Helmut Knochen
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Helmut Knochen
Helmut Herbert Christian Heinrich Knochen (March 14, 1910 – April 4, 2003) was the senior commander of the ''Sicherheitspolizei'' (Security Police) and '' Sicherheitsdienst'' in occupied France during World War II. He was sentenced to death for war crimes by a British military court in 1946, and by a French military court in 1954. His sentences were commuted and reduced, and he was pardoned and released by French President Charles de Gaulle in 1962. Early life Knochen was born in Magdeburg, the son of a school teacher. At age sixteen, his father enrolled him in '' Der Stahlhelm'' a right-wing paramilitary group. Knochen excelled academically, and he attended Leipzig University, the University of Halle and the University of Göttingen, earning a doctorate in medieval English literature in 1935. Even before the Nazi seizure of power, he joined the ''Sturmabteilung'' (SA) and the Nazi Party (membership number 1,430,331) on 1 January 1933.Bundesarchiv R 9361-IX KARTEI/2130102 ...
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Magdeburg
Magdeburg (; ) is the Capital city, capital of the Germany, German States of Germany, state Saxony-Anhalt. The city is on the Elbe river. Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor, Otto I, the first Holy Roman Emperor and founder of the Archbishopric of Magdeburg, was buried in the city's Magdeburg Cathedral, cathedral after his death. Magdeburg's version of German town law, known as Magdeburg rights, spread throughout Central Europe, Central and Eastern Europe. In the Late Middle Ages, Magdeburg was one of the largest and most prosperous German cities and a notable member of the Hanseatic League. One of the most notable people from the city was Otto von Guericke, famous for his experiments with the Magdeburg hemispheres. Magdeburg has experienced three major devastations in its history. In 1207 the first catastrophe struck the city, with a fire burning down large parts of the city, including the Magdeburg Cathedral#Previous building, Ottonian cathedral. The Catholic League (German), Catholi ...
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Iron Cross
The Iron Cross (, , abbreviated EK) was a military decoration in the Kingdom of Prussia, the German Empire (1871–1918), and Nazi Germany (1933–1945). The design, a black cross pattée with a white or silver outline, was derived from the insignia of the medieval Teutonic Order and borne by its knights from the 13th century. As well as being a military medal, it has also been used as an emblem by the Prussian Army, the Imperial German Army, and the of the Weimar Republic, while the ''Balkenkreuz'' (bar cross) variant was used by the ''Wehrmacht''. The Iron Cross is now the emblem of the , the modern German armed forces. King Frederick William III of Prussia established the Iron Cross award on 17 March 1813 during the Napoleonic Wars (EK 1813). The award was backdated to the birthday (10 March) of his late wife, Louise of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, Queen Louise, who was the first person to receive it (posthumously). The Iron Cross was also awarded during the Franco-Prussian War ( ...
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Sturmabteilung
The (; SA; or 'Storm Troopers') was the original paramilitary organisation under Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party of Germany. It played a significant role in Adolf Hitler's rise to power, Hitler's rise to power in the 1920s and early 1930s. Its primary purposes were providing protection for Nazi rallies and assemblies, disrupting the meetings of opposing parties, fighting against the paramilitary units of the opposing parties, especially the ''Roter Frontkämpferbund'' of the Communist Party of Germany (KPD) and the ''Reichsbanner Schwarz-Rot-Gold'' of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD), and intimidating Romani people, Romani, trade unionists, and especially Jews. The SA were colloquially called Brownshirts () because of the colour of their Uniforms and insignia of the Sturmabteilung, uniform's shirts, similar to Benito Mussolini's Blackshirts. The official uniform of the SA was a brown shirt with a brown tie. The color came about because a large shipment of Paul von ...
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Nazi Seizure Of Power
The rise to power of Adolf Hitler, dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1945, began in the newly established Weimar Republic in September 1919, when Hitler joined the '' Deutsche Arbeiterpartei'' (DAP; German Workers' Party). He quickly rose to a place of prominence and became one of its most popular speakers. In an attempt to more broadly appeal to larger segments of the population and win over German workers, the party name was changed to the ''Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei'' (NSDAP; National Socialist German Workers' Party), commonly known as the Nazi Party, and a new platform was adopted. Hitler was made the party leader in 1921 after he threatened to otherwise leave. By 1922, his control over the party was unchallenged. The Nazis were a right-wing party, but in the early years they also had anti-capitalist and anti-bourgeois elements. Hitler later initiated a purge of these elements and reaffirmed the Nazi Party's pro-business stance. This included killing ...
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Doctorate
A doctorate (from Latin ''doctor'', meaning "teacher") or doctoral degree is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism '' licentia docendi'' ("licence to teach"). In most countries, a research degree qualifies the holder to teach at university level in the degree's field or work in a specific profession. There are a number of doctoral degrees; the most common is the Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), awarded in many different fields, ranging from the humanities to scientific disciplines. Many universities also award honorary doctorates to individuals deemed worthy of special recognition, either for scholarly work or other contributions to the university or society. History Middle Ages The term ''doctor'' derives from Latin, meaning "teacher" or "instructor". The doctorate (Latin: ''doctoratus'') appeared in medieval Europe as a license to teach Latin (''licentia docendi'') at a university. Its ...
