Deutschvölkischer Schutz und Trutzbund

The Deutschvölkischer Schutz und Trutzbund (English: German Nationalist Protection and Defiance Federation^[1]) was the largest, most active, and most influential anti-Semitic federation in Germany after the first World War,^[2] and one of the largest and most important organization of the German völkisch movement during the Weimar Republic, whose democratic-parliamentary system it unilaterally rejected. Its publishing arm put out some of the books that greatly influenced the opinions of those who later organized the Nazi Party, such as Heinrich Himmler,^[3] and after it folded many of its members eventually joined the Nazis.^[4] The bund's symbols were a blue cornflower and a swastika, and its motto was "Wir sind die Herren der Welt!" ("We are the masters of the world!").^[3][5]

Origin

The Deutschvölkischer Schutz und Trutzbund was originally called the Deutschen Schutz und Trutzbund when it was founded in February 1919 in Bamberg for the purpose of "fighting" Judaism, during a meeting of the Alldeutscher Verband ("All-German League"). The director of Deutschen Schutz und Trutzbund was Alfred Roth, and its secret chairman was Konstantin von Gebsattel, appointed on October 1, 1919, by Ernst von Hertzberg Lottin. Their Advisory Board included, among others, Ernst Anton Franz von Bodelschwingh, August Gebhard, Paul Lucius, Ferdinand Werner, Julius Friedrich Lehmann, and Georg von Stössel. Their meeting place was originally in Duisburg, at Alfred Roth's house, but was later moved to Hamburg where it joined the amalgamation of several such other organizations. It merged with the Reichshammerbund, and then, about one month later, merged with the Deutschvölkischen Bund, the organization that succeeded the Deutschvölkische Party. ^[6]

Manifesto

The manifesto of the Deutschvölkischer Schutz und Trutzbund was Wenn ich der Kaiser wär, written by Heinrich Claß, in which he expressed racist, nationalist views. His slogan was: "Germany for the Germans." ^[7] Julius Friedrich Lehmann, a Munich publisher, helped promote their ideas, and in October 1918, Claß called for a coup d'etat. The organization agitated against the Weimar Republic; by 1923 it had just under 800,000 members.

Constitution

An excerpt from the constitution of the Deutschvölkischer Schutz und Trutzbund':

The Bund fights for the moral rebirth of the German people . . . It considers the pernicious and destructive influence of Jewry to be the main cause of the defeat and the removal of this influence to be necessary for the political and economic recovery of Germany, and for the salvation of German culture. ^{[8] :15}

Notable members

• Reinhard Heydrich, co-architect of the holocaust^[8]:207
• Julius Streicher ^[8]:207
• Dietrich Eckart^[8]:207
• Franz Walter Stahlecker

See Also

• Freikorps

References

Notes

1. ^ Kershaw, Ian. Hitler: 1889-1936: Hubris (1998)
2. ^ Beurteilung des Reichskommissars für Überwachung der öffentlichen Ordnung in einem Schreiben an den Staatsgerichtshof zum Schutze der Republik, 20 November 1922, quoted from Lohalm 1970, pg. 11.
3. ^ ^{a b} Padfield, Peter. Himmler: Reichsführer SS. New York: Henry Holt, 1990. p. 107
4. ^ Kershaw, Ian. Hitler: 1889-1936: Hubris. New York: Norton (1998)
5. ^ Ulrich Sieg highlights another motto: Deutschland den Deutschen ("Germany for the Germans"). See Sieg, Ulrich (2007) (in German). Deutschlands Prophet: Paul de Lagarde und die Ursprünge des modernen Antisemitismus [Germany's Pprophet: Paul de Lagarde and the origins of modern anti-semitism]. Hanser. p. 327. ISBN 9783446208421. http://books.google.com/books?id=Ww9oAAAAMAAJ. Retrieved 2011-10-26. "Im Oktober 1918 forderte Lehmann eninen Staatsstreich, wenig spaeter unterstuetzte er den rechstradikalen Deutsch-Voelkischen Schutz- and Trutzbund. Dessen Losung lautete 'Deutschland den Deutschen" [...]. [Translation: In October 1918 Lehman advocated a coup d'etat, a little later he supported the right-wing radical Deutsch-Voelkischen Schutz- and Trutzbund, which used the motto 'Germany for the Germans'..."" 
6. ^ Werner Jochmann: Nationalsozialismus und Revolution : Ursprung und Geschichte der NSDAP in Hamburg 1922 - 1933. Dokumente. Europäische Verlagsanstalt, Hamburg 1963, pg. 25.
7. ^ Ulrich Sieg, Deutschlands Prophet. Paul de Lagarde und die Ursprünge des modernen Antisemitismus, München 2007, pg. 327.
8. ^ ^{a b c d} Waite, p 206, quoting Alfred Roth, Aus der Kampfzeit

Bibliography

• Roth, Alfred. Aus der Kampfzeit des Deutschvölkischen Schutz-und-Trutzbundes. Hamburg, 1939
• Waite, Robert G L. Vanguard of Nazism. 1969, W W Norton and Company

External links

• Article from the Historical Dictionary of Bavaria website