Hermann Wilhelm Souchon (; 2 January 1895 – 1982) was a German Naval officer who, according to the testimonies of two accomplices, executed Rosa Luxemburg on 15 January 1919 in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

Biography

Souchon, a nephew of Admiral

Wilhelm Souchon Wilhelm Anton Souchon (; 2 June 1864 – 13 January 1946) was a German admiral in World War I. Souchon commanded the ''Kaiserliche Marine''s Mediterranean squadron in the early days of the war. His initiatives played a major part in the entry o ...

, was born in Bromberg, Province of Posen (Bydgoscz, Poland). He served in the

First World War 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 ...

as lieutenant in an artillery regiment. In 1915, he went to the Imperial Navy as an

ensign An ensign is the national flag flown on a vessel to indicate nationality. The ensign is the largest flag, generally flown at the stern (rear) of the ship while in port. The naval ensign (also known as war ensign), used on warships, may be diffe ...

. After the end of the war, he was discharged and became a member of

Marinebrigade Ehrhardt The Marinebrigade Ehrhardt, also known as the Ehrhardt Brigade, was a Freikorps unit of the early Weimar Republic. It was formed on 17 February 1919 as the Second Marine Brigade from members of the former Imperial German Navy under the lead ...

. This

Freikorps (, "Free Corps" or "Volunteer Corps") were irregular German and other European military volunteer units, or paramilitary, that existed from the 18th to the early 20th centuries. They effectively fought as mercenary or private armies, rega ...

was active in Berlin in January 1919, as part of the ''Garde-Kavallerie-Schützen-Division'' under General Lieutenant Heinrich von Hofmann. On 15 January 1919, Rosa Luxemburg and

Karl Liebknecht Karl Paul August Friedrich Liebknecht (; 13 August 1871 – 15 January 1919) was a German socialist and anti-militarist. A member of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) beginning in 1900, he was one of its deputies in the Reichstag fro ...

were captured at

Berlin-Wilmersdorf Wilmersdorf (), an inner-city locality of Berlin, lies south-west of the central city. Formerly a borough by itself, Wilmersdorf became part of the new borough of Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf in Berlin's 2001 administrative reform. History The vi ...

by the Garde-Kavallerie-Schützendivision and brought to their headquarters at Hotel Eden. Captain

Waldemar Pabst Ernst Julius Waldemar Pabst (24 December 1880 – 29 May 1970) was a German soldier and political activist, involved in right-wing and anti-communist activity in both his homeland and Austria. As a serving officer Pabst gained notoriety for orde ...

, along with Horst von Pflugk-Harttung questioned them and gave the order to execute them. When they were being transported, Souchon jumped onto the car. He is one of two people accused of having shot Luxemburg in the head after Otto Runge had knocked her down with a rifle butt. In 1920, he flew to

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

where he worked as a bank clerk and became a sympathizer of the Lapua movement. After

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 ...

had granted amnesty to those involved in the murders of Liebknecht and Luxemburg, Souchon returned to Germany in 1935 and joined the

Luftwaffe The ''Luftwaffe'' () was the aerial-warfare branch of the German ''Wehrmacht'' before and during World War II. Germany's military air arms during World War I, the ''Luftstreitkräfte'' of the Imperial Army and the '' Marine-Fliegerabtei ...

, where he rose to the rank of colonel (''

Oberst ''Oberst'' () is a senior field officer rank in several German-speaking and Scandinavian countries, equivalent to colonel. It is currently used by both the ground and air forces of Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Denmark, and Norway. The Swedish ...

'') during the war. After the war he lived in

Bad Godesberg Bad Godesberg ( ksh, Bad Jodesbersch) is a borough ('' Stadtbezirk'') of Bonn, southern North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. From 1949 to 1999, while Bonn was the capital of West Germany, most foreign embassies were in Bad Godesberg. Some buildings ar ...

. When a documentary report on the Liebknecht-Luxemburg story was first shown in 1969 on German television ARD, Souchon with his lawyer Otto Kranzbühler sued the broadcaster, which had to retract their statement of Souchon's guilt in February 1970. Since the 1980s, the documentary has been shown again a few times and is now publicly available.''Der Fall Liebknecht-Luxemburg. Eine Semidokumentation von Dieter Ertel und Gustav Strübel. Fernsehspiel für das Deutsche Fernsehen vom SDR / SWR.'' Documentary by Süddeutscher Rundfunk and

Südwestrundfunk Südwestrundfunk (SWR; ''Southwest Broadcasting'') is a regional public broadcasting corporation serving the southwest of Germany , specifically the federal states of Baden-Württemberg and Rhineland-Palatinate. The corporation has main offices ...

References

External links

''Die Mörder Rosa Luxemburgs''
In: Geo Epoche, Nr. 27, August 2007

Wolfram Wette Wolfram Wette (born 11 November 1940) is a German military historian and peace researcher. He is an author or editor of over 40 books on the history of Nazi Germany, including the seminal '' Germany and the Second World War'' series from the ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Souchon, Hermann 1890s births 1982 deaths Military personnel from Bydgoszcz People from the Province of Posen Imperial German Navy personnel of World War I Luftwaffe personnel of World War II German assassins 20th-century Freikorps personnel German Army personnel of World War I

Biography

Further reading

References

External links