Werner Lorenz
Encyclopedia
Werner Lorenz was SS
head of the Hauptamt Volksdeutsche Mittelstelle
(Main Welfare Office for Ethnic Germans) (VOMI) an organization charged with settling ethnic Germans in the German Reich
from other parts of Europe
.
, Sławno County) near Stolp, Pomerania. His father was a forest warden. In 1909 Lorenz went to Military school. He served in World War I
first as a cavalry
officer then as a pilot in the Luftstreitkräfte
. After the war he worked as a border guard and as farmer. He later acquired land and industrial property in Danzig. Lorenz would become Axel Springer
's father-in-law.
in 1931. Two years later he had an active political role in the Nazi state. He was a member of the Landtag
in the Free State of Prussia, a member of the Reichstag
and worked at the Hamburg
State Council.
In November 1933, Lorenz was promoted to SS-Gruppenführer
and lead the SS Upper Division North from 1934 until 1937. In January 1937, was promoted to head the NSDAP agency Hauptamt Volksdeutsche Mittelstelle (VOMI)
that was initially responsible for the welfare of Germanic peoples (Volksdeutsche
) living beyond the pre-war borders of Nazi Germany. However when the Second World War began VOMI took charge of the resettlement of ethnic Germans on captured territory but also the "Germanization" of foreign children such as Poles
and Slovenes.
Following the invasion of Poland, Lorenz was the chief executive responsible for allocating confiscated land, property and managing the affairs of the Volksdeutsch in all other areas of occupied Eastern Europe. VOMI, which was an office of the Nazi Party, would take control of a district once the native populations had been driven from their homes and lands. Ethnic German settlers were then given the land to work under the direction of VOMI officials. In respect to his international work, Lorenz was plenipotentiary
for foreign relations for Adolf Hitler
's deputy, Rudolf Hess
.
In June 1941 VOMI was absorbed into the office of the Reich Commissioner for the Strengthening of German Ethnic Stock (RKFDV) run by Reichsführer-SS
Heinrich Himmler
. The RKFDV, as an SS-controlled organization, had the authority to say who was German, where ethnic Germans could live, and what populations should be cleared or annihilated
in order to make room for the German settlers from the east Europe durning action "Heim ins Reich
". As RKFDV chief, Himmler authorized the SS-Einsatzgruppen
and other SS police units to round up and kill Jews, Slavs and Roma. Lorenz remained in charge of Volksdeutsch settlements in these ethnically cleansed areas. He also was responsible for VOMI officials who handled the personal property seized from Jews
killed during Operation Reinhard
in the General Government
during 1942-1943.
In late 1942, Lorenz was seriously injured in an vehicle accident in Bosnia while overseeing the VOMI evacuation of ethnic Germans from the region. He was promoted to SS Obergruppenführer
in 1943.
, Lorenz was captured and held in an internment camp in England
. He was sentenced to 20 years in prison at the RuSHA Trial
at Nuremberg
on 10 March 1948. But his sentence was reduced to 15 years in 1951. Lorenz was released early in 1955.
Allgemeine SS
The Allgemeine SS was the most numerous branch of the Schutzstaffel paramilitary forces of Nazi Germany. It was managed by the SS-Hauptamt...
head of the Hauptamt Volksdeutsche Mittelstelle
Hauptamt Volksdeutsche Mittelstelle
The Hauptamt Volksdeutsche Mittelstelle was an NSDAP agency founded to manage the interests of the Volksdeutsche who lived outside the borders of Nazi Germany....
(Main Welfare Office for Ethnic Germans) (VOMI) an organization charged with settling ethnic Germans in the German Reich
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...
from other parts of Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
.
Early life
He was born Grünhof (now in Gmina PostominoGmina Postomino
Gmina Postomino is a rural gmina in Sławno County, West Pomeranian Voivodeship, in north-western Poland. Its seat is the village of Postomino, which lies approximately north of Sławno and north-east of the regional capital Szczecin....
