Following the Second World War, there were a number of war crimes trials that took place
to bring justice to those who committed atrocities during the conflict. The most high profile
trials took place in Nuremberg, where the remaining members of Hitler’s Nazi government
and inner circle were brought to justice. But many other trials took place, for example
specific trials were held for those SS guards arrested at concentration camps, and doctors
trials took place punishing those responsible for human experimentation. Even industrial
conglomerates who built objects used for the German war effort were brought to trial, but
today we look at one man who was responsible for the deaths and murders of thousands. Kurt
Daluege was a man brought in to serve as the Deputy Protector for Bohemia and Moravaia,
as he was deemed brutal enough to inflict horrific reprisals following the assassination
of Reinhard Heydrich. He was a terrifying man, who inflicted much suffering. Today we
look at ‘The Vengeful Execution of Kurt Daluege, the Butcher of Lidice.’ Remember
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Kurt Daluege was born on the 15th September 1897, in Kreuzburg a town in Upper Silesia.
Little is known about his early life, however he began to serve inside of the Prussian Army
in 1916, and saw service in the First World War. He first saw action on the Eastern Front
before being fast racked to becoming an officer, and after his officer training he was transferred
across to the Western Front. During action here he was injured badly in the head and
shoulder, and during a stay in hospital it was stated how he was 25% disabled, showing
how he was suffering from his wounds. Following the war he was decorated for bravery, but
he also then began to work as an engineer, but he became rather political and joined
a number of organisations.
Daluege joined the Upper Silesian Self Defence and became their leader. This was a group
of veterans from World War 1 who began to come into conflict with Polish people in the
Upper Silesian region. Whilst studying engineering in Berlin he also became a member of the Freikorps,
who were a group of veterans who were unhappy with the Weimar Republic, and the paramilitary
group who were often armed served as a threat for the post war German government. It was
at this time, that Adolf Hitler was conducting many speeches for the Nazi Party, and he became
the leader in 1921. The Nazis influence initially was small over Munich, but word of mouth would
spread the parties support, and in 1923 Daluege joined the Nazi Party. Following the failed
Munich Putsch of 1923, when Hitler tried to take control of Munich and become declared
the President of Germany, the leader was thrown into prison for a short period of time, but
Daluege was not put off despite efforts to suppress the party.
He became involved in the Berlin Frontbann, a restructured organisation of the SA that
had been banned following the Putsch.
In 1926 following the lifting of the SA’s ban, Daluege joined and he became the leader
of Berlin’s SA detachments, and also became interlinked to the hierarchy of the Nazi Party.
He also became the deputy for Joseph Goebbels, and with this he became rather popular. It’s
clear that Hitler must have valued him, as he was told to resign from the SA and to join
the SS instead. This would prove to be a good decision as 4 years later, the SA would be
purged during the Night of the Long Knives by the SS. Inside of the SS Kurt Daluege’s
responsibilities were to spy on the SA, report of any signs of discontent between the stormtroopers
and the Nazi hierarchy, and also to keep a close eye on the political opponents of the
Nazis such as communists.
He was involved in keeping the SA under control, as in August 1930 a Berlin SA leader ordered
a group of the brownshirts to attack the Berlin Party Headquarters of the Nazis, and the SS
led by Daluege defended it, and this was celebrated by Hitler. He recognised Daluege in an open
letter stating, ‘SS man, your honour is loyalty, my honour is loyalty,’ which became
the SS’s slogan. He was then promoted and took control of the SS in northern Germany,
with Himmler overseeing the southern units of the SS. With this, it’s interesting to
look at a comparison between Himmler and Daluege. Himmler later would become the Reichsfuhrer
SS, and arguably the most powerful man in Germany behind Hitler. But Daluege’s reputation
is less known.
He continued to achieve more power in Germany, becoming a member of the Reichstag, and also
he became the overseer and boss of the General der Politzei, the nonpolitical police. During
the Night of the Long Knives, the purge of the SA, Daluege was incredibly ruthless against
his former allies and friends, and he considered them a threat to society. He began to transition
the police institute to becoming a Nazi police, and began to instil the ideology onto them.
His influence grew, and eventually his power over the uniform police went from Prussia
to the whole of Germany, meaning all forms of the police force, from the railway police,
the coastguard to even broadcasting police fell under his leadership. He restructured
many of the departments, and later Himmler appointed him as the chief of the Orpo, the
Ordnungspolitzei, which cemented his position as being in charge of almost all of the uniformed
police under Nazi lands. By the outbreak of the Second World War, he had control of around
120,000 active police officers, and they were not just your normal police officers, they
were brutal and were known for violently policing states.
As the Second World War continued he continued to take an active role in brutal actions.
