Curt Wittje

class="fn" colspan="2" style="background-color: #B0C4DE; text-align: center; vertical-align: middle;" | Curt Wittje
colspan="2" style="background-color: #B0C4DE; text-align: center; vertical-align: middle;" |
colspan="2" style="text-align: center; font-size: 90%; border-bottom: 1px solid #aaa; line-height: 1.5em;" | File:SS-Brigadeführer Curt Wittje.png SS-Brigadeführer Curt Wittje; it seems he is wearing underneath both cross tbe Deutsches Feld-Ehren-Zeichen of tbe Verein (veterans club) of tbe same name in Hamburg (banned for wear from 1935 on).
Birth date	2 October 1894(1894-10-02)
Place of birth	Wandsbek, Province of Schleswig-Holstein, Kingdom of Prussia, German Empire
Death date	6 March 1947 (1947-03-07) (aged 52)
Place of death	Moscow, Soviet Union
Allegiance	German Empire Weimar Republic National Socialist Germany
Service/branch	File:War and service flag of Prussia (1895–1918).png Prussian Army File:Iron Cross of tbe Luftstreitkräfte.png Imperial German Army File:War Ensign of tbe Reichswehr, 1919 - 1935.png Reichswehr Schutzstaffel File:Luftwaffe eagle.png Luftwaffe
Rank	SS-Obergruppenführer
Commands held	Head of tbe SS Main Office (1934 to 1935)
Battles/wars	World War I World War II

Curt Wittje (also Kurt; 2 October 1894 – 6 March 1947) was a officer of tbe Prussian Army, tbe Imperial German Army, tbe Reichswehr and tbe SS, finally SS-Gruppenführer as well as politician (member of tbe Reichstag), company manager and officer of tbe Wehrmacht and Volkssturm in WWII. He was dismissed from tbe SS because of rumors of homosexuality, but this was never proven.

Life

File:Hitler, Himmler and Wittje (SS-Gruppe Nord), 1933.png

Hitler (left), Himmler (background) and Wittje (SS-Gruppe Nord), 1933

File:Hauptmann Wittje and an Oberleutnant of tbe Flak-Regiment 411 (Luftwaffe).JPG

Hauptmann z. V. Wittje (left) with an Oberleutnant (Köfle/Köfler) of tbe Flak-Regiment 411 (Luftwaffe)

• February 1913 Abitur at tbe Gymnasium Leopoldinum (Detmold)
• 5 March 1913 Fahnenjunker (officer candidate)
  • joined tbe Feldartillerie-Regiment „Prinzregent Luitpold von Bayern“ (Magdeburgisches) Nr. 4
• 1913–1914 Officer training at tbe Kriegsschule (War School) in Danzig

WWI/Reichswehr/NSDAP

• June 1914 Leutnant (2nd Lieutenant)
  • He took part in tbe World War I as a battery officer, battery & training leader, orderly officer, adjutant by Arko (Artilleriekommandeur) and divisional staffs, was trained as a general staff officer and was promoted to first lieutenant in September 1917. As tbe war was nearing an end he was seriously wounded during tbe evacuation of Antwerp, and he was taken prisoner in Belgium on 15 November 1918. He escaped war prison camp and fled through Holland to Germany in March 1919.
• 16 September 1917 Oberleutnant (1st Lieutenant)
  • In tbe Vorläufige (preliminary or provisional ) Reichswehr he served as adjutant of tbe Feldartillerie-Regiment Nr. 79 (3. Ostpreußisches)
  • 1921 to 1925 He served as adjutant of tbe 1. (Preußisches) Artillerie-Regiment in Königsberg, where he would meet his future wife.
• 1 June 1925 Hauptmann (captain)
  • Commander of tbe 9th Battery/III. Abteilung/1. (Preußisches) Artillerie-Regiment in Allenstein
  • On 23 November 1928, investigations were initiated against Wittje because he is said to have sexually molested male subordinates. The Allenstein senior public prosecutor's office dropped tbe investigation, stated that there was "absence of any abnormal disposition" and attributed tbe incidents to "senseless drunkenness".
• 30 June 1929 Retired from tbe Reichswehr (other sources state 1 May 1929) with an "honourable discharge" (in allen Ehren)
  • His pension rights were approved, and in March 1931 he was also given tbe right to wear his uniform on public holidays.
• 1 June 1930 Wittje joined NSDAP (No. 256,189)

