Ulrich von Coler was an '' Oberleutnant'' in the Imperial German Army during

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 ...

and an ''

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 ...

'' in the Finnish White Guard and ''

Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the ''Heer'' (army), the '' Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmacht''" replaced the previo ...

Heer'' in

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 opposing ...

. During the

Finnish Civil War The Finnish Civil War; . Other designations: Brethren War, Citizen War, Class War, Freedom War, Red Rebellion and Revolution, . According to 1,005 interviews done by the newspaper ''Aamulehti'', the most popular names were as follows: Civil W ...

, he was one of 38 German officers in Finland and commanded the in

Hanko Hanko may refer to People *August Hanko (military personnel), August Hanko, German First World War flying ace Places *Hanko, Finland, town and municipality *Hanko Peninsula, Finland *Hankø, an island in the Oslo Fjord in Norway *The asteroid ...

. In 1919, Coler wrote a book called "''Suomalaisten jääkärien parissa: muistelmia yhteistyön ajoilta 1915–1918''" (''With the Finnish Jägers 1915–1918''), a curriculum vitae of his time in Finland during the First World War. During the

Second World War 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 opposi ...

, he was assigned command of a Feldgendarmerie unit, Feldkommandantur 810 (FK 810), and oversaw and perpetrated war crimes in

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 populou ...

and the

Crimea Crimea, crh, Къырым, Qırım, grc, Κιμμερία / Ταυρική, translit=Kimmería / Taurikḗ ( ) is a peninsula in Ukraine, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, that has been occupied by Russia since 2014. It has a pop ...

Early life and World War I

Coler was born 6 December 1885, in Küstrin (Modern day

), in the

Kingdom of Prussia The Kingdom of Prussia (german: Königreich Preußen, ) was a German kingdom that constituted the state of Prussia between 1701 and 1918. Marriott, J. A. R., and Charles Grant Robertson. ''The Evolution of Prussia, the Making of an Empire''. ...

. He was born to a military family and his father, once the Imperial district commander of

Bielefeld Bielefeld () is a city in the Ostwestfalen-Lippe Region in the north-east of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. With a population of 341,755, it is also the most populous city in the administrative region (''Regierungsbezirk'') of Detmold and the ...

, sent Coler to a military school once he completed basic schooling in 1906. He enlisted in the

German Imperial Army The Imperial German Army (1871–1919), officially referred to as the German Army (german: Deutsches Heer), was the unified ground and air force of the German Empire. It was established in 1871 with the political unification of Germany under the ...

in 1915 in the town of Lockstedt as a

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often ...

. The next year, Coler was sent to fight in the

as a captain, along with 38 other German officers, to command a 1258-strong Third Company of the Finnish 27th Jäger Battalion in

Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...

. In early March 1918, Coler arrived in Finland, becoming the commander of the Finnish 2nd Division, where he remained until the victory of the White Finns over the communists in the Finnish Civil War. In 1917, Coler married

Edith von Coler Edith von Coler (also: Edit Von Coler; Edith Heinemann, 9 July 1895 — 14 May 1949) was a German propagandist who acted as an agent of influence and unofficial diplomatic conduit in the Kingdom of Romania before and during World War II. Family ...

and had a daughter, named Jutta, in 1919. Three years later they separated.

World War II

Coler had intended to become a career officer, but he was not included 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 ...

's 100,000-man army. Embittered, Coler blamed the recent revolutions in his 1919 '' curriculum vitae'' for the end of his military career. Now aimless like many other post-war junior officers, Coler had to take on more temporary civilian work but wanted to make his military training, education, and experience work for him, which landed him a job as the chief of a Finnish Schutzkorps, but he also made money writing romanticized war literature for a local magazine. When 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 ...

reintroduced conscription, Coler returned to Germany and reenlisted in the

, which gave him command of a regiment in the

invasion of Poland The invasion of Poland (1 September – 6 October 1939) was a joint attack on the Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union which marked the beginning of World War II. The German invasion began on 1 September 1939, one week aft ...

in 1939. After the Battle of France in 1940, Coler got FK 810 transferred back to the Eastern Front.

Personality and views

After the war, former subordinates of Coler testified in 1953 before the

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf ( , , ; often in English sources; Low Franconian and Ripuarian language, Ripuarian: ''Düsseldörp'' ; archaic nl, Dusseldorp ) is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second- ...

district court that their commander was arrogant, strict, and unapproachable, was proud of his noble Prussian heritage, referred to himself in the third person, and demanded his orders be followed to the letter. Former members of Feldkommandantur 810 also testified that Coler was a supporter of the

and their policies, and that he boastfully alluded to personally shooting Poles and Jews during Fall Weiss. Coler's superiors also thought of him as an ardent

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 ...

, "one who understood the National Socialist ideology," according to a 1943 report.

Notes

References

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Early life and World War I

World War II

Personality and views

Notes

References

Further reading