Kaufmann, Karl |
| POLITICIAN, GAULEITER (GERMANY) |
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BORN 10 Oct 1900, Krefeld, Nordrhein-Westfalen - DIED 4 Dec 1969, Hamburg GRAVE LOCATION Hamburg: Friedhof Ohlsdorf, Fühlsbüttler Strasse 756 (R24, 30 m east of Waldstrasse) |
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Karl Kaufmann was an opponent of the French occupation of the Ruhr area. He joined the NSDAP in 1922 and participated in the Hitlerputsch in 1923. In 1928 he entered the parliament of Prussia and in the same year he married Else Speth. In 1929 he became Gauleiter of Hamburg and in 1930 he entered the Reichstag, of which he was a member until 1945. After Hamburg was bombed severely in 1943 he no longer believed in Hitler unconditionally. When he visited Hitler on 3 April 1945 in Berlin he concluded that Hitler was a madman. Against Hitler's orders he surrendered Hamburg to the allied forces. Under the British occupation he was imprisoned for several years. In 1946 he was a witness at the trials in Nuremburg. After he was wounded during a transport he was released in 1949. He was arrested again in 1950, but after his denazification in 1951 his assets were returned to him. He lived in Hamburg until his death in 1969. |
| Images |
 The grave of Karl Kaufmann at the Ohlsdorfer Friedhof in Hamburg. Picture by Androom (20 Aug 2011) |
