- Erich Klausener
Erich Klausener (
January 25 ,1885 –June 30 ,1934 ) was a German Catholic politician who was murdered in theNight of the Long Knives as the Nazis purged their opponents.Born in
Düsseldorf to a strict Catholic family, Klausener followed his father's career in public service, serving for a time in the Prussian Ministry of Trade. Klausener served as an ordnance officer in Belgium, France, and the Eastern front inWorld War I ; he was decorated with theIron Cross Second Class in 1914 and with the Iron Cross First Class in 1917. Klausener's participation inboycotts during the Frenchoccupation of the Ruhr in 1923 and 1924 earned him a sentence of two months' imprisonment.Beginning in 1924, Klausener served in the
Prussia n welfare ministry, and later led the police division of that state'sinterior ministry . Beginning in 1928, Klausener became head of the "Katholische Aktion" (Catholic Action) group. Prior to 1933, Klausener energetically supported the police battle against unlawful National Socialist activities. AfterAdolf Hitler and the National Socialists rose to power in 1933,Hermann Göring became minister-president of Prussia. Klausener was shunted aside to the transportation ministry to make way for Göring to Nazify the Prussian police.A close associate of vice chancellor
Franz von Papen , Klausener contributed to theMarburg speech delivered onJune 17 ,1934 . The speech, though moderate in tone, criticized the violence and repression that had taken place since Hitler became chancellor. Klausener spoke at the Catholic Congress inBerlin 's Hoppegarten onJune 24 ; his impassioned and improvised criticism of the National Socialists' repression of their opponents was viewed by the Nazis as open defiance.Six days later as the Röhm Purge went into action, a squad of
Schutzstaffel (SS) men, apparently acting on the orders of Göring andReinhard Heydrich , entered Klausener's office at the transportation ministry and shot him dead at his desk.After the end of Nazi rule after
World War II , a memorial to Klausener was erected in Berlin.External links
* [http://www.gdw-berlin.de/bio/ausgabe_mit-e.php?id=42 Brief biography of Erich Klausener] – from the German Resistance Memorial Center
* [http://www.bautz.de/bbkl/k/Klausener_e.shtml More detailed biography of Erich Klausener] (in German)ee also
*
Herbert von Bose
*Edgar Julius Jung
*Franz von Papen
*Night of the Long Knives
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