Josias, Hereditary Prince of Waldeck and Pyrmont

Josias Erbfurst zu Waldeck und Pyrmont
Born	13 May 1896(1896-05-13) Arolsen, German Empire
Died	30 November 1967(1967-11-30) (aged 71) Schloß Schaumburg, near Diez an der Lahn, Germany
Allegiance	German Empire (to 1918) Weimar Republic (to 1933) Nazi Germany
Years of service	1914–1945
Rank	Obergruppenführer und General der Polizei und Waffen-SS
Commands held	HSSPF Fulda-Werra SS-Oberabschnitt Fulda-Werra
Battles/wars	World War I World War II
Awards	Eisernes Kreuz I

Prince Josias
Hereditary Prince of Waldeck and Pyrmont
Head of House of Waldeck and Pyrmont
Reign	26 May 1946 - 30 November 1967 (&1000000000000002100000021 years, &10000000000000188000000188 days)
Predecessor	Prince Friedrich
Successor	Prince Wittekind
Spouse	Duchess Altburg of Oldenburg
Issue
Margarethe, Countess of Erbach-Erbach Alexandra, Princess Botho of Bentheim and Steinfurt Princess Ingrid Wittekind, Prince of Waldeck and Pyrmont Guda, Princess of Wied
House	House of Waldeck and Pyrmont
Father	Friedrich, Prince of Waldeck and Pyrmont
Mother	Princess Bathildis of Schaumburg-Lippe
Born	13 May 1896(1896-05-13) Arolsen, Waldeck and Pyrmont
Died	30 November 1967(1967-11-30) (aged 71) Schaumburg, West Germany

Josias, Hereditary Prince of Waldeck and Pyrmont (In German: Josias Georg Wilhelm Adolf Erbprinz zu Waldeck und Pyrmont; 13 May 1896 – 30 November 1967) was the heir apparent to the throne of the Principality of Waldeck and Pyrmont and a General in the SS. From 1946 until his death he was the head of the Princely House of Waldeck and Pyrmont. After World War II he was sentenced to life in prison at the Buchenwald Camp Trial, later commuted to 20 years, for his part in the "common plan" to violate the Laws and Usages of War in connection with prisoners of war held at Buchenwald concentration camp, but was later released after serving about three years in prison for reasons of ill health.

Early years

Prince Josias aged about 3 years

He was born in Arolsen at the ruling family's castle, the eldest son and heir of Prince Friedrich of Waldeck and Pyrmont and his consort Princess Bathildis of Schaumburg-Lippe. He was the nephew of William II, King of Württemberg, and Emma of Waldeck and Pyrmont, Queen Regent of the Netherlands. He was also a cousin of Wilhelmina, Queen of the Netherlands, and Charles Edward, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. He enlisted in the German Army as a cadet and saw action during the First World War where he suffered serious injuries. At the end of the war his family lost their Principality as Waldeck became a Free State in the new Weimar Republic.

SS and government service

Prinz Waldeck (third from left) at the Deutsches Stadion in Berlin.

After the war Josias studied agriculture and on 1 November 1929 he joined Adolf Hitler's Nazi Party becoming a member of the SS on 2 March 1930. He was immediately appointed adjutant to Sepp Dietrich a leading member of the SS before becoming Heinrich Himmler's Adjutant and staff chief in September 1930.

Josias was elected as the Reichstag member for Düsseldorf-West in 1933 and was promoted to the rank of SS Lieutenant General. He was promoted again in 1939 when he became the Higher SS and Police Leader for Weimar. In this position he had supervisory authority over Buchenwald concentration camp.

Buchenwald first caught the attention of Waldeck in 1941. In glancing over the death list of Buchenwald, Josias had stumbled across the name of Dr. Walter Krämer, a current head hospital orderly at Buchenwald, which he recognized because Krämer had successfully treated him in the past. The Prince investigated the case and found out that Karl Otto Koch, the Camp Commandant, had ordered both Krämer and Karl Peixof, a hospital attendant, killed as "political prisoners" because they had treated him for syphilis and he feared it might be discovered. Waldeck also received reports that a certain prisoner had been shot while attempting to escape. By that time, Koch had been transferred to the Majdanek concentration camp in Poland, but his wife, Ilse, was still living at the Commandant's house in Buchenwald. Waldeck ordered a full scale investigation of the camp by Dr. Georg Konrad Morgen, an SS officer who was a judge in a German court. Throughout the investigation, more of Koch's orders to kill prisoners at the camp were revealed, as well as embezzlement of property stolen from prisoners. It was also discovered that prisoner who was "shot while trying to escape" had been told to get water from a well some distance from the camp, and he was shot from behind, he had also helped treat Koch for syphilis. A charge of incitement to murder was lodged by Prince Waldeck and Dr. Morgen against Koch, to which later added were charged of embezzlement. Other camp officials were charged, including Koch's wife. The trial resulted in Koch being sentenced to death and was executed by firing squad on 5 April 1945. Morgen also did his best to convict Ilse Koch. He was convinced that she was guilty of sadistic crimes, but the charges against her could not be proven. She was imprisoned by German authorities until early 1945.

Adolf Hitler appointed him a member of the Ordnungspolizei in April 1941 and a year later he was appointed High Commissioner of Police in German occupied France. One of his first acts in his new role was to announce that French hostages would be placed on German troop trains so as to discourage sabotage attempts on them. He was made a General in the Waffen-SS in July 1944.

Arrest and later life

Waldeck in 1947 at his trial, held at Dachau.

Waldeck in April 1947.

He was arrested on 13 April 1945 and sentenced to life imprisonment by an American court at Dachau on 14 August 1947. The first of the two charges against him was that while he definitely was never in command of it, the mere fact that the Buchenwald concentration camp was located in his jurisdictional area was considered sufficient evidence to hold him personally responsible for anything that might have happened there. Incidentally, it should be noted that Buchenwald was never identified as a “death camp” by the Dachau court, and that no such charges were laid against the Prince. Ironically, the second of the two charges on which he was found guilty was that he ordered the execution of the Camp Commandant of Buchenwald, Standartenführer Koch, after it was discovered that Koch had disgraced both himself and the SS.

The Buchenwald Camp Trial was also highly controversial. Although commonly referred to as "trials," these proceedings were technically not trials because the normal rules of court trials in America or Great Britain were not followed. Hearsay testimony was allowed and most of the prosecution witnesses were paid. Affidavits from witnesses were allowed, which meant that the defense had no opportunity to cross-examine the witness who had signed the affidavit. Interrogators questioned the accused before the proceedings began and established that they were guilty. The accused were charged with participating in a "common plan" to commit war crimes and they were presumed to be guilty until proven innocent. They were not called "defendants" because the burden of proof was on them, not on the prosecution as is customary in a court trial. Many of the accused claimed that they had been beaten during interrogation.

Military Governor of Germany, General Lucius D. Clay ordered that the sentences of the Buchenwald Trial be re-examined on the basis of extensive records, and on 8 June 1948, Clay confirmed fifteen of the death sentences and commuted seven, most of the imprisonment sentences were also commuted, including Josias's whose sentence was commuted to twenty years. He was taken to Landsberg am Lech though he only served three years of his sentence before being released in December 1950 for health reasons. He was also granted an amnesty by the Minister President of Hesse in July 1953 which resulted in the fine that had been imposed on him being significantly reduced.

Head of the House of Waldeck and Pyrmont

Coat of Arms of the Princely House of Waldeck and Pyrmont.

Josias became head of the House of Waldeck and Pyrmont on the death of his father on 26 May 1946 while under arrest. He died at his estate Schloss Schaumburg in 1967, and was succeeded as head of the house by his only son Prince Wittekind.

Titles and styles

• His Serene Highness The Hereditary Prince of Waldeck and Pyrmont, (1896–1946)
• His Serene Highness The Prince of Waldeck and Pyrmont, (1946–1967)

Family

Obergruppenführer (as Gruppenführer) Josias Erbprinz zu Waldeck und Pyrmont

Prince Josias married Duchess Altburg of Oldenburg (1903–2001) at Rastede on 25 August 1922 a daughter of the former Grand Duke of Oldenburg, Friedrich August II. They had five children.

• Princess Margarethe (b. 22 May 1923; d. 21 August 2003) married (1952) div. (1979) Count Franz August zu Erbach-Erbach (b. 1925)
• Princess Alexandra (b. 25 September 1924; d. 4 September 2009) married (1949) Prince Botho of Bentheim und Steinfurt (1924–2001)
• Princess Ingrid (b. 2 September 1931)
• Prince Wittekind (b. 9 March 1936) married (1988) Countess Cecilie of Goëss-Saurau (b. 1956)
• Princess Guda (b. 22 August 1939) married (1958) div. (1972) Frederick William, Prince of Wied (1931–2001); married second (1968) Horst Dierkes (b. 1939)

Summary of his SS career

Dates of rank

• SS-Sturmbannführer: 6 April 1930
• SS-Standartenführer: 11 May 1930
• SS-Oberführer: 15 September 1931
• SS-Gruppenführer: 15 March 1932
• SS-Obergruppenführer: 30 January 1936
• General der Polizei: 8 April 1941
• General der Waffen-SS: 1 July 1944

Notable decorations

• 1914 Iron Cross Second (?) and First (?) Classes
• War Merit Cross Second (1939) and First (1939) Classes with Swords
• Infantry Assault Badge (?)
• German Cross in Gold (?)
• Long Service Award of the NSDAP in Silver (?)
• SS Long Service Award in 4 (?), 8 (?), and 12 (?) Years
• SS-Honour Ring (?)
• Honour Sword of the Reichsführers-SS (?)
• Honour Dagger of the SS (1936)
• World War I Sword of Erbprinz Josias Waldeck von Pyrmont (?)
• Clasp to the Iron Cross Second (1939) and First (1939) Classes
• WWI Wound Badge in Black (1918)
• Golden Party Badge (1933)
• Cross of Honor (1934)
• Turkish War Medal (so-called "Gallipoli Star") (?)

Sources

• Petropoulos, Jonathan (2006). Royals and the Reich: The Princes Von Hessen in Nazi Germany. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0195161335. 
• Hackett, David A. (1997). The Buchenwald Report. Westview Press. ISBN 0813333636. 
• Stein, Harry (2004). Buchenwald concentration camp 1937-1945. Wallstein Verlag. ISBN 3892446954. 

Josias, Hereditary Prince of Waldeck and Pyrmont House of Waldeck and Pyrmont Cadet branch of the House of Waldeck Born: 13 May 1896 Died: 30 November 1967
Titles in pretence
Preceded by Friedrich	— TITULAR — Prince of Waldeck and Pyrmont 26 May 1946 - 30 November 1967 Reason for succession failure: Monarchy abolished in 1918	Succeeded by Wittekind