He took part in the development of the concentration camp system in Nazi Germany and was one of the organizers of the Night of the Long Knives. SS Obergruppenführer. 1st Commander 3rd tank division SS Totenkopf.
Theodor Eicke was born on October 17, 1892 and died on February 26, 1943. He took part in the development of the concentration camp system in Nazi Germany and was one of the organizers of the Night of the Long Knives. SS Obergruppenführer. 1st commander of the 3rd SS Panzer Division "Totenkopf".
Theodor Eicke was born on October 17, 1892 in Hudingen, Alsace. His father was the head of the railway station. Theodore is one of 11 children in the family. After Eike was expelled from school in 1909, he joined the army. In 1913, from the 23rd Rhineland-Palatinate Infantry Regiment, he was transferred to the 3rd Bavarian, and then in 1914 to the 22nd Bavarian Infantry Regiment. In the same year he married Bertha Schwebel, and in 1916 the couple had a daughter, Irma.
During the First World War, Theodore in the lower ranks participated in the battles in Flanders, meeting the end of the war with the rank of non-commissioned officer on Western front, as part of the reserve machine gun company of the 2nd Army Corps. Having dropped out of the technical school in Ilmenau due to money problems, Eicke celebrated the birth of his second child in 1920, his son Herman, who was killed in action on December 2, 1941.
For agitation against the Weimar Republic, Theodor was fired from his job as a police informer, after which history repeated itself twice. In 1928 he joined the NSDAP and the SA, representing the SS since August. Eike liked the SS system, and he quickly began to climb the career ladder - Heinrich Himmler appointed him Untersturmführer and commander of the 147th SS platoon, located in Ludwigshafen.
As a result of a conflict with the Gauleiter of Rhineland-Palatinate, Josef Bürkel, a group of SS men led by Eicke infiltrated the NSDAP headquarters in Ludwigshafen, and Theodor kept Josef in a closet for three hours. For this, Eike went straight to the psychiatric hospital.
and lost all titles. However, thanks to Himmler's order, Theodore's position in the SS was restored - and he became the commandant of the Dachau concentration camp.
Under Eicke's leadership, the camp quickly developed into one of the most disciplined places for guards and one of the worst places for prisoners. For many offenses from now on it was provided the death penalty, which was not the case under SS-Sturmbannführer Hilmar Weckerle. The concentration camp began to generate income, thanks to the forge and shoe workshop that appeared in it. Theodor tried so hard that Dachau became a prototype for other camps.
Fanaticism in promoting the ideology of Nazism helped Eike to receive the rank of SS Brigadeführer, and then - SS Inspector of Concentration Camps. After personally participating in the assassination of Ernst Röhm, Theodor was inducted into the position of SS Gruppenführer. In 1937 he became a member of the Reichstag and held the position of deputy until his death. Having reorganized the concentration camps, the enterprising Theodore created the SS division "Dead Head", the essence of which was to serve in the camps. Eicke served under Adolf Eichmann, Rudolf Höss and Karl Otto Koch.
However, this time the fanaticism of the Nazis led to the fact that the Totenkopf division did not take part in the Polish campaign, although in 1940 it became part of the French campaign. Eicke's soldiers were dying like flies, and one general nicknamed Theodore "the butcher" for not caring at all about losses in his division. Apparently, this was not so important, because later Eicke received the bar for the Iron Cross of the II degree, the Iron Cross of the I degree, and on Hitler's birthday, April 20, 1942, he was awarded Knight's Cross with oak leaves.
