Gunter d'Alquen (24 October 1910 – 15 May 1998) was chief editor of the weekly ''

Das Schwarze Korps ''Das Schwarze Korps'' (; German for "The Black Corps") was the official newspaper of the ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS). This newspaper was published on Wednesdays and distributed free of charge. All SS members were encouraged to read it. The chief edit ...

'' ("The Black Corps"), the official newspaper of 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), and commander of the SS-Standarte Kurt Eggers.

Early life

Gunter d’Alquen was born to a

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

Freemason Freemasonry or Masonry refers to fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local guilds of stonemasons that, from the end of the 13th century, regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their interaction with authorities ...

wool merchant and reserve officer named Carl d’Alquen, in Essen on 24 October 1910. He attended grammar school in Essen and joined the Hitler Youth in 1925. In 1927, D’Alquen became a member of the SA and as a 16-year-old joined 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 ...

. d'Alquen was active in the National Socialist

German Student Union 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 ...

. He became a member of the SS on 10 April 1931. He did not complete his studies in history and philology and instead turned to a journalistic career. From 1932, he was a political correspondent to the editorial board of the ''

Völkischer Beobachter The ''Völkischer Beobachter'' (; "'' Völkisch'' Observer") was the newspaper of the Nazi Party (NSDAP) from 25 December 1920. It first appeared weekly, then daily from 8 February 1923. For twenty-four years it formed part of the official pub ...

'' ("Völkisch Observer"). It was here he aroused the attention of

Heinrich Himmler Heinrich Luitpold Himmler (; 7 October 1900 – 23 May 1945) was of the (Protection Squadron; SS), and a leading member of the Nazi Party of Germany. Himmler was one of the most powerful men in Nazi Germany and a main architect of th ...

, who appointed him chief editor of ''Das Schwarze Korps'' in March 1935.

As chief editor

d'Alquen's newspaper often attacked intellectuals, students, Freemasons, certain scientists, rebellious businessmen, traffickers, clerics and other representatives of German society that had aroused Himmler's anger. With its notorious

anti-Semitism Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism. Antis ...

, ''Das Schwarze Korps'' established itself as a moral spokesperson of

Nazi 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 ...

beliefs. From September 1939, d'Alquen became a prominent SS war correspondent. He was appointed head of the propaganda formation SS-Standarte Kurt Eggers named after

Kurt Eggers Kurt Eggers (10 November 1905 – 12 August 1943) was a German writer, poet, songwriter, and playwright with close links to the Nazi Party. He served as both a member of a propaganda company ( Propagandakompanie) and as a Waffen-SS soldier at the ...

, a friend of d'Alquen, an SS war correspondent and editor of ''Das Schwarze Korps'' who was killed in action in 1943.

As a prisoner of war

In May 1945, d'Alquen was taken as a prisoner of war by the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

. He was held at ''Camp 18'', a

prisoner-of-war camp A prisoner-of-war camp (often abbreviated as POW camp) is a site for the containment of enemy fighters captured by a belligerent power in time of war. There are significant differences among POW camps, internment camps, and military prisons. P ...

on the grounds of

Featherstone Castle Featherstone Castle, a Grade I listed building, is a large Gothic style country mansion situated on the bank of the River South Tyne about southwest of the town of Haltwhistle in Northumberland, England. Medieval origins In the 11th century the ...

Northumberland Northumberland () is a county in Northern England, one of two counties in England which border with Scotland. Notable landmarks in the county include Alnwick Castle, Bamburgh Castle, Hadrian's Wall and Hexham Abbey. It is bordered by land on ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

Later life

After the war, d'Alquen denied any knowledge of

Nazi extermination camps Nazi Germany used six extermination camps (german: Vernichtungslager), also called death camps (), or killing centers (), in Central Europe during World War II to systematically murder over 2.7 million peoplemostly Jewsin the Holocaust. The v ...

. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison. In July 1955, d'Alquen was sentenced by a Berlin

Denazification Denazification (german: link=yes, Entnazifizierung) was an Allied initiative to rid German and Austrian society, culture, press, economy, judiciary, and politics of the Nazi ideology following the Second World War. It was carried out by remov ...

court to pay a fine of 60,000 DM, followed by a loss of pension rights for three years. He was found guilty of having played a significant role in war propaganda and incitement against churches, Jews and foreigners in the Nazi state. After further investigation of d'Alquen's income from this activity, he was sentenced to pay another fine of 28,000 DM in January 1958. According to British intelligence, he was a member of the Naumann circle. In the late 1950s, d'Alquen became a shareholder of a weaving mill in

Mönchengladbach Mönchengladbach (, li, Jlabbach ) is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located west of the Rhine, halfway between Düsseldorf and the Dutch border. Geography Municipal subdivisions Since 2009, the territory of Mönchengladbac ...

. He died on 15 May 1998 in Mönchengladbach.

Dates of rank

* SS-Anwärter - 10 April 1931Tixier 2019, p.SS STAF d'ALQUEN. * SS-Mann - 10 April 1931 * SS-Sturmführer - 1 October 1932 * SS-Obersturmführer - 9 November 1933 * SS-Hauptsturmführer - 1 June 1934 * SS-Sturmbannführer - 30 January 1935 * SS-Obersturmbannführer - 16 October 1935 * SS-Standartenführer - 1 January 1937 * SS-Untersturmführer '' der Reserve'' - 1 March 1940 * SS-Obersturmbannführer '' der Reserve'' - 30 April 1940 * SS-Hauptsturmführer '' der Reserve'' - 1 August 1940 * SS-Sturmbannführer '' der Reserve'' - 9 November 1941 * SS-Obersturmbannführer '' der Reserve'' - 10 August 1943 * SS-Standartenführer '' der Reserve'' - 1943Hitlers Pressechef, p. 302

Awards

Iron Cross The Iron Cross (german: link=no, Eisernes Kreuz, , abbreviated EK) was a military decoration in the Kingdom of Prussia, and later in the German Empire (1871–1918) and Nazi Germany (1933–1945). King Frederick William III of Prussia est ...

, 2nd class *

War Merit Cross The War Merit Cross (german: Kriegsverdienstkreuz) 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 ...

, 2nd class *

General Assault Badge The General Assault Badge (german: Allgemeines Sturmabzeichen) was a military decoration awarded during World War II to personnel of the German Army, Waffen-SS and ''Ordnungspolizei'' (order police) who supported an infantry attack but were not pa ...

* Golden Party Badge of the NSDAP *

SS-Ehrenring The SS-Ehrenring ("SS Honour Ring"), unofficially called ''Totenkopfring'' (i.e. "Skull Ring", literally "Death's Head Ring"), was an award of Heinrich Himmler's ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS). It was not a state decoration, but rather a personal gift best ...

and SS-Ehrendegen

References

External links

Books by Gunter d’Alquen
(in German)

(in German) {{DEFAULTSORT:Alquen, Gunter d' 1910 births 1998 deaths Nazi Party officials SS-Standartenführer Writers from Essen Nazi propagandists Sturmabteilung personnel People from the Rhine Province German people of Spanish descent German people of Flemish descent Waffen-SS personnel Military personnel from Essen Hitler Youth members Anti-Masonry Antisemitism in Germany German war correspondents Fascist writers German anti-communists Recipients of the War Merit Cross Recipients of the Iron Cross, 2nd class German non-fiction writers German people of World War II German propagandists German prisoners of war in World War II held by the United Kingdom