Franz Bock (SA-Obergruppenführer)

Franz Bock (28 June 1905 – 10 May 1974) was a German SA-''Obergruppenführer'' who served in the Supreme SA Leadership of the ''Sturmabteilung'', the paramilitary organization of the Nazi Party. He was also a politician and served in the '' Reichstag'' from 1936 to 1945.

Early life

Bock was born in Kaltenbrunn (today, Weiherhammer) in the Neustadt an der Waldnaab district of Bavaria. He attended the local ''Volksschule'' and a humanistic '' Gymnasium''. He completed a commercial apprenticeship in banking between 1920 and 1922. He then worked as a commercial clerk in the tobacco industry in Munich from 1922 to 1927 and in the ceramics industry in Worms until 1932.

Career in the Nazi Party ''Sturmabteilung''

Bock joined the ''Sturmabteilung'' (SA) on 24 November 1922 and, on 9 November 1923, he took part in Adolf Hitler's Beer Hall Putsch in Munich, for which he later was awarded the Blood Order.Franz Bock biography
in th

/ref> In 1927, Bock was assigned to the SA-''Sturm'' in Worms, advancing to ''Truppführer'' on 1 June 1929. He was commissioned as an SA-''Sturmführer'' on 26 January 1930, and was given command of this unit.

In January 1932, he became a full-time SA officer and, on 1 July, was made the adjutant to SA-''Gruppe'' West in Koblenz. Between February and July 1933, he served as the adjutant to the SA-''Obergruppen'' in Koblenz and Ingolstadt. From July 1933 to October 1934, he was the chief of staff to SA-''Gruppe'' Beyerische Ostmark in Regensburg. He next commanded the SA-''Jägerstandarte'' (light infantry regiment) in Traunstein through February 1935. On 1 March 1935, he was appointed ''Fuhrer'' of SA-''Brigade'' 75 in the Gladbach-Rheydt area, a component of the SA-''Gruppe'' Niederrhein, based in Düsseldorf.Franz Bock entry
in
Die Rheinland-Pfälzische Personendatenbank
'

On 1 March 1937, Bock left his field command to take up a post in the Supreme SA Leadership (OSAF), where he became a department head in the SA Personnel Office. On 1 November of the same year, he was made head of the Office of Social Welfare and, from 1 December 1938 to 31 January 1942, he was the Chief of the Office of Group Schools in the Educational Main Office, overseeing all SA training centers. On 1 February 1942, Bock returned to an SA field command as ''Fuhrer'' of SA-''Gruppe'' Niederrhein with its headquarters in Düsseldorf. At the end of September 1944, he was put in charge of organizing the ''Volkssturm'' (the Nazi Party militia) in Gau Düsseldorf under ''Gauleiter'' and Reich Defense Commissioner Friedrich Karl Florian. The next month, Bock was formally appointed ''Gaustabsführer'' (''Gau'' staff leader) for this unit. On 9 November 1944, he was promoted to SA-''Obergruppenführer'', among the last known promotions to this rank. He retained these posts until Germany's surrender in May 1945.

SA ranks

Political career

Bock joined the Nazi Party on 3 January 1923, becoming a member of the Munich ''Ortsgroup'' (local group). When the Party was banned in the aftermath of the Munich ''putsch'', he joined the Greater German People's Community, a Nazi Party front organization. He re-enrolled in the Party on 6 March 1926 (membership number 33,014), following the lifting of the ban. As an early Party member, he would later be awarded the Golden Party Badge. Bock served as a city councilor in Düsseldorf from October 1935 to January 1937. From 29 March 1936 until the fall of the Nazi regime in May 1945, he also sat as a deputy of the '' Reichstag'' for electoral constituency 22 ( Düsseldorf East). In 1943, he also was appointed as a Prussian Provincial Councilor for the Rhine Province.

Wartime military service and post-war life

Following the outbreak of the Second World War, Bock volunteered for the German Army on 10 May 1940. He entered service as an ''Unteroffizier'' of reserves and was promoted to ''Oberleutnant'' on 2 January 1943. He participated in the Battle of France with Infantry Regiment 409 and was awarded the Iron Cross, 1st and 2nd class and the War Merit Cross, 1st and 2nd class with swords. He was discharged from the army on 5 May 1944.

The SA was among the Nazi groups that were indicted as being criminal organizations at the Nuremberg trials. Bock testified as a defense witness on 12–13 August 1946, concerning the development and organization of the SA. In his testimony, he downplayed the SA's use of physical violence. Little else is documented of Bock's post-war life. He died in Cologne on 10 May 1974.

References

Sources

Franz Bock entry
in
Die Rheinland-Pfälzische Personendatenbank
'
*
*Lilla, Joachim; Doring, Martin; Schulz, Andreas (2004). ''Statisten in Uniform: Die Mitglieder des Reichstags 1933–1945. Ein biographisches Handbuch. Unter Einbeziehung der völkischen und nationalsozialistischen Reichstagsabgeordneten ab Mai 1924''. Droste. p. 46. .
*
*
*Stockhorst, Erich (1985). 5000 Köpfe: Wer War Was im 3. Reich. Arndt. p.64. .
*

External links

in
Deutsche Biographie
'

Testimony of Franz Bock at the Nuremberg Trial
12–13 August 1946, pp. 51–72

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bock, Franz
1905 births
1974 deaths
German Army officers of World War II
Members of the Reichstag 1936–1938
Members of the Reichstag 1938–1945
Nazis who participated in the Beer Hall Putsch
People from Neustadt an der Waldnaab (district)
Prussian politicians
Recipients of the Iron Cross (1939), 1st class
Recipients of the Iron Cross (1939), 2nd class
Recipients of the War Merit Cross
SA-Obergruppenführer
Volkssturm personnel
Witnesses to the International Military Tribunal in Nuremberg