Werner Naumann
Encyclopedia
Werner Naumann was a State Secretary in Joseph Goebbels
Joseph Goebbels
Paul Joseph Goebbels was a German politician and Reich Minister of Propaganda in Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1945. As one of Adolf Hitler's closest associates and most devout followers, he was known for his zealous oratory and anti-Semitism...

' Propagandaministerium during the Third Reich. He was appointed head of the Propaganda Ministry by Führer
Führer
Führer , alternatively spelled Fuehrer in both English and German when the umlaut is not available, is a German title meaning leader or guide now most associated with Adolf Hitler, who modelled it on Benito Mussolini's title il Duce, as well as with Georg von Schönerer, whose followers also...

 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...

 in his political testament after Dr. Goebbels was promoted to Reichskanzler.

Early life and political career

Naumann was born in Guhrau
Góra (Lower Silesian Voivodship)
Góra is a town in Lower Silesian Voivodeship, in south-western Poland. From 1975 to 1998 it was in Leszno Voivodeship. It is the seat both of Góra County and of the smaller administrative district called Gmina Góra....

 in Silesia
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...

, Prussia
Kingdom of Prussia
The Kingdom of Prussia was a German kingdom from 1701 to 1918. Until the defeat of Germany in World War I, it comprised almost two-thirds of the area of the German Empire...

, Germany
German Empire
The German Empire refers to Germany during the "Second Reich" period from the unification of Germany and proclamation of Wilhelm I as German Emperor on 18 January 1871, to 1918, when it became a federal republic after defeat in World War I and the abdication of the Emperor, Wilhelm II.The German...

. After finishing school, he studied political economics. Naumann joined the NSDAP in 1928, and was promoted to the leader of an 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...

 brigade in 1933. Five years later he was made personal aide of Joseph Goebbels and in 1942 became his assistant secretary. He was a member of the Freundeskreis Reichsführer SS around 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...

 and served several times in the SS-Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler during 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...

.

Escape to Argentina

Though appointed Propaganda Minister in the Flensburg government
Flensburg government
The Flensburg Government , also known as the Flensburg Cabinet and the Dönitz Government , was the short-lived administration that attempted to rule the Third Reich during most of May 1945 at the end of World War II in Europe...

 of Karl Dönitz
Karl Dönitz
Karl Dönitz was a German naval commander during World War II. He started his career in the German Navy during World War I. In 1918, while he was in command of , the submarine was sunk by British forces and Dönitz was taken prisoner...

 by Hitler's Testament of 29 April 1945, Naumann fled to Argentina after escaping the Soviet Army encirclement of Berlin in the break-out from the Führerbunker
Führerbunker
The Führerbunker was located beneath Hitler's New Reich Chancellery in Berlin, Germany. It was part of a subterranean bunker complex which was constructed in two major phases, one part in 1936 and the other in 1943...

 on 1 May 1945. Friedrich Bergold testified at Nuremberg
Nuremberg Trials
The Nuremberg Trials were a series of military tribunals, held by the victorious Allied forces of World War II, most notable for the prosecution of prominent members of the political, military, and economic leadership of the defeated Nazi Germany....

 that he had last seen Naumann walking a metre in front of Martin Bormann
Martin Bormann
Martin Ludwig Bormann was a prominent Nazi official. He became head of the Party Chancellery and private secretary to Adolf Hitler...

 when the latter was hit by a Soviet rocket while crossing the Weidendammer Bridge
Weidendammer Bridge
The Weidendammer Bridge is an long bridge where the Friedrichstrasse crosses the Spree river in the central Mitte district of Berlin, Germany...

 under heavy fire in Berlin.

In Argentina, Naumann became one of the editors of the neo-Nazi magazine "Der Weg" published by the Dürer Verlag, which entered circulation amongst the German community in June 1947. This attracted the interest of Israeli
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...

 agents, who identified Naumann and made his presence known, and he decided to return to South Germany. He was in hiding there until 1949, when he started an apprenticeship as a bricklayer which he passed with excellent grades.

Naumann was the highest ranking member of the Nazi hierarchy known to have gone to Argentina immediately postwar. How he entered is not known. The only Argentine author to have noticed him is Jorge Camarasa in his book "Los Nazis en Argentina", Legasa, pp. 97, 130. ISBN 950-600-175-8. Naumann's book "Nau Nau gefährdet das Empire" was published by Dürer Haus in 1953.

Later life

Naumann was arrested by the British Army
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...

 in 1953 and accused of being the leader of a Neo-Nazi group that attempted to infiltrate West German
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....

 political parties; he was released after seven months in custody. Later on, he became director at a metal firm in Lüdenscheid
Lüdenscheid
Lüdenscheid is a town in the Märkischer Kreis district, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located in the Sauerland region. Lüdenscheid is seat of the administration of the Märkischer Kreis district...

 owned by Goebbels' stepson Harald Quandt
Harald Quandt
Harald Quandt was a German industrialist, stepson of Joseph Goebbels. After World War II, Harald and his half-brother Herbert Quandt ran the industrial empire that was left to them by their father.-Early life:...

. He died in 1982 in Lüdenscheid
Lüdenscheid
Lüdenscheid is a town in the Märkischer Kreis district, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located in the Sauerland region. Lüdenscheid is seat of the administration of the Märkischer Kreis district...

 in North Rhine-Westphalia
North Rhine-Westphalia
North Rhine-Westphalia is the most populous state of Germany, with four of the country's ten largest cities. The state was formed in 1946 as a merger of the northern Rhineland and Westphalia, both formerly part of Prussia. Its capital is Düsseldorf. The state is currently run by a coalition of the...

, West 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....

, aged 73.
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