Waldemar Kraft
Encyclopedia
Waldemar KraftWaldemar Kraft (born 19 February 1898 in Brzustów, Jarocin
district in the Province of Posen
; died 12 July 1977 in Bonn
) was a German
politician who served as Federal Minister for Special Affairs
in the Cabinet of Chancellor Konrad Adenauer
from 1953 to 1956. From 1950 to 1953 he served as Minister of Finance and Deputy Prime Minister of the state of Schleswig-Holstein
, and from 1951 to 1953 as Acting Minister of Justice. He was a member of the Bundestag
from 1953 to 1961, and a member of the Landtag
of Schleswig-Holstein from 1950 to 1953.
Kraft initially represented the All-German Bloc/League of Expellees and Deprived of Rights
and served as its chairman from 1951 to 1954. In 1956, he became a member of the Christian Democratic Union.
family on the Prussian-Russia
n border. He attended secondary school in pre-1914 Posen
, focusing his secondary school studies on agriculture. Between 1915 and 1920 he was a soldier of the Reichsheer and participated in World War I
, where he was severely wounded. Afterwards he was employed as a company commander.
After the war he chose to return to the Polish corridor
and from 1921 to 1939 he was the director of the Hauptvereins der Deutschen Bauernvereine or Main German Farmers' Associations in Posen. In 1925 he was also appointed director of the Deutschen Landwirtschaftlichen Zentralverbandes in Polen or Central Association of German Farming in Poland
.
From 1939 to 1940 he served as the regional President of Agriculture (the Landwirtschaftskammer) in Nazi Posen. From 1940 to 1945 he was Managing Director of the Reichsgesellschaft für Landbewirtschaftung in den eingegliederten Ostgebieten mbH („Reichsland“) or Reich Association for land management in the annexed territories, in Berlin
. Shortly before the war ended this Reich Association, and Kraft, moved to Ratzeburg
in Schleswig-Holstein
. From 1945 to 1947 he was interned in Schleswig-Holstein
and remained unemployed in Ratzeburg
to 1950.
From 1949 to 1951 he was the spokesperson for the Landsmannschaft Weichsel-Warthe or German
Vistula and Warta Association. As such he signed the Charter of the German expellees and later became honorary chairman (an Ehrenvorsitzender).
and the incoporation of his region into the Warthegau, he was also appointed an Ehren-Hauptsturmführer
or Honorary Captain of SS.
In 1950 he was among the founders of the Gesamtdeutscher Block/Bund der Heimatvertriebenen und Entrechteten (often abbreviated in texts to "GB/BHE") or All-German Bloc/League of Expellees and Deprived of Rights
in Schleswig-Holstein
. In 1951 he was elected national chairman of the League and Eva Gräfin Finck von Finckenstein
became his press secretary. In September 1954 she was not reelected into the League administrative board, which led to the resignation of Waldemar Kraft as Chairman.
In March 1956 Kraft, Finckenstein and Theodor Oberländer joined the CDU
, which led to the decline of influence of the All-German Bloc/League of Expellees and Deprived of Rights
in German politics.
, where he represented the electoral district of Lauenburg-west. From 1953 to 1961 he was subsequently elected a member of the West German Bundestag
.
After the elections in 1953 he retired on 20 October 1953 from the State Government and was appointed on the same day as the Federal Minister without Portfolio under government of Chancellor
Konrad Adenauer
in Bonn
. On 16 October 1956 he resigned from the federal government.
stalwart after World War II
and champion of the rights of the Germans
expelled from Poland
, the Left wing British
historian Richard Grunberger
cited him as an example of the permeation or infiltration of SS attitudes and values into mainstream postwar West German society and politics. Opinion revolves around his involvement in the SS, although this is murky : it is entirely unclear whether Kraft volunteered for the SS-Ehrenführer post at his own initiative, simply to advance his career or whether he was pressured to do so by his immiediate superiors. Both the Minister for Agriculture, Richard Walther Darré, and the Gauleiter
of Warthegau, Arthur Greiser
, were senior and important SS officers and clearly this may have influenced Kraft.