In January 1943, the Totenkopf division ended up in the east to participate in the battles for Khar
EIKE, THEODOR
(Eicke), (1892-1943), creator and head of the concentration camp system in pre-war Germany, as well as the creator and commander of the CC "Dead Head" division. Born October 17, 1892 in Hudingen, Alsace. He was the eleventh child in the family of the railway worker Heinrich Eicke. In 1909, when he was 17 years old, Eicke joined the army. During the 1st World War he took part in the battles near Ypres and in Flanders, he finished the war with the Iron Cross I and II degree. After demobilization, he briefly studied at a technical school in Ilmenau. Worked as a paid police informant. In January 1923, Eicke became a security officer for the IG Farbenindustry corporation in Ludwigshafen. In 1928 he joined the NSDAP and the SA. In November 1930, Himmler awarded him the rank of Untersturmführer and appointed him an SS platoon commander. His service zeal did not go unnoticed, and Eike began to quickly move up the career ladder. November 15, 1931 he was appointed commander of the 10th SS regiment. Pursued by the police for illegal possession of explosives, Eicke was forced to flee to Italy. Returning to Germany after Hitler came to power, on March 21, 1933, Eicke, with a group of armed SS men, raided the headquarters of his old enemy Gauleiter Rhineland-Palatinate Josef Bürkel and kept him locked up in a closet for several hours. For this, Eicke was declared mentally ill and placed, with Himmler's approval, in a psychiatric hospital in Würzburg "as representing a public danger." A year later, after repeated written appeals to Himmler, Eike was released from the clinic and sent to a new place of work - the commandant of Dachau, the first German concentration camp for political prisoners. Eicke replaced half of the undisciplined and decomposed camp staff, introduced the strictest discipline and order, which later became a model for the entire system of concentration camps in Nazi Germany. Senseless cruelty gave way to systematic, well-organized cruelty, based on the principle of unconditional and absolute obedience to the orders of senior SS officers. Eicke put prisoners in a punishment cell and subjected various types corporal punishment. He sought to harden the officers and rank and file of the guard to such an extent that everyone who still retained the slightest signs of decency turned into an insensitive beast. Eike showed particular cruelty towards Jewish prisoners. He often spoke to subordinates with anti-Semitic lectures and ordered the newspaper "Der Sturmer" - an SS organ with explicit racist content - to be hung in a conspicuous place in the barracks. Eike's "successes" at Dachau made such a strong impression on Himmler that on January 30, 1934 he awarded him the title of SS Brigadeführer ( major general). Eicke played a major role in preparing the Night of the Long Knives, he helped draw up lists of SA stormtroopers to be destroyed, and personally shot Ernst Röhm. For participation in this "bloody purge" on July 5, 1934, Eicke was appointed chief inspector of concentration camps and commander of SS security units. Six days later he was awarded the rank of Lieutenant General of the Wehrmacht. After moving his headquarters from Berlin to the Sachsenhausen concentration camp, Eicke set to work with enthusiasm, the goal of which was to create a unified centralized system concentration camps. In 1937, he closed several small camps, concentrating all activities in four large ones: Dachau, Buchenwald, Sachsenhausen and Lichtenburg. After the Anschluss of Austria, Eike opened a fifth camp there - Mauthausen.
After that, Eicke began to form new divisions of the SS troops: by 1939, the formation of several regiments of the future SS motorized division "Totenkopf" was basically completed. Soldiers from the "Totenkopf" divisions guarded the prisoners for one week of the month, and spent three weeks in drill and physical training, weapon study, and political education. Eike mercilessly drilled his subordinates. Those of them who did not stand the test or did not show proper obedience were expelled from the ranks of the SS or transferred to the general parts of the SS - "Allgemeine SS". From the first days of the 2nd World War, several regiments subordinate to Eicke (about 7 thousand people) followed the Wehrmacht to Poland. Its soldiers did not take part in hostilities (with the exception of isolated skirmishes), but instead, in cooperation with the SD security service led by Reinhard Heydrich, they formed the infamous Einsatzgruppen engaged in punitive actions against the civilian population. By May 10, 1940, by the time the invasion of Holland, Belgium and France began, Eicke had completely completed the formation of the "Dead Head" division, whose personnel exceeded 15 thousand people. Although the level of training of officers, who, as a rule, did not have combat experience, was low, and the division commander himself - Eike - was just a punishment for his subordinates, all this was more than compensated for by fanatical courage and excellent physical training soldier. Despite huge losses, the "Dead Head" won one victory after another. Two days after the start of the invasion of the USSR, the "Dead Head" division was transferred to the Eastern Front and became part of Field Marshal Wilhelm von Leeb's Army Group North, where it managed to break the fierce resistance of Soviet troops in Lithuania. On July 6, 1941, the car in which Eicke was returning to the command post was blown up by a mine. Eike received a serious leg injury, however, without completing the treatment, on September 21 he returned to his duties as division commander. For the courage shown during the battles south of Lake Ilmen and in the Demyansk region, Eike was awarded the Knight's Cross and he was awarded the title of SS Obergruppenführer. German command"plugged" the most dangerous sectors of the front with the "Dead Head" division, as a result of which the losses of personnel were enormous. By April 6, 1942, despite the constant replenishment, less than 10 thousand people remained in the ranks, of which a third were in a state of extreme physical and nervous exhaustion. In the winter of 1942-43, the completely reorganized Eicke division was transferred to France, but after Stalingrad again ended up on Eastern Front, where she participated in the battles for Kharkov. On February 26, 1943, the light reconnaissance aircraft in which Eicke flew to find out the location of his regiments was shot down and burned down. Eike's remains were buried in a cemetery in Zhytomyr, however, during the retreat of the German troops, they could not be taken away for reburial. In a panegyric to the deceased, Hitler announced that one of the divisions of the Totenkopf Division had been given the name of the regiment Theodor Eicke.