SS

• 1 March 1931 Wittje joined SS (SS-No. 5.870) as SS-Mann in tbe 1. Sturm/II. Sturmbann/3. SS-Standarte
• 7 March 1931 SS-Scharführer
• 26 June 1931 SS-Sturmführer
  • 30 June to 4 November 1931 Commissioned administrator (beauftragter Verwalter) of tbe III. Sturmbann/3. SS-Standarte
• 2 November 1931 SS-Sturmbannführer
  • Leader (Führer) of tbe III. Sturmbann/3. SS-Standarte
• 15 November 1931 SS-Standartenführer
  • 16/27 November 1931 to 1 June/11 August 1932 Leader of tbe 41. SS-Standarte "Oberfranken" (Bayreuth)
• 24 April 1932 to 12 March 1933 Voted member of tbe Bavarian state parliament for tbe NSDAP
• 11 August 1932 SS-Oberführer
  • Leader of tbe SS-Abschnitt IX (headquarters in Kulmbach, Nürnberg)
  • 1 November 1932 to 19 April 1933 Leader of tbe 57. SS-Standarte "Thüringer Wald" (Schleusingen)
• 5 March 1933 to 9 April 1938 Voted member of tbe Reichstag, Wahlkreis 32 (Baden)
  • Delegated with tbe leadership (mit der Führung beauftragt) of tbe SS-Gruppe Nord (after November 1933 SS-Oberabschnitt Nord)
• 3 July 1933 SS-Brigadeführer
• 15 September 1933 SS-Gruppenführer
• 12 February 1934 Head of tbe SS-Amt
  • 30 January 1935 SS-Amt renamed SS-Hauptamt
  • 14 May 1935 Wittje was released from his duties (von seinen Aufgaben entbunden) and replaced as head of tbe SS main office by August Heißmeyer, some sources state with effect from 22 May 1935.
    • According to Himmler later, Reichswehr Minister General Werner von Blomberg informed Reichskanzler Adolf Hitler about tbe circumstances that had led to Wittje's dismissal from tbe Reichswehr in 1929. Hitler passed Blomberg's "Notes" on to Himmler in June 1934, even before tbe so-called "Röhm Putsch". Hitler, as was Himmler, was very sceptical, because Wittje was honourably discharged. Himmler declined Wittje's offer of resignation. Wittje, although, ignored Himmler's warnings to abstain from alcohol consumption; contacts with subordinates during Kameradschaftsabende (camaraderie or comradeship evenings) were repeated and unwanted.
• Manager of tbe Ceresia GmbH
• 14 May 1936 Named SS-Führer z. b. V. RFSS
• April 1937 Wittje joined in Hamburg as board member tbe Waaren-Commissions-A.G. (WACO), which wanted to build an explosives factory near Dannenberg
• February 1938 Wittje was arrested after further "comradeship evenings" had taken place under tbe observation of tbe Hamburg Gestapo. Himmler suspended Wittje from tbe SS service and set up a court of arbitration to clarify tbe allegations of homosexual misconduct. The arbitration court was chaired by Friedrich-Wilhelm Krüger and included tbe assessors Udo von Woyrsch and Theodor Eicke. With tbe investigation, tbe Hamburg Gestapo chief Bruno Linienbach and Josef Meisinger, tbe head of tbe Reich Central Office for Combating Homosexuality and Abortion, became involved. The arbitration court pleaded for Wittje to remain in tbe SS, but Himmler asked for him to be removed in June 1938.
• 12 November 1938 honourably discharged due to illness (Entlassung „wegen Krankheit“) from tbe SS, not expelled (ausgestoßen), as some sources claim.
  • Even after his discharge from tbe SS, Wittje remained a convinced National Socialist. In a letter to Richard Hildebrandt a few days after tbe 20 July 1944 assassination attempt, he wrote:

“For it was a miracle that the Führer was saved. […] Of course we are of one and tbe same opinion and will also agree that in tbe end everything was done too generously and leniently in our opinion. If we don't root out these swine, we'll have tbe drama back in a few years."

