Between Nazism and Opportunism
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Between Nazism and Opportunism Swiss Volunteers in the Waffen-SS Master Thesis Holocaust and Genocide Studies University of Amsterdam June 2014 Name: Sarah Weber 10418636 Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Johannes Houwink ten Cate Second Reader: Dr. Karel C. Berkhoff 2 Contents Abbreviations ...................................................................................................................................................................... 5 List of Figures ...................................................................................................................................................................... 7 1. Introduction ................................................................................................................................................................ 9 1.1. Swiss Volunteers in the Waffen-SS ..................................................................................................... 9 1.1.1. Current State of Research .................................................................................................................. 9 1.1.2. Research Questions ........................................................................................................................... 15 1.1.3. Source Discussion .............................................................................................................................. 16 1.1.4. Approach and Structure .................................................................................................................. 18 1.2. History of the Waffen-SS ...................................................................................................................... 20 1.2.1. Establishment of the Waffen-SS ................................................................................................... 20 1.2.2. Admission and Administration of Swiss Volunteers ........................................................... 24 1.3. “Swiss Renewal Movement” and Frontismus .............................................................................. 28 1.3.1. Nationale Front, 1933-1940 .......................................................................................................... 30 1.3.2. Volksbund und SGAD (Schweizerische Gesellschaft der Freunde einer autoritären Demokratie, 1933-1944 ..................................................................................................................................... 31 2. Who were they? Background and Profile of the Swiss Volunteers ................................................... 34 2.1. On Work Hunt ........................................................................................................................................... 36 2.2. National Socialists ................................................................................................................................... 41 2.3. Double Citizens ........................................................................................................................................ 48 3. Career Prospects .................................................................................................................................................... 52 3.1. The Bureaucrat Dr. Franz Riedweg ................................................................................................. 54 3.2. The Idealist Dr. Heinrich Büeler ....................................................................................................... 58 3.3. The Military Man Heinrich Johann Hersche ................................................................................. 62 3.4. The Nazi Johann Eugen Corrodi ........................................................................................................ 67 3.5. The Instructor Alfred Nikles ............................................................................................................... 69 3.6. The War Correspondent Benno Schaeppi ..................................................................................... 71 3 4. Motivation and Ideological Commitment .................................................................................................... 75 4.1. National Socialism and Anti-Semitism ........................................................................................... 77 4.2. Anti-Bolshevism ...................................................................................................................................... 83 4.3. Dream of a Greater Germanic Reich ................................................................................................ 86 4.4. Opportunism ............................................................................................................................................. 90 5. Postwar Punishment of the Swiss Volunteers ........................................................................................... 95 5.1. Main Legal Bases for the Verdicts .................................................................................................... 97 5.2. Military Court Sentences ................................................................................................................... 102 5.3. Treason Trial: Riedweg and Seventeen Co-Defendants ....................................................... 109 5.4. The Swiss War Crime Trial: Stating an Example on Wipf Eugen...................................... 114 Conclusion ....................................................................................................................................................................... 120 Primary Sources ........................................................................................................................................................... 130 Bibliography ................................................................................................................................................................... 143 Internet Sources ........................................................................................................................................................... 146 Appendix I ....................................................................................................................................................................... 149 Appendix II...................................................................................................................................................................... 150 Appendix III .................................................................................................................................................................... 152 Acknowledgments ....................................................................................................................................................... 153 4 Abbreviations AfZ Archiv für Zeitgeschichte/ETH Zürich BAR Bundesarchiv Bern BArch Bundesarchiv Berlin BNSE Bund Nationalsozialistischer Eidgenossen BRB Bundesratsbeschluss BTE Bund Treuer Eidgenossen nationalsozialistischer Weltanschaung BSG Bund der Schweizer in Grossdeutschland DSchV Datenschutzverordnung EF Eidgenössische Front ES Eidgenössische Sammlung ESAP Eidgenössische Soziale Arbeiter Partei Grekos Grenzpolizei Kommissariate GL Germanische Leitstelle MStGB Militärstrafgesetzbuch NBS Nationale Bewegung der Schweiz NF Nationale Front NJ Nationale Jugend NS National Sozialismus NSDAP Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiter Partei RS-HA Reichs-Sicherheits-Hauptamt RuSHA Rasse- und Siedlungshauptamt SBA Schweizerische Bundesanwaltschaft SGAD Schweizerische Gesellschaft der Freunde einer Autoritären Demokratie StGB Schweizerisches Strafgesetzbuch SS Schutzstaffel SS-HA SS-Hauptamt VB Volksbund 5 6 List of Figures Image Cover Page Photo of Swiss volunteers taken in Sennheim 1942 (BAR E4320 B 1993/214 2576, C.29/A116/42.1192) Image 1 Portrait of Franz Riedweg 54 (Swiss.info Online: http://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/culture/A_Swiss_in_the_service_of_the_SS.html?cid=2941 9904 [19.11.2013]) Image 2 Portrait of Heinrich Johann Hersche 62 (BAR E2200.156-02 1000/241 131) Image 3 Hersche as Cavalry Major in Bern 63 (BAR E4320 B 1970/25 670, C.02-1562.) Image 4 Portrait of Johann Eugen Corrodi 67 (The Axis Powers Online: http://forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic.php?f=38&t=28101&start=0 [19.11.2013]) Image 5 Portrait of Alfred Nikles 69 (BAR E4320 B 1970/25 314, C.02-511) Image 6 Portrait of Benno Schaeppi 71 (BAR E4320B 1970/25 419, C.02-713) Image 7 Wipf Eugen leaving the Court in 1948 114 (BAR E2001 E 1000/1571 1571, B.53.31.11) 7 8 1. Introduction “An meine Eltern. Sollte ich aus Russland nicht zurück kehren, meine Lieben, so nehmt dies als letzten Gruss. Sorgt euch nicht, mein Tod sei umsonst gewesen oder verfrüht. Was sind wir als Blätter am Baum – was tut es, wenn eins welkt oder fällt? Wenn nur der Baum wächst. Wenn das Blatt ihm nur Wurzeln schlagen und blühen half. Denkt nicht, ich hätte das Schicksal herausgefordert, ich hätte kühn oder aussergewöhnlich gehandelt. Ich tat nur, was alle tun. Dass es nicht falsch war, nicht sinnlos, ist mein heiligster Glaube.“1 These words were expressed in a letter by a young Swiss volunteer to his parents written from the Eastern Front. This young man had taken the decision to participate in the war on the side of Germany and he must have felt sure that his sacrifice served a greater interest. However, Germany lost the war and what was idealized before was punished thereafter. So,