Gau Swabia

Infobox Former Subdivision
conventional_long_name = "Gau Schwaben"
Gau Swabia
common_name = Gau Schwaben
subdivision =

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image_map_caption = Map of Nazi Germany showing its administrative subdivisions, the "Gaue" and "Reichsgaue"
national_anthem=
capital = Augsburg
stat_area1=
stat_year1 = 17 May 1939 [ [http://www.statistik.bayern.de/ Bayrisches Landesamt für Statistik] accessed: 26 June 2008]
stat_pop1 = 934,311
p1= Bavaria
flag_p1 = Flag of Bavaria (lozengy).svg
s1 = Bavaria
flag_s1 = Flag of Bavaria (lozengy).svg
event_start = Establishment
year_start = 1933
event_end = Disestablishment
year_end = 1945
event1 =
date_event1 = 30 January 1933
event2 =
date_event2 = 8 May 1945
pol_subdiv =
title_leader = Gauleiter
leader1 = Karl Wahl
year_leader1 = 1933 – 1945

Gau Swabia (German:"Gau Schwaben") was an administrative division of Nazi Germany in Swabia, Bavaria from 1933 to 1945. Previous to that, since 1926, it was the regional subdivision of the Nazi Party in Swabia.

History

Establishment of the "Gaue" within the party

The Nazi "Gau" (Plural:"Gaue") system was originally established in a party conference on 22 May 1926 [ [http://www.dhm.de/lemo/html/nazi/innenpolitik/gaue/ Die NS-Gaue] (in German) Deutsches Historisches Museum website, accessed: 25 June 2008] , in order to improve administration of the party structure. In the early stages, the borders and leaders of these "Gaue" fluctuated frequently, mainly due to internal power struggles [ [http://www.historisches-lexikon-bayerns.de/artikel/artikel_44497 Gau (NSDAP) — Die bayrischen Gaue bis zur Machtergreifung 1933] (in German) Historisches Lexikon Bayerns, accessed: 25 June 2008] . The "Gau Swabia" was, for the most part, identical with the Bavarian "Regierungsbezirk Swabia".

The "Gau" from 1926 to 1933

The "Gau Swabia" came under the leadership of Karl Wahl (1892 – 1981), later an SS-Obergruppenführer [ [http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/Rotunda/2209/Bavaria.html Bavaria 1933–1945 — List of Ministers] accessed: 25 June 2008] , on 1 October 1928 [ [http://www.shoa.de/content/view/544/41/ Shoa.de — Übersicht der NSDAP-Gaue, der Gauleiter und der Stellvertretenden Gauleiter 1933 bis 1945 — Schwaben] (in German) author: Joachim Lilla, accessed: 25 June 2008] , when the "Gau" system in Bavaria was formalised, and remained under his control for the duration of the existence of the Nazi party, and later, Nazi Germany. Until 1930, Bavaria, as the heartland of the Nazi movement in the 1920s, was seen by Hitler as his personal realm, the local "Gaue" commonly being called "Untergaue" (English:"Sub-Gaue"), to show their dependence on the head of the party. Only when Hitler's ambitions turned national did his interest in Bavarian affairs dwindle [ [http://www.historisches-lexikon-bayerns.de/artikel/artikel_44497 Gau (NSDAP) — Die bayrischen Gaue bis zur Machtergreifung 1933] (in German) Historisches Lexikon Bayerns, accessed: 25 June 2008] . With the end of the internal power struggle, the following six "Gaue" had been established in Bavaria [ [http://www.historisches-lexikon-bayerns.de/artikel/artikel_44497 NSDAP — Gaue und Gauleiter] (in German) Historisches Lexikon Bayerns, accessed: 25 June 2008] :
* Gau Schwaben
* Gau München-Oberbayern
* Gau Mainfranken
* Gau Bayerische Ostmark
* Gau Franken
* Gau Rheinpfalz

The "Gau" from 1933 to 1945

With the ascent of the Nazis to power on 30 January 1933, the so-called "Machtergreifung", the party immediately began to disassemble the power of the German states, the "Länder". It was envisioned by the Nazis that the Party-Gaue would take the place of the old structure. In reality, Hitler was afraid of such a move, fearing it would upset local party leaders and could possibly result in a inner-party power struggle [ [http://www.historisches-lexikon-bayerns.de/artikel/artikel_44497 Gau (NSDAP) — Kontinuität der Gaugliederung nach 1933] (in German) Historisches Lexikon Bayerns, accessed: 25 June 2008] .

