Maximilian von Herff

Maximilian Karl Otto von Herff (17 April 1893 – 6 September 1945) was a German senior SS commander during the Nazi era. He served as head of the SS Personnel Main Office from 1942 to 1945.

Maximilian von Herff
Herff (front right) during the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising
Born17 April 1893
Hanover, Kingdom of Prussia, German Empire
Died6 September 1945(1945-09-06) (aged 52)
Ulverston, England, United Kingdom
Buried
Cannock Chase German war cemetery
Allegiance German Empire
 Weimar Republic
 Nazi Germany
Service/branchArmy, Waffen-SS
RankObergruppenführer
Unit Schutzstaffel
Commands heldSS Personnel Main Office
Battles/warsWorld War I

German Revolution of 1918–19
World War II

AwardsKnight's Cross of the Iron Cross

Early life

Maximilian von Herff was born in Hanover on 17 April 1893, the son of a general practitioner. The Protestant von Herff family originated from Herve in Belgium and moved to the Palatinate in 1577 to escape religious persecution. His ancestor Christian Herff had been inducted into the noble class in 1814.[1]

After school, Maximilian von Herff joined the army and became Leutnant (second lieutenant) in an infantry regiment of the Prussian Army); he served with the unit throughout World War I. He stayed in the Reichswehr after the war, and in 1926 served as Oberleutnant (lieutenant) in the 18. Reiter-Regiment in Stuttgart. In Wehrmacht on 3 January 1939, Herff reached the rank of Oberstleutnant (lieutenant-colonel).

World War II

During World War II, Herff served with the Deutsches Afrika Korps in North Africa. He was promoted to Oberst (colonel) and commanded "Kampfgruppe von Herff". For his service in North Africa he was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross in June 1941.[2][3]

At the suggestion of Heinrich Himmler, he transferred to the Waffen-SS. On 1 April 1942 Herff joined the Nazi Party (member no. 8 858 661) and the SS (member no. 405 894). From 1 October 1942 to 8 May 1945, he was chief of the SS Personnel Main Office. Herff dealt with internal and financial SS matters.

Part of a report rendered by SS-Sturmbannführer Alfred Franke-Gricksch on a trip through the General Government on 4 to 16 May 1943. Excerpt by Eric M. Lipman, War Crime Branch Officer, Third U.S. Army

In his later diary entries, Herff claimed to have had knowledge of the Final Solution but not have played any role in administrative or actual involvement in exterminations or deportations. However, on 14–15 May 1943, Herff was in Warsaw during the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising and supervised its suppression under orders from Himmler. His adjutant, Karl Kaleske wrote of the deportations carried out following the uprising to Auschwitz concentration camp and other camps where "special action" was required. Jürgen Stroop's report on the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising contains a photograph of Herff and Stroop taken during the May 1943 visit and confirms Herff's visit to the ghetto 14 May 1943.[4]

On 20 April 1944, Herff was promoted to SS-Obergruppenführer (SS general).[5][6]

Capture and death

Herff was taken prisoner by British forces in 1945, and held at Grizedale Hall POW camp. He suffered a stroke and died at nearby Conishead Priory Military Hospital. He was later reburied at Cannock Chase German Military Cemetery, Staffordshire.

His sister Carin von Herff moved to London during his imprisonment where she lived for four years before returning to Germany with her French Huguenot husband, a former SS-Oberführer of the 33rd Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS Charlemagne (1st French).[7] Both were acquitted of any war crimes and, along with Maximilian von Herff, claimed they were only involved in the Nazi Party base and Waffen-SS not the extermination of the Jews. The couple later returned to live in England in the 1960s.

His cousin was Eberhard Herf, a senior SS police official. He commanded Police Regiment North and Order Police units in Minsk, Belarus; in the latter capacity, Eberhard Herf directed mass murder of the Jews in the Minsk Ghetto.[8] Following the war, Eberhard Herf was convicted in the Minsk Trial and executed.[9]

Awards

References
  1. Genealogisches Handbuch des Adels, Bd. 52, 210/212. C.A.Starke Verlag.
  2. Fellgiebel, Walther-Peer (1986). Die Träger des Ritterkreuzes des Eisernen Kreuzes, 1939–1945. Die Inhaber der höchsten Auszeichnung des Zweiten Weltkrieges aller Wehrmachtteile. Pozun Verlag. ISBN 3-7909-0284-5.
  3. Scherze, Veit (2007). Die Ritterkreuzträger 1939–1945 [The Knight's Cross Bearers 1939–1945 The Holders of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross 1939] (in German). Jena, Germany: Scherzers Militaer-Verlag. p. 384. ISBN 978-3-938845-17-2.
  4. Stroop Daily report 14 May 1943; accessed 18 August 2018
  5. Dienstalterliste der Waffen-SS, SS-Obergruppenführer bis SS-Hauptsturmführer, Stand vom 1. Juli 1944, berichtigt 31.08.1944, 29.12.1944, 31.01.1945.
  6. von Preradovich, Nikolaus (1985). Die Generale der Waffen-SS. Kurt Vowinckel Verlag KG. ISBN 3-921-655-41-2.
  7. "The USA and us"-"The sins of the forefathers" J. Andreani,
  8. Blood, Philip W. (2006). Hitler's Bandit Hunters: The SS and the Nazi Occupation of Europe. Potomac Books. p. 226. ISBN 978-1-59797-021-1.
  9. Heer, Hannes (1995). "Der Minsker Prozess". Hannesheer.de.
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