Gau Westphalia-South

The Gau Westphalia-South (German: Gau Westfalen-Süd) was an administrative division of Nazi Germany encompassing the Arnsberg Region in the southern part of the Prussian province of Westphalia between 1933 and 1945. From 1931 to 1933, it was the regional subdivision of the Nazi Party for these areas.[1]

Gau Westphalia-South
Gau of Nazi Germany
1931–1945
Flag of Gau Westphalia-South
Flag
Coat of arms of Gau Westphalia-South
Coat of arms

CapitalBochum
History
Government
Gauleiter 
• 1931–1941
Josef Wagner
• 1941–1943
Paul Giesler
• 1943–1945
Albert Hoffmann
History 
1 January 1931
8 May 1945
Preceded by		Succeeded by
Province of Westphalia
North Rhine-Westphalia
Today part ofGermany

History

The Nazi Gau (plural Gaue) system was originally established in a party conference on 22 May 1926, in order to improve administration of the party structure. From 1933 onwards, after the Nazi seizure of power, the Gaue increasingly replaced the German states as administrative subdivisions in Germany.[2]

At the head of each Gau stood a Gauleiter, a position which became increasingly more powerful, especially after the outbreak of the Second World War, with little interference from above. Local Gauleiters often held government positions as well as party ones and were in charge of, among other things, propaganda and surveillance and, from September 1944 onward, the Volkssturm and the defense of the Gau.[2][3]

The position of Gauleiter in Westphalia-South was held by Josef Wagner from January 1931 to November 1941, followed by Paul Giesler from November 1941 to January 1943 and Albert Hoffmann from January 1943 to May 1945.[4][5] Wagner was stripped of his Gauleiter position in 1941 and expelled from the Nazi Party. Arrested by the Gestapo in 1944 died in May 1945 under unclear circumstances.[6] Giesler, a well connected member of the top-hierarchy of Nazi Germany, held a number of high offices during the era, last of those as the German Minister of the Interior in the final days of the war. He was involved in the repression of the German resistance and, after a suicide attempt, was shot by his adjutant on 8 May 1945.[7] Hoffmann, the last Gauleiter of Westphalia-South, initially went into hiding after the war. Arrested in October 1945 he was called as a witness in a number of trials and imprisoned for almost five years. He died in West Germany in 1972 after a successful business career, not charged with any further crimes committed during the Nazi era.[8]

Allied invasion and occupation

Near the end of World War II, the Gau was invaded by the western allies, who would gradually capture its territory until the end of the war. The timeline of the allied advance is detailed in the table below.

Date of capture Location Ref
10 April 1945 Bochum [9]
11 April 1945 Witten [10]
12 April 1945 Plettenberg [11]
12-13 April 1945 Breckerfeld [12]
13 April 1945 Dortmund [13]
14 April 1945 Hagen [11]
14 April 1945 Schwelm [14]
15 April 1945 Hattingen [15]

References
  1. "Gau Westfalen-Sud der NSDAP".
  2. "Die NS-Gaue" [The Nazi Gaue]. dhm.de (in German). Deutsches Historisches Museum. Retrieved 29 March 2016.
  3. "The Organization of the Nazi Party & State". nizkor.org. The Nizkor Project. Retrieved 29 March 2016.
  4. "Übersicht der NSDAP-Gaue, der Gauleiter und der Stellvertretenden Gauleiter zwischen 1933 und 1945" [Overview of Nazi Gaue, the Gauleiter and assistant Gauleiter from 1933 to 1945]. zukunft-braucht-erinnerung.de (in German). Zukunft braucht Erinnerung. Retrieved 29 March 2016.
  5. "Gau Westfalen-Süd" [Gau Westphalia-South]. verwaltungsgeschichte.de (in German). Retrieved 29 March 2016.
  6. "Wagner, Josef". lwl.org (in German). Internet-Portal "Westfälische Geschichte". Retrieved 29 March 2016.
  7. "Paul Giesler (1895-1945)". historisches-centrum.de (in German). Historisches Centrum Hagen. Retrieved 29 March 2016.
  8. "Albert Hoffmann (1907-1972)". historisches-centrum.de (in German). Historisches Centrum Hagen. Retrieved 29 March 2016.
  9. Boebers-Süßmann, Jürgen (2020-04-08). "Kriegsende 1945: Als die Amis in Bochum einmarschierten". www.waz.de (in German). Retrieved 2023-09-12.
  10. Bublies, Jutta (2020-04-10). "Witten: Als im April 1945 US-Soldaten die Stadt besetzten". www.waz.de (in German). Retrieved 2023-09-12.
  11. Ralf Blank, Hagen im Zweiten Weltkrieg. Bombenkrieg, Rüstung und Kriegsalltag in einer westfälischen Großstadt 1939-1945, Essen 2008.
  12. "Vor 74 Jahren endete in der heimischen Region ( Halver/Breckerfeld) der 2. Weltkrieg mit dem Einmarsch amerikanischer Truppen (Infanterie) am 12. bzw. 13. April 1945". Breckerfeld Gefällt. 2019-04-12. Retrieved 2023-09-12.
  13. Dortmunder Verkehrsverein e. V., Informations- und Presseamt Dortmund, Stadtarchiv Dortmund, ed. (August 1993), Dortmund – Kurze Informationen aus einer langen Geschichte – Herausgegeben anläßlich des 13. Hansetages der Neuzeit in Münster, 12.–15. August 1993 (3 ed.), Dortmund: Eigenverlag{{citation}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: editors list (link)
  14. Lothar Hense: Geschichte der Stadt Schwelm von 1945 bis zur Währungsreform. In: Beiträge zur Heimatkunde der Stadt Schwelm und ihrer Umgebung, 1959, Nr. 9, 5–15.
  15. "Stadt Hattingen - Kurzchronik". Stadt Hattingen (in German). Retrieved 2023-09-12.

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