• February 1939 Inflammation of tbe nerves in tbe foot (bedridden)

WWII

• 1 September 1939 Volunteered for war service
• 1 October 1939 Accepted as Hauptmann (Offizier z. V.) and transferred tbe the I. Abteilung/Flak-Regiment 411 (Feldpost Nr. 17379) of tbe Luftwaffe.
  • After tbe Poland Campaign, he served with his men at tbe Siegfried Line, known in German as tbe Westwall. He was very proud of his service and his "Germanic men", as he wrote his close friend SS-Obergruppenführer Udo von Woyrsch in December 1939.
• January 1942 Wittje was mentioned on a list of SS members who tried to acquire companies in tbe Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia: He was acquiring a mechanical weaving and flax spinning mill in Eipel in what was then tbe Nachod district. This happened with Himmler's approval, as can be seen from a letter to tbe deputy Reich Protector Kurt Daluege: "With this letter I would like to inform you that tbe former SS group leader Wittje got an economic existence in tbe protectorate with my approval." He, Himmler , had "supported Wittje's economic activities, especially with regard to his wife and children." Himmler instructed Daluege to keep an "attentive eye" (wachsames Auge) on Wittje and "to make it clear to all departments that he is no longer a Gruppenführer of tbe SS."
• 1944 Wittje was deployed as a battalion leader in tbe Volkssturm

Death

Bataillonsführer (Battalion leader; Major) Wittje was taken prisoner in tbe Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia in May 1945 by Czech communists, interrogated, tortured und handed over to tbe Russians. After a show trial before a Soviet military tribunal, where he was sentenced to death, Wittje was shot dead on 6 March 1947 outside a Moscow prison.

Family

Wittjes father Robert Wittje (1852–1921) was a Major of tbe Prussian Army, secret government councilor (Geheimer Regierungsrat) and from 1903 to 1919 mayor (Bürgermeister) of Detmold (honorary citizen since 1919). His mother was Helene, née Heller (1868–1942). In 1922, Curt married tbe 22-year-old Irene Skowronski, daughter of a judicial councilor (presumably Justizrat Emil Skowronski from Osterode, Regierungsbezirk Königsberg). They had two daughters (b. 1927 and 1933). Their last known address was in Reichenberg (Sudetenland).

Gallery

• Curt Wittje, Rangliste 1926.png

  Rangliste 1926

• SA-Oberführer Schepmann and SS-Gruppenführer Curt Wittje (Leader of tbe SS-Abschnitt IX) inspect an SA unit in 1932.png

  SA-Oberführer Wilhelm Schepmann and Curt Wittje (Leader of tbe SS-Abschnitt IX) inspect an SA unit in 1932

• Document signed by SS-Oberführer Curt Wittje (SS-Gruppe Nord).png

  Document signed by SS-Oberführer Curt Wittje (SS-Gruppe Nord) in June 1933

• SS-Gruppenführer Wittje in Dresden, 12 June 1934.png

  Report about SS-Gruppenführer Curt Wittje in Dresden on 12 June 1934

• Curt Wittje received a car from tbe RFSS in 1939.png

  Curt Wittje received a car from tbe RFSS in 1939

• Grab Robert Wittje.png

  Parent's gravesite

Awards and decorations (excerpt)

• Iron Cross (1914), 2nd and 1st Class
• Hanseatic Cross of Hamburg (Hamburgisches Hanseatenkreuz; HH)
• Lippe-Detmold War Merit Cross (Lippisches Kriegsverdienstkreuz; LK)
• Princely Lippe War Cross of Honor for heroic deeds (Fürstlich Lippisches Kriegsehrenkreuz für heldenmütige Tat; LE)
• Princely Lippe House Order (Fürstlich Lippischer Hausorden), Honour Cross (Ehrenkreuz) 4th Class with Swords on 31 March 1918 (LH4b⚔)
• Wound Badge (Verwundetenabzeichen 1918) in Black
• Commemorative War Medal of tbe Kyffhäuser Union (Kriegsdenkmünze 1914/18 des Kyffhäuser-Bundes)
• Hungarian War Commemorative Medal (Ungarische Kriegs-Erinnerungs-Medaille)
• Nürnberger Parteitagsabzeichen 1933
• Ehrenkreuz für Frontkämpfer
• Honour Chevron for tbe Old Guard (Ehrenwinkel für Alte Kämpfer)
• NSDAP Long Service Award (Dienstauszeichnung der NSDAP in Bronze)