, Sławno County) near Stolp, Pomerania. His father was a forest warden. In 1909 Lorenz went to Military school. He served 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...
first as a cavalry
Cavalry
Cavalry or horsemen were soldiers or warriors who fought mounted on horseback. Cavalry were historically the third oldest and the most mobile of the combat arms...
officer then as a pilot in the Luftstreitkräfte
Luftstreitkräfte
The Deutsche Luftstreitkräfte , known before October 1916 as Die Fliegertruppen des deutschen Kaiserreiches , or simply Die Fliegertruppen, was the air arm of the Imperial German Army during World War I...
. After the war he worked as a border guard and as farmer. He later acquired land and industrial property in Danzig. Lorenz would become Axel Springer
Axel Springer
Axel Springer , was a German journalist and the founder and owner of the Axel Springer AG publishing company.-Early life:...
's father-in-law.
Nazi career
In 1929, Lorenz joined the Nazi Party and the SSSchutzstaffel
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...
in 1931. Two years later he had an active political role in the Nazi state. He was a member of the Landtag
Landtag
A Landtag is a representative assembly or parliament in German-speaking countries with some legislative authority.- Name :...
in the Free State of Prussia, a member 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...
and worked at the Hamburg
Hamburg
-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
State Council.
In November 1933, Lorenz was promoted to SS-Gruppenführer
Gruppenführer
Gruppenführer was an early paramilitary rank of the Nazi Party, first created in 1925 as a senior rank of the SA.-SS rank:...
and lead the SS Upper Division North from 1934 until 1937. In January 1937, was promoted to head the NSDAP agency Hauptamt Volksdeutsche Mittelstelle (VOMI)
Hauptamt Volksdeutsche Mittelstelle
The Hauptamt Volksdeutsche Mittelstelle was an NSDAP agency founded to manage the interests of the Volksdeutsche who lived outside the borders of Nazi Germany....
that was initially responsible for the welfare of Germanic peoples (Volksdeutsche
Volksdeutsche
Volksdeutsche - "German in terms of people/folk" -, defined ethnically, is a historical term from the 20th century. The words volk and volkische conveyed in Nazi thinking the meanings of "folk" and "race" while adding the sense of superior civilization and blood...
) living beyond the pre-war borders of Nazi Germany. However when the Second World War began VOMI took charge of the resettlement of ethnic Germans on captured territory but also the "Germanization" of foreign children such as Poles
Poles
thumb|right|180px|The state flag of [[Poland]] as used by Polish government and diplomatic authoritiesThe Polish people, or Poles , are a nation indigenous to Poland. They are united by the Polish language, which belongs to the historical Lechitic subgroup of West Slavic languages of Central Europe...
and Slovenes.
Ethnic cleansing in WWII
Plenipotentiary
The word plenipotentiary has two meanings. As a noun, it refers to a person who has "full powers." In particular, the term commonly refers to a diplomat fully authorized to represent his government as a prerogative...
for foreign relations for Adolf Hitler
Adolf 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...
's deputy, Rudolf Hess
Rudolf Hess
Rudolf Walter Richard Hess was a prominent Nazi politician who was Adolf Hitler's deputy in the Nazi Party during the 1930s and early 1940s...
.
In June 1941 VOMI was absorbed into the office of the Reich Commissioner for the Strengthening of German Ethnic Stock (RKFDV) run by Reichsführer-SS
Reichsführer-SS
was a special SS rank that existed between the years of 1925 and 1945. Reichsführer-SS was a title from 1925 to 1933 and, after 1934, the highest rank of the German Schutzstaffel .-Definition:...
Heinrich Himmler
Heinrich Himmler
Heinrich Luitpold Himmler was Reichsführer of the SS, a military commander, and a leading member of the Nazi Party. As Chief of the German Police and the Minister of the Interior from 1943, Himmler oversaw all internal and external police and security forces, including the Gestapo...
