Inside of Adolf Hitler’s inner circle, there were always people who were plotting to stab
others in the back, and men like Heinrich Himmler, Martin Bormann and Hermann Goring
were always fighting for Hitler’s eye and favour. During the Second World War, the Nazis
sought to conquer and capture many different countries, and relied upon brainwashing to
create soldiers who were completely devoted to the Nazi cause. Inside of the Third Reich,
education was heavily nazified to ensure that children were raised with the ideals that
they wanted, and one man who was in control of the NSLB, the National Socialist Teacher’s
League was Fritz Wachtler. He was the most senior teacher inside of Hitler’s Germany,
and was involved in setting up much of the educational policies. But eventually he was
turned upon by one of Hitler’s closest and because of this he was executed on the order’s
of Hitler’s headquarters towards the end of the war, weeks before the conflict came
to an end. Join us today as we look at the execution of Fritz Wachtler, to support our
channel please make sure to subscribe.
Fritz Wachtler was born in 1891, and his father was a watchmaker. He attended the volksschuler,
and then attended a specialist training academy for students who wanted to become primary
school teachers. Wachtler then worked for two years as a teacher before he volunteered
for military service, and when the First World War broke out he was sent to the Western Front
to fight. He then was promoted to the rank of leftenant before he was made the commander
of a company of machine gunners, but the in Spring 1916 he was wounded in action twice.
This ended his service for a short time on the front line, but he was then sent back
in January 1918 before he was discharged from the army at the end of World War 1. But then
Fritz Wachtler returned to teaching, but in April 1926 he joined the Nazi Party and he
founded the local branch of the nazis in Vippachedelhausen, and he then became the group leader there.
Following this he then joined the SA, and continued to work in local government being
the only nazi on certain councils. But then he rose throughout circles, and he was then
the business manager and training officer for the gau of Thuringia. He then became the
deputy Gauleiter and regional leader for Fritz Sauckel. However Hitler saw his talents as
a former educator, and with this he appointed Fritz Wachtler as the Education Minister and
he then became part of the local cabinet.
However when Hitler seized power, Wachtler remained as the education minister, and he
was also made deputy to the new minister president. He kept these posts for a number of years,
before he was then elected to the Reichstag. But he continued to mix with nazi circles,
becoming a member of the SS and he was also assigned to the staff of Heinrich Himmler
for many years. But then on the 5th March 1935, the Gauleiter Hans Schemm died, and
its this Wachtler was appointed to the position of Gauleiter or regional leader. He however
encountered a rivalry with Ludwig Ruckdeschel, and this rivalry would continue for many years.
The capital of Wachtler’s area was Bayreuth, and Hitler regularly visited and this was
considered a high profile job that Wachtler was given. He then also became the Head of
the Nationalist Socialist Teacher’s Leader and the Head of the Main Office for Education,
and with this he was someone who controlled the education of millions of children inside
of Nazi Germany. He would help dictate policies and ensure that teachers were teaching the
nazi ideas and beliefs. But inside of his region he was not considered the most popular
official, and he was known for being brutal and cutting with his language and actions
towards those beneath him. But he also had a tendency to make shocking outbursts in public,
fuelled by alcoholism. It was said of his reputation that, ‘In place of the elegant,
affable Schemm, a brilliant orator, there appeared the ungainly figure of the oratorically
untalented and philistine Wächtler, whose dogged adherence to the Party line soon earned
him the epithet ‘megalomaniac schoolteacher’. He rigorously put the increasingly draconian
new laws into effect, above all those aimed at Jews and the churches, and as an outsider
he made enemies in the area …’ Many complained about Fritz Wachtler’s conduct, even to
Hitler and those close friends of Hitlers even moaned. But he remained pretty much untouched
for a number of years.
Wachtler was involved in the planning of SS activities and also organised Kristallnacht
riots in his region, and the following day the Nazi government ordered a ban of property
destroyed during this, as they believed that the riots would cause more militant action
that they could not control. Fritz Wachtler passed a law that ensured that all public
school teachers would not teach religious subjects, but then Rudolf Hess ordered a u
turn on this as it was very unpopular. Inside Wachtler’s area, Flossenburg concentration
camp was established along with a number of other camps. Fritz Wachtler would also buy
Hitler’s former house and would live in it, and during the Second World War he was
appointed the Reich Defence Commissioner for his region and he would later as the war turned
against the Germans command the volksturm, the group of civilians who picked up arms
to defend the Reich as the Allies and the Soviets approached. But Wachtler then came
to terms with the fact that the war was lost, and he then could not stop the Allies attacking
his region, and he did not allow a historic opera house to be used to defend the city.
But he was failing in his jobs, as he did not report daily to the Fuhrer Headquarters
as to the state of the situation. This then led Martin Bormann, Hitler’s personal secretary
to grow rather suspicious, and Bormann had ordered the National Socialist Teacher’s
League to be closed, and all of Wachtler’s offices were also closed. He knew that his
influence was coming crashing down, but Hitler still remained rather loyal.
In 1945, Hitler said that the city of Bayreuth would be a fortress, and the city was hit
by a number of air raids, with one third of the city being levelled. In April 1945, Martin
Bormann said that all the Gauleiters were to fight to the death and to lay their lives
down for their districts. On the 11th April Wachtler’s city got hit by. Avery heavy
air raid and a lot of the city was left in ruins and on fire, and there were only 200
people left to defend. With this Fritz Wachtler then decided to flee the city, along with
his staff as the Americans approached. He left the city in a convoy which had several
lorries filled with alcohol, food and cigarettes and then he set up offices at a hotel in Waldmunchen,
around 100 miles from where he should have been. On the 14th April, Bayreuth was surrendered
to the Americans without a fight, but the longtime rival of Wachtler, Ludwig Ruckdeschel
then spoke to Martin Bormann, and he informed Hitler’s secretary that Wachtler had deserted
and that he should be executed for his actions. But on the 19th April, Fritz Wachtler was
sacked of all his positions in the Nazi party and he was even expelled from the Party and
was accused of desertion and cowardice which was considered a huge disgrace. But then Hitler’s
Headquarters and specifically Bormann had dispatched Ruckdeschel along with 35 members
of the SS to the Hotel where Wachtler was staying and he was then arrested.
But then quickly the death sentence was read to Wachtler, and the SS soldiers who had been
sent would act as the execution squad. He was taken outside of the Hotel and he was
then ordered to stand to attention, but then quickly the SS firing squad shot and with
this a prominent Nazi was killed for deserting from his position. His enemy Ruckdeschel would
later then take his job. But Fritz Wachtler was a very senior man inside of Hitler’s
government and he is often forgotten about. He was considered the most senior teacher
int he whole of Nazi Germany and he took steps to nazifiy education to an extent that millions
of children would be brainwashed. But he was executed incredibly quickly after he deserted
from his city which he was meant to be protecting. He was not willing to lay his life down for
the nazi cause, and this was considered shocking and a betrayal in the eyes of Hitler.
Thanks for watching
To support please subscribe
Once again thanks for watching