Ludolf-Hermann Emmanuel Georg Kurt Werner von Alvensleben (17 March 1901 – 1 April 1970) was an SS functionary of

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 ...

. He held positions of SS and Police Leader in occupied Poland and the Soviet Union, and was indicted for war crimes including the killing of at least 4,247 Poles by units under his command.

Early life and career

Alvensleben was born in Halle in the Prussian Province of Saxony into the noble family von Alvensleben. His father was

Prussian Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an e ...

Major General

Ludolf von Alvensleben Ludolf-Hermann Emmanuel Georg Kurt Werner von Alvensleben (17 March 1901 – 1 April 1970) was an SS functionary of Nazi Germany. He held positions of SS and Police Leader in occupied Poland and the Soviet Union, and was indicted for war crim ...

(1844–1912). Ludolf's father had already retired from active service to administer the family's manor around Schochwitz castle, which had been inherited from Alvensleben's grandfather, the Prussian general Hermann von Alvensleben (1809–1887). Alvensleben enlisted in the Prussian

cadet corps A corps of cadets, also called cadet corps, was originally a kind of military school for boys. Initially such schools admitted only sons of the nobility or gentry, but in time many of the schools were opened also to members of other social classes ...

in 1911, and in 1918 joined the

10th (Magdeburg) Hussars The 10th (Magdeburg) Hussars Regiment ''( ger, Magdeburgisches Husaren-Regiment Nr. 10)'' were a Prussian Light cavalry regiment of the IV Corps that was formed in late 1813 during the War of the Sixth Coalition against Napoleon after the Battle ...

Regiment, but did not fight in

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 ...

. He was briefly a member in a paramilitary ''

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 ...

'' unit in 1920. Between 1923 and July 1929, he was a member of the nationalist ''

Der Stahlhelm ' (German, 'The Steel Helmet, League of Front-Line Soldiers'), commonly known as ''Der Stahlhelm'' ('The Steel Helmet'), was a German First World War veteran's organisation existing from 1918 to 1935. It was part of the "Black Reichswehr" and ...

'' organization. Upon the death of his father in December 1912, he inherited the family's manor at Schochwitz. He wed Melitta von Guaita on 3 May 1924; the marriage produced four children. He also later fathered a natural son raised as a ''

Lebensborn Lebensborn e.V. (literally: "Fount of Life") was an SS-initiated, state-supported, registered association in Nazi Germany with the stated goal of increasing the number of children born who met the Nazi standards of "racially pure" and "hea ...

'' child.

Nazi party and SS career

Bundesarchiv Bild 183-H28245, Berlin, Kundgebung des HJ-Landdienstes

Alvensleben joined the

NSDAP 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 SA in 1929. He soon became head of the local branch in

Eisleben Eisleben is a town in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is famous as both the hometown of the influential theologian Martin Luther and the place where he died; hence, its official name is Lutherstadt Eisleben. First mentioned in the late 10th century, E ...

and chief district official in

Mansfeld Land Mansfeld, sometimes also unofficially Mansfeld-Lutherstadt, is a town in the district of Mansfeld-Südharz, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Protestant Reformation, Protestant reformator Martin Luther grew up in Mansfeld, and in 1993 the town became ...

. From July 1931, he chaired the motorized corps of the SA in the '' Gau'' of Halle-Merseburg. Alvensleben left the SA in 1932; at that time he was heavily indebted and had a considerable criminal record on charges which included libel and road traffic offence. After the '' Machtergreifung'', he and ''Gauleiter'' Rudolf Jordan on 12 February 1933, organized a violent attack of SA and SS paramilitaries on Communist officials in Eisleben, whereby three men were killed and many others injured, an event later known as Eisleben Bloody Sunday. In March 1933, Alvensleben became a member of the provincial diet and of the

Prussian Landtag The Landtag of Prussia (german: Preußischer Landtag) was the representative assembly of the Kingdom of Prussia implemented in 1849, a bicameral legislature consisting of the upper House of Lords (''Herrenhaus'') and the lower House of Represent ...

; from 12 November 1933, he also was a member of the Reichstag. On 5 April 1934, he joined the SS and became commander of the 46th Regiment in

Dresden Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label= Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth ...

in the rank of ''

Obersturmbannführer __NOTOC__ ''Obersturmbannführer'' (Senior Assault-unit Leader; ; short: ''Ostubaf'') was a paramilitary rank in the German Nazi Party (NSDAP) which was used by the SA ('' Sturmabteilung'') and the SS (''Schutzstaffel''). The rank of ''Oberstu ...