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University Of Halle
Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (), also referred to as MLU, is a public research university in the cities of Halle and Wittenberg. It is the largest and oldest university in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt. MLU offers German and international (English) courses leading to academic degrees such as BA, BSc, MA, MSc, doctoral degrees, and habilitation. The university was created in 1817 through the merger of the University of Wittenberg (founded in 1502) and the University of Halle (founded in 1694). MLU is named after Protestant reformer Martin Luther, who was a professor in Wittenberg. Today, the university campus is located in Halle, while ''Leucorea Foundation'' in Wittenberg serves as MLU's convention centre. History University of Wittenberg (''Universität Wittenberg'') was founded in 1502 by Frederick the Wise, Elector of Saxony to propagate the principles of Renaissance humanism. The foundation of the university was heavily criticized, especially wh ...
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Leipzig University
Leipzig University (), in Leipzig in Saxony, Germany, is one of the world's oldest universities and the second-oldest university (by consecutive years of existence) in Germany. The university was founded on 2 December 1409 by Frederick I, Elector of Saxony and his brother William II, Margrave of Meissen, and originally comprised the four scholastic faculties. Since its inception, the university has engaged in teaching and research for over 600 years without interruption. Famous alumni include Angela Merkel, Gottfried Wilhelm von Leibniz, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Leopold von Ranke, Friedrich Nietzsche, Robert Schumann, Richard Wagner, Tycho Brahe, Georgius Agricola. The university is associated with ten Nobel laureates, most recently with Svante Pääbo who won the Nobel Prize for Medicine in 2022. History Founding and development until 1900 The university was modelled on the University of Prague, from which the German-speaking faculty members withdrew to Leipzig ...
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Paramilitary
A paramilitary is a military that is not a part of a country's official or legitimate armed forces. The Oxford English Dictionary traces the use of the term "paramilitary" as far back as 1934. Overview Though a paramilitary is, by definition, not a military, it is usually equivalent to a light infantry or special forces in terms of strength, firepower, and organizational structure. Paramilitaries use combat-capable kit/equipment (such as Internal security vehicle, internal security/SWAT vehicles), or even actual military equipment (such as Long gun, long guns and Armoured personnel carrier, armored personnel carriers; usually military surplus resources), skills (such as battlefield medicine and bomb disposal), and tactics (such as urban warfare and close-quarters combat) that are compatible with their purpose, often combining them with skills from other relevant fields such as law enforcement, coast guard, or search and rescue. A paramilitary may fall under the command of a ...
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Der Stahlhelm
''Der Stahlhelm, Bund der Frontsoldaten'' (German: 'The Steel Helmet, League of Front-Line Soldiers'), commonly known as ''Der Stahlhelm'' ('The Steel Helmet') or ''Stahlhelm BdF'' ('D.S. BdF'), was a Revanchism, revanchist Veteran, ex-serviceman's association formed in Weimar Republic, Germany after the World War I, First World War. Dedicated to preserving the camaraderie and sacrifice of German frontline soldiers, it quickly evolved into a highly politicised force of ultranationalist resistance, opposed to the democratic ideals, democratic values of the Weimar Republic. By the 1920s, ''Der Stahlhelm'' had become a mass movement with hundreds of thousands of members, ideologically aligned with ''Völkisch movement, völkisch''-nationalist currents: anti-Marxism, anti-Marxist, Antisemitism, anti-Semitic, determined to reverse the Treaty of Versailles, but distinguished from Adolf Hitler, Hitler's Nazi Party, National Socialists by their support for a House of Hohenzollern, Hoh ...
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Charles De Gaulle
Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle (22 November 18909 November 1970) was a French general and statesman who led the Free France, Free French Forces against Nazi Germany in World War II and chaired the Provisional Government of the French Republic from 1944 to 1946 to restore democracy in France. In 1958, amid the May 1958 crisis in France, Algiers putsch, he came out of retirement when appointed Prime Minister of France, Prime Minister by President René Coty. He rewrote the Constitution of France and founded the French Fifth Republic, Fifth Republic after approval by 1958 French constitutional referendum, referendum. He was elected President of France later that year, a position he held until his resignation in 1969. Born in Lille, he was a decorated officer of World War I, wounded several times and taken prisoner of war (POW) by the Germans. During the interwar period, he advocated mobile armoured divisions. During the German invasion of May 1940, he led an armoured divisi ...
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War Crimes
A war crime is a violation of the laws of war that gives rise to individual criminal responsibility for actions by combatants in action, such as intentionally killing civilians or intentionally killing prisoners of war, torture, taking hostages, unnecessarily destroying civilian property, deception by perfidy, wartime sexual violence, pillaging, and for any individual that is part of the command structure who orders any attempt to committing mass killings (including genocide or ethnic cleansing), the granting of no quarter despite surrender, the conscription of children in the military, and flouting the legal distinctions of proportionality and military necessity. The formal concept of war crimes emerged from the codification of the customary international law that applied to warfare between sovereign states, such as the Lieber Code (1863) of the Union Army in the American Civil War and the Hague Conventions of 1899 and 1907 for international war. In the afterm ...
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World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the world's countries participated, with many nations mobilising all resources in pursuit of total war. Tanks in World War II, Tanks and Air warfare of World War II, aircraft played major roles, enabling the strategic bombing of cities and delivery of the Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, first and only nuclear weapons ever used in war. World War II is the List of wars by death toll, deadliest conflict in history, causing World War II casualties, the death of 70 to 85 million people, more than half of whom were civilians. Millions died in genocides, including the Holocaust, and by massacres, starvation, and disease. After the Allied victory, Allied-occupied Germany, Germany, Allied-occupied Austria, Austria, Occupation of Japan, Japan, a ...
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