Walter Braemer (7 January 1883 13 June 1955) was a general in the Reichswehr and the Wehrmacht and a high-ranking SS commander during the Nazi era. He was a Nazi criminal responsible for mass murders of the civilian population of Bromberg (Bydgoszcz) in Poland at the outset of the Second World War, and later for crimes against humanity in the Holocaust in the Soviet Union. He escaped prosecution and punishment after the war despite having been held for years as a prisoner of war by the British.Hans-Heinrich Wilhelm, "Personelle Kontinuitäten in baltischen Angelegenheiten auf deutscher Seite von 1917/19 bis zum Zweiten Weltkrieg"; in: The Baltic in International Relations between the Two World Wars: Symposium organized by the Centre for Baltic Studies, November 1113, 1986, University of Stockholm, Frescati, ed. J. Hiden & A. Loit, Stockholm, Centre for Baltic Studies, University of Stockholm, 1988, pp. 165169. .Edmund Pyszczyński, "'Akcja Tannenberg' w Bydgoszczy w okresie od 5 IX do 20 XI 1939 r."; in: Z okupacyjnych dziejów Bydgoszczy, ed. J. Wiśniowski & J. Sziling, (Bydgoskie Towarzystwo Naukowe: Prace Wydziału Nauk Humanistycznych series E, No. 10), Warsaw, Państwowe Wydawnictwo Naukowe, 1977, p. 80.Donald Bloxham, Genocide on Trial: War Crimes Trials and the Formation of Holocaust History and Memory, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2001, pp. 199201. ., Die Herrschaft der Wehrmacht: Deutsche Militärbesatzung und einheimische Bevölkerung in der Sowjetunion, 19411944, Munich, Oldenbourg Wissenschaftsverlag, 2009, p. 39. .
Early career Braemer was born at Königsberg, then an East Prussian port city on the Baltic Sea, on 7 January 1883.The entirety of this section, except as otherwise noted below, is based on the Lexikon der Wehrmacht (see online), supplemented by the prisoner information from the British prisoner-of-war camp Island Farm where Braemer was held between 9 January 1946 and 6 October 1947 (see online). His military career under the German Empire and the Weimar Republic bears the unmistakable hallmarks of patronage commonly accorded at the time to people of high birth.
On 2 March 1901, at the age of 18, he enlisted as a Fähnrich (officer candidate or ensign) in the 2nd Hanoverian Dragoon Regiment No. 16 (2. Hannoversches Dragoner-Regiment Nr. 16), a unit of the 20th Division of the Prussian Army stationed in the northern garrison town of Lüneburg in the Prussian Province of Hanover. Less than eleven months later, on 27 January 1902, he was promoted, without much education, military or otherwise, to the commissioned rank of Leutnant his commission as an officer (the so-called Offizierspatent) having been issued on 22 June 1900, that is, actually prior to his enlistment in the army, at a time when he was a civilian minor of 17 years of age.Militär-Wochenblatt (see Militär-Wochenblatt), vol. 87, Berlin, E. S. Mittler & Sohn, 1902, p. 17. Google BooksWolf Keilig, Das deutsche Heer, 19391945, vol. 3 (Gliederung; Einsatz, Stellenbesetzung), Bad Nauheim, Verlag Hans-Henning Podzun, 1956, p. 43.
Only subsequently, for two years between 1906 and 1908, did he study at the Military School of Equitation (Militärreitschule see Militärreitinstitut) in Hanover.On the Military School of Equitation in Hanover, see United States; Adjutant-General's Office; Military Information Division [institutional author], Sources of Information on Military Professional Subjects: A Classified List of Books and Publications [Nov. 10, 1897], Washington, Government Printing Office, 1898, p. 110. This course was followed by 2 years 9 months and 3 weeks he spent at a military academy (sources speak of a Kriegsakademie: unclear whether the Prussian War Academy is meant, three other options being possible) where he was enrolled until 21 July 1911.Hans-Heinrich Wilhelm, "Motivation und 'Kriegsbild' deutscher Generale und Offiziere im Krieg gegen die Sowjetunion"; in: Erobern und Vernichten: der Krieg gegen die Sowjetunion 19411945, ed. P Jahn, et al., Berlin, Argon Verlag, 1991, p. 181. .
In April 1912, was detached to the central military command known as the "Great General Staff", the governing body of the army. While there, he was given the higher rank of Rittmeister ("captain of the cavalry") on 17 February 1914, and five days later formally inducted into the Great General Staff at the age of 31.
When the First World War broke out, Braemer was transferred on 2 August 1914 to the headquarters of the 9th Cavalry Division, a formation newly raised specifically for the war effort, where he served as a third-in-command (Zweiter Generalstabsoffizier or so-called "Ib") under the fellow-Prussian commander Eberhard Graf von Schmettow and the latter's right hand or "Ia" (Erster Generalstabsoffizier or second-in-command), Major Herwarth von Bittenfeld.Janet Robinson and Joe Robinson, Handbook of Imperial Germany, Bloomington (Indiana), AuthorHouse, 2009, p. 263. .
Braemer married Erika Freiin von der Goltz on 27 December 1915; they had three children (b. 1916, 1921, and 1923).Prisoner information from the British prisoner-of-war camp Island Farm where Braemer was held between 9 January 1946 and 6 October 1947 (see online). Between 9 September 1916 and 18 April 1917 he circulated between the General Staffs (divisional commands) of such formations as the 75th Reserve Division, and the 6th and 7th Cavalry Divisions, before being appointed to the General Staff of the XII (1st Royal Saxon) Corps at Dresden. On 17 January 1917 he was decorated with the Royal Prussian Hohenzollern House Order (Knight's Cross with Swords) for military exploits that remain a complete mystery.Militär-Wochenblatt (see Militär-Wochenblatt), vol. 101, Berlin, E. S. Mittler & Sohn, 1902, p. 3188. Google Books He then served for a few months between November 1917 and March 1918 under the Oberquartiermeister (quartermaster-general) within the command known as the 10th Army in Cologne, before being posted very briefly on 28 March 1918 to the General Staff of the 234th Infantry Division (234. Division (Deutsches Kaiserreich)), and the next month again to that of the XXVI Reserve Corps.
