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Erhard Heiden

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Erhard Heiden
Reichsführer-SS
In office
1 March 1927 – 6 January 1929
LeaderAdolf Hitler
Preceded byJoseph Berchtold
Succeeded byHeinrich Himmler
Personal details
Born23 February 1901
Weiler-Simmerberg, Germany
Diedc. April 1933
Germany
Political partyNational Socialist German Workers' Party (NSDAP)

Erhard Heiden (23 February 1901 – c. April 1933) was an early member of the Nazi Party and the third commander of the Schutzstaffel ("Protection Squadron; SS).

Little is known about Heiden's early life. He was an early member of the Nazi Party and its paramilitary wing, the Sturmabteilung ("Storm Detachment; SA"). He was appointed head of the SS, an elite subsection of the SA, in 1927. At that time the SS numbered less then a thousand men and found it difficult to cope under the much larger SA. Heiden was dismissed from his post in 1929 mainly due to allegations of Jewish associations. He was arrested after the Nazis came to power in 1933 and is believed to have been executed in April, but not buried until September that same year. Little is known about his overall life.

Birth

Erhard Heiden was born on 23 February 1901 in Weiler-Simmerberg, a mostly Catholic city in Bavaria.[1] Almost nothing is known about his early life.[2]

Career in the SA

Following Germany's defeat in World War I, hyperinflation, mass unemployment, poverty, crime and civil unrest plagued the country.[3] In the midst of this in 1919, a small right-wing political party known as the German Workers' Party (DAP) was created and seated in Munich. In 1920, it changed its name to the National Socialist German Workers' Party (Nazi Party; NSDAP).[3][4] It rejected the terms of the Treaty of Versailles and advocated antisemitism and anti-Bolshevism.[5]

Hitler and other top SA-leaders at a party rally, 1928

In 1920, Adolf Hitler, leader of the party, instructed Ernst Röhm, an war veteran and early associate, to organize an assault section to protect Nazi officials at rallies and disrupt those of their opponents.[6] This was the Sturmabteilung ("Storm Detachment"; SA). Röhm took advantage of the high rate of unemployed young males and quickly expanded the organization into a paramilitary force.[6] Heiden became an early member of the Nazi Party and the SA.[7] In 1923, Heiden joined a small bodyguard unit for Adolf Hitler named Stoßtrupp-Hitler ("Shock Troop-Hitler").[7]

That same year, Hitler felt strong enough to try to seize power in Munich. Inspired by Benito Mussolini's "March on Rome" the previous year, the Nazis aimed to first establish power in Munich and then challenge the government in Berlin. On 9 November 1923 the Stoßtrupp, along with the SA and several other paramilitary units, took part in the abortive coup d'état, resulting in the death of sixteen Nazi supporters and four police officers, an event known as the Beer Hall Putsch. After the putsch, Hitler and other Nazi leaders were incarcerated at Landsberg Prison for high treason.[8] The Nazi Party and all associated formations, including the Stoßtrupp, were officially disbanded.[6]

Career in the SS

After Hitler's release from prison in December 1924, the Nazi Party was officially refounded. In 1925, Hitler ordered the formation of a new bodyguard unit, the Schutzkommando ("Protection Command; SS").[9] It was formed by Julius Schreck and included old Stoßtrupp members such as Emil Maurice and Heiden.[10][11] That same year, the Schutzkommando was expanded and renamed the Sturmstaffel ("Storm Squadron"), and finally the Schutzstaffel ("Protection Squadron"; SS).[12] Heiden joined the SS in 1925 and was an early advocate of separating the unit from the SA, its parent organization.[13]

File:HimmlerOberfhr.jpg
Heiden was executed in 1933 on the orders of Himmler (pictured), his former subordinate

On 1 March 1927, Joseph Berchtold transferred leadership of the SS to Heiden, who was his acting deputy. Berchtold had became disillusioned by the SA's authority over the SS.[14][15] As head of the SS, Heiden found it difficult to function under the larger and more powerful SA. Under Heiden's leadership a stricter code of discipline was enforced than would have been tolerated in the SA ranks. His intention was to create a small elite unit and obtain higher quality recruits.[15]

