Ernst Otto Fick (5 February 1898 in Kirchdorf an der Iller – 29 April 1945 in Murnau am Staffelsee) was a German SS Brigade Leader (

SS Brigadeführer SS is an abbreviation for ''Schutzstaffel'', a paramilitary organisation in Nazi Germany. SS, Ss, or similar may also refer to: Places *Guangdong Experimental High School (''Sheng Shi'' or ''Saang Sat''), China *Province of Sassari, Italy (vehi ...

) and Major General of the Waffen-SS. Andreas Schulz, Günter Wegmann: '' The generals of the Waffen-SS and the police. '' Volume 1: '' A – G (Abraham – Gutenberger). '' Bissendorf 2003, p. 304.

Early life

Ernst Otto Fick was born in Kirchdorf an der Iller, Andreas Schulz, Günter Wegmann: '' The generals of the Waffen-SS and the police. '' Volume 1: '' A – G (Abraham – Gutenberger). '' Bissendorf 2003, p. 305. the son of Gustav Adolf Fick (13 March 1867 – 21 March 1950) and his wife Bertha (maiden name Jakob; 28 May 1871 – 24 February 1917). On 29 April 1934, he married stenographer Gertraud Dapperger (21 March 1914 – 20 February 2010). Andreas Schulz, Günter Wegmann: '' The generals of the Waffen SS and the police. '' Volume 1: '' A – G (Abraham – Gutenberger). '' Bissendorf 2003, p. 306. Fick volunteered for military service in 1915 while still in school and participated during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. After the war he joined the

Freikorps (, "Free Corps" or "Volunteer Corps") were irregular German and other European military volunteer units, or paramilitary, that existed from the 18th to the early 20th centuries. They effectively fought as mercenary or private armies, regar ...

(German volunteer military units). From 1919 to 1931, he ran a branch of his father's general store and was also the administrator of his parents' property. In 1928 he became a member of the Nazi Party

NSDAP The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party (german: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP), was a far-right politics, far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that crea ...

(membership number 124.087). When his parents' business went bankrupt, he joined the

Schutzstaffel The ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS; also stylized as ''ᛋᛋ'' with Armanen runes; ; "Protection Squadron") was a major paramilitary organization under Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party in Nazi Germany, and later throughout German-occupied Europe d ...

(SS No. 2,853) and worked full-time as a consultant for the staff of the Reichsführer-SS and as an instructor for the

SS-Verfügungstruppe ''SS-Verfügungstruppe'' (SS-VT or V-Truppe) (lit. "SS Dispositional Troops") was formed in 1934 as combat troops for the Nazi Party (NSDAP). On 17 August 1938 Adolf Hitler decreed that the SS-VT was neither a part of the ''Ordnungspolizei'' (r ...

, combat troops for the

Nazi Party The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party (german: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP), was a far-right politics, far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that crea ...

reporting directly to

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...

and precursor to the Waffen-SS. From spring 1935 to 1937 he was a member of the staff at RuSHA (''Rasse- und Siedlungshauptamt'', the "Race and Settlement Main Office"). A fervent exponent of Nazi ideology, he taught classes at the SS Junkerschule Bad Tölz and at the SS Junkerschule Braunschweig until 1939.

World War II

During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, Fick served in the artillery regiment of the

5th SS Panzer Division Wiking The 5th SS Panzer Division Wiking (german: 5. SS-Panzerdivision Wiking) or SS Division Wiking was an infantry and later an armoured division among the thirty-eight Waffen-SS divisions of Nazi Germany. It was recruited from foreign volunteers ...

from May to August 1941, which took part in

Operation Barbarossa Operation Barbarossa (german: link=no, Unternehmen Barbarossa; ) was the invasion of the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany and many of its Axis allies, starting on Sunday, 22 June 1941, during the Second World War. The operation, code-named after ...

, the invasion of the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

. It is unclear if he was the unit's commander or simply its ideological observer. Conflict with the regiment's commander, SS-Standartenführer

Herbert Gille Herbert Otto Gille (8 March 1897 – 26 December 1966) was a high-ranking German SS officer, and divisional & corps commander of the Waffen SS. He commanded the SS Division Wiking during World War II. Gille was a recipient of the Knight's Cro ...

, led to Fick's subsequent removal from the Eastern Front and reassignment as commandant of the SS-Ausbildungslager (ideological training camp) at

Sennheim Cernay (; german: Sennheim; gsw-FR, Sanna) is a commune in the Haut-Rhin department in Grand Est in north-eastern France. It is situated on the river Thur, 17 km northwest of Mulhouse. Second World War The SS had an " ideology school" ...

in June 1942. Hans-Christian Harten: '' Himmler's teacher. The ideological training in the SS 1933–1945 '', Paderborn 2014, p. 369 Located in Alsace-Lorraine in eastern France, the camp trained mostly foreign recruits to the Waffen-SS. From the beginning of January 1944 until his death he was an inspector for ideological education for the entire SS and police. In addition, he was Amtsgruppenchef (office group C) in the SS main office. Fick was shot and killed with his driver by soldiers of the

US Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

on 29 April 1945 during the liberation of Oflag VII A (a

German Army The German Army (, "army") is the land component of the armed forces of Germany. The present-day German Army was founded in 1955 as part of the newly formed West German ''Bundeswehr'' together with the ''Marine'' (German Navy) and the ''Luftwaf ...

POW A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of war ...

camp for Polish Army officers). Solveig Reason
'' World War I Photo Find Sport and Art in the Nazi Camp ''
Spiegel-Online from 16 January 2013

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fick, Ernst Otto SS-Brigadeführer Recipients of the Iron Cross, 1st class Recipients of the Order of Bravery Waffen-SS personnel People from Biberach (district) 1898 births 1945 deaths Nazi Party members German Army personnel of World War I Waffen-SS personnel killed in action Deaths by firearm in Germany 20th-century Freikorps personnel

Early life

World War II

See also

References