Hans Walz (born 21 March 1883 in

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; Swabian: ; ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known as the ''Stuttgarter Kessel'' (Stuttgart Cauldron) and lies an hour from the ...

; died 23 April 1974) was a German merchant, and from 1926 to 1963 he was the managing director of

Robert Bosch GmbH Robert Bosch GmbH (; ), commonly known as Bosch and stylized as BOSCH, is a German multinational engineering and technology company headquartered in Gerlingen, Germany. The company was founded by Robert Bosch in Stuttgart in 1886. Bosch is 9 ...

. After attending high school, Walz completed a two-year apprenticeship in banking and then worked in banking and wholesale. In 1912 he occupied a commercial administrative post at Bosch and was assigned as personal secretary of

Robert Bosch Robert Bosch (23 September 1861 – 12 March 1942) was a German industrialist, engineer and inventor, founder of Robert Bosch GmbH. Biography Bosch was born in Albeck, a village to the northeast of Ulm in southern Germany as the eleventh of t ...

in its asset management. In 1919 he was appointed to the supervisory board of the company. He was also a member of the Supervisory Board of the Stuttgart Homeopathic Hospital Society. In the

Weimar Republic The Weimar Republic (german: link=no, Weimarer Republik ), officially named the German Reich, was the government of Germany from 1918 to 1933, during which it was a constitutional federal republic for the first time in history; hence it is al ...

Walz was a member of the Association for the Defense against Anti-Semitism as well as a friend of Karl Adler. In addition to his membership of the Committee of the Advisory Council of the Church the Protestant Church in Württemberg, his membership led to a negative assessment brought by the Sicherheitsdienst in 1942. In 1933, Walz and other high-ranking Bosch employees filed applications for admission in 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 ...

(membership number 3,433,104). Admission requests were processed in late summer and fall, and Walz's membership was granted retroactively to May 1 of that year. Walz was also an SS member (membership number 155.369) and member of the Freundeskreis der Wirtschaft, where Kreis-Manager

Fritz Kranefuss Friedrich Carl Arthur Kranefuß (19 October 1900 in Herford – 1945), known as Fritz Kranefuß, was a German industrialist and a ''Wehrwirtschaftsführer'' (Military Economy Leader) in the Third Reich. Kranefuss was on the board of Braunekohle-Be ...

complained to the Reichsführer that there were "unpleasant discussions" with Walz. Nevertheless, at the end of 1943 or early 1944, he was still appointed

Wehrwirtschaftsführer ''Wehrwirtschaftsführer'' (WeWiFü) were, during the time of Nazi Germany (1933–1945), executives of companies or big factories called ''rüstungswichtiger Betrieb'' (company important for the production of war materials). ''Wehrwirtschaft ...

. From 1938 to 1940, Walz had financed the emigration of Jews for Karl Adler, for which he was awarded the title of Righteous Among the Nations in 1969 by Israel. He is one of the few Nazi Party members to be honoured this way, along with

Oskar Schindler Oskar Schindler (; 28 April 1908 – 9 October 1974) was a German industrialist, humanitarian and a member of the Nazi Party who is credited with saving the lives of 1,200 Jews during the Holocaust by employing them in his enamelware and amm ...

Georg Ferdinand Duckwitz Georg Ferdinand Duckwitz (; 29 September 1904, Bremen – 16 February 1973) was a German diplomat. During World War II, he served as an attaché for Nazi Germany in occupied Denmark. He tipped off the Danes about the Germans' intended deportatio ...

Helmut Kleinicke Helmut Kleinicke (; 19 November 1907 – 1979) was a German engineer who supervised construction projects near Auschwitz concentration camp and saved Jews during the Holocaust. Kleinicke was named Righteous Among the Nations in 2018; he is one o ...

, and Karl Plagge. In 1953, Walz was awarded the Great Cross of Merit with Star of the Federal Republic of Germany. In 1958 and 1959, he was first treasurer of the liberal

Friedrich Naumann Foundation The Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom (german: Friedrich-Naumann-Stiftung für die Freiheit) (''FNF''), is a German foundation for liberal politics, related to the Free Democratic Party. Established in 1958 by Theodor Heuss, the first pres ...

. His mentor

was personally involved in Friedrich Naumann's citizenship school.

References

Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Walz, Hans 1883 births 1974 deaths Businesspeople from Stuttgart German Righteous Among the Nations Knights Commander of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Nazi Party members SS personnel Bosch (company)