Jarocin
Jarocin Jarocin Jarocin ( is a town in central Poland with 25,700 inhabitants (1995). Since 1999 Jarocin has been located in the Greater Poland Voivodeship, prior to that it was located in the Kalisz Voivodeship (1975–1998).- History :...
district in the Province of Posen
Province of Posen
The Province of Posen was a province of Prussia from 1848–1918 and as such part of the German Empire from 1871 to 1918. The area was about 29,000 km2....
; died 12 July 1977 in Bonn
Bonn
Bonn is the 19th largest city in Germany. Located in the Cologne/Bonn Region, about 25 kilometres south of Cologne on the river Rhine in the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, it was the capital of West Germany from 1949 to 1990 and the official seat of government of united Germany from 1990 to 1999....
) 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...
politician who served as Federal Minister for Special Affairs
Federal Minister for Special Affairs of Germany
A Federal Minister for Special Affairs is a federal minister without portfolio of Germany.Currently, the title is commonly given to the head of the Chancellery to provide him with a vote in cabinet meetings...
in the Cabinet of Chancellor Konrad Adenauer
Konrad Adenauer
Konrad Hermann Joseph Adenauer was a German statesman. He was the chancellor of the West Germany from 1949 to 1963. He is widely recognised as a person who led his country from the ruins of World War II to a powerful and prosperous nation that had forged close relations with old enemies France,...
from 1953 to 1956. From 1950 to 1953 he served as Minister of Finance and Deputy Prime Minister of the state of Schleswig-Holstein
Schleswig-Holstein
Schleswig-Holstein is the northernmost of the sixteen states of Germany, comprising most of the historical duchy of Holstein and the southern part of the former Duchy of Schleswig...
, and from 1951 to 1953 as Acting Minister of Justice. He was a member of the Bundestag
Bundestag
The Bundestag is a federal legislative body in Germany. In practice Germany is governed by a bicameral legislature, of which the Bundestag serves as the lower house and the Bundesrat the upper house. The Bundestag is established by the German Basic Law of 1949, as the successor to the earlier...
from 1953 to 1961, and a member of the Landtag
Landtag
A Landtag is a representative assembly or parliament in German-speaking countries with some legislative authority.- Name :...
of Schleswig-Holstein from 1950 to 1953.
Kraft initially represented the All-German Bloc/League of Expellees and Deprived of Rights
All-German Bloc/League of Expellees and Deprived of Rights
The All-German Bloc/League of Expellees and Deprived of Rights was a right-wing political party in West Germany, which acted as an advocacy group of the Germans fled and expelled in and after World War II.-History:...
and served as its chairman from 1951 to 1954. In 1956, he became a member of the Christian Democratic Union.
Education and Profession
Waldemar Kraft was born to a Protestant GermanGermans
The Germans are a Germanic ethnic group native to Central Europe. The English term Germans has referred to the German-speaking population of the Holy Roman Empire since the Late Middle Ages....
family on the Prussian-Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n border. He attended secondary school in pre-1914 Posen
Poznan
Poznań is a city on the Warta river in west-central Poland, with a population of 556,022 in June 2009. It is among the oldest cities in Poland, and was one of the most important centres in the early Polish state, whose first rulers were buried at Poznań's cathedral. It is sometimes claimed to be...
, focusing his secondary school studies on agriculture. Between 1915 and 1920 he was a soldier of the Reichsheer and participated in World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, where he was severely wounded. Afterwards he was employed as a company commander.
After the war he chose to return to the Polish corridor
Polish Corridor
The Polish Corridor , also known as Danzig Corridor, Corridor to the Sea or Gdańsk Corridor, was a territory located in the region of Pomerelia , which provided the Second Republic of Poland with access to the Baltic Sea, thus dividing the bulk of Germany from the province of East...
and from 1921 to 1939 he was the director of the Hauptvereins der Deutschen Bauernvereine or Main German Farmers' Associations in Posen. In 1925 he was also appointed director of the Deutschen Landwirtschaftlichen Zentralverbandes in Polen or Central Association of German Farming in 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...
