Eugen Munder: Difference between revisions

|birth_place = [[Stuttgart]], [[Kingdom of Württemberg]], [[German Empire|Germany]]

'''Eugen Munder''' (9 October 1899 &ndash; 20 November 1952) <ref>''Handbuch der baden-württembergischen Geschichte'' (Stuttgart: Klett-Cotta Verlag, 2007, {{ISBN|978-3-608-91371-2}}) Volume V, p. 804.</ref> was an early member of the [[Nazi Party]] and ''[[Gauleiter]]'' of [[Gau Württemberg-Hohenzollern]].

Munder was born in [[Stuttgart]], [[Württemberg]], [[German Empire|Germany]] in 1899. After attending elementary school, he attended military school in [[Jena]] and then became an apprentice in the civil service. He was conscripted in 1917, assigned to Field Artillery Regiment 13 in [[Ulm]] and participated in [[World War I]]. He saw action on the front lines in Field Artillery Regiment No. 116 and in ''Sturmbataillon'' 16.<ref>{{cite book |first1=Michael D. |last1=Miller & |first2=Andreas |last2=Schulz: ''|title=Gauleiter: The Regional Leaders of the Nazi Party and Their Deputies, 1925-1945, Volume| volume= II (Georg Joel - Dr. Bernhard Rust)'', |publisher= R. James Bender Publishing, |year= 2017, p. 310 {{ISBN|isbn=978-1-932970-32-06 |page=310}}.</ref> Following Germany's defeat, Munder was demobilized in January 1919 and became an activist in the [[Deutschvölkischer Schutz und Trutzbund]],<ref>Uwe Lohalm: ''Völkischer Radicalism - History of the Deutschvölkischen Schutz- und Trutz-Bund: 1919 to 1923'' (Hamburg: Leibniz-Verlag, 1970, {{ISBN|3-87473-000-X}})</ref> the largest, most active, and most influential [[anti-Semitic]] federation in Germany after the war.<ref>"Letter to the Court: Evaluation of the Reich Commissioner for the Monitoring of Public Policy, 20 November 1922" in: Uwe Lohalm, 1970, p 11.</ref> He resumed his career in the civil service, working as an actuary and passing written and oral examinations in 1921.

By 1921 Munder was already active on behalf of the [[Nazi Party]] in Stuttgart. On 15 April 1925 he joined the Party (Membership No. 1835) when the ban on it was lifted. He was a very effective organizer and re-founded the party's ''Gau'' headquarters, becoming the local branch leader (''[[Ortsgruppenleiter]]'') in Stuttgart. [[Adolf Hitler]] appointed him ''[[Gauleiter]]'' of [[Gau Württemberg-Hohenzollern|Württemberg]] after a rally in Stuttgart on 8 July 1925. From 1925 to 1928 Munder served as the editor and publisher of a local Nazi newspaper, ''The Southwest German Observer''.{{sfn| Miller and |Schulz, |2017, |p. =312}} In 1927 Munder expressed criticism of Hitler's lifestyle. He also was involved in a major row over the candidate list for upcoming elections to the Württemberg'' [[Landtag]]''. When Hitler supported his rival [[Christian Mergenthaler]] to head the list over him, Munder resigned as ''Gauleiter'' on 9 January 1928. His successor was [[Wilhelm Murr]].<ref>Detlef Mühlberger, "Organization & Development of the Nazi Party" in: ''Hitler's Voice: The Völkisher Beobachter, 1920-1933'' (Bern: Peter Lang AG, 2004) p. 142</ref> Munder then was expelled from the NSDAP on 18 January 1928 and thereafter played no active part in politics.{{sfn| Miller and |Schulz, |2017, |p. =312}}

He resumed his career as a civil servant, working largely in the field of health insurance. After the [[Machtergreifung|Nazi seizure of power in 1933]], Munder reapplied for party membership but was rejected on two occasions. In 1935 he became the head of the General Health Insurance Office in Stuttgart. Finally, he was readmitted to the Party effective 1 August 1935. He also joined the ''[[Sturmabteilung]]'' (SA) around this time. In October 1944 he was recruited as a [[platoon]] leader in the Württemberg ''[[Volkssturm]]'', rising to [[battalion]] leader in January 1945.{{sfn| Miller and |Schulz, |2017, |p. =314}}

After the end of [[World War II]] he was arrested, and in April 1948 sentenced to four and a half years in a labor camp by a [[de-Nazification]] court. After suffering epileptic seizures, Munder was released from custody in July 1948 on medical grounds and placed on parole. He was found to have a slow growing brain tumor and he died on 20 November 1952.{{sfn| Miller and |Schulz, |2017, |p. =315}}

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[[Category:GermanDeaths militaryfrom personnelbrain ofcancer Worldin War IGermany]]