Hermann Robert Josef Senkowsky (July 31, 1897 in

Scheibbs Scheibbs () is a town in Austria in the Scheibbs district of Lower Austria. In 1886, it became the first town in Austria to have street lighting powered by electricity. Population Mayors *1950-1965: Anton Herok *1965-1983: Alois Derfler *1983- ...

– April 5, 1965 in

Innsbruck Innsbruck (; bar, Innschbruck, label=Bavarian language, Austro-Bavarian ) is the capital of Tyrol (state), Tyrol and the List of cities and towns in Austria, fifth-largest city in Austria. On the Inn (river), River Inn, at its junction with the ...

) was an Austrian customs officer and SS-Führer. He also was chief president finance of the

General Government The General Government (german: Generalgouvernement, pl, Generalne Gubernatorstwo, uk, Генеральна губернія), also referred to as the General Governorate for the Occupied Polish Region (german: Generalgouvernement für die be ...

, which would correlate to finance minister of

occupied Poland ' (Norwegian: ') is a Norwegian political thriller TV series that premiered on TV2 on 5 October 2015. Based on an original idea by Jo Nesbø, the series is co-created with Karianne Lund and Erik Skjoldbjærg. Season 2 premiered on 10 October 2 ...

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. He is also known in

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

for his 1928 customs instructions for Austria, which are, in a modified version, still in use today.

Life

Senkowsky went to school in

St. Pölten ST, St, or St. may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Stanza, in poetry * Suicidal Tendencies, an American heavy metal/hardcore punk band * Star Trek, a science-fiction media franchise * Summa Theologica, a compendium of Catholic philosophy ...

, where he finished secondary school in 1915. He then joined the armed forces of Austria-Hungary as a volunteer in the

k.u.k. The phrase Imperial and Royal (German: ''kaiserlich und königlich'', ), typically abbreviated as ''k. u. k.'', ''k. und k.'', ''k. & k.'' in German (the "und" is always spoken unabbreviated), ''cs. és k. (császári és királyi)'' in Hungari ...

Feldkanonen-Regiment 5, Brünn. He was transferred to the front in

Volhynia Volhynia (also spelled Volynia) ( ; uk, Воли́нь, Volyn' pl, Wołyń, russian: Волы́нь, Volýnʹ, ), is a historic region in Central and Eastern Europe, between south-eastern Poland, south-western Belarus, and western Ukraine. Th ...

. He reached the rank of

Oberleutnant () is the highest lieutenant officer rank in the German-speaking armed forces of Germany (Bundeswehr), the Austrian Armed Forces, and the Swiss Armed Forces. Austria Germany In the German Army, it dates from the early 19th century. Trans ...

and was an

artillery battery In military organizations, an artillery battery is a unit or multiple systems of artillery, mortar systems, rocket artillery, multiple rocket launchers, surface-to-surface missiles, ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, etc., so grouped to fac ...

commander at the end of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. From 1919 to 1922 he studied

jurisprudence Jurisprudence, or legal theory, is the theoretical study of the propriety of law. Scholars of jurisprudence seek to explain the nature of law in its most general form and they also seek to achieve a deeper understanding of legal reasoning a ...

and

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

. During this time he joined the

Greater German People's Party The Greater German People's Party (German ''Großdeutsche Volkspartei'', abbreviated GDVP) was a German nationalist and national liberal political party during the First Republic of Austria, established in 1920. Foundation After World War I and ...

. After his

doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism ''l ...

in 1922 he became a civil servant in the finance administration and in 1928 published his ''Zollwachvorschrift'', customs instructions for Austria, which are, in a modified version, still in use today. In January 1930 he was promoted to Ministerialsekretär. Senkowsky was a member 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 ...

(#1,089,376) since May 20, 1932 and member of the SS (#310,369) since November 9, 1934. He was relieved of his office in 1934 for his membership in the NSDAP, which was an illegal party in Austria at the time. In November 1934 he was arrested for participating in the July Putsch, but was released due to lack of evidence. In May 1935 he was arrested for being a member of the NSDAP and was kept in jail until March 1936. Shortly after his release he fled to

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

because he was supposed to be arrested again for his activities as a

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 ...

