70 years ago on this date, May 19, 1945, the
Chief of the Aktion T4 Program, Philipp Bouhler, committed suicide. I will post
information about this Reichsleiter nicknamed, Hitler’s Mailman, from Wikipedia
and other links.
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Philipp Bouhler as
a SS-Obergruppenführer in 1936
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Deputy
manager of the NSDAP
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In
office
September 1922 – November 1925 |
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NSDAP-Business
Manager (Geschaftsführer)
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In
office
1925 – November 1934 |
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Reichsleiter
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In
office
June 1933 – 8 May 1945 |
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Chief
of NSDAP Censorship in the Reichsleitung
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In
office
October 1936 – 8 May 1945 |
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Chief
of the Chancellery of the Führer of the NSDAP
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In
office
17 November 1934 – 8 May 1945 |
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Chief
of the Aktion T4 program
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In
office
1939–1941 |
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Personal
details
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Born
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11 September 1899
Munich, Bavaria, Germany |
Died
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19 May 1945 (aged 45)
Altaussee, Austria |
Nationality
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German
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Political party
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National Socialist German Workers' Party (NSDAP)
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Spouse(s)
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Helene "Heli" Majer
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Military
service
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Rank
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Obergruppenführer
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Philipp Bouhler
(11 September 1899 – 19 May 1945) was a senior Nazi Party official who was both
a Reichsleiter (English: National Leader) and Chief of the Chancellery
of the Führer of the NSDAP. He was also an SS-Obergruppenführer in the Allgemeine
SS who was responsible for the Nazi Aktion T4 euthanasia program
that killed more than 70,000 handicapped adults and children in Nazi Germany.
Bouhler
was captured and arrested on 10 May 1945 by American troops. He committed
suicide on 19 May 1945 while in the U.S. internment camp at Zell am See in
Austria.
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Philipp Bouhler, Head
of the T4 programme
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Early
life
Bouhler
was born in Munich, to a retired colonel, and spent
five years in the Royal Bavarian Cadet Corps. He took part in the First World War and was badly wounded. From
1919 to 1920, he studied philosophy for four semesters and in 1921 became a
contributor in the publishing house that put out the newspaper Völkischer
Beobachter.
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Bouhler meeting
Hitler, Munich 1938
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Nazi
functionary
He
joined the NSDAP in July 1922 with membership number 12. By autumn 1922 he had
become deputy manager of the NSDAP. After the failed Beer hall Putsch in Munich and the subsequent
refounding of the party in 1925, he became Reich Secretary of the NSDAP. After
the seizure of power
in 1933, he became a Reich Leader and
Member of the Reichstag
for Westphalia. He joined the SS on 20 April
1933 with membership number: 54,932.
In
1934, Bouhler became police chairman of Munich, and only a month later, he was
appointed chief of Adolf
Hitler's Chancellery, a post specially created on 17 November 1934
that was first and foremost set aside for party business. He held that position
until 23 April 1945. In this job, for instance, secret decrees might be
prepared, or internal business managed, before being brought before Adolf Hitler. Moreover, Bouhler was
chairman of the "Official Party Inspection Commission for the Protection
of National Socialist Literature" (Der Chef der Kanzlei des Führers und
Vorsitzender der Parteiamtlichen Prüfungskommission zum Schutze des NS-Schrifttums),
which determined what writings were and were not suitable for Nazi society.
Bouhler's
office was responsible for all correspondences for Hitler which included
private and internal communications as well as responding to public inquiries
(for example, requests for material help, godfathership, jobs, clemency, NSDAP
business and birthday wishes). By 1944, much of the functions of the Kanzlei
des Führers were absorbed by the Party Chancellery (Parteikanzlei)
under Martin Bormann.
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Rudolf Heß, Heinrich
Himmler, Bouhler, Fritz Todt and
Reinhard Heydrich (from left), listening to Konrad Meyer at a Generalplan
Ost exhibition, 20 March 1941
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War
crimes
Bouhler
was also responsible for activities involving the killing of disabled German
citizens. Together with Karl Brandt, he
developed the Nazis' early euthanasia program, AktionT4 in which mentally ill and physically handicapped people were
murdered. The actual implementation was supervised by Bouhler. Various methods
of killing were tried out. The first killing facility was Schloss Hartheim in
Upper Austria. The knowledge gained from the euthanasia program was later
applied to the industrialized annihilation of other groups of people, such as
Jewish people.
In
1942, Bouhler published the book, "Napoleon – Kometenbahn eines
Genies" (Napoleon – A Genius's Cometary Path), which became a favorite
of Hitler's. He had also published a National Socialist publication Kampf um
Deutschland (Fight for Germany) in 1938.
Death
Bouhler
and his wife, Helene, were arrested by American troops at Schloss Fischhorn in
Bruck near Zell-am-See on 10 May 1945. Thereafter, both committed suicide. His
wife jumped from a window at Schloss Fischhorn. On 19 May 1945, Bouhler used a
cyanide capsule while in the US internment camp at Zell-am-See. The couple had
no children.
Awards
and Nazi Party decorations
- Iron Cross 2nd Class (Eisernes Kreuz 2. Klasse) 1914
- Wound Badge (World War I) in Black
- Military Merit, 4th class (Bavaria)
- Blood Order
- Golden Party Badge
- War Merit Cross (Kriegsverdienstkreuz) 2nd and 1st Class
- NSDAP Long Service Award in bronze, silver and gold
- SS Honour Ring
- Sword of honour of the Reichsführer-SS
- Honour Chevron for the Old Guard
OTHER
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