German Social Democratic and Independent Social Democratic politician who headed Berlin police in 1918
“I got my job from the Revolution, and I shall give it up only to the Revolution.”
A trained mechanic, Eichhorn worked for the Social Democratic Party before joining the Independent Social Democratic Party in 1917. After the November Revolution of 1918, he became Berlin police president and pursued a policing policy favorable to left-wing political groups. On 4 January 1919, the Prussian cabinet tried to dismiss him and replace him with Social Democrat Eugen Ernst. Mass demonstrations and a general strike opposed the move, followed by occupations and armed clashes that became the January uprising.
Career timeline
- 1893Became a full-time Social Democratic Party official and worked as an editor in Dresden
- 1903–1911Member of the Reichstag for Baden's 9th constituency
- 1908–1917Head of the Berlin Social Democratic press office
- 1917Joined the Independent Social Democratic Party
- 1918–1919Served as Berlin police president
- 1919–1920Member of the Weimar National Assembly for Berlin
- 1920–1925Joined the Communist Party of Germany and served in the Reichstag
Commander of the Waffen-SS IX Mountain Corps who led the German forces in the siege of Budapest and refused to surrender
He joined the army in 1907 and in the First World War served as a General Staff officer, including with the German military mission in Constantinople. Moving to the police in 1919, he headed Chile’s Carabineros and became inspector general of police schools, then joined the SS and served on Himmler’s staff. He commanded the SS Polizei Division from late 1939 and the VI SS Army Corps (Latvian) from 1943. Appointed commander of the IX SS Mountain Corps in Budapest in December 1944, he led the German forces in the siege from 24 December 1944 to 11 February 1945 and refused all invitations to surrender, setting off a long and bloody siege. Taken prisoner by the Soviets after the failed breakout, he was sentenced in 1949 to 25 years, released in 1955 and killed in a traffic accident at Bielefeld in 1971.
Career timeline
- 1907–1919German army officer and General Staff officer
- 1919Joined the police
- 1928Chief of the Chilean Carabineros
- 1936Inspector General of Police schools
- 1939–1940Commander, SS Polizei Division
- 1943–1944Commander, VI SS Army Corps (Latvian)
- 1944–1945Commander, IX SS Mountain Corps; defence of Budapest
- 1945–1955Soviet prisoner; sentenced to 25 years in 1949
Nazi official who led SS intelligence and police agencies in implementing the Holocaust.
At the 1942 Wannsee Conference, Heydrich coordinated German state agencies for the murder of Europe’s Jews.
Heydrich joined the SS in 1931 and built and led its Security Service (SD); in 1936 he took command of the Security Police, including the Gestapo and criminal police. When the Reich Security Main Office (RSHA) was established in 1939, he became its chief, unifying the Security Police and SD under an agency central to Nazi persecution and mass murder of Jews and political opponents. Appointed acting Reich Protector of Bohemia and Moravia in 1941, he oversaw executions of resistance figures and the ghettoization and deportation of Jews. He chaired the January 1942 Wannsee Conference to coordinate ministries in the murder of European Jews; wounded in an attack by Czech resistance agents in May, he died on June 4.
Career timeline
- 1931–1942Chief of the SS Security Service (SD)
- 1936–1942Chief of the Security Police, titled Chief of the Security Police Main Office, 1936–1939
- 1939–1942Chief of the Reich Security Main Office (RSHA)
- 1941–1942Acting Reich Protector of Bohemia and Moravia