In Augsburg, the Swabian capital, the Nazis did not gain a strong foothold straight away, only having received 33% of the votes at the 1933 elections. Wahl even interceded with Hitler not to dismiss the mayor of Augsburg, unsuccessfully [ [http://www.geocities.com/~orion47/NSDAP/Gauleiter_R-Z.html Working Towards the Fuhrer: Essays in Honour of Sir Ian Kershaw ] google book review, accessed: 25 June 2008] . Nevertheless, their rise to power there could not be stopped either and by 1941, the party had 39,000 members in the city [ [http://www2.augsburg.de/index.php?id=1465 History of a 2000-year-old town] Website of the city of Augsburg, accessed: 25 June 2008] .

Gradually, the "Gauleiter" (English:"Gau Leader") took control over their territories, reducing the local "Minister Presidents", nominally the highest office in the German states, to figure heads. As such, the development of the "Gau" from a form inner-party administration to a political and administrative sub-division of the country was gradual, not sudden, but completed by 1934 [ [http://www.dhm.de/lemo/html/nazi/innenpolitik/gaue/ Die NS-Gaue] (in German) Deutsches Historisches Museum website, accessed: 25 June 2008] . The process termed "Gleichschaltung" took care of all political opposition and the "Law concerning the reconstruction of the Reich" from 30 January 1934 can possibly be seen as the final date for the transfer of power from the states to the "Gaue".

In Swabia, a relatively small "Gau", the local "Gauleiter" Wahl had to initially fend off attempts by his more powerful neighbor, Adolf Wagner, "Gauleiter" of the Munich-Upper Bavaria region, to incooperate Swabia into his "Gau" [ [http://www.historisches-lexikon-bayerns.de/artikel/artikel_44497 Gau (NSDAP) — Kontinuität der Gaugliederung nach 1933] (in German) Historisches Lexikon Bayerns, accessed: 25 June 2008] . Wahl was actually the only one of the Bavarian "Gauleiter" not to have graduated from University [ [http://www.historisches-lexikon-bayerns.de/artikel/artikel_44985 Gauleiter — Die bayrischen Gauleiter nach 1933] (in German) Historisches Lexikon Bayerns, accessed: 25 June 2008] . Unlike Wagner, who was a personal friend of Hitlers, Wahl wielded no real influence with the party leadership.

The "Gauleiter" was directly appointed by Hitler and only answerable to him. In practice, Hitler interfered little in the affairs of the local leaders and their power was almost absolute [ [http://www.dhm.de/lemo/html/nazi/innenpolitik/gaue/ Die NS-Gaue] (in German) Deutsches Historisches Museum website, accessed: 25 June 2008] .

Parallel to the five Bavarian "Gauleiter", a Bavarian "Minister President" still existed during this time, the Nazi politician Ludwig Siebert and, after his death in 1942, his successor, Paul Giesler. As a third authority in the still existing state [ [http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/Rotunda/2209/Bavaria.html Bavaria 1933–1945 — List of Ministers] accessed: 25 June 2008] , Franz Ritter von Epp held the office of "Reichsstatthalter" but wielded no real power [ [http://www.historisches-lexikon-bayerns.de/artikel/artikel_44985 Gauleiter — Die bayrischen Gauleiter nach 1933] (in German) Historisches Lexikon Bayerns, accessed: 25 June 2008] .

Swabia did not have a concentration camp within its boundaries but its close proximity to Dachau meant, that many of its subcamps were in the "Gau". Swabia was also home to the "Ordensburg Sonthofen", an elite Nazi training facility [ [http://www.sonthofen.de/stadt/stadtrundgang/rundgang4.php3 Sonthofen website — Virtueller Stadtrundgang, Ehemalige Ordensburg] (in German) accessed: 25 June 2008] .

As of 1938, Augsburg had around 900 Jews living within the city boundaries and was home to a magnificent Synagogue, which was destroyed during the Kristallnacht on 10 November 1938. It also had 200 Jewish men sent to Dachau that day [ [http://www.geocities.com/Vienna/Strasse/5960/kristallnacht.html Kristallnacht Augsburg November 1938] accessed: 26 June 2008] . In the following years, the Jewish population of the city was graduatly deported to concentration camps, that of 3 April 1942, numbering 128 persons, being the largest deportation since the Kristallnacht [ [http://www.geocities.com/Vienna/Strasse/5960/history.html History of the Jewish Community of Augsburg] accessed: 26 June 2008] . Outside of the capital, the Jewish population of Swabia was small, only Memmingen and Nördlingen having substancial numbers [ [http://www.verwaltungsgeschichte.de/memmingen.html Stadt und Landkreis Memmingen] (in German) Verwaltungsgeschichte.de, accessed: 26 June 2008] .

After the forced addition of Austria to the "Reich" in March 1938, small parts of the former country were added to the south of the "Gau Schwaben", specifically the Jungholz region.

With the outbreak of the Second World War, the power of the "Gauleiter", and therefore the power of the "Gaue" compare to the state government, increased. Many of the "Gauleiter" were put in charge of the war effort in their Military district (German:"Wehrkreis") [ [http://www.historisches-lexikon-bayerns.de/artikel/artikel_44985 Gauleiter — Dezentralisierungsschübe 1936 to 1939] (in German) Historisches Lexikon Bayerns, accessed: 25 June 2008] . Swabia, with its capital Augsburg, was a vital place for the war effort, being home to the manufacturers MAN AG and Messerschmitt. For this reason, Augsburg suffered heavily under allied bombing raids [ [http://www2.augsburg.de/index.php?id=1465 History of a 2000-year-old town] Website of the city of Augsburg, accessed: 25 June 2008] . Many of the companies in Swabia and Augsburg which were in some way involved in the war effort also used slave labour to be able to continue producing [ [http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Holocaust/germancos.html German Firms That Used Slave or Forced Labor During the Nazi Era] Jewish virtual library website, accessed: 25 June 2008] . A large number of those died through exhaustion, mistreatment and allied air raids on the production facilities. A monument in Augsburg remembers those victims of the Nazi regime [ [http://www.forumaugsburg.de/s_3themen/Antifa/040811_stadtrundgang/index.htm Alternativer Stadtrundgang] (in German, with pictures) accessed: 28 June 2008] .

As the war progressed and Nazi Germany grew more desperate, the "Gauleiter" were put in total control of the war effort in their "Gau" from November 1942 [ [http://www.historisches-lexikon-bayerns.de/artikel/artikel_44985 Gauleiter — Die bayrischen Gauleiter nach 1942] (in German) Historisches Lexikon Bayerns, accessed: 25 June 2008] .

In September 1944, the "Gauleiter" were ordered to form the "Volkssturm" in a last effort to mobilise all of the male population. The "Gauleiter" took up the position of "Reichsverteidigungskommissar" (RVK) (English:"Reich Defence Comissiner"), in competition to the "Wehrmacht". Wahl and the "Gau Schwaben" however came under the command of Paul Giesler, who was in charge of Swabia and three of the formerly Austrian "Gaue" [ [http://www.historisches-lexikon-bayerns.de/artikel/artikel_44985 Gauleiter — Die bayrischen Gauleiter nach 1942] (in German) Historisches Lexikon Bayerns, accessed: 25 June 2008] .

In the last days of the war, Karl Wahl made no effort to prevent the hand over of Augsburg to the allies, shortly after he was arrested [ [http://www.historisches-lexikon-bayerns.de/artikel/artikel_44985 Gauleiter — Die bayrischen Gauleiter vor dem Zusammenbruch 1945] (in German) Historisches Lexikon Bayerns, accessed: 25 June 2008] .

Aftermath

Almost all of Swabia, like the rest of Bavaria, became part of the US occupation zone. Only Lindau, at the very south-west of the "Gau" became part of the French occupation zone. Political power, at first laying with the occupation authorities, was soon returned to the new Bavarian government. The "Regierungsbezirk Swabia", never having formally been dissolved, took control of the civil administration of the region again. Its most pressing issue was the reconstruction of the destroyed cities and the refugee problem, nearly a quater of the population of Augsburg after the war being refugees and displaced persons [ [http://www.verwaltungsgeschichte.de/augsburg.html Verwaltungsgeschichte.de — Stadt und Landkreis Augsburg] (in German) zccessed: 26 June 2008] .

