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Adolf Butenandt
Adolf Friedrich Johann Butenandt (24 March 1903 – 18 January 1995) was a German biochemist and member of the Nazi party. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1939 for his "work on sex hormones." He initially rejected the award in accordance with government policy, but accepted it in 1949 after World War II.
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Adolf Eichmann
Otto Adolf Eichmann (March 19, 1906 – May 31, 1962), sometimes referred to as "the architect of the Holocaust", was a German Nazi and SS-Obersturmbannführer (equivalent to Lieutenant Colonel). Because of his organizational talents and ideological reliability, he was charged by Obergruppenführer (General) Reinhard Heydrich with the task of facilitating and managing the logistics of mass deportation of Jews to ghettos and extermination camps in German-occupied Eastern Europe.
http://wn.com/Adolf_Eichmann -
Adolf Heusinger
Adolf Heusinger (August 4, 1897 – November 30, 1982) was a German General. He briefly served as Chief of the General Staff of the Army during World War II and served as the first Inspector General of the Bundeswehr, the West German armed forces, from 1957 to 1961. Heusinger served as Chairman of the NATO Military Committee from 1961 to 1964.
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Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party (, abbreviated NSDAP), commonly known as the Nazi Party. He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and served as head of state as Führer und Reichskanzler from 1934 to 1945.
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Albert Speer
Albert Speer, born Berthold Konrad Hermann Albert Speer, (; March 19, 1905 – September 1, 1981) was a German architect who was, for a part of World War II, Minister of Armaments and War Production for the Third Reich. Speer was Adolf Hitler's chief architect before assuming ministerial office. As "the Nazi who said sorry", he accepted responsibility at the Nuremberg trials and in his memoirs for crimes of the Nazi regime. His level of involvement in the persecution of the Jews and his level of knowledge of the Holocaust remain matters of dispute.
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Erich Koch
Erich Koch (June 19, 1896 – November 12, 1986) was a Gauleiter of the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in East Prussia from 1928 until 1945. Between 1941 and 1945 he was the Chief of Civil Administration (Chef der Zivilverwaltung) of the Bialystok district. During this period, he was also the Reichskommissar in Reichskommissariat Ukraine from 1941 until 1943. After the war, Koch stood trial in Poland and was convicted in 1959 of war crimes and sentenced to death. The sentence was commuted to life imprisonment a year later.
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Ernst Kaltenbrunner
Ernst Kaltenbrunner (4 October 1903 – 16 October 1946) was a senior Austrian official during World War II, holding the offices of Chief of the RSHA, and President of Interpol from 1943 to 1945. He was the highest-ranking SS leader to face trial at the first Nuremberg Trials, having the full rank of Obergruppenführer und General der Polizei und Waffen-SS. He was found guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity and executed.
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Ferdinand Porsche
Prof. Dr. Ing. h.c. Ferdinand Porsche (3 September 1875 – 30 January 1951) was an Austro-Hungarian automotive engineer. He is best known for creating the first hybrid vehicle (gasoline-electric), the Volkswagen Beetle, the Mercedes-Benz SS/SSK, as well as the first of many Porsche automobiles, and for his contributions to advanced German tank designs: Tiger I, Tiger II, and the Elefant.
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Friedrich Jeckeln
Friedrich Jeckeln (2 February 1895 - 3 February 1946) was an SS-Obergruppenführer who served as an SS and Police Leader in the occupied Soviet Union during World War II. Jeckeln led one of the largest collection of Einsatzgruppen and was personally responsible for ordering the deaths of over 100,000 Jews, Slavs, Roma, and other "undesirables" of the Third Reich.
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Günther Burstyn
Gunther Burstyn (6 July 1879 in Bad Aussee, Steiermark - 15 April 1945 in Korneuburg, Lower Austria) was a technician and officer of the Austro-Hungarian Army.
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Hasso von Manteuffel
Hasso-Eccard Freiherr von Manteuffel (14 January 1897 – 24 September 1978) was a German soldier and liberal politician of the 20th century.
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Hermann Göring
Hermann Wilhelm Göring (or Goering; ; 12 January 1893– 15 October 1946) was a German politician, military leader, and a leading member of the Nazi Party. He was a veteran of the First World War as an ace fighter pilot, and a recipient of the coveted Pour le Mérite ("The Blue Max"). He was the last commander of Jagdgeschwader 1, the air squadron of Manfred von Richthofen, "The Red Baron".
