Walter Schultze (1 January 189416 August 1979) was a German physician and ''Reichsdozentenführer'' (Reich Leader of University Teachers) in

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 ...

between 1935 and 1943.

Early life and career

Schultze was born on 1 January 1894 in

Hersbruck Hersbruck () is a small town in Middle Franconia, Bavaria, Germany, belonging to the district Nürnberger Land. It is best known for the late-gothic artwork of the Hersbruck altar, the "Hirtenmuseum" and the landscape of Hersbruck Switzerland. Hi ...

in the

German Empire The German Empire (),Herbert Tuttle wrote in September 1881 that the term "Reich" does not literally connote an empire as has been commonly assumed by English-speaking people. The term literally denotes an empire – particularly a hereditary ...

. Schultze was an aviator 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 ...

. Thereafter he served in the ''

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, regar ...

'' under the command of

Franz Ritter von Epp Franz Ritter von Epp (born Franz Epp; from 1918 as Ritter von Epp; 16 October 1868 – 31 January 1947)Lilla, Joachim: Epp, Franz Ritter v.'. In: Staatsminister, leitende Verwaltungsbeamte und (NS-)Funktionsträger in Bayern 1918 bis 19 ...

. Schultze had been involved 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 ...

since its founding in 1919. He was involved in the

Munich Beer Hall Putsch The Beer Hall Putsch, also known as the Munich Putsch,Dan Moorhouse, ed schoolshistory.org.uk, accessed 2008-05-31.Known in German as the or was a failed coup d'état by Nazi Party ( or NSDAP) leader Adolf Hitler, Erich Ludendorff and oth ...

in 1923, organising the

getaway car A crime scene getaway is the act of fleeing the location where one has broken the law. It is an act that the offender(s) may or may not have planned in detail, resulting in a variety of outcomes. A :crime scene is the "location of a crime; e ...

. He was appointed head SA doctor in 1923. Later, Schultze moved into politics, serving as a deputy of the Bavarian parliament between 1926 and 1931. In November 1933, Schultze became Director of the Bavarian Ministry of Justice and head of the Public Health Department of the Ministry of the Interior. Two years later, Schultze began the role for which he was best known, as Reich Leader of University Teachers. During his tenure, Schultze played a key part in implementing Nazi racial policies, asserting that the success of German universities depended on having "the type of the combat-ready political, National Socialist fighters who regard their 'Volk' as the supreme good". Schultze was ''Reichsdozentenführer'' until 1943. Schultze was also involved in the

T-4 Euthanasia Program (German, ) was a campaign of mass murder by involuntary euthanasia in Nazi Germany. The term was first used in post-war trials against doctors who had been involved in the killings. The name T4 is an abbreviation of 4, a street address of t ...

. At least 380 cases of aiding and abetting the killing of disabled people were traced to him. In 1960, he was sentenced to four years' imprisonment. Schultze died on 16 August 1979 in

Krailling Krailling is a municipality in the district of Starnberg in Bavaria, Germany. Notable residents * The folk actor Gustl Bayrhammer (1922-1993) died in Krailling and was buried there. * The sculptor Rudolf Belling (1886-1972) lived and died in ...

, near

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

References

Bibliography

*Zenter, Christian and Bedürftig, Friedemann (1991).

Encyclopedia of the Third Reich ''The Encyclopedia of the Third Reich'' is a two-volume text edited by and , first published in German in 1985. ''The Encyclopedia of the Third Reich'' is leading source material for information about Nazi Germany and the reign of Adolf Hitler a ...

, p. 848. New York: Macmillan. {{DEFAULTSORT:Schultze, Walter 1894 births 1979 deaths Holocaust perpetrators in Germany Aktion T4 personnel Sturmabteilung personnel 20th-century Freikorps personnel People from Hersbruck Nazis convicted of crimes