Hermann Höfle (SS General)
Hermann Johann Matthäus Höfle (; 12 September 1898 – 9 December 1947) was a German military officer and SS-''Obergruppenführer'' during the Nazi era who served as a Higher SS and Police Leader (HSSPF) in Germany and in Slovakia. At the end of the Second World War, he was tried for war crimes, convicted and executed in Czechoslovakia. Early life and military service Höfle was born in Augsburg, the son of a Bavarian postal inspector. He attended the local ''Volksschule'' and '' Gymnasium'', graduating in January 1916. He volunteered for service in the Royal Bavarian Army on 30 September 1916 as a ''Fahnenjunker'' (officer cadet) with the 8th Royal Bavarian Infantry Regiment "Großherzog Friedrich II von Baden". He participated in the First World War, transferring to the ''Luftstreitkräfte'' in December 1916 and training as an aerial observer with Aerial Reconnaissance Squadron 18. He was wounded in aerial combat in June 1917, losing an arm. He returned to infantry servic ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Augsburg
Augsburg ( , ; ; ) is a city in the Bavaria, Bavarian part of Swabia, Germany, around west of the Bavarian capital Munich. It is a College town, university town and the regional seat of the Swabia (administrative region), Swabia with a well preserved Altstadt (historical city centre). Augsburg is an Urban districts of Germany, urban district and home to the institutions of the Augsburg (district), Landkreis Augsburg. It is the List of cities in Bavaria by population, third-largest city in Bavaria (after Munich and Nuremberg), with a population of 304,000 and 885,000 in its metropolitan area. After Neuss, Trier, Worms, Germany, Worms, Cologne and Xanten, Augsburg is one of Germany's oldest cities, founded in 15 BC by the Romans as Augsburg#Early history, Augusta Vindelicorum and named after the Roman emperor Augustus. It was a Free Imperial City from 1276 to 1803 and the home of the patrician (post-Roman Europe), patrician Fugger and Welser families that dominated European ban ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Slovak Republic (1939–1945)
Slovakia, officially the (First) Slovak Republic, and from 14 March until 21 July 1939 officially known as the Slovak State (, ), was a partially-recognized Clerical fascism, clerical fascist client state of Nazi Germany which existed between 14 March 1939 and 4 April 1945 in Central Europe. The Slovak part of Second Czechoslovak Republic, Czechoslovakia declared independence with German support one day before the German occupation of Czechoslovakia, German occupation of Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia, Bohemia and Moravia. It controlled most of the territory of present-day Slovakia, without its current southern parts, which were First Vienna Award, ceded by Second Czechoslovak Republic, Czechoslovakia to Kingdom of Hungary (1920–46), Hungary in 1938. The state was the first formally independent Slovak state in history. Bratislava was declared the capital city. A one-party state governed by the far-right Slovak People's Party, Hlinka's Slovak People's Party, the Slovak Rep ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Gymnasium (Germany)
''Gymnasium'' (; German plural: ''Gymnasien''), in the German education system, is the most advanced and highest of the three types of German secondary schools, the others being ''Hauptschule'' (lowest) and ''Realschule'' (middle). ''Gymnasium'' strongly emphasizes academic learning, comparable to the British grammar school system or with university preparatory school, prep schools in the United States. A student attending ''Gymnasium'' is called a ''Gymnasiast'' (German plural: ''Gymnasiasten''). In 2009/10 there were 3,094 gymnasia in Germany, with students (about 28 percent of all precollegiate students during that period), resulting in an average student number of 800 students per school.Federal Statistical office of Germany, Fachserie 11, Reihe 1: Allgemeinbildende Schulen – Schuljahr 2009/2010, Wiesbaden 2010 Gymnasia are generally public, state-funded schools, but a number of parochial and private gymnasia also exist. In 2009/10, 11.1 percent of gymnasium students ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Volksschule
The German term ''Volksschule'' () generally refers to compulsory education, denoting an educational institution every person (i.e. the people, ''Volk'') is required to attend. In Germany and Switzerland it is equivalent to a combined primary (''Grundschule'' and ''Primarschule'', respectively) and lower secondary education (''Hauptschule'' or ''Sekundarschule''), usually comprising mandatory attendance of nine years. In Austria, ''Volksschule'' only refers to primary school lasting four years. In Denmark and Norway, they were referred to as ''folkeskole'' and in Sweden as ''folkskola''; the Finnish term ''kansakoulu'' is a direct translation. These Nordic schools covered the first years of primary education, from the ages of 7 to 11 or 12. History In medieval times, church schools were established in the Holy Roman Empire to educate the future members of the clergy, as stipulated by the 1215 Fourth Council of the Lateran, later adopted by the sunday schools of the Protes ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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War Crimes
A war crime is a violation of the laws of war that gives rise to individual criminal responsibility for actions by combatants in action, such as intentionally killing civilians or intentionally killing prisoners of war, torture, taking hostages, unnecessarily destroying civilian property, deception by perfidy, wartime sexual violence, pillaging, and for any individual that is part of the command structure who orders any attempt to committing mass killings (including genocide or ethnic cleansing), the granting of no quarter despite surrender, the conscription of children in the military, and flouting the legal distinctions of proportionality and military necessity. The formal concept of war crimes emerged from the codification of the customary international law that applied to warfare between sovereign states, such as the Lieber Code (1863) of the Union Army in the American Civil War and the Hague Conventions of 1899 and 1907 for international war. In the afterm ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Second World War
