Hans Philipp Oswald Schleif (23 February 1902 in

Wiesbaden Wiesbaden () is a city in central western Germany and the capital of the state of Hesse. , it had 290,955 inhabitants, plus approximately 21,000 United States citizens (mostly associated with the United States Army). The Wiesbaden urban area ...

– 27 April 1945 in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

) was a German architect, architectural and classical archaeologist and member of the SS (member number 264,124), last occupying the rank of

Standartenführer __NOTOC__ ''Standartenführer'' (short: ''Staf'', , ) was a Nazi Party (NSDAP) paramilitary rank that was used in several NSDAP organizations, such as the SA, SS, NSKK and the NSFK. First founded as a title in 1925, in 1928 it became one of ...

(since 30 January 1945). He was a member of 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 ...

since 1937, with membership number 5,380,876.Stephan Lehmann, ''Hans Schleif (1902 – 1945''), in: G. BRANDS – M. MAISCHBERGER (Hrsg.), Lebensbilder. Klassische Archäologen und der Nationalsozialismus Band 1, Studien aus den Forschungsclustern des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts, Band 2,1 (Rahden/Westfalen 2012), p. 207–222 (https://www.academia.edu/28174581/Stephan_Lehmann)

Archaeological projects

Greece

In 1936, the government of Germany provided a considerable sum of money to reactivate a moribund project of archaeological excavation on the site of

Olympia, Greece Olympia ( el, label=Modern Greek, Ολυμπία ; grc, Ὀλυμπία ), officially Archaia Olympia ( el, label=Modern Greek, Αρχαία Ολυμπία; grc, Ἀρχαία Ὀλυμπία, links=no; "Ancient Olympia"), is a small town in E ...

. Schleif was chosen as one of the principal archaeologists in this prestigious project.Stephen L. Dyson, ''In pursuit of ancient pasts: a history of classical archaeology in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries'', Yale University Press, 2006, p. 198 His Greek work produced a number of books, notably ''Alt-Olympia'' (1935), ''Alt-Athen'' (part one 1937; part two 1939) and ''Erechtheion'' (1942).

Poland

In 1939, Schleif worked as "General Trustee for securing of German cultural goods in the former Polish territory" together with

Ernst Petersen Ernst Petersen (6 June 1906 - 30 March 1959) was a German architect and actor. Although Petersen was very successful as an architect and several of his buildings are now listed as historical monuments, he achieved greater fame in the short period ...

in the plunder of the

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...

archaeological museum in

Łazienki Park Łazienki Park or Royal Baths Park ( pl, Park Łazienkowski, Łazienki Królewskie) is the largest park in Warsaw, Poland, occupying 76 hectares of the city center. The park-and-palace complex lies in Warsaw's central district ('' Śródmieście ...

. He transported five crate loads to

Poznań Poznań () is a city on the River Warta in west-central Poland, within the Greater Poland region. The city is an important cultural and business centre, and one of Poland's most populous regions with many regional customs such as Saint John ...

on 30 November, after Standartenführer Mühlmann had given the order for such activity to cease, and founded a new collection and museum in Poznań. He was suspended in September 1940 from the position of a general trustee in Poznań due to his misunderstanding of his function, because the Gestapo expected him to plunder public and private art and cultural objects, that he did not follow.

Reputation

In contrast to some academics who were part of the

Ahnenerbe The Ahnenerbe (, ''ancestral heritage'') operated as a think tank in Nazi Germany between 1935 and 1945. Heinrich Himmler, the ''Reichsführer-SS'' from 1929 onwards, established it in July 1935 as an SS appendage devoted to the task of promot ...

, Schleif enjoyed a strong international reputation, something he shared with a handful of fellow Nazi archaeologists such as

Herbert Jankuhn Herbert Jankuhn (8 August 1905 – 30 April 1990) was a German archaeologist of Prussian Lithuanian heritage who specialized in the archaeology of Germanic peoples. He is best known for his excavations at the Viking Age site of Hedeby, and for h ...

. Schleif was never comfortable in the Ahnenerbe, given the group's tendencies towards racial pseudo-science, and he conspired with

Wolfram Sievers Wolfram Sievers (10 July 1905 – 2 June 1948) was ''Reichsgeschäftsführer'', or managing director, of the Ahnenerbe from 1935 to 1945. Early life Sievers was born in 1905 in Hildesheim in the Province of Hanover (now in Lower Saxony), the son ...

to delay indefinitely a scheme suggested by

Gunther Kirchhoff Gundaharius or Gundahar (died 437), better known by his legendary names Gunther ( gmh, Gunther) or Gunnar ( non, Gunnarr), was a historical king of Burgundy in the early 5th century. Gundahar is attested as ruling his people shortly after they ...

and

Karl Maria Wiligut Karl Maria Wiligut (alias Weisthor, Jarl Widar, Lobesam; 10 December 1866 – 3 January 1946) was an Austrian occultist and SS-Brigadeführer. Early life Wiligut was baptised a Roman Catholic in Vienna. At the age of 14, he joined the ''Kadetten ...

, and endorsed by

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 ...

, to excavate a valley near Kirchhoff's home town of

Gaggenau Gaggenau is a town in the district of Rastatt, in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is located some 8 km northeast of Baden-Baden. History Gaggenau was first mentioned in local records in 1243 under the name "Gaggenaw". The present district ...

after Kirchhoff had decided that it housed an ancient Teutonic religious complex.

Death

On 27 April 1945, around 11 pm, Schleif killed his wife, Lora, and twin 18-month old sons Alexander and Konstantin before taking his own life.Julian Klein, "Hans Schleif", Yearbook of the German Institute of Archaeology, Berlin 2016, https://www.academia.edu/38373180/>

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Schlief, Hans 1902 births 1945 deaths 1945 suicides 20th-century German architects Archaeologists from Hesse Familicides German murderers of children Joint suicides by Nazis Nazis who committed suicide in Germany People from Wiesbaden SS-Standartenführer Waffen-SS personnel