Encyclopedia of the Third Reich. 2012
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Theodor Eicke was born on October 17, 1892 and died on February 26, 1943. He took part in the development of the concentration camp system in Nazi Germany and was one of the organizers of the Night of the Long Knives. SS Obergruppenführer. 1st commander of the 3rd SS Panzer Division "Totenkopf".
Theodor Eicke was born on October 17, 1892 in Hudingen, Alsace. His father was the head of the railway station. Theodore is one of 11 children in the family. After Eike was expelled from school in 1909, he joined the army. In 1913, from the 23rd Rhineland-Palatinate Infantry Regiment, he was transferred to the 3rd Bavarian, and then in 1914 to the 22nd Bavarian Infantry Regiment. In the same year he married Bertha Schwebel, and in 1916 the couple had a daughter, Irma.
During the First World War, Theodore fought in lower ranks in Flanders, meeting the end of the war as a non-commissioned officer on the Western Front, as part of a reserve machine gun company of the 2nd Army Corps. Having dropped out of the technical school in Ilmenau due to money problems, Eicke celebrated the birth of his second child in 1920, his son Herman, who was killed in action on December 2, 1941.
For agitation against the Weimar Republic, Theodor was fired from his job as a police informer, after which history repeated itself twice. In 1928 he joined the NSDAP and the SA, representing the SS since August. Eike liked the SS system, and he quickly began to climb the career ladder - Heinrich Himmler appointed him Untersturmführer and commander of the 147th SS platoon, located in Ludwigshafen.
As a result of a conflict with the Gauleiter of Rhineland-Palatinate, Josef Bürkel, a group of SS men led by Eicke infiltrated the NSDAP headquarters in Ludwigshafen, and Theodor kept Josef in a closet for three hours. For this, Eike ended up in a psychiatric hospital and lost all his titles. However, thanks to Himmler's order, Theodore's position in the SS was restored - and he became the commandant of the Dachau concentration camp.
Under Eicke's leadership, the camp quickly developed into one of the most disciplined places for guards and one of the worst places for prisoners. For many offenses, the death penalty was now provided for, which was not the case under SS Sturmbannführer Hilmar Weckerle. The concentration camp began to generate income, thanks to the forge and shoe workshop that appeared in it. Theodor tried so hard that Dachau became a prototype for other camps.
Fanaticism in promoting the ideology of Nazism helped Eike to receive the rank of SS Brigadeführer, and then - SS Inspector of Concentration Camps. After personally participating in the assassination of Ernst Röhm, Theodor was inducted into the position of SS Gruppenführer. In 1937 he became a member of the Reichstag and held the position of deputy until his death. Having reorganized the concentration camps, the enterprising Theodore created the SS division "Dead Head", the essence of which was to serve in the camps. Eicke served under Adolf Eichmann, Rudolf Höss and Karl Otto Koch.
However, this time the fanaticism of the Nazis led to the fact that the Totenkopf division did not take part in the Polish campaign, although in 1940 it became part of the French campaign. Eicke's soldiers were dying like flies, and one general nicknamed Theodore "the butcher" for not caring at all about losses in his division. Apparently, this was not so important, because later Eicke received a bar to the Iron Cross of the II degree, the Iron Cross of the I degree, and on Hitler's birthday, April 20, 1942, he was awarded the Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves.
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Theodor Eicke(German: Theodor Eicke, October 17, 1892 - February 26, 1943) - SS Obergruppenführer, first commander of the 3rd SS Panzer Division "Totenkopf" ("Totenkopf"), one of the creators of the concentration camp system in Nazi Germany. Eicke was one of the organizers of the Night of the Long Knives and was personally involved in the assassination of Ernst Röhm.
Biography
Youth and World War I
Eicke was born in the village of Hüdingen in Lorraine as the eleventh child of the head of the railway station, Heinrich Eicke. In 1909 he was expelled from real school and immediately enlisted in the army. Eike served in the 23rd Rhineland-Palatinate infantry regiment(stationed in Landau, in 1913 he was transferred to the 3rd Bavarian Infantry Regiment, and in 1914 to the 22nd Bavarian Infantry Regiment).
During the First World War, in the lower ranks, he took part in the fighting in Flanders, including in the battles of Ypres. In 1916 he was transferred to the 2nd Bavarian Artillery Regiment of the 2nd Bavarian infantry division, which suffered very heavy losses in the Battle of Verdun. From 1916 until the end of the war, Eicke served in the reserve machine gun company of the 2nd Army Corps on the Western Front. Eike ended the war with the rank of unterzalmeister (non-commissioned officer), receiving the Iron Cross Second Class and two more orders of lower degrees.
1920s
Eicke was demobilized in 1919. He considered the November Revolution a betrayal of Germany and did not want to serve in the new army. Back in 1914, having received leave, he married Berta Schwebel from Ilmenau; in 1916 their daughter Irma was born. After demobilization, Eike tried to finish the technical school in Ilmenau, but in September 1919 he was forced to leave it due to financial problems. In 1920, his son German was born (killed in action on December 2, 1941). From December 1919, Eike began to work as a police informer, but was quickly (in July of the following year) dismissed for agitation against the Weimar Republic. Then he twice got a job with the police in different areas, but he was fired again for the same reason. In 1923, he joined the IG Farben division in Ludwigshafen as head of security.
On December 1, 1928, Eicke joined the NSDAP (party card No. 114 901) and the SA, on August 20, 1930 he transferred to the SS (ID No. 2 921). Eicke began to rise rapidly through the ranks of the SS, and in November of that year, Heinrich Himmler awarded him the rank of Untersturmführer and appointed him commander of the 147th SS platoon in Ludwigshafen.
Career in the SS
In November 1931, Eicke was promoted to the rank of SS Standartenführer and placed in command of the 10th SS Standard (Regiment) stationed in Rhineland-Palatinate. In 1932, he was fired from IG Farben because his political activities did not leave time for his official duties, and in March of that year he was arrested on charges of preparing terrorist attacks using explosives and sentenced to two years in prison. However, the Minister of Justice of Bavaria, Franz Gürtner (who in 1924 allowed Hitler, sentenced to five years in prison for the Beer putsch, to be released after only nine months) released him on parole to go home for health reasons. Eike almost immediately fled to Italy.
In Italy, Himmler appointed Eicke commandant of the SA and SS refugee camps. In January 1933, Hitler became chancellor, and in February Eicke returned to Germany. He immediately had a conflict with the Gauleiter of Rhineland-Palatinate Josef Bürkel, who, in the absence of Eicke, tried to fight him for power in the region. The conflict ended with Eike, along with a group of SS men, breaking into the Ludwigshafen headquarters of the NSDAP and locking Bürkel in a closet for three hours. Immediately after this, Eicke himself was placed in a psychiatric clinic in Würzburg and stripped of his SS titles. He was in the clinic until June of that year, until he was released and reinstated by order of Himmler. Almost immediately, Himmler appointed him commandant of the experimental concentration camp Dachau, created in March.
Theodor Eicke is one of the most famous Nazi criminals during the Third Reich. He played a significant role in the formation of a dictatorial regime in Germany and other countries.
He was personally acquainted with many prominent figures of the National Socialist Party, took part in the coup, as a result of which Hitler was able to take power into his own hands. Eicke was also guilty of many crimes against humanity by running various concentration camps.
Theodor Eicke: biography. Youth
Theodore was born in the territory modern France, in Lorraine. His father was a wealthy landowner and ran railway station. In 1892, his eleventh child, Theodor Eicke, was born. The date of birth is disputed by German historians, but the generally accepted one is the seventeenth of October. Theodore studied at the school. However, he was extremely unsuitable for studying and communicating with peers. Due to constant absenteeism and strange behavior, he is excluded from educational institution. Immediately after this, Theodor Eicke goes to the army. In two years, he changed several divisions. He met the beginning of the World War in the Bavarian Infantry Regiment.
