A Shoah Foundation...

) of parts of Israeli society, and his inauguration on 19 August 1965, was accompanied by violent counter-demonstrations.
In addition to that of Paul because of his past as an officer of the armed forces of Nazi Germany in World War II, where he was awarded the Knight's Cross of the 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....

, and as deputy military attaché at the German Embassy in Turkey, also during the period of National Socialism of the Israeli public appeared inappropriate for this office.
But his three-year tenure as the first Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany in Israel was generally judged as successful.

Paul was also Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany to the United States from 1968 to 1973, the People's Republic of China from 1973 to 1976, and to NATO from 1976 to 1980. From 1956 to 1960 he served as Counsellor in the United States, and from 1960 to 1963 he was Deputy Head of Mission in Greece. From 1963 to 1965, he was a department manager at the headquarters in Bonn.

Works

  • Die atlantische Allianz: Zukunftsaufgaben, Möglichkeiten, Gefährdungen J.P.Bachem, 1982, ISBN 9783761606629
  • Rettet uns die Rüstungspolitik? Edition Interfrom, 1982, ISBN 9783720151528
  • Deutschlands Standort in der Welt: Beobachtungen eines Botschafters, Seewald Verlag, 1984, ISBN 9783512006937

External links

  • "Rolf Friedemann Pauls", German wikipedia
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