Gerhard Krüger (6 December 1908 – 22 May 1994) was a

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 ...

student leader and later a leading figure within the

neo-Nazi Neo-Nazism comprises the post–World War II militant, social, and political movements that seek to revive and reinstate Nazism, Nazi ideology. Neo-Nazis employ their ideology to promote hatred and Supremacism#Racial, racial supremacy (ofte ...

movement.

Early years

Krüger was born in Mottlau, Danzig. He first came to politics as a member of the Bund Oberland and it was from this basis that he was attracted to

Nazism Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Na ...

, joining the

Sturmabteilung The (; SA; literally "Storm Detachment") was the original paramilitary wing of the Nazi Party. It played a significant role in Adolf Hitler's rise to power in the 1920s and 1930s. Its primary purposes were providing protection for Nazi ral ...

in 1926 and the

itself in 1928.

Philip Rees Philip Rees (born 1941) is a British writer and librarian formerly in charge of acquisitions at the J. B. Morrell Library, University of York. He has written books on fascism and the extreme right. Works *''Fascism in Britain'' (Harvester Pres ...

, ''

Biographical Dictionary of the Extreme Right Since 1890 The ''Biographical Dictionary of the Extreme Right Since 1890'' is a reference book by Philip Rees, on leading people in the various far right movements since 1890. It contains entries for what the author regards as "the 500 major figures on the ...

'', 1990, p. 214 He became the leader of Nazi student groups at both the

University of Leipzig 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 Decemb ...

and the

University of Greifswald The University of Greifswald (; german: Universität Greifswald), formerly also known as “Ernst-Moritz-Arndt University of Greifswald“, is a public research university located in Greifswald, Germany, in the state of Mecklenburg-Western Pom ...

and in 1933 was appointed head of the

Deutsche Studentenschaft The German Student Union (german: Deutsche Studentenschaft, abbreviated ''DSt'') from 1919 until 1945, was the merger of the general student committees of all German universities, including Danzig, Austria and the former German universities in ...

Nazi Party activity

Krüger's profile began to rise within the Nazi Party and in 1936 he was appointed to serve under

Philipp Bouhler Philipp Bouhler (11 September 1899 – 19 May 1945) was a German senior Nazi Party functionary who was both a (National Leader) and Chief of the Chancellery of the Führer of the NSDAP. He was also the SS official responsible for the euthanas ...

as ministerial leader of the Investigation Committee for the Protection of National Socialist Literature, a body that sought to ensure all published books conformed to

Nazi ideology Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Na ...

, with a special remit to examine books on economics. Around this time he also published two books, ''The Indestructible Reich'' and a biography of

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 ...

. Krüger then entered the diplomatic service, serving initially under

Martin Luther Martin Luther (; ; 10 November 1483 – 18 February 1546) was a German priest, theologian, author, hymnwriter, and professor, and Order of Saint Augustine, Augustinian friar. He is the seminal figure of the Reformation, Protestant Refo ...

before working for

Otto Abetz Heinrich Otto Abetz (26 March 1903 – 5 May 1958) was the German ambassador to Vichy France during the Second World War and a convicted war criminal. In July 1949 he was sentenced to twenty years' hard labour by a Paris military tribunal, he was ...

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 ...

.Rees, ''Biographical Dictionary of the Extreme Right'', p. 215 However he was dismissed from this position due to a sexual harassment case.Ernst Klee, ''Das Personenlexikon zum Dritten Reich. Wer war was vor und nach 1945'', Fischer Taschenbuch Verlag, Zweite aktualisierte Auflage, Frankfurt am Main 2005, p. 343 He briefly joined the army in 1942 before serving as a history lecturer at the

University of Strasbourg The University of Strasbourg (french: Université de Strasbourg, Unistra) is a public research university located in Strasbourg, Alsace, France, with over 52,000 students and 3,300 researchers. The French university traces its history to the ea ...

and a professor at Posen University. He was captured by the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

and held at the internment camp at Staumühle. Following his release Krüger had to find employment as a textiles sales representative due to his associations with the Nazi university system.

Post-war politics

Krüger and

Herbert Böhme Herbert Böhme (7 October 1907 – 23 October 1971) was a German poet who wrote poems and battle hymns for the Nazi Party. In 1930 he became one of the newly formed ''Junge Mannschaft'', a group of semi-official Nazi poets that also included H ...

formed their own political party in 1949 although this group was quickly absorbed into the larger

Deutsche Reichspartei The Deutsche Reichspartei (DRP, ''German Reich Party'', ''German Imperial Party'' or ''German Empire Party'') was a nationalist, far-right and later Neo-Nazi political party in West Germany. It was founded in 1950 from the German Right Party (ge ...

. However this party proved too moderate for Krüger and on 21 October 1949 he left to become a founding member of the

Socialist Reich Party The Socialist Reich Party (german: Sozialistische Reichspartei Deutschlands) was a West German political party founded in the aftermath of World War II in 1949 as an openly neo-Nazi-oriented splinter from the national conservative German Right Par ...

and vice-chair of the party council. He joined the ''Deutsche Aufbaupartei'' in 1953 when this group was banned. From then on he concentrated much of his efforts on disseminating neo-Nazi

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 ...

, setting up his own journal, the ''Nationaler Buchdienst'', in 1956 and adding a book club, ''Das Reich im Buch'', the following year. He also became associated with

Arthur Ehrhardt Arthur Ehrhardt (21 March 1896 – 16 May 1971) was a Waffen-SS commander who served as a Nazi security warfare expert during World War II. After the war, he became a leading figure in the neo-Nazi movement. Early years Ehrhardt was born Mengers ...

's ''

Nation Europa ''Nation Europa'' (also called ''Nation und Europa'') was a far-right monthly magazine, published in Germany. It was founded in 1951 and was based in Coburg until its closure in 2009. It is also the name of the publishing house that developed th ...

'' journal and became a regularly featured writer, whilst also maintaining contacts with the Naumann-Kreis. He returned to politics briefly in when he was an unsuccessful candidate for the Deutsche Reichspartei in the 1961 federal election in

Hanover Hanover (; german: Hannover ; nds, Hannober) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Lower Saxony. Its 535,932 (2021) inhabitants make it the 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-largest city in Northern Germany ...

and the following year was named to the executive board of the Deutsche Freiheits Partei but for the most part he remained a propagandist. He died in Hesslingen,

Hessisch Oldendorf Hessisch Oldendorf ( is a town in the Hamelin-Pyrmont district, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated on the river Weser, approximately northwest of Hamelin. The adjective "Hessisch" has been used since 1905 to distinguish it from other towns ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kruger, Gerhard 1908 births 1994 deaths Politicians from Gdańsk Nazi Party politicians Deutsche Rechtspartei politicians Socialist Reich Party politicians Deutsche Reichspartei politicians Academic staff of Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań German Army personnel of World War II Sturmabteilung personnel University of Greifswald alumni Leipzig University alumni Academic staff of the University of Strasbourg People from West Prussia German nationalists 20th-century Freikorps personnel