Ulrich Graf (6 July 1878 – 3 March 1950) was an early 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 political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported t ...
and one of
Adolf 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 ...
's inner circle. In 1923, he served in a bodyguard unit for Hitler and was wounded in the
Beer Hall Putsch. He was a long serving member of the
Munich
Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...
City Council and the
Supreme Party Court and in 1936 was elected to the ''
Reichstag''. After the war ended, Graf was sentenced to five years of hard labor and died in 1950.
Biography
Shortly after 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 ...
, Graf became a member of the
German Workers' Party
The German Workers' Party (german: Deutsche Arbeiterpartei, DAP) was a short-lived far-right political party established in Weimar Germany after World War I. It was the precursor of the Nazi Party, which was officially known as the National Soc ...
(DAP). Later, the DAP was renamed the National Socialist German Workers' Party (NSDAP; Nazi Party) and taken over by Adolf Hitler. Founded in 1920, the ''
Sturmabteilung'' (SA) was the first of many paramilitary protection squads that worked to protect Nazi officials. These storm troopers, outfitted in brown uniforms, were initially charged with the duty of keeping order at Nazi Party meetings. They soon expanded their role to include disruption of rival political party's functions. Graf was an early member of the SA.
Graf, a former butcher and amateur wrestler, was selected by Hitler as a personal bodyguard. Graf was a member of a small unit formed in 1923 for Hitler's protection, which became known as ''
Stoßtrupp-Hitler''. At that time the bodyguard unit numbered no more than 20 men, including Ulrich Graf.
![Bundesarchiv Bild 119-1412, Ulrich Graf](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7a/Bundesarchiv_Bild_119-1412%2C_Ulrich_Graf.jpg)
That same year, Graf took part in the ill-fated
Beer Hall Putsch in November. When the column of SA troops approached the blocking detachment of police, Graf, stepped forward and shouted "Don't shoot. His Excellency
General Ludendorff is coming." Unfortunately a single shot was fired setting off a volley of shots by both sides. The firing lasted for only sixty seconds, but in that time sixteen SA troops and four policemen lay dead.
"Police opened fire and Graf took a bullet to the shoulder before throwing himself on Hitler and taking five bullets.”
Hitler was convicted of high treason and sentenced to five years in prison. He only served nine months, not including his time in remand.
In December 1924, Graf was elected City Councillor in
Munich
Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...
and took office 1 January 1925.
In a meeting with Bavaria authorities in January 1925, Hitler agreed to respect the authority of the state and promised that he would seek political power only through the democratic process. The meeting paved the way for the ban on the NSDAP to be lifted on 16 February. When Hitler re-established the Party on 27 February, Graf joined as member number 8. When later that year Hitler set up the
Committee for Investigation and Settlement to settle Party disputes internally before they became public, Graf was made a member of the three man Party tribunal. He would continue to serve on this panel after the
Nazi seizure of power when it became the Supreme Party Court. In 1929, he was re-elected as City Councillor. By 1933, he was a ''
Sturmbannführer
__NOTOC__
''Sturmbannführer'' (; ) was a Nazi Party paramilitary rank equivalent to major that was used in several Nazi organizations, such as the SA, SS, and the NSFK. The rank originated from German shock troop units of the First World War ...
'' in the
SS and would attain the rank of ''
Brigadeführer
''Brigadeführer'' (, ) was a paramilitary rank of the Nazi Party (NSDAP) that was used between the years of 1932 to 1945. It was mainly known for its use as an SS rank. As an SA rank, it was used after briefly being known as ''Untergruppenf ...
'' in 1943.
After the war ended, in 1948 Graf was sentenced to five years of hard labor. He died in March 1950.
His family sold his possessions, to break with his past. His ''
Blutorden
The Blood Order (german: Blutorden), officially known as the "Decoration in Memory (of the Munich putsch) of 9 November 1923" (), was one of the most prestigious decorations in the Nazi Party (NSDAP). During March 1934, Hitler authorized the Bl ...
'' (Blood Order) medal was sold by a British collector in 2019 for £36,000, nine times the estimate at Hansons, Derbyshire, to an overseas buyer.
See also
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Graf, Ulrich
1878 births
1950 deaths
members of the Reichstag of Nazi Germany
military personnel of Bavaria
Nazis who participated in the Beer Hall Putsch
people from Dillingen (district)
people from the Kingdom of Bavaria
SS-Brigadeführer
Sturmabteilung personnel