Georg Leibbrandt (6 September 1899 – 16 June 1982) was a Nazi German bureaucrat and diplomat. He occupied leading foreign policy positions in the
Nazi Party Foreign Policy Office (APA) and the
Reich Ministry for the Occupied Eastern Territories
The Reich Ministry for the Occupied Eastern Territories (german: Reichsministerium für die besetzten Ostgebiete (RMfdbO) or ''Ostministerium'', ) was created by Adolf Hitler on 17 July 1941 and headed by the Nazi theoretical expert, the Baltic ...
(RMfdbO) as an expert on issues relating to Russia. Both agencies were headed by Nazi ideologist
Alfred Rosenberg
Alfred Ernst Rosenberg ( – 16 October 1946) was a Baltic German Nazi theorist and ideologue. Rosenberg was first introduced to Adolf Hitler by Dietrich Eckart and he held several important posts in the Nazi government. He was the head of ...
. Leibbrandt was a participant of the
Wannsee Conference. In the postwar period, criminal proceedings against Leibbrandt were initiated, but the case against him was ultimately dismissed.
Early life
Leibbrandt was born to
ethnic German
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, pop3 = 157,000
3,322,405
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parents in
Hoffnungstal (now Tsebrykove,
Ukraine
Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...
), near
Odessa
Odesa (also spelled Odessa) is the third most populous city and municipality in Ukraine and a major seaport and transport hub located in the south-west of the country, on the northwestern shore of the Black Sea. The city is also the administrativ ...
, in the Zebrikovo district of the
Kherson Governorate
The Kherson Governorate (1802–1922; russian: Херсонская губерния, translit.: ''Khersonskaya guberniya''; uk, Херсонська губернія, translit=Khersonska huberniia), was an administrative territorial unit (als ...
of the
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...
. At an early age he emigrated to
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
for his studies.
In 1918, Leibbrandt studied
theology
Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...
in Germany, also taking classes in
philology
Philology () is the study of language in oral and writing, written historical sources; it is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics (with especially strong ties to etymology). Philology is also defin ...
and
history
History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the History of writing#Inventions of writing, invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbr ...
. In 1927, he was awarded a
PhD PHD or PhD may refer to:
* Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), an academic qualification
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* '' PhD: Phantasy Degree'', a Korean comic series
* ''Piled Higher and Deeper'', a web comic
* Ph.D. (band), a 1980s British group
** Ph.D. (Ph.D. albu ...
He traveled extensively through 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 ...
in 1926, 1928 and 1929.
During his visits, he was variously represented as a doctor of
philosophy
Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...
, a post-graduate student, a professor of
history
History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the History of writing#Inventions of writing, invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbr ...
from
Leipzig University
Leipzig University (german: Universität Leipzig), in Leipzig in Saxony, Germany, is one of the world's oldest universities and the second-oldest university (by consecutive years of existence) in Germany. The university was founded on 2 December ...
, and an employee of the Institute for the Study of Germans Abroad (
Deutsches Ausland Institut) in Stuttgart.
The official purposes of his visits were the study of the history of the development of German colonies in the
Black Sea
The Black Sea is a marginal mediterranean sea of the Atlantic Ocean lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bounded by Bulgaria, Georgia, Roma ...
coastal region, and the gathering of historical information. As a result of his work, a book regarding emigrant movement of the Germans was published in Germany.
Leibbrandt had a talent for languages, which, coupled with a
Rockefeller Rockefeller is a German surname, originally given to people from the village of Rockenfeld near Neuwied in the Rhineland and commonly referring to subjects associated with the Rockefeller family. It may refer to:
People with the name Rockefeller fa ...
scholarship
A scholarship is a form of financial aid awarded to students for further education. Generally, scholarships are awarded based on a set of criteria such as academic merit, diversity and inclusion, athletic skill, and financial need.
Scholarsh ...
, enabled him to resume his studies in
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
and the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
from 1931-33. While in the US he actively kept contact with
Germans from Russia
The German minority population in Russia, Ukraine, and the Soviet Union stemmed from several sources and arrived in several waves. Since the second half of the 19th century, as a consequence of the Russification policies and compulsory military ...
who had also immigrated to America.
Nazi Party
Leibbrandt accepted a request from
Alfred Rosenberg
Alfred Ernst Rosenberg ( – 16 October 1946) was a Baltic German Nazi theorist and ideologue. Rosenberg was first introduced to Adolf Hitler by Dietrich Eckart and he held several important posts in the Nazi government. He was the head of ...
(whom he resembled physically) in 1933 to return to Germany, and joined the Nazi Party that year. He was then named director of the Eastern Division of the Foreign Policy Office of the
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 ...