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Josef Spacil
Josef Spacil, (born 3 January 1907 in Munich; died 13 February 1967) was a Nazi SS Standartenführer, a Befehlshaber der Sicherheitspolizei und des SD Niederlande (Commander of the Security Police and Security Service Netherlands), an SS-Wirtschafter beim Höheren SS- und Polizeiführer Russland-Süd (SS economist at the Higher SS and Police Leader office for southern Russia) and the Chef der Amtsgruppe II (Chief of Section II) in RSHA. In 1945 he was involved with the disposal of Nazi gold in the Bavarian Alps.
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Julius Dorpmuller
http://wn.com/Julius_Dorpmuller -
Karl Hanke
Karl August Hanke (24 August 1903 - 8 June 1945) was an official of the National Socialist German Workers Party (Nazi Party or NSDAP). He served as governor (Gauleiter) of Lower Silesia from 1941 to 1945 and as the final Reichsführer-SS for a few days in 1945.
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Karl-Otto Saur
http://wn.com/Karl-Otto_Saur -
Kurt Daluege
Kurt Daluege (September 15, 1897 – October 24, 1946) was a German Nazi SS-Oberstgruppenführer and Generaloberst der Polizei as chief of the Ordnungspolizei (Order/uniformed Police) and ruled the Protectorate Bohemia and Moravia as Deputy Protector after Reinhard Heydrich's assassination.
http://wn.com/Kurt_Daluege -
Kurt Schmidt
Kurt Schmidt (April 9, 1891—March 3, 1945) was a German Lieutenant General during the Second World War who also fought during the First World War.
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Walter Schellenberg
Walter (correctly Walther) Friedrich Schellenberg (16 January 1910 – 31 March 1952) was a German SS-Brigadeführer who rose through the ranks of the SS to become the head of foreign intelligence following the abolition of the Abwehr in 1944.
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Walter Schreiber
Dr Walter Paul Emil Schreiber (21 March 1893 – 1952?) was a German military officer and brigadier-general (Generalarzt) of the Medical Service of the Wehrmacht.
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Wernher von Braun
Wernher Magnus Maximilian Freiherr von Braun (March 23, 1912 – June 16, 1977) was a German-American rocket scientist, engineer, space architect, and one of the leading figures in the development of rocket technology in Germany and the United States during and after World War II. A one-time member of the Nazi party and a commissioned SS officer, von Braun would later be regarded as the preeminent rocket engineer of the 20th century in his role with the United States civilian space agency NASA.
http://wn.com/Wernher_von_Braun -
William Joyce
William Joyce (April 24, 1906 – January 3, 1946), nicknamed Lord Haw-Haw, was a fascist politician and Nazi propaganda broadcaster to the United Kingdom during the Second World War. He was hanged for treason by the British as a result of his wartime activities.
http://wn.com/William_Joyce
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Nazi Germany, or the Third Reich, is the common name for the country of Germany while governed by Adolf Hitler and his National Socialist German Workers' Party (NSDAP) from 1933 to 1945. Third Reich () denotes the Nazi state as a historical successor to the medieval Holy Roman Empire (962–1806) and to the modern German Empire (1871–1918). Nazi Germany had two official names, the Deutsches Reich (German Reich), from 1933 to 1943, when it became Großdeutsches Reich (Greater German Reich).
http://wn.com/Nazi_Germany
- Adolf Eichmann
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- Ferdinand Porsche
- Franz Hahne
- Friedrich Jeckeln
- Günther Burstyn
- Hasso von Manteuffel
- Heinrich Müller
- Hermann Göring
- Iron Cross
- Josef Spacil
- Julius Dorpmuller
- Karl Hanke
- Karl-Otto Saur
- Kurt Daluege
- Kurt Schmidt
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- Nazi Germany
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- Walter Brugmann
- Walter Rohlandt
- Walter Schellenberg
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- War Merit Medal
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- Adolf Butenandt
- Adolf Eichmann
- Adolf Heusinger
- Adolf Hitler
- Albert Speer
- Albin Sawatzki
- Bundeswehr
- Egon von Neindorff
- Erich Koch
- Ernst Kaltenbrunner
- Ferdinand Porsche
- Franz Hahne
- Friedrich Jeckeln
- Günther Burstyn
- Hasso von Manteuffel
- Heinrich Müller
- Hermann Göring
- Iron Cross
- Josef Spacil
- Julius Dorpmuller
- Karl Hanke
- Karl-Otto Saur
- Kurt Daluege
- Kurt Schmidt
- Lord Haw-Haw
- Nazi Germany
- Reichsmarschall
- Second World War
- Walter Brugmann
- Walter Rohlandt
- Walter Schellenberg
- Walter Schreiber
- War Merit Medal
- Wernher von Braun
- William Joyce
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Grounds for award
This award was created by Adolf Hitler in 1939 as a successor to the non-combatant Iron Cross which was used in earlier wars (same medal but with a different ribbon). The award was graded the same as the Iron Cross: War Merit Cross Second Class, War Merit Cross First Class, and Knights Cross of the War Merit Cross. The award had two variants: with swords given to soldiers for exceptional service in battle above and beyond the call of duty (but not worthy of an Iron Cross which was more a bravery award), and without swords for meritorious service behind the lines which could also be awarded to civilians. Recipients had to have the lower grade of the award before getting the next level. There was also another version below the 2nd class simply called the War Merit Medal (), set up in 1940 for civilians in order to offset the large number of 2nd class without swords being awarded. It was usually given to those workers in factories who significantly exceeded work quotas.One notable winner of the War Merit Cross was William Joyce (aka Lord Haw-Haw) who received both the second and first class, both without swords. Recipients of the Knights Cross of the War Merit Cross customarily received the medal from holders of the Knights Cross of the Iron Cross, to symbolize the link between the combat soldier and their supporters, who helped maintain the war effort.
There was one extra grade of the War Merit Cross, which was created at the suggestion of Albert Speer: The Knights Cross of the War Merit Cross in Gold, but this was never officially placed on the list of national awards as it came about in 1945 and there was no time to officially promulgate the award before the war ended. The Knights Cross of the War Merit Cross in Gold (without swords) was awarded 'on paper' to two recipients on 20 April 1945: Franz Hahne and Karl-Otto Saur.
The ribbon of the War Merit Cross was in red-white-black-white-red; that was, the red and black colors being reversed from the ribbon of the World War II version of the Iron Cross. The ribbon for the War Merit Medal was similar, but with a narrow red vertical red strip in the center of the black field. Soldiers who earned the War Merit Cross 2nd Class with Swords wore a small crossed-swords device on the ribbon. The War Merit Cross 1st Class was a pin-backed medal worn on the pocket of the tunic (like the Iron Cross 1st Class). The ribbon of the War Merit Cross 2nd Class could be worn like the ribbon of the Iron Cross 2nd Class (through the third buttonhole).
Combat soldiers tended to hold the War Merit Cross in low regard, referring to its wearers as being in 'Iron Cross Training', and prior to 28 September 1941, the War Merit Cross could not be worn with a corresponding grade of the Iron Cross, which took precedence.
A total of 118 awards of the Knights Cross of the War Merit Cross with swords, and 137 awards of the Knights Cross of the War Merit Cross without swords were awarded. Considering the relative rarity of the award compared with the grades of the Knights Cross of the Iron Cross, it took on extra meaning. For example, Reichsmarschall Hermann Göring made a concerted effort to get Hitler to award him this order, much to Hitler's annoyance. In response, Hitler outlined a series of criteria governing the awarding of this decoration and the philosophy of such awards, and directed that "prominent party comrades" were not to be awarded with the Knights Cross of the War Merit Cross (or similar decorations), and withdrew the proposed awards of this order to Gauleiter Erich Koch and State Secretary Karl Hanke. Directing his comments at Göring personally, Hitler ordered that such attempts to gain this award be stopped (from a letter dated 27 August 1943 from Führerhauptquartier). Also, the scarcity of the award of the Knights Cross of the War Merit Cross compared with the Knights Cross of the Iron Cross gave it an "air of exclusiveness" it did not really deserve, as it ranked below the Knights Cross of the Iron Cross.
Six persons received two Knights Cross' of the War Merit Cross (one with Swords and one without Swords): Walter Brugmann, Julius Dorpmuller, Karl-Otto Saur, Albin Sawatzki, Walter Schreiber, and Walter Rohlandt.
Wear of Nazi era decorations was banned in Germany after the war, as was any display of the swastika. Veterans awarded the War Merit Cross were therefore unable to wear it, either in uniform or - publicly - on civilian dress. In 1957 the Federal Republic of Germany authorised alternative 'de-nazified' replacement versions of World War II period war decorations. These could be worn both on Bundeswehr uniform and in civilian dress. The new version of the War Merit Cross replaced the swastika on the obverse central disc of the cross with the date "1939" (as on the reverse disc of the original version), the reverse disc being blank. The wearing of Nazi era decorations in any form continued to be banned in the German Democratic Republic until German reunification in 1990.
Notable recipients of the War Merit Cross
Notes
References
Category:Orders, decorations, and medals of Nazi Germany Category:Military awards and decorations of Germany (Wehrmacht)
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