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the world's countries participated, with many nations mobilising all resources in pursuit of total war. Tanks in World War II, Tanks and Air warfare of World War II, aircraft played major roles, enabling the strategic bombing of cities and delivery of the Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, first and only nuclear weapons ever used in war. World War II is the List of wars by death toll, deadliest conflict in history, causing World War II casualties, the death of 70 to 85 million people, more than half of whom were civilians. Millions died in genocides, including the Holocaust, and by massacres, starvation, and disease. After the Allied victory, Allied-occupied Germany, Germany, Allied-occupied Austria, Austria, Occupation of Japan, Japan, a ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Nazi Era
Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a totalitarian dictatorship. The Third Reich, meaning "Third Realm" or "Third Empire", referred to the Nazi claim that Nazi Germany was the successor to the earlier Holy Roman Empire (800–1806) and German Empire (1871–1918). The Third Reich, which the Nazis referred to as the Thousand-Year Reich, ended in May 1945, after 12 years, when the Allies defeated Germany and entered the capital, Berlin, ending World War II in Europe. After Hitler was appointed Chancellor of Germany in 1933, the Nazi Party began to eliminate political opposition and consolidate power. A 1934 German referendum confirmed Hitler as sole ''Führer'' (leader). Power was centralised in Hitler's person, and his word became the highest law. The government was not a coordinated, cooperat ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Wound Badge
The Wound Badge () was a German military decoration first promulgated by Wilhelm II, German Emperor on 3 March 1918, which was first awarded to soldiers of the Imperial German Army, German Army who were wounded during World War I. Between the world wars, it was awarded to members of the German armed forces who fought on the Nationalist side of the Spanish Civil War, 1938–39, and received combat related wounds. It was awarded to members in the ''Reichswehr'', the Wehrmacht, SS and the auxiliary service organizations during World War II. After March 1943, due to the increasing number of Allied bombings, it was also awarded to civilians wounded in air raids. It was awarded when the wound was the result of enemy hostile action. In 1957, the West Germany, West German government authorized a Denazification, denazified (Swastika removed) version of the basic (black, silver, & gold) badges for wear on the Bundeswehr uniform, among other certain Nazi-era wartime awards. Classes The badge ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Military Merit Order (Bavaria)
The Bavarian Military Merit Order () was established on 19 July 1866 by King Ludwig II of Bavaria. It was the kingdom's main decoration for bravery and military merit for officers and higher-ranking officials. Civilians acting in support of the army were also made eligible for the decoration. The Military Merit Order ranked below the Military Order of Max Joseph (''Militär-Max-Joseph-Orden''), which was Bavaria's highest military honor for officers (and conferred a patent of non-hereditary nobility on officers who were not already nobles). Description and Wear The design of the order was a Maltese cross of blue enamel with a center medallion. Between the arms of most classes (and all classes after 1905) were golden flames (silver flames for the 4th Class after the 1905 revisions of the order). The obverse of the center medallion had a gold crowned "L" cipher (for the founder King Ludwig II) on the black-enameled center and the word "MERENTI" on a ring of white enamel edged in go ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Spanish Cross
The Spanish Cross () was an award of Nazi Germany given to German troops who participated in the Spanish Civil War, fighting for nationalist general, later Spanish dictator, Francisco Franco. History With the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War in July 1936, Germany sent the Condor Legion, drawn from the German air force and army, to aid Franco's Nationalist forces. On 14 April 1939, Germany instituted the Spanish Cross as a decoration for the German airmen and soldiers who fought in the Condor Legion during the war. A number of German Navy ships served in Spanish waters, their crew also qualifying for the cross. The Spanish Cross was to be worn on the right breast below the pocket flap or, if awarded, below the Blood Order. After the death of the recipient, the award remains with the next-of-kin. The wear of Nazi era awards was banned in 1945. The Spanish Cross was not among those awards reauthorised for official wear by the Federal Republic of Germany in 1957. Classes Th ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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War Merit Cross
The War Merit Cross () was a state decoration of Nazi Germany during World War II. By the end of the conflict it was issued in four degrees and had an equivalent civil award. A " de-Nazified" version of the War Merit Cross was reissued in 1957 by the ''Bundeswehr'' for its veterans. History This award was created by Adolf Hitler in October 1939 as a successor to the non-combatant Iron Cross which was used in earlier wars (similar medal but with a different ribbon). The award would recognize bravery or service in the furtherance of the war effort that fell short of the award of the Iron Cross. The award was graded in the same manner as the Iron Cross: ''War Merit Cross Second Class'', ''War Merit Cross First Class'', and ''Knights Cross of the War Merit Cross''. The award was authorized for both military personnel and for civilians. The award had two variants: ''with swords'' and ''without swords''. Those with swords recognized bravery not directly connected to front-line activ ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Clasp To The Iron Cross
Clasp, clasper or CLASP may refer to: * Book clasp, fastener for a book cover * Folding clasp, a device used to close a watch strap * Lobster clasp, fastener for jewellery * Wrist clasp, a dressing accessory * Medal bar, an element in military decoration * Fastener, a hardware device that mechanically joins objects together * CLASP (British Rail), a prefabricated building system * "Clasp", a song by Jethro Tull from '' The Broadsword and the Beast'' * Clasp, a Common Lisp implementation * Clasper, an anatomical structure in male cartilaginous fish * Clasper (mathematics), a surface (with extra structure) in a 3-manifold on which surgery can be performed * Grasp, holding or seizing firmly with (or as if with) the hand Acronyms and initialisms * Center for Law and Social Policy, an American organization, based Washington, D.C., that advocates for policies aimed at improving the lives of low-income people * CLASP1 and CLASP2, cytoplasmic linker associated proteins * Cla ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |