Bernhard Weiss

Bernhard Weiss

http://www.haaretz.com/jewish/features/1.538730

https://www.forces-war-records.co.uk/hitlers-black-book/person/671/...

http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2012/01/bernhard-weiss-true-li...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernhard_Wei%C3%9F_(police_executive)

http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernhard_Wei%C3%9F_(Jurist)

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Bernhard Weiß (police executive) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Bernhard Weiß

Born into a prominent, liberal Jewish family, Bernhard Weiss earned a doctorate of law after studying law at the University of Berlin, the University of Munich, the University of Freiburg im Breisgau and the University of Würzburg. In 1904 Bernhard Weiss volunteered to undergo military training and was commissioned as a reserve officer in the Royal Bavarian Army, since as as a Jew he was not accepted in the Prussian army. During the First World War he was promoted to the rank of captain (Rittmeister. Weiss was the officer in charge of a medical company and was awarded the Iron Cross First Class for his services. His three brothers and a cousin also fought in the war. One was killed and another seriously injured. Active in the Jewish community of Berlin, Weiss was a board member of the (reform) rabbinical seminary and a member of the Centralverein deutscher Staatsbürger jüdischen Glaubens [The central Union of German Citizens of Jewish Belief], the organization dedicated to protecting the civil and social rights of Jews in Germany while at the same time cultivating their German identity. Weiss made a name for himself as an exceptionally efficient lawyer and judge before being the first Jew to enter the civil service of pre-Weimar Germany.

In 1918 Weiss was appointed Deputy Chief of the Berlin Criminal Police, the Kripo, and became its head in 1925. In 1920 he was made head of the Political Police and was appointed Vice President of the entire Berlin police force in 1927. Weiss was a member of the liberal Deutsche Demokratische Partei (German Democratic Party). He played a central role during the political tension in the Weimar Republic, and was a fierce defender of the democratic republic against right-wing and left-wing extremists. The constitutional Weimar Republic was for Germany a radical change from the previous authoritarian regime. From the outset it the Weimar republic was attacked from both extremes of the political spectrum. Weiss devoted himself to make the Kripo an institution which would defend parliamentary democracy. He was responsible for producing the evidence of the subversive activities of the Russian trade delegation in Berlin. Walter Rathenau, the Jewish industrialist and politician who served Weimar governments in several capacities including that of Foreign Minister was assassinated in 1922 two months after the signing of the Treaty of Rapallo. Wiess was closely involved in the successful hunt for the Rathenau's murderers. He was always concerned with the struggles against both the communists and the brownshirts and ordered the confiscation of weapons found at their meetings. In 1927 Weiss ordered the shutting down of the Berlin branch of the Nazi party and in the same year had 500 of their members arrested for belonging to an illegal organization when they returned from a rally in Nuremburg.

While in office, Weiss was the target of a constant campaign of vilification organized by Joseph Goebbels, then a prominent Nazi activist, later the Reich Minister of Propaganda. Goebbels nicknamed Weiss “Isidore” and the Weimar Republic as “The Jews Republic”. Weiss sued Goebbels for libel and won his case. Goebbels did not refrain and Weiss was not intimidated so in the end Weiss sued Goebbels over 40 times. Oseveral occasions Weiss also prevented Goebllels from speaking at Nazi meetings. Dr Wilhelm Arnold Drews, former Prussian Minister of the Interior, who appointed Weiss said in 1932 towards the end of Weisses career: “when we decided to appoint for the Home Service a Jew who was not baptized, we knew that the first had to be the best. It was you I chose and I am glad to say that you lived up to our expectations.” Franz von Papen, Chancellor of Germany in 1932 and Vice-Chancellor when Adolf Hitler came to power, had both Weiss and his superior arrested, albeit for one day only.