.
From 1939 to 1940 he served as the regional President of Agriculture (the Landwirtschaftskammer) in Nazi Posen. From 1940 to 1945 he was Managing Director of the Reichsgesellschaft für Landbewirtschaftung in den eingegliederten Ostgebieten mbH („Reichsland“) or Reich Association for land management in the annexed territories, 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...
. Shortly before the war ended this Reich Association, and Kraft, moved to Ratzeburg
Ratzeburg
Ratzeburg is a town in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is surrounded by four lakes—the resulting isthmuses between the lakes form the access lanes to the town. Ratzeburg is the capital of the Kreis of Lauenburg.-History:...
in Schleswig-Holstein
Schleswig-Holstein
Schleswig-Holstein is the northernmost of the sixteen states of Germany, comprising most of the historical duchy of Holstein and the southern part of the former Duchy of Schleswig...
. From 1945 to 1947 he was interned in Schleswig-Holstein
Schleswig-Holstein
Schleswig-Holstein is the northernmost of the sixteen states of Germany, comprising most of the historical duchy of Holstein and the southern part of the former Duchy of Schleswig...
and remained unemployed in Ratzeburg
Ratzeburg
Ratzeburg is a town in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is surrounded by four lakes—the resulting isthmuses between the lakes form the access lanes to the town. Ratzeburg is the capital of the Kreis of Lauenburg.-History:...
to 1950.
From 1949 to 1951 he was the spokesperson for the Landsmannschaft Weichsel-Warthe or 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...
Vistula and Warta Association. As such he signed the Charter of the German expellees and later became honorary chairman (an Ehrenvorsitzender).
Political Affiliation
Kraft joined the NSDAP in 1933. On 13 November 1939, immediately following the Nazi invasion of PolandPoland
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...
and the incoporation of his region into the Warthegau, he was also appointed an Ehren-Hauptsturmführer
Hauptsturmführer
Hauptsturmführer was a Nazi rank of the SS which was used between the years of 1934 and 1945. The rank of Hauptsturmführer was a mid-grade company level officer and was the equivalent of a Captain in the German Army and also the equivalent of captain in foreign armies...
or Honorary Captain of SS.
In 1950 he was among the founders of the Gesamtdeutscher Block/Bund der Heimatvertriebenen und Entrechteten (often abbreviated in texts to "GB/BHE") or All-German Bloc/League of Expellees and Deprived of Rights
All-German Bloc/League of Expellees and Deprived of Rights
The All-German Bloc/League of Expellees and Deprived of Rights was a right-wing political party in West Germany, which acted as an advocacy group of the Germans fled and expelled in and after World War II.-History:...
in Schleswig-Holstein
Schleswig-Holstein
Schleswig-Holstein is the northernmost of the sixteen states of Germany, comprising most of the historical duchy of Holstein and the southern part of the former Duchy of Schleswig...
. In 1951 he was elected national chairman of the League and Eva Gräfin Finck von Finckenstein
Eva Gräfin Finck von Finckenstein
Eva Gräfin Finck von Finckenstein, née Schubring was a German politician, representative of the German Christian Democratic Union....
became his press secretary. In September 1954 she was not reelected into the League administrative board, which led to the resignation of Waldemar Kraft as Chairman.
In March 1956 Kraft, Finckenstein and Theodor Oberländer joined the CDU
Christian Democratic Union (Germany)
The Christian Democratic Union of Germany is a Christian democratic and conservative political party in Germany. It is regarded as on the centre-right of the German political spectrum...