''. On 22 August 1934, Alvensleben received a reprimand by ''

Reichsführer-SS (, ) was a special title and rank that existed between the years of 1925 and 1945 for the commander of the (SS). ''Reichsführer-SS'' was a title from 1925 to 1933, and from 1934 to 1945 it was the highest rank of the SS. The longest-servi ...

Heinrich Himmler Heinrich Luitpold Himmler (; 7 October 1900 – 23 May 1945) was of the (Protection Squadron; SS), and a leading member of the Nazi Party of Germany. Himmler was one of the most powerful men in Nazi Germany and a main architect of th ...

for having insulted a woman in Leipzig in April. From 1 October 1935, he assumed the leadership of the 26th SS-Regiment in his hometown Halle. His advancement continued: he became commander of SS-District X in Stuttgart on 20 September 1936 and commander of SS-District XXXIII in

Schwerin Schwerin (; Mecklenburgian Low German: ''Swerin''; Latin: ''Suerina'', ''Suerinum'') is the capital and second-largest city of the northeastern German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern as well as of the region of Mecklenburg, after Rostock. It ...

on 1 July 1937. Alvensleben's career continued after the 1939

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 ...

as commander of the ''

Volksdeutscher Selbstschutz The ''Volksdeutscher Selbstschutz'' was an ethnic German self-protection militia, a paramilitary organization consisting of ethnic German (''Volksdeutsche'') mobilized from among the German minority in Poland. The ''Volksdeutscher Selbstschut ...

'' (“German Self-Defense”) organization in what was to become the newly established

Reichsgau Danzig-West Prussia Reichsgau Danzig-West Prussia (german: Reichsgau Danzig-Westpreußen) was an administrative division of Nazi Germany created on 8 October 1939 from annexed territory of the Free City of Danzig, the Greater Pomeranian Voivodship (Polish Corridor ...

. He told his men on 16 October 1939: The ''

Selbstschutz ''Selbstschutz'' (German for "self-protection") is the name given to different iterations of ethnic-German self-protection units formed both after the First World War and in the lead-up to the Second World War. The first incarnation of the ''Selb ...

'' paramilitary forces, formed by members of the

German minority in Poland The registered German minority in Poland at the 2011 national census consisted of 148,000 people, of whom 64,000 declared both German and Polish ethnicities and 45,000 solely German ethnicity.Przynależność narodowo-etniczna ludności – wyni ...

and led by SS officials, performed mass executions during the '' Intelligenzaktion Pommern'' in the " Fordon Valley of Death", the Massacres in Piaśnica,Grzegorz Popławski
"Piaśnica – pomorski "Katyń" " (Piaśnica – Pomeranian Katyn)
''Dziennik Baltycki'' (The Baltic Daily). Retrieved 7 June 2014. and other atrocities.Tadeusz Piotrowski,
Poland's holocaust: ethnic strife, collaboration with occupying forces and genocide in the Second Republic, 1918-1947
' McFarland, 1998. . In a letter to Himmler, Alvensleben complained about scrupulous

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 ...

officers too weak to take drastic measures. In 1939 he confiscated the Jewish-owned manors of Rucewo and Rucewko in

Reichsgau Wartheland The ''Reichsgau Wartheland'' (initially ''Reichsgau Posen'', also: ''Warthegau'') was a Nazi German ''Reichsgau'' formed from parts of Polish territory annexed in 1939 during World War II. It comprised the region of Greater Poland and adjacent ...

In December 1939, Alvensleben was appointed member-of-staff at the command of

Friedrich-Wilhelm Krüger Friedrich-Wilhelm Krüger (8 May 1894 – 10 May 1945) was a German war criminal and paramilitary commander acting as a high-ranking member of the SA and the SS. Between 1939 and 1943 he was the Higher SS and Police Leader in the General Govern ...

, the SS and Police Leader in

Kraków Kraków (), or Cracow, is the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city dates back to the seventh century. Kraków was the official capital of Poland until 1596 ...

, General Government. On 23 May 1940, he was promoted to the rank of ''

Hauptsturmführer __NOTOC__ (, ; short: ''Hstuf'') was a Nazi Party paramilitary rank that was used in several Nazi organizations such as the SS, NSKK and the NSFK. The rank of ''Hauptsturmführer'' was a mid-level commander and had equivalent seniority to a ...

'' in the Waffen-SS. From February 1941 he was in service of the Reich Security Main Office, assumed the SS and Police Leader command in

Chernigov Chernihiv ( uk, Черні́гів, , russian: Черни́гов, ; pl, Czernihów, ; la, Czernihovia), is a city and municipality in northern Ukraine, which serves as the administrative center of Chernihiv Oblast and Chernihiv Raion within t ...

on 22 October 1941 and of

Simferopol Simferopol () is the second-largest city in the Crimean Peninsula. The city, along with the rest of Crimea, is internationally recognised as part of Ukraine, and is considered the capital of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea. However, it is ...