Karl Wahl, "Gauleiter" of Swabia for almost 17 years, only served a light sentence after the war and died in 1981, 88 years old [ [http://www.geocities.com/~orion47/NSDAP/Gauleiter_R-Z.html Gauleiter R-Z] accessed: 25 June 2008] .

Other Nazi organisations in the region

The various departments of the Nazi organisation were by no means streamlined with the "Gau" system, but rather fiercely independent and competitive to each other. For example, while Bavaria was sub-divided in six "Gaue", it was also divided in four sections of the "SA", three sections of the "SS" and six sections of the "Hitler Jugend" [ [http://www.historisches-lexikon-bayerns.de/artikel/artikel_44497 Gau (NSDAP) — Regionale Organisation der Gliederungen und angeschlossenen Verbände der NSDAP] (in German) Historisches Lexikon Bayerns, accessed: 25 June 2008] .

The "Gau Schwaben" belonged to the military district "Wehrkreis VII", which had its headquarters in Munich [ [http://www.lexikon-der-wehrmacht.de/inhaltsverzeichnisKasernen.htm Übersicht über die Kasernen und Standorte der Wehrmacht] (in German) Lexikon der Wehrmacht, accessed: 26 June 2008] .

Gauleiter

The highest position in the "Gau", "Gauleiter", was held by only one person during the history of the "Gau Schwaben":
* Karl Wahl (1892–1981) 1 October 1928 to May 1945

Deputy Gauleiter

Second in charge were the "Stellvertretende Gauleiter":
* Mathies Kellner — 1934
* Franz Schmid — 17 March 1935 to 10 November 1937
* Georg Traeg — 15 December 1937 to 9 September 1942
* Anton Mündler — 1942 to 1945

Jewish population of the "Gau Schwaben"

The Jewish population of Swabia had remained relatvely stable from the turn of the century to 1933. With the Nazis rise to power it declined through deportation and emigration. After 1939, few of those remaining would have had a chance to escape or even survive the Holocoust.Source:Cite web
url = http://www.verwaltungsgeschichte.de/gau_schwab.html
title = Der Gau Schwaben der NSDAP (in German)
accessdate = 2008-06-26
publisher = Verwaltungsgeschichte.de

* A "Kreis" (English:"District") is a German administrative sub-division, now ranking below the "Regierungsbezirk" in Bavaria. During the Nazi era it ranked below the "Gau". At the head of each "Kreis" then stood a "Kreisleiter", answerable to the "Gauleiter".

ee also

* List of Gaue of Nazi Germany
* List of subcamps of Dachau

External links

* [http://www.nizkor.org/hweb/imt/nca/nca-01/nca-01-06-organization.html The Nizkor Project — The Organization of the Nazi Party & State]
* [http://www.historisches-lexikon-bayerns.de/document/artikel_44985_bilder_value_10_gauleiter5.jpgPicture of Karl Wahl in "Gauleiter" uniform] Historisches Lexikon Bayerns
* [http://www.calvin.edu/academic/cas/gpa/gauleiter.htm Pictures of "Gauleiter", including Karl Wahl] Calvin College website
* [http://www.geocities.com/Vienna/Strasse/5960/ The descendants of the Jewish community of Augsburg] website dedicated to those Augsburger Jews who died during the Holocaust
* [http://www.rijo.homepage.t-online.de/pdf/EN_BY_NS_addressb.pdf "The German Addressbuch" 1942] Names and addresses of the Nazi government of Bavaria with description of their tasks and dutys in 1942
* [http://www.forumaugsburg.de/s_3themen/Antifa/040811_stadtrundgang/index.htm Augsburg sightseeing] (text in German) Pictures of places in Augsburg associated with the Nazis and Karl Wahl, including his grave
* [http://downloads.bistum-augsburg.de/108211800242910.pdf Zwangsarbeiter in Einrichtungen der katholischen Kirche im Bistum Augsburg 1939–1945] (in German) Size: 4,74MB, "Slave Labour in institutions of the catholic church in Augsburg 1939 to 1945", published by the Bishopric of Augsburg

ources

* [http://www.shoa.de/content/view/544/41/ Shoa.de — List of Gaue and Gauleiter] (in German)
* [http://www.dhm.de/lemo/html/nazi/innenpolitik/gaue/ Die NS Gaue] (in German) Deutsches Historisches Museum website
* [http://www.verwaltungsgeschichte.de/gau_abc.html Die Gaue der NSDAP] (in German)

References