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Wilhelm Adam (Politician)
Encyclopedia
Wilhelm Adam was a career military officer who served in three German Armies and later became an East German politician
.
.
, Hesse
, and from 1929 to 1934 in Weimar
, Thuringia
. Alongside these duties, Adam also studied from 1922 to 1924 at the university
in Frankfurt am Main and completed the examination for middle school teachers in 1927.
In 1919 he became a member of the Langenselbold Military Association and in 1920 of the Young German Order
. In 1923, Adam joined the Nazi Party and was involved that same year in the Beer Hall Putsch
. In 1926, Adam left the Nazis and joined the German People's Party
(DVP), with whom he stayed until 1929.
and an SA
Oberscharführer
. He worked at the Unit for ideological training with the Staff of Standard 94 in Weimar. After being transferred to the SA reserves in 1933 came Adam's reactivation in 1934 at the rank of captain, as well as a promotion to major
once he had finished a course at military school in 1937. Thereafter, until 1939, Adam worked as company chief and a teacher at the infantry school in Döberitz near Berlin
.
. On 17 December 1942, he was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross. On 31 January 1943, now a colonel, Adam was captured by the Soviet Army after the surrender at Stalingrad
, where he was interrogated by Nikolay Dyatlenko
. While a prisoner of war
, he went to the Central Antifa (i.e. Anti-Fascist) School at Krasnogorsk
and became member of the National Committee for a Free Germany
. He was also sentenced to death in absentia
by a Nazi German court.
, an East German political party that acted as an organization for former members of the Nazi Party and the Wehrmacht. From 1948 to 1949 he worked as a consultant for the Saxony state government. From 1950 to 1952 he was Saxony's finance minister and from 1949 to 1963 a member of East Germany's Volkskammer
.
in the Kasernierte Volkspolizei
(KVP) ("Barracked People's Police"), the forerunner of the East German National People's Army
. From 1953 to 1956 he was commander of the Officers' College of the KVP – and later became the National People's Army. In 1958, Adam was sent into retirement. He kept on working, though, for the Working Group of Former Officers. In 1968 he was decorated with the Banner of Labor
, and on the occasion of the twenty-eighth anniversary of East Germany's founding on 7 October 1977, he was appointed major general
, retired in the East German Army.
Adam died on 24 November 1978 in Dresden.
Politician
A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...
.
Life
Adam's father was a farmer. After high school he attended from 1908 to 1913 the teacher training college in SchlüchternSchlüchtern
Schlüchtern is a town in the Main-Kinzig district, in Hessen, Germany. It is located on the river Kinzig at the southwest of a hill called Landrücken, approx. 30 km southwest of Fulda.-History:...
.
First World War
From 1 October 1913, Adam served as a one-year volunteer in military service with the 5th Company of the 2nd Nassau Infantry Regiment 88. At the beginning of the First World War on 8 August 1914, now a corporal, he moved to the front. He was wounded on 16 September 1914 and sent to a Protestant hospital in Düsseldorf. returning to the replacement battalion of his regiment 10 days later. On 1 April 1915 he was promoted to sergeant. From April to May 1915 he took an officer candidate course in Lockstedter and upon graduation on 22 May was promoted to lieutenant. On 14 June, he became a platoon leader at 1st Recruits Depot of the XVI Army Corps. On 5 October 1915 he was assigned to the 5th Company of the Infantry Regiment "Graf Werder“ (4. Rheinisches) Nr. 30 . After an illness in July 1916, which he recovered from in a field hospital at Germersheim, he was transferred to the 1st Replacement Battalion of the 2nd Nassau Infantry Regiment 88. On 28 September 1916 he became the commander of a machine gun company of the 424th Infantry Regiment. On 28 October 1916, he was appointed the aide to the Landwehr Infantry Brigade 70, a position he held until the end of the war. He was dismissed from the Army as a Lieutenant on 31 January 1919.Weimar Republic
From 1919 to 1929, Adam was working as a senior vocational school teacher at the army's vocational school in LangenselboldLangenselbold
Langenselbold is a town in the Main-Kinzig district, in Hesse, Germany. It is situated on the river Kinzig, 10 km east of Hanau....
, Hesse
Hesse
Hesse or Hessia is both a cultural region of Germany and the name of an individual German state.* The cultural region of Hesse includes both the State of Hesse and the area known as Rhenish Hesse in the neighbouring Rhineland-Palatinate state...
, and from 1929 to 1934 in Weimar
Weimar
Weimar is a city in Germany famous for its cultural heritage. It is located in the federal state of Thuringia , north of the Thüringer Wald, east of Erfurt, and southwest of Halle and Leipzig. Its current population is approximately 65,000. The oldest record of the city dates from the year 899...
, Thuringia
Thuringia
The Free State of Thuringia is a state of Germany, located in the central part of the country.It has an area of and 2.29 million inhabitants, making it the sixth smallest by area and the fifth smallest by population of Germany's sixteen states....
. Alongside these duties, Adam also studied from 1922 to 1924 at the university
University
A university is an institution of higher education and research, which grants academic degrees in a variety of subjects. A university is an organisation that provides both undergraduate education and postgraduate education...
in Frankfurt am Main and completed the examination for middle school teachers in 1927.
In 1919 he became a member of the Langenselbold Military Association and in 1920 of the Young German Order
Young German Order
The Young German Order was a large para-military organisation in Weimar Germany. Its name and symbol were inspired by the Teutonic Knights ....
. In 1923, Adam joined the Nazi Party and was involved that same year in the Beer Hall Putsch
Beer Hall Putsch
The Beer Hall Putsch was a failed attempt at revolution that occurred between the evening of 8 November and the early afternoon of 9 November 1923, when Nazi Party leader Adolf Hitler, Generalquartiermeister Erich Ludendorff, and other heads of the Kampfbund unsuccessfully tried to seize power...
. In 1926, Adam left the Nazis and joined the German People's Party
German People's Party
The German People's Party was a national liberal party in Weimar Germany and a successor to the National Liberal Party of the German Empire.-Ideology:...
(DVP), with whom he stayed until 1929.
In National Socialism to the Second World War
In 1933 he became a member of the StahlhelmStahlhelm
Stahlhelm is German for "steel helmet". The Imperial German Army began to replace the traditional boiled-leather Pickelhaube with the Stahlhelm during World War I in 1916...
and an SA
Sturmabteilung
The Sturmabteilung functioned as a paramilitary organization of the National Socialist German Workers' Party . It played a key role in Adolf Hitler's rise to power in the 1920s and 1930s...
Oberscharführer
Oberscharführer
Oberscharführer was a Nazi Party paramilitary rank that existed between the years of 1932 and 1945. Translated as “Senior Squad Leader”, Oberscharführer was first used as a rank of the Sturmabteilung and was created due to an expansion of the enlisted positions required by growing SA membership...
. He worked at the Unit for ideological training with the Staff of Standard 94 in Weimar. After being transferred to the SA reserves in 1933 came Adam's reactivation in 1934 at the rank of captain, as well as a promotion to major
Major
Major is a rank of commissioned officer, with corresponding ranks existing in almost every military in the world.When used unhyphenated, in conjunction with no other indicator of rank, the term refers to the rank just senior to that of an Army captain and just below the rank of lieutenant colonel. ...
once he had finished a course at military school in 1937. Thereafter, until 1939, Adam worked as company chief and a teacher at the infantry school in Döberitz near 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...
.
Second World War
In 1939 he became an adjutant in the XXIII Army Corps, under the Army Commanders Walter von Reichenau and later in 1941, Friedrich PaulusFriedrich Paulus
Friedrich Wilhelm Ernst Paulus was an officer in the German military from 1910 to 1945. He attained the rank of Generalfeldmarschall during World War II, and is best known for having commanded the Sixth Army's assault on Stalingrad during Operation Blue in 1942...
. On 17 December 1942, he was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross. On 31 January 1943, now a colonel, Adam was captured by the Soviet Army after the surrender at Stalingrad
Battle of Stalingrad
The Battle of Stalingrad was a major battle of World War II in which Nazi Germany and its allies fought the Soviet Union for control of the city of Stalingrad in southwestern Russia. The battle took place between 23 August 1942 and 2 February 1943...