Weiss finally decided to flee Germany a just few days before Adolf Hitler was made Chancellor. Weiss's police force was ordered to arrest their former Deputy Chief and Hermann Göring offered to pay a reward for anyone who assisted in his capture. A friend came to Weiss's assistance and drove him out of the country to Czechoslovakia. Weiss then went to England where he opened a printing and stationery business and lived out the remainder of his life. After his escape, Weiss was subsequently deprived of his German citizenship. In 1951, shortly after becoming a German citizen again, he died of cancer in London. Weiss's widow, Lotte Weiss (nee Buss), returned to live in Berlin immediately after her husband's death. She died in Berlin in 1952.

"He was a man of extremes, a Jew imbibed with Prussian values, small in stature, large in responsible behaviour and a staunch democrat,” wrote Uwe Dannenbaum in an article in the Die Welt newspaper to mark the naming of the forecourt of the Friedrichstrasse railway station in Berlin in honour of the former police chief. The film “The Man who chased Goebbels” (2005) by Reiner Mathias Brueckner portrays Weiss as a resolute defender of the republican order. In 2007 the German Federation of Jewish soldiers (Bund jüdischer Soldaten) in der Bundeswehr established an award in his honour, the Bernhard Weiss Medal (Bernhard-Weiß-Medaille), to be awarded to fellow Germans who work for understanding and tolerance. The forecourt at the Friedrichstrasse station in Berlin and the Alexanderplatzstrasse in central Berlin were named after Berhard Weiss. A plaque has been erected outside the Berlin house where he lived. The name of Dr Weiss is clearly associated with the history of the unfortunate and short-lived Weimar Republic. He played a central role in the political tensions associated the Republic and was a fierce defender of the democratic republic against right-wing and left-wing extremists. He was very much in the forefront of efforts to preserve democracy in Germany.

[edit]Literature

Michael Berger: Bernhard Weiß, preußischer Jude und Offizier. In: Eisernes Kreuz und Davidstern. Die Geschichte Jüdischer Soldaten in Deutschen Armeen. trafo verlag, Berlin 2006, ISBN 3-89626-476-1, S. 203–207. Michael Berger: Dr. Bernhard Weiß. Sein Kampf für Demokratie und Rechtsstaat in der Weimarer Republik. In: Eisernes Kreuz – Doppeladler – Davidstern. Juden in deutschen und österreichisch-ungarischen Armeen. Der Militärdienst jüdischer Soldaten durch zwei Jahrhunderte. trafo verlag, Berlin 2010, ISBN 978-3-89626-962-1, S. 146–150. Dietz Bering: Kampf um Namen. Bernhard Weiß gegen Joseph Goebbels. Klett-Cotta, Stuttgart 1991. Joachim Rott: Bernhard Weiß (1880–1951). Hentrich & Hentrich, Berlin 2008, ISBN 3-9384-8554-X. Bjoern Weigel: Bernhard Weiß. In: Wolfgang Benz (Hrsg.): Handbuch des Antisemitismus. Judenfeindschaft in Geschichte und Gegenwart. Band 2: Personen. de Gruyter/Saur, Berlin 2009, ISBN 978-3-598-24072-0, S. 880–882.