, which led to the decline of influence of the All-German Bloc/League of Expellees and Deprived of Rights
All-German Bloc/League of Expellees and Deprived of Rights
The All-German Bloc/League of Expellees and Deprived of Rights was a right-wing political party in West Germany, which acted as an advocacy group of the Germans fled and expelled in and after World War II.-History:...
in German politics.
MP
From 1950 to 1953 Kraft was a member of the state parliament of Schleswig-HolsteinSchleswig-Holstein
Schleswig-Holstein is the northernmost of the sixteen states of Germany, comprising most of the historical duchy of Holstein and the southern part of the former Duchy of Schleswig...
, where he represented the electoral district of Lauenburg-west. From 1953 to 1961 he was subsequently elected a member of the West German Bundestag
Bundestag
The Bundestag is a federal legislative body in Germany. In practice Germany is governed by a bicameral legislature, of which the Bundestag serves as the lower house and the Bundesrat the upper house. The Bundestag is established by the German Basic Law of 1949, as the successor to the earlier...
.
After the elections in 1953 he retired on 20 October 1953 from the State Government and was appointed on the same day as the Federal Minister without Portfolio under government of Chancellor
Chancellor
Chancellor is the title of various official positions in the governments of many nations. The original chancellors were the Cancellarii of Roman courts of justice—ushers who sat at the cancelli or lattice work screens of a basilica or law court, which separated the judge and counsel from the...
Konrad Adenauer
Konrad Adenauer
Konrad Hermann Joseph Adenauer was a German statesman. He was the chancellor of the West Germany from 1949 to 1963. He is widely recognised as a person who led his country from the ruins of World War II to a powerful and prosperous nation that had forged close relations with old enemies France,...
in Bonn
Bonn
Bonn is the 19th largest city in Germany. Located in the Cologne/Bonn Region, about 25 kilometres south of Cologne on the river Rhine in the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, it was the capital of West Germany from 1949 to 1990 and the official seat of government of united Germany from 1990 to 1999....
. On 16 October 1956 he resigned from the federal government.
Evaluation
A committed CDUChristian Democratic Union (Germany)
The Christian Democratic Union of Germany is a Christian democratic and conservative political party in Germany. It is regarded as on the centre-right of the German political spectrum...
stalwart after 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...
and champion of the rights of the Germans
Germans
The Germans are a Germanic ethnic group native to Central Europe. The English term Germans has referred to the German-speaking population of the Holy Roman Empire since the Late Middle Ages....
expelled from 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...
, the Left wing British
British people
The British are citizens of the United Kingdom, of the Isle of Man, any of the Channel Islands, or of any of the British overseas territories, and their descendants...
historian Richard Grunberger
Richard Grunberger
Richard Grunberger was a British historian, who specialised in study of the Third Reich.He was born in Austria to Jewish parents. After the 1938 Anschluss with Hitler's Germany, he was put on the first Kindertransport train to leave Vienna. He was initially housed in a refugee camp at Lowestoft in...
cited him as an example of the permeation or infiltration of SS attitudes and values into mainstream postwar West German society and politics. Opinion revolves around his involvement in the SS, although this is murky : it is entirely unclear whether Kraft volunteered for the SS-Ehrenführer post at his own initiative, simply to advance his career or whether he was pressured to do so by his immiediate superiors. Both the Minister for Agriculture, Richard Walther Darré, and the 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 Warthegau, Arthur Greiser
Arthur Greiser
Arthur Greiser was a Nazi German politician and SS Obergruppenfuhrer. He was one of the persons primarily responsible for organizing the Holocaust in Poland and numerous other war crimes and crimes against humanity, for which he was tried, convicted and executed by hanging after World War...
, were senior and important SS officers and clearly this may have influenced Kraft.
Literature
- Rainer Salzmann, Kraft, Waldemar in In: Neue Deutsche Biographie (NDB). Band 12, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1980, S. 655 f.
- Richard Grunberger, Hitler's SS (1970), page.114.
- "Schütze Kraft" in Der Spiegel (19 May 1954)