. Leibbrandt was also placed in charge of
anti-Soviet
Anti-Sovietism, anti-Soviet sentiment, called by Soviet authorities ''antisovetchina'' (russian: антисоветчина), refers to persons and activities actually or allegedly aimed against the Soviet Union or government power within the ...
and
anti-Communist
Anti-communism is Political movement, political and Ideology, ideological opposition to communism. Organized anti-communism developed after the 1917 October Revolution in the Russian Empire, and it reached global dimensions during the Cold War, w ...
propaganda
Propaganda is communication that is primarily used to influence or persuade an audience to further an agenda, which may not be objective and may be selectively presenting facts to encourage a particular synthesis or perception, or using loaded ...
. When the Soviet Union was invaded in 1941, and the Ministry for the Eastern Occupied Territories was established, Rosenberg chose Leibbrandt to direct the Political Department. Thus, Leibbrandt became the liaison for the
Ukrainian
Ukrainian may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to Ukraine
* Something relating to Ukrainians, an East Slavic people from Eastern Europe
* Something relating to demographics of Ukraine in terms of demography and population of Ukraine
* So ...
,
Caucasian
Caucasian may refer to:
Anthropology
*Anything from the Caucasus region
**
**
** ''Caucasian Exarchate'' (1917–1920), an ecclesiastical exarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church in the Caucasus region
*
*
*
Languages
* Northwest Caucasian l ...
, Russian and other groups of
emigres.
Leibbrandt and
Alfred Meyer
Gustav Alfred Julius Meyer (5 October 1891 – 11 April 1945) was a Nazi Party official and politician. He joined the Nazi Party in 1928 and was the ''Gauleiter'' of North Westphalia from 1931 to 1945, the ''Oberpräsident'' of the Provinc ...
attended the
Wannsee Conference in 1942; both represented the ''
Ostministerium''. In the summer of 1943, for unknown reasons, he ceased his duties in the Ministry and joined the
Kriegsmarine
The (, ) was the navy of Germany from 1935 to 1945. It superseded the Imperial German Navy of the German Empire (1871–1918) and the inter-war (1919–1935) of the Weimar Republic. The was one of three official branches, along with the a ...
(German Navy).
Later life
Leibbrandt was kept in
Allied
An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...
internment from 1945 to May 1949. In January 1950, he was formally charged with involvement in the destruction of
Jews
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
, by the Nuremberg ''Landgericht''. The case against him was dismissed on 10 August 1950 and he was released from custody.
He then returned to America and resumed his earlier studies on the subject of the Russian Germans, making expert contributions to the Association of Germans from Russia (the ''Landsmannschaft der Deutschen aus Russland,'' which might be literally translated as the "Cultural Association of Germans from Russia") until his death in
Bonn
The federal city of Bonn ( lat, Bonna) is a city on the banks of the Rhine in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, with a population of over 300,000. About south-southeast of Cologne, Bonn is in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr r ...
on 16 June 1982.
In 1979, Leibbrandt was barred from entering the United States by the U.S. Justice Department and State Department, for his participation in the murder of hundreds of thousands of Jews, in his position as Chief of the Political Division of the Reich Ministry for the Occupied Eastern Territories from 1941 to 1943. His United States visa was revoked and his name was placed on the watch lists of the U.S. Immigration Service and State Department, so he could not enter the United States.
Leibbrandt has a son of the same name, living in Berlin.
Fictional portrayals
In the 1984 television film, ''
Die Wannseekonferenz'', Leibbrandt was played by
Jochen Busse
Jochen Busse (born 28 January 1941 in Iserlohn) is a German television actor.
He began work as a stage actor at the Kammerspiele in Munich in 1960 and made his TV debut the same year. He has made 80 appearances in television since 1960. Jochen ...
. In the 2001
HBO
Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...
film ''
Conspiracy
A conspiracy, also known as a plot, is a secret plan or agreement between persons (called conspirers or conspirators) for an unlawful or harmful purpose, such as murder or treason, especially with political motivation, while keeping their agree ...
'', Leibbrandt was played by
Ewan Stewart
Andrew Ewan Stewart (born 26 August 1957) is a Scottish film, television and stage actor.
Early life
Stewart was born in Glasgow, and is the son of the late Scottish entertainer Andy Stewart. His mother Sheila lives in Arbroath, Scotland. St ...
. In the 2022
ZDF
ZDF (, short for Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen; ; "Second German Television") is a German public-service television broadcaster based in Mainz, Rhineland-Palatinate. It is run as an independent nonprofit institution, which was founded by all fe ...
television film, Leibbrandt was played by
Rafael Stachowiak.
Literature
*
* Leibbrandt, Georg.
Die Sowjet-Union. Gegebenheiten und Möglichkeiten des Ostraums', 1943.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Leibbrandt, Georg
1899 births
1982 deaths
People from Odesa Oblast
People from Tiraspolsky Uyezd
Ukrainian people of German descent
Russian and Soviet-German people
Emigrants from the Russian Empire to Germany
Nazi Party officials
Kriegsmarine personnel of World War II
Judges in the Nazi Party
Nazi Party politicians
German prisoners of war in World War II