The membership of the SS declined from 1000 to 280 as the SS continued to struggle under the SA.[16][a] As Heiden attempted to keep the small group from dissolving, Heinrich Himmler became his deputy in September 1927. Himmler had a great enthusiasm and vision for the SS and displayed good organisational abilities which Heiden used.[17] Himmler became the driving force within the SS and in time eclipsed Heiden.[18]

Heiden fell into disgrace after allegations of Jewish associations surfaced.[13] On 6 January 1929 he was dismissed by Hitler and succeeded by his deputy.[19][20][b] Under Himmler, the SS expanded and gained a larger foothold.[6] His ultimate aim was to turn the SS into the most powerful organization in Germany.[21]

Death

When Hitler and his party came to power in 1933, the SA numbered almost three million men and the SS about 52,000.[22] As the Nazis had now achieved constitutional power, they began to swiftly eliminate all opposition.[6] A death list was composed which included many former Nazis who fell out of favor with Hitler.[6]

In April 1933 Heiden was arrested and executed on orders of Himmler by members of the Sicherheitsdienst ("Security Service"; SD), an intelligence and counterespionage department of the SS. His corpse was found in September 1933 and he was buried on 15 September 1933.[13]

See also

Footnotes

  1. ^ Upon its creation and early years of existence, the SS often clashed with the local SA leadership.Infamous Assassinations 2015.
  2. ^ At that time Reichsführer-SS was only a titled position, not an actual SS rank.McNab 2009, pp. 18, 29.

References

  1. ^ Kiekenap 2008, p. 233.
  2. ^ Kiekenap 2008, pp. 233–234.
  3. ^ a b Evans 2003, pp. 103–108.
  4. ^ Kershaw 2008, pp. 82, 87.
  5. ^ Goldhagen 1996, p. 85.
  6. ^ a b c d e f Infamous Assassinations 2015.
  7. ^ a b McNab 2009, pp. 11, 16.
  8. ^ Hamilton 1984, pp. 160, 172.
  9. ^ Lumsden 2002, p. 14.
  10. ^ Weale 2010, pp. 16, 26.
  11. ^ McNab 2009, pp. 10, 11.
  12. ^ Weale 2010, p. 29.
  13. ^ a b c McNab 2009, p. 11.
  14. ^ Cook & Russell 2000, pp. 21–22.
  15. ^ a b Weale 2010, p. 32.
  16. ^ Weale 2010, pp. 32, 33.
  17. ^ Weale 2010, pp. 45, 46.
  18. ^ Weale 2010, p. 46.
  19. ^ McNab 2009, p. 18.
  20. ^ Weale 2010, p. 47.
  21. ^ Weale 2010, pp. 300–305.
  22. ^ Ailsby 1998, p. 9.

Sources

Printed

  • Ailsby, Christopher (1998). Hell on the Eastern Front: the Waffen-SS War in Russia, 1941-1945. Spellmount. ISBN 978-1862270312. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
  • Cook, Stephen; Russell, Stuart (2000). Heinrich Himmler's Camelot: the Wewelsburg Ideological Center of the SS, 1934-1945. Kressmann-Backmeyer. ISBN 978-0967044309. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
  • Evans, Richard (2003). The Coming of the Third Reich. Penguin. ISBN 978-0-14-303469-8. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
  • Goldhagen, Daniel (1996). Hitler's Willing Executioners: Ordinary Germans and the Holocaust. Knopf. ISBN 978-0-679-44695-8. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
  • Hamilton, Charles (1984). Leaders & Personalities of the Third Reich. R. James Bender Publishing. ISBN 0-912138-27-0. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
  • Kershaw, Ian (2008). Hitler: A Biography. New York: W. W. Norton & Company. ISBN 978-0-393-06757-6. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
  • Kiekenap, Bernhard (2008). SS-Junkerschule: SA and SS in Braunschweig. Appelhans. ISBN 978-3937664941. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
  • Lumsden, Robin (2002). A Collector's Guide To: The Allgemeine SS. Ian Allan Publishing, Inc. ISBN 0-7110-2905-9. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
  • McNab, Chris (2009). The SS: 1923–1945. Amber Books Ltd. ISBN 978-1-906626-49-5. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
  • Weale, Adrian (2010). The SS: A New History. London: Little, Brown. ISBN 978-1408703045. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)

Online

Government offices
Preceded by Reich Leader of the SS
1927 – 1929 		Succeeded by

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