. The RKFDV, as an SS-controlled organization, had the authority to say who was German, where ethnic Germans could live, and what populations should be cleared or annihilated
Ethnic cleansing
Ethnic cleansing is a purposeful policy designed by one ethnic or religious group to remove by violent and terror-inspiring means the civilian population of another ethnic orreligious group from certain geographic areas....
in order to make room for the German settlers from the east Europe durning action "Heim ins Reich
Heim ins Reich
The Heim ins Reich initiative was a policy pursued by Adolf Hitler starting in 1938 and was one of the factors leading to World War II. The initiative attempted to convince people of German descent living outside of the German Reich that they should strive to bring these regions "home" into a...
". As RKFDV chief, Himmler authorized the SS-Einsatzgruppen
Einsatzgruppen
Einsatzgruppen were SS paramilitary death squads that were responsible for mass killings, typically by shooting, of Jews in particular, but also significant numbers of other population groups and political categories...
and other SS police units to round up and kill Jews, Slavs and Roma. Lorenz remained in charge of Volksdeutsch settlements in these ethnically cleansed areas. He also was responsible for VOMI officials who handled the personal property seized from Jews
Jews
The Jews , also known as the Jewish people, are a nation and ethnoreligious group originating in the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East. The Jewish ethnicity, nationality, and religion are strongly interrelated, as Judaism is the traditional faith of the Jewish nation...
killed during Operation Reinhard
Operation Reinhard
Operation Reinhard was the code name given to the Nazi plan to murder Polish Jews in the General Government, and marked the most deadly phase of the Holocaust, the use of extermination camps...
in the General Government
General Government
The General Government was an area of Second Republic of Poland under Nazi German rule during World War II; designated as a separate region of the Third Reich between 1939–1945...
during 1942-1943.
In late 1942, Lorenz was seriously injured in an vehicle accident in Bosnia while overseeing the VOMI evacuation of ethnic Germans from the region. He was promoted to SS 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...
in 1943.
War criminal
After World War IIWorld 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...
, Lorenz was captured and held in an internment camp in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. He was sentenced to 20 years in prison at the RuSHA Trial
RuSHA Trial
The RuSHA Trial was the eighth of the twelve trials for war crimes the U.S. authorities held in their occupation zone in Germany in Nuremberg after the end of World War II. These twelve trials were all held before U.S...
at Nuremberg
Nuremberg
Nuremberg[p] is a city in the German state of Bavaria, in the administrative region of Middle Franconia. Situated on the Pegnitz river and the Rhine–Main–Danube Canal, it is located about north of Munich and is Franconia's largest city. The population is 505,664...
on 10 March 1948. But his sentence was reduced to 15 years in 1951. Lorenz was released early in 1955.
Dates of rank
- SS-SturmbannführerSturmbannführerSturmbannführer was a paramilitary rank of the Nazi Party equivalent to major, used both in the Sturmabteilung and the Schutzstaffel...
: March 31, 1931 - SS-StandartenführerStandartenführerStandartenführer was a Nazi Party paramilitary rank that was used in the so-called Nazi combat-organisations: SA, SS, NSKK and the NSFK...
: July 7, 1931 - SS-OberführerOberführerOberführer was an early paramilitary rank of the Nazi Party dating back to 1921. Translated as “Senior Leader”, an Oberführer was typically a Nazi Party member in charge of a group of paramilitary units in a particular geographical region...
: November 9, 1931 - SS-BrigadeführerBrigadeführerSS-Brigadeführer was an SS rank that was used in Nazi Germany between the years of 1932 and 1945. Brigadeführer was also an SA rank....
: July 1, 1933 - SS-GruppenführerGruppenführerGruppenführer was an early paramilitary rank of the Nazi Party, first created in 1925 as a senior rank of the SA.-SS rank:...
: November 1, 1933 - SS-ObergruppenführerObergruppenführerObergruppenführer 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...
: November 9, 1936 - SS-ObergruppenführerObergruppenführerObergruppenführer 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...
und General der Polizei: August 15, 1942 - SS-ObergruppenführerObergruppenführerObergruppenführer 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...
und General der Waffen-SS: November 9, 1944