Helmut Möckel (21 June 1909 – 15 February 1945) was a German youth leader and politician.

Background

Möckel was born in Vielau near

Zwickau Zwickau (; ) is the fourth-largest city of Saxony, Germany, after Leipzig, Dresden and Chemnitz, with around 88,000 inhabitants,. The West Saxon city is situated in the valley of the Zwickau Mulde (German: ''Zwickauer Mulde''; progression: ), ...

Saxony Saxony, officially the Free State of Saxony, is a landlocked state of Germany, bordering the states of Brandenburg, Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia, and Bavaria, as well as the countries of Poland and the Czech Republic. Its capital is Dresden, and ...

. After completing his school education he studied education and economics at

Technische Universität Dresden TU Dresden (for , abbreviated as TUD), also as the Dresden University of Technology, is a public research university in Dresden, Germany. It is the largest institute of higher education in the city of Dresden, the largest university in Saxony a ...

and political science at

University of Vienna The University of Vienna (, ) is a public university, public research university in Vienna, Austria. Founded by Rudolf IV, Duke of Austria, Duke Rudolph IV in 1365, it is the oldest university in the German-speaking world and among the largest ...

. He helped found the National Socialist Teachers League in 1929 and joined the

Nazi Party The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party ( or NSDAP), was a far-right politics, far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported the ideology of Nazism. Its precursor ...

in 1930. From 1930 to 1933 he was a member of the SS. He became a full-time field leader of the

Hitler Youth The Hitler Youth ( , often abbreviated as HJ, ) was the youth wing of the German Nazi Party. Its origins date back to 1922 and it received the name ("Hitler Youth, League of German Worker Youth") in July 1926. From 1936 until 1945, it was th ...

in 1933 and staff director in 1935. On 16 July 1937, Möckel became chief of the Office of Procurement for the Reich Youth Leadership. In April 1938 he was proposed, unsuccessfully, for membership of the Reichstag. He returned to Saxony to become a Hitler Youth field guide and was promoted to Gebietsführer for Saxony in August 1938. During his time as a Hitler Youth leader he wrote books on the subject of youth training.

World War II

At the outbreak of

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 wo ...

in 1939, he was drafted into the

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

and trained as a

fighter pilot A fighter pilot or combat pilot is a Military aviation, military aviator trained to engage in air-to-air combat, Air-to-ground weaponry, air-to-ground combat and sometimes Electronic-warfare aircraft, electronic warfare while in the cockpit of ...

. However, in August 1940 he was recalled to

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

where he was appointed

Stabsführer A ''Stabsführer'' (translated as Staff Leader) served as a deputy to the leader of Hitler Youth, National Socialist Flyers Corps, National Socialist Motor Corps or Sturmabteilung. It was furthermore a Ranks and insignia of the Hitler Youth, Hitl ...

of the

and deputy to

Reichsjugendführer ''Reichsjugendführer'' ("National Youth Leader") was the highest paramilitary rank of the Hitler Youth. On 30 October 1931, Hitler appointed Baldur von Schirach as the Reich Youth Leader of the Nazi Party. In 1933, after the Nazi seizure of st ...

Baldur von Schirach Baldur Benedikt von Schirach (; 9 May 1907 – 8 August 1974) was a German politician who was the leader of the Hitler Youth from 1931 to 1940. From 1940 to 1945, he was the '' Gauleiter'' (district leader) and '' Reichsstatthalter'' (Reich gov ...

. In October 1940 he was appointed by von Schirach to oversee the day-to-day operation of ''Kinderlandverschickung'' ("relocation of children to the countryside") from major cities at risk of

aerial bombing An airstrike, air strike, or air raid is an offensive operation carried out by aircraft. Air strikes are delivered from aircraft such as blimps, balloons, fighter aircraft, attack aircraft, bombers, attack helicopters, and drones. The official d ...

. In November 1942, Möckel became a member of the Reichstag, from electoral constituency 7, Breslau. On 11 February 1945 he was awarded the ''Ritterkreuz des Kriegsverdienstkreuzes mit Schwertern'' (Knight's Cross of the

War Merit Cross The War Merit Cross () was a state decoration of Nazi Germany during World War II. By the end of the conflict it was issued in four degrees and had an equivalent civil award. A " de-Nazified" version of the War Merit Cross was reissued in 1957 ...

with swords).

Death

Möckel was killed in a car accident in

Darmstadt Darmstadt () is a city in the States of Germany, state of Hesse in Germany, located in the southern part of the Frankfurt Rhine Main Area, Rhine-Main-Area (Frankfurt Metropolitan Region). Darmstadt has around 160,000 inhabitants, making it the ...

on 15 February 1945 whilst recruiting Hitler Youth volunteers for Operation Werwolf. The crash also killed the driver and another Hitler Youth leader. There were rumours that his death was faked and he had fled to

Francoist Spain Francoist Spain (), also known as the Francoist dictatorship (), or Nationalist Spain () was the period of Spanish history between 1936 and 1975, when Francisco Franco ruled Spain after the Spanish Civil War with the title . After his death i ...

, but this has never been substantiated. He was succeeded as Stabsführer by Kurt Petter.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mockel, Helmut 1909 births 1945 deaths Hitler Youth members Luftwaffe personnel killed in World War II Luftwaffe pilots Members of the Reichstag 1938–1945 Nazi Party officials Politicians from the Kingdom of Saxony Recipients of the Knights Cross of the War Merit Cross Road incident deaths in Germany SS personnel TU Dresden alumni University of Vienna alumni