, where he was interrogated by Nikolay Dyatlenko
Nikolay Dyatlenko
Captain Nikolay Dmitrevich Dyatlenko was a Ukrainian officer, interrogator and translator who was part of a team that attempted to deliver a message of truce to the German Sixth Army at the Battle of Stalingrad in January 1943...
. While 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...
, he went to the Central Antifa (i.e. Anti-Fascist) School at Krasnogorsk
Krasnogorsk
Krasnogorsk may refer to one of the following:*Krasnogorsk, Moscow Oblast, a city in Moscow Oblast, Russia*Krasnogorsk, Uzbekistan, a town in Uzbekistan...
and became member of the National Committee for a Free Germany
National Committee for a Free Germany
The National Committee for a Free Germany was a German anti-Nazi organization that operated in the Soviet Union during World War II.- History :...
. He was also sentenced to death in absentia
In absentia
In absentia is Latin for "in the absence". In legal use, it usually means a trial at which the defendant is not physically present. The phrase is not ordinarily a mere observation, but suggests recognition of violation to a defendant's right to be present in court proceedings in a criminal trial.In...
by a Nazi German court.
Post-war period
In 1948, Adam returned to the Soviet Zone of Germany. He was among the co-founders of the National Democratic Party of GermanyNational Democratic Party of Germany (East Germany)
The National Democratic Party of Germany was an East German political party that acted as an organisation for former members of the NSDAP, the Wehrmacht and middle classes...
, an East German political party that acted as an organization for former members of the Nazi Party and the Wehrmacht. From 1948 to 1949 he worked as a consultant for the Saxony state government. From 1950 to 1952 he was Saxony's finance minister and from 1949 to 1963 a member of East Germany's Volkskammer
Volkskammer
The People's Chamber was the unicameral legislature of the German Democratic Republic . From its founding in 1949 until the first free elections on 18 March 1990, all members of the Volkskammer were elected on a slate controlled by the Socialist Unity Party of Germany , called the National Front...
.
From the People's Police to the National People's Army
In 1952, Adam became a colonelColonel
Colonel , abbreviated Col or COL, is a military rank of a senior commissioned officer. It or a corresponding rank exists in most armies and in many air forces; the naval equivalent rank is generally "Captain". It is also used in some police forces and other paramilitary rank structures...
in the Kasernierte Volkspolizei
Kasernierte Volkspolizei
Kasernierte Volkspolizei were the military units of the Volkspolizei in the German Democratic Republic...
(KVP) ("Barracked People's Police"), the forerunner of the East German National People's Army
National People's Army
The National People’s Army were the armed forces of the German Democratic Republic .The NVA was established in 1956 and disestablished in 1990. There were frequent reports of East German advisors with Communist African countries during the Cold War...
. From 1953 to 1956 he was commander of the Officers' College of the KVP – and later became the National People's Army. In 1958, Adam was sent into retirement. He kept on working, though, for the Working Group of Former Officers. In 1968 he was decorated with the Banner of Labor
Banner of Labor
The Banner of Labor was an order issued in the German Democratic Republic .It was given for "outstanding achievements of many years which stabilized and strengthened the country, and in particular for high results of working in the national economy"....
, and on the occasion of the twenty-eighth anniversary of East Germany's founding on 7 October 1977, he was appointed major general
Major General
Major general or major-general is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. A major general is a high-ranking officer, normally subordinate to the rank of lieutenant general and senior to the ranks of brigadier and brigadier general...
, retired in the East German Army.
Adam died on 24 November 1978 in Dresden.
Awards
- Iron CrossIron CrossThe 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....
2nd and 1st Class - Blood OrderBlood OrderThe Blood Order , officially known as the Decoration of 9 November 1923 , was one of the most prestigious decorations in the Nazi Party...
(1934) - Knight's Cross of the Iron CrossKnight's Cross of the Iron CrossThe Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross was a grade of the 1939 version of the 1813 created Iron Cross . The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross was the highest award of Germany to recognize extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership during World War II...
(17 December 1942) - Banner of LaborBanner of LaborThe Banner of Labor was an order issued in the German Democratic Republic .It was given for "outstanding achievements of many years which stabilized and strengthened the country, and in particular for high results of working in the national economy"....
(1968)