White was the son of the wholesale grain dealer Max White and his wife Emma. The parents were non-Orthodox Jewish families. The father was chairman of the Jewish community Fasanenstraße , Berlin and on the advisory board of the College of Jewish Studies . After graduation in 1900, Bernhard Weiss studied law in Berlin , Munich , Freiburg and Würzburg and graduated with PhD from. 1904/1905 he completed his military training as a reserve officer. In the First World War he was promoted to captain , and was awarded the Iron Cross awarded second and first class. In the summer of 1918 he was appointed Deputy Head of Criminal Investigation recorded in Berlin in the police service, in 1925 he became chief of the Criminal Police and in 1927 Vice President. His marriage to his art-loving wife, Lotte made ​​him the leading artists of the Weimar Republic known. Artists such as Richard Tauber were friends of the White House and made ​​a permanent fixture in Berlin's cultural scene. White was like Walther Rathenau member of the DDP , was a fighter and attack together with the temporary Berlin Police President Albert Grzesinski by one of the few republican police officers systematically higher against breaches of the law. The determination of Walther Rathenau's murderers under unusual involvement of the press was as white 'earnings. He was a regular victim of defamation campaigns of the emerging Nazi party under the Berlin Gauleiter Joseph Goebbels because of, the white of his Jewish origin, always referred to as "Isidore white". Especially in Goebbels' Hetzpostille The attack was constantly subject White anti-Semitic motivated defamation in texts and cartoons. In white Goebbels had found an enemy that was consistent with its Nazi ideology: a citizen of Jewish origin and representative of the Republic, the Nazi-speak "representative of the system." White struck back, Goebbels, and overlaid with more than 60 successfully completing the process. After the " Prussian coup " Papen 1932 White lost - as the entire government of Prussia - his office. After a short detention, he was together with the commander of the Prussian and Grzesinski police Magnus Heimannsberg released and lived until March 1933 in Berlin. When the Nazis had exposed a bounty on him, allowed him to escape colleagues. White fled via Prague to London , where he built a small graphic companies. In August 1933 his name was on the first Ausbürgerungsliste of the German Empire of 1933 . In 1951, shortly after the restoration of his German citizenship, he died of cancer in London. The designation of the forecourt station Berlin Friedrichstraße was planned with the name Bernard White, but was rejected at the last minute again. The Federation of Jewish soldiers in the Bundeswehr ( RJF ) awards since 2007, Bernhard-White Medal for understanding and tolerance. It should not primarily military leaders are honored, but the little hero who "courageously against xenophobia and anti-Semitism" Taking a stand, it said in the eulogy of 18 November, 2007.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Bernhard Weiss (Born 30. July 1880 in BerlinDied 29. July 1951 in London) Was a German lawyer , and Deputy Police President Berlin under Weimar Republic.

He was the son of Max Weiss , who was the great merchant who traded in grain and also chairman of the Jewish congregation in Fasanenstraße and active in the management of Hochschule für die Wissenschaft des Judentums. The family belonged to the reformjødiske direction.

Weiss studied law at the universities of Berlin, Munich, Freiburg im Breisgau and WürzburgAnd completed the study with the Doctor of Laws.

Between 1904-1905 he received military training as a reserve officer. He participated in World, Where he achieved the rank of Captain and received Iron Cross the first class.

Summer 1918 he was appointed deputy chief of criminal police in Berlin. In 1925 He was chief of criminal police and the 1927 He was appointed deputy police president.

Through his marriage to art lover Lotte Weiss , he became acquainted with many of the leading artists during the Weimar Republic.

Like Walther Rathenau Weiss was a member of the liberal Gessler. Together with his boss , Police President Albert Grzesinski, Beat Weiss systematically down on politically motivated violence the right and left. He played a leading role in the investigation of the murder of Rathenau .

As a liberal , democrat and a Jew Weiss was a natural target for convenience campaigns from extremist quarters, both from National Socialists and Communists. Both the National Socialist publications Joseph Goebbels' convenience font Der Angriff (" Attack ") and Communist publications that convenience KPDs newspaper Die Rote Fahn (" Red Flag ") Weiss consistently mentioned as the " Isidor Weiss "and attacked him regularly because of his Jewish background and democratic spirit .

Among the largest part of Berlin's population and the police were Weiss very popular and respected.

After the overthrow of the social democratic state government in Prussia in 1932 (Preussenschlag) lost Weiss , like many parts of the government apparatus, his position . After a brief detention , he was released, and stayed until March 1933 in Berlin. Since the National Socialists had offered a bounty on him , he fled with the help of police colleagues that year by Prague to London. In London he ran a small graphics company. National Socialists deprived him later the German citizenship .

He died in 1951 , shortly after his application to regain German citizenship was granted.

Square in front Berlin Friedrichstrasse station was named for him, but at the last minute Mon fell down on a different name.

In 2007, the Association of Jewish soldiers Bundeswehr Bernhard Weiss Medal for understanding and tolerance.

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