. In May 1936 he became a German citizen and worked for the

finance ministry A finance minister is an executive or cabinet position in charge of one or more of government finances, economic policy and financial regulation. A finance minister's portfolio has a large variety of names around the world, such as "treasury", " ...

under SS-Gruppenführer

Wilhelm Keppler Wilhelm Karl Keppler (14 December 1882 – 13 June 1960) was a German businessman and one of Adolf Hitler's early financial backers. Introduced to Hitler by Heinrich Himmler, Keppler helped to finance the Nazi Party and later served as one of Hi ...

.Werner Präg / Wolfgang Jacobmeyer (Hrsg.): ''Das Diensttagebuch des deutschen Generalgouverneurs in Polen 1939–1945'', Stuttgart 1975, S. 953 After the

Anschluss The (, or , ), also known as the (, en, Annexation of Austria), was the annexation of the Federal State of Austria into the German Reich on 13 March 1938. The idea of an (a united Austria and Germany that would form a " Greater Germany ...

he was president finance (customs) in

Upper Austria Upper Austria (german: Oberösterreich ; bar, Obaöstareich) is one of the nine states or of Austria. Its capital is Linz. Upper Austria borders Germany and the Czech Republic, as well as the other Austrian states of Lower Austria, Styria, a ...

, chief president finance in

Linz Linz ( , ; cs, Linec) is the capital of Upper Austria and third-largest city in Austria. In the north of the country, it is on the Danube south of the Czech border. In 2018, the population was 204,846. In 2009, it was a European Capital of ...

and

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

. After the occupation of Poland he was transferred to the

, where he was president finance and director of the monopolies, until he became SS-Oberführer and chief president finance in January 1942, which correlates to finance minister of

. After the end of World War II, Senkowsky was arrested by allied forces. He was released in 1947, because

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

did not ask for his extradition as a war criminal. After that he lived and worked in Innsbruck where he was in charge of the Tyrolean Foreign-Trade Zone.

Awards and decorations

* Medal for Bravery (Austria-Hungary) * Military Merit Medal (Austria-Hungary) *

Karl Troop Cross The Karl Troop Cross (german: Karl-Truppenkreuz) was instituted on 13 December 1916 by Emperor Karl I of Austria-Hungary. The cross was awarded for service up to the end of the First World War to soldiers and sailors of all arms of the Austro-Hunga ...

SS Zivilabzeichen The SS Zivilabzeichen (-Z.A.) was a Political decorations of the Nazi Party#SS and Police Decorations, badge of the SS issued between the years of 1933 and 1938 to SS members. Translated as "SS Civil Badge", the ''SS Zivilabzeichen'' was a small l ...

(#169.582) * Honour Chevron for the Old Guard *

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 ...

I. and II. class * Honour Cross of the World War * Sudetenland Medal with Prague Castle Bar * Bulgarian order for civil merit, knight commander

Books

*''Die Dienstpragmatik: Gesetz vom 25.1. 1914, RGBl. Nr. 15, unter Berücksichtigung der bis 1.12. 1928 eingetretenen Veränderungen mit den Durchführungsvorschriften'', Herausgeber Hermann Senkowsky, Verlag Manz, 1929 *''Die österreichische Zollwachvorschrift samt den einschlägigen Gesetzen, Verordnungen und Erlässen'', Author Hermann Senkowsky, Verlag Manz, 1928

Literature

*''Höchste Nazi-Beamte im General-Gouvernement in Polen in den Kriegsjahren 1939-45'', von Towiah Friedman, Verlag Institute of Documentation in Israel, 2002.Google Booksearch
/ref> * Ernst Klee: ''Das Personenlexikon zum Dritten Reich''. Fischer, Frankfurt am Main 2007. . (Aktualisierte 2. Auflage) * Werner Präg / Wolfgang Jacobmeyer (Hrsg.): ''Das Diensttagebuch des deutschen Generalgouverneurs in Polen 1939–1945''. Veröffentlichungen des Instituts für Zeitgeschichte, Quellen und Darstellungen zur Zeitgeschichte Band 20, Stuttgart 1975, .

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Senkowsky, Hermann Austro-Hungarian military personnel of World War I Greater German People's Party politicians Nazi Party politicians SS-Oberführer Austrian Nazis 1897 births 1965 deaths Recipients of the Medal for Bravery (Austria-Hungary) German nationalists Austrian people of Slavic descent