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 ...

on 19 November. In 1942, Alvensleben was SS inspector of the ''Durchgangsstrasse'' IV, a large forced labor project to built a road from Lemberg to Stalino (now

Donetsk Donetsk ( , ; uk, Донецьк, translit=Donets'k ; russian: Донецк ), formerly known as Aleksandrovka, Yuzivka (or Hughesovka), Stalin and Stalino (see also: cities' alternative names), is an industrial city in eastern Ukraine loca ...

). From 6 October 1943, he held this position in Nikolaev in the rank of Major General, officially assigned to

Army Group A Army Group A (Heeresgruppe A) was the name of several German Army Groups during World War II. During the Battle of France, the army group named Army Group A was composed of 45½ divisions, including 7 armored panzer divisions. It was responsibl ...

; his tenure was accompanied by irregularities and further mass executions. On 19 February 1944, he succeeded

Udo von Woyrsch Udo Gustav Wilhelm Egon von Woyrsch (24 July 1895 – 14 January 1983) was a high-ranking SS official in Nazi Germany who participated in implementation of the regime's racial policies during World War II. First World War From early 1914 ...

as Higher SS and Police Leader in

. He took the occasion to take action against his creditors, such as

Carl Wentzel Carl Wentzel-Teutschenthal (9 December 1876 – 20 December 1944) was a German farmer and agricultural contractor. He was executed at Plötzensee Prison in Berlin following the 20 July plot to assassinate Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler ( ...

who was denounced after the 20 July Plot, arrested and executed, whereafter Alvensleben was able to release his heavily indebted manor in Schochwitz. In the late days of the war, he left Dresden and fled to the West.

Post-war flight

In April 1945, Alvensleben was apprehended by British forces. At the end of 1945, he escaped from the internment camp at Neuengamme in

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

. After a short stay in Schochwitz, he fled with his family to

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

in early 1946. Although there is no precise data on when they arrived in the country, a 2000 documentary film records that on 27 November 1952, the government of

Juan Domingo Perón ''Juan'' is a given name, the Spanish and Manx versions of ''John''. It is very common in Spain and in other Spanish-speaking communities around the world and in the Philippines, and also (pronounced differently) in the Isle of Man. In Spanish, ...

granted Alvensleben citizenship under the name of Carlos Lücke. He lived until July 1956 in

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

and then moved to

Santa Rosa de Calamuchita Santa Rosa de Calamuchita is a small village in the province of Córdoba, Argentina. It had about 10,000 inhabitants at the . The village is located in the center of the Calamuchita Valley, in the middle of a landscape that includes hills (the '' ...

. From November 1952, he served as inspector of fish farming. In January 1964, the district court of

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 ...

issued an arrest warrant for Alvensleben for the killing of at least 4,247 people 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 ...

by units of the Selbstschutz under Alvensleben's command in the autumn of 1939. Attempts by the prosecution had no consequences for Alvensleben and he died in 1970 in Argentina, without having been brought to trial.

References

Bibliography

* Joachim Lilla: Statisten in Uniform. Die Mitglieder des Reichstages 1933–1945. Düsseldorf, 2004. * Andreas Schulz, Günter Wegmann: Die Generale der Waffen-SS und der Polizei. Band 1, Biblio-Verlag, Bissendorf, 2003. . * Ruth Bettina Birn: Die Höheren SS- und Polizeiführer. Himmlers Vertreter im Reich und in den besetzten Gebieten. Droste Verlag, Düsseldorf, 1986. * Klaus D. Patzwall (Hg.): Das Goldene Parteiabzeichen und seine Verleihungen ehrenhalber 1934–1944, Verlag Klaus D. Patzwall, Norderstedt 2004,

External links

The Last Nazis: Children of the Master Race
BBC documentary about the ''Lebensborn'' project which includes a deposition by his son {{DEFAULTSORT:Alvensleben, Ludolf-Hermann von 1901 births 1970 deaths 20th-century Freikorps personnel Military personnel from Halle (Saale) People from the Province of Saxony Nazi Party politicians German untitled nobility Nobility in the Nazi Party Members of the Reichstag of Nazi Germany Ludolf Holocaust perpetrators in Germany Nazis in South America People indicted for war crimes SS and Police Leaders German emigrants to Argentina Prussian Army personnel Waffen-SS personnel SS-Gruppenführer Holocaust perpetrators in Poland Military personnel from Saxony-Anhalt