After the War he served in the 20th Reichswehr Brigade based at Allenstein (now Olsztyn) in Ermland, 126 km south of his native Königsberg in East Prussia (1 May 191913 December 1919), before being delegated to a desk job at the Bendlerblock in Berlin the Ministry of the Reichswehr for a period of 2 years and months between 13 December 1919 and 1 April 1922. While there he was again promoted to the rank of Major (roughly equivalent to major in Anglo-American taxonomies) on 1 January 1922. For 18 months between April 1922 to October 1923 he was squadron leader (Eskadronchef) in the 2nd (Prussian) Cavalry Regiment (2. (Preußisches) Reiter-Regiment (Reichswehr)) that garrisoned both Allenstein and Osterode (now Ostróda) in Ermland, then within the Province of East Prussia. Next, over the period of 3 years and 4 months from October 1923 to February 1927, Braemer served on the General Staff of the 6th Division at Münster in Westphalia: here he saw another advancement in rank to Oberstleutnant (lieutenant colonel) on 1 April 1926.Reichswehrministerium (Heeres-Personalamt),Rangliste des deutschen Reichsheeres: Nach dem Stande vom 1. Mai 1927, Berlin, Verlag von E. S. Mittler & Sohn, 1927, p. 56. From 1 February 1927 to 1 January 1931 he held the command of the 6th (Prussian) Cavalry Regiment (6. (Preußisches) Reiter-Regiment) headquartered in the northern town of Pasewalk, about 40 km west of Stettin (now Szczecin) in Western Pomerania a post in which he spent 3 years and 11 months (his longest tour of duty ever).Stellenbesetzung der deutschen Heere, 18151939, vol. 3 (Die Stellenbesetzung der aktiven Regimenter, Bataillone und Abteilungen von der Stiftung bzw. Aufstellung bis zum 26. August 1939...), Osnabrück, Biblio-Verlag, 1993, p. 477. . A promotion to the rank of Oberst (or colonel) was accorded him there on 1 October 1929. Lastly, Braemer held the military command of the city of Insterburg in East Prussia (now Chernyakhovsk in Russia), some 100 km east of his native Königsberg, during the nearly 22-month period from 1 January 1931 to 30 November 1932. He was promoted to Generalmajor (a rank corresponding to that of brigadier general) on 1 October 1932, and two months later retired from the Reichswehr at the age of 49.The entirety of this section, except as otherwise noted above, is based on the Lexikon der Wehrmacht (see online), supplemented by the prisoner information from the British prisoner-of-war camp Island Farm where Braemer was held between 9 January 1946 and 6 October 1947 (see online).
Nazi period The beginning Two years and eight months after Hitler's rise to power and nearly three years after his leave-taking of the army, on 1 October 1935, Braemer then aged 52 joined the SS with the rank of Standartenführer (regiment leader),Prisoner information from the British prisoner-of-war camp Island Farm where Braemer was held between 9 January 1946 and 6 October 1947 (see online). Cf. SS-Personalhauptamt [institutional author], Dienstaltersliste der Schutzstaffel der NSDAP... Stand vom 1. Dezember 1938..., ed. B. Meyer, Berlin, [Gedruckt in der Reichsdruckerei], 1938, p. 14. and in this rank was posted as a "training consultant" to the General Staff of the SS circuit or Oberabschnitt known as command Nord (not an army post), where he stayed until 15 April 1936, to be transferred to the Oberabschnitt Nordwest for one month, before being moved again to the Oberabschnitt Nordsee, where he stayed until 1 July 1938. All three SS districts in question were at the time headquartered at Altona in Hamburg. In the course of his SS service Braemer gained two promotions, ultimately to Brigadeführer, the fourth-highest rank in the SS, a remarkably quick climb accomplished in less than 2 years and 9 months since joining the ranks.SS-Personalhauptamt [institutional author], Dienstaltersliste der Schutzstaffel der NSDAP... Stand vom 20. April 1942..., Berlin, [Gedruckt in der Reichsdruckerei], 1942, p. 142. The latter rank of Brigadeführer was conferred on him only after he had become member of the Nazi party sometime in 1937 (the exact date of his joining the NSDAP has not been established) with the membership number 4012329. At this time Braemer involved himself with Himmler's Lebensborn Society, an organization whose purpose was to devise ways and means of engineering the genetic makeup of the German nation by promoting Nazi eugenics and "breeding" pure "Aryans".The Lexikon der Wehrmacht (see online). On 1 July 1938 Braemer was appointed to the rank of Generalmajor of the Wehrmacht, the same rank he last held in the Reichswehr, and was placed by the SS once again at the disposal of the army. At the time of mobilization mounted in preparation for the Nazi attack on Poland Braemer was appointed as the Commander of the 580th Army Rear Area, a position abbreviated to "Korück 580". He received that command on 26 August 1939, six days before the invasion of Poland.The entirety of this section insofar as it concerns the timeline of Braemer's military career is based on the Lexikon der Wehrmacht (see online); supplemented by the prisoner information from the British prisoner-of-war camp Island Farm where Braemer was held between 9 January 1946 and 6 October 1947 (see online). Matters relating to Braemer's war crimes are referenced separately in the footnotes below.