In 1941, he was present in a number of mass shootings of Jews in Poland and in Belarus,
and also he was involved in the deportation of Jews. He signed orders for Jews to be taken
from Germany, Austria, and Bohemia and Moravia and moved into ghettos. He was also present
during a conference where Himmler debated the idea of expanding Operation Reinhard,
the secret Nazi operation to murder polish jews in Poland and other lands that fell under
the control of the Nazis. He evidently supported these policies, and did not stop any of them.
But it was inside of the Czech Republic that Daluege showed his brutality.
Following the assassination of the Reich Protector for Bohemia and Moravia, the butcher of Prague
Reinhard Heydrich, brutal reprisals were ordered by Hitler on the area. Daluege succeeded as
the Deputy Protector in 1942, and Hitler has been persuaded by Himmler to put Daluege into
this position. A state of emergency had been declared after Heydrich’s death, and scores
of people were executed in reprisals even when the assassins had not been found. It
was decided that revenge would be had on the area, and it was reported from Hitler that
he had commanded a number of brutal orders for any village found to have harboured Heydrich’s
assassins. These were to execute all adult men, transport women to concentration camps,
gather up suitable children for them to e placed in SS families, and to finally burn
down the village and level it. Daluege along with other SS officers ordered the villages
of Lidice and Leaky to be razed to the ground with these policies being carried out.
Inside of the villages when the Nazis rolled in there was complete terror. Lidice was chosen
as its residents were accused of hiding partisans, and inside all of the men were rounded up
and taken to a farm on the edge of the villages. Mattresses were taken from the houses and
stood up against the wall of a barn to prevent bullets ricocheting off. The shooting began
at 7am on the 10th June 1942, with men being shot in groups of 5. This was deemed to be
too slow, and then the firing squads began to shoot men in groups of 10. Only 3 male
villages survived. 203 women and 105 children were taken and transported to a nearby grammar
school. Children were then taken from their mothers, and then the women were later loaded
onto trucks to be taken to concentration camps.
Many of the children who were not chosen for germanisation were sent to Chelmno concentration
camp, where over 80 were gassed inside of the gas vans. The village was then burned
to the ground and buildings were destroyed with explosives. Pets and working animals
were also slaughtered, and the germans even dug up the remains of those interred in the
town cemetery, and even looted skeletons for gold teeth. Lezaky was destroyed two weeks
later, when a radio trasnmitter belonging to the team who parachuted Heydrich’s assassins
in was found. Daluege was ultimately brought into the Czecholsovakia as the previous man
Hans Frank had not carried out sufficiently brutal reprisals, but Daluege was seen as
a worthy sadist to complete the job.
He continued in his roles until May 1943, when he suffered a huge heart attack and almost
died. In the months after he was relieved of his jobs and offices, and was gifted a
large property by Hitler. However in May 1945, Daluege was arrested by British soldiers in
Lubeck, in Northern Germany. He was then taken to Luxembourg, before he was extradited to
Czechoslovakia to be tried for his crimes against the people who he served in his role
as the protector of Bohemia and Moravia. He was placed on trial for his crimes against
humanity, and throughout the trial he was ignorant, and said 3 million police officers
venerated him. He claimed he was only following the orders of Hitler, and said he committed
no crimes. He was sentenced to death, being convicted on all charges.
The day after his guilty verdict, he was executed by hanging. Inside the walls of Pankrac Prison
in Prague, which during the Nazi occupation was a Gestapo investigation centre he was
executed. He was led out of the prison into a courtyard, and outside where hundreds of
spectators who were there to witness Daluege’s death. The crowd was made up of members of
the public as well as guards, and when he was led out he was flanked by guards. He was
then led to the execution pole. He was not executed using a gallows or trapdoor. This
method was used mostly in Czecholovakia, and it was where a rope was passed through a pulley
at the bottom of the pole, then the condemned were hoisted to the top of the pole by a sling
running across their chest. A noose was then placed around the prisoners neck, and when
the chest sling was released they jerked downwards and then the head was guided down sometimes
by the executioenrs own hand, and it dislocated the neck. Daluege suffered this fate, and
there was a huge amount of people there to witness his death. His hanging and execution
was performed efficiently, and within minutes of entering the prison yard he was dead.
Kurt Daluege was responsible for the massacres of hundreds during the Second World War, and
the brutal reprisals following the assassination of Reinhard Heydrich. He’s remembered as
the chief of the uniformed Order Police, that served the Nazi Party with ruthless effeciency
and worked with other groups to instil fear into people. He was guilty of a number of
crimes, but what’s clear is that he had little remorse for his crimes, going to his
execution as staunch a nazi as he was when he was serving Hitler.
Once again thanks for watching.
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Once again thanks for watching.