First war
Immediately after the outbreak of hostilities, Eike fights on various fronts. He received his baptism of fire in Flanders. In the spring of 1915, fierce battles broke out near the city of Ypres. used for the first time At night, special troops brought artillery to the front line. The next morning the British positions were bombarded with chlorine. However, the wind blew towards the German fortifications, and many soldiers were poisoned by their own chemical weapons. After Ypres, Theodor Eicke goes to Verdun. It is there that the most difficult battles of that war flare up. In total, about a million people on both sides died in the fields near Verdun. Having received several wounds, Eike is transferred to the reserve corps, where he meets the end of the war.
Post-war life
After the war, Theodor Eicke changed several professions. The new German society is critical of the terrible senseless war. Theodore was unable to adapt to peacetime and is imbued with hatred for the whole society. He vehemently hates the one formed as a result of the revolution, but at the same time works as a secret informant. In 1928, the National Socialist Party gained popularity. Extreme militarism, revanchism and misanthropy are to Eike's liking, and he joins the Nazis. Three years later, he holds the position of commander of an SS platoon - special paramilitary formations that were subordinate to Himmler.
After a while, Theodore is arrested, but a judge loyal to the Nazis releases him. Eike flees to Italy.
There he becomes close to other refugees from Germany. In the thirty-third year, Hitler seizes power. Theoder Eicke returns to the country. He was a personal favorite of Himmler, who appoints him to a high position. In the spring, the first
Nazi career
Eike becomes commandant of Dachau. Immediately after taking office, he makes a number of changes. He keeps all the camp guards. At the same time, he creates terrifying orders in Dachau. For many misdemeanors, prisoners are executed without trial or investigation. The most severe exploitation makes it possible to transform concentration camp into a profitable business. Himmler appreciated these merits of Eicke and appointed him to the post of inspector for camps. He wants Theodore to personally check the other camps and reorganize them along the lines of Dachau.
On June 30, 34, the famous "Night of the Long Knives" took place. Theodor Eicke and Hitler were personally involved in the elimination of Ernts Röhm, the main opponent.
According to some reports, Eicke shot at Ernst when he came to kill him with his adjutant. After that, he continued to engage in the arrangement of Nazi concentration camps.
Creation of the SS
For tighter control, he creates paramilitary groups of the SS "Dead Head". Immediately after the outbreak of World War II, Totenkopf units are sent to the east. But the first battle of the Waffen-SS took place in France. All fighters were characterized by fanatical devotion to the ideas of National Socialism. SS units suffered huge losses, since Theodor Eicke did not care much about personnel. Also, the SS divisions already at the beginning of the war became famous for their particular cruelty towards prisoners of war and civilians.
After the start of the war against Soviet Union SS units are transferred to the East. There they take part in the occupation of the Baltic states. During this operation, Eicke's car is blown up by a mine and he is injured. At the beginning of 1942, the "Dead Head" division was fighting in the south of the Eastern Front.
On the eastern front
When Soviet troops begin to counterattack, the Germans go on the defensive. Eike's division managed to repulse several attacks near Lake Ilmen. However, in the cold winter of the forty-second Red Army managed to carry out an offensive and encircle several German divisions.
When breaking out of the encirclement, the "Dead Head" lost most of its personnel.
After that German officer Theodor Eicke was appointed general of the SS troops, and he was also presented with several awards. After that, "Totenkopf" was sent back to France, where the division was understaffed. They also participated in the occupation of Vichy France, as Berlin was worried about the loyalty of the Vichy regime. While on the Western Front, the "Dead Head" continued to commit atrocities, which dramatically increased the number of partisan anti-fascist detachments.
Battle for Kharkov
In the winter of 1943, a new battle broke out for Kharkov.
After the capture of Kursk, Soviet troops were rapidly moving forward, wanting to liberate their territory as quickly as possible. Already in early February, the first units of the Red Army were advancing from Belgorod in the direction of Kharkov. The "Dead Head" division was transferred to this sector of the front. In mid-February, German troops were surrounded, and the SS divisions, contrary to Hitler's orders, retreated. During the subsequent counterattack, the Germans still managed to capture the city.
On the twenty-sixth of February, Eicke went with an inspection to However, his plane was shot down by machine-gun fire from the ground. The leader of the "Totenkopf" died on the spot. Initially, he was buried near the village of Artel.
However, on Himmler's personal order, Eike's body was sent to Zhytomyr so that his grave would be out of the reach of the Red Army. However, in December 1943, Soviet troops liberated Zhytomyr, and the fate of Eike's grave is unknown. In March, the Völkischer newspaper reported that SS General Theodor Eicke had died. The photo and obituary were posted on the front page.