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Wilhelm Jahn (SA general)

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Wilhelm Jahn
Police President, Stettin
In office
11 January 1939 – 31 July 1943
Police President, Halle
In office
12 February 1936 – 10 January 1939
Führer, Flieger-Landesgruppe IV
German Air Sports Association
In office
July 1934 – 31 March 1935
Additional positions
1933–1934Aviation Advisor,
SA–Obergruppe VI
1932–1933Chief of Staff, SA–Obergruppe II
Personal details
Born(1891-02-02)2 February 1891
Soest, Province of Westphalia, Kingdom of Prussia, German Empire
Died21 September 1952(1952-09-21) (aged 61)
Göttingen, Lower Saxony,
West Germany
Political partyNazi Party
Other political
affiliations		German National People's Party
Der Stahlhelm
Organisation Escherich
ProfessionBank clerk
Automobile sales manager
Civilian awardsGolden Party Badge
Brunswick Rally Badge
Military service
Allegiance German Empire
Branch/serviceImperial German Army
Luftstreitkräfte
Years of service1914–1918
RankLeutnant
Battles/warsWorld War I
Military awardsIron Cross, 1st and 2nd class

Wilhelm Jahn (2 February 1891 – 21 September 1952) was a German member of the Nazi Party and its paramilitary organization, the Sturmabteilung (SA), who rose to the rank of SA-Obergruppenführer. He served as the Police President in Halle and Stettin (today, Szczecin) in Nazi Germany from February 1936 through July 1943.

Early life

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Jahn was born in Soest, the son of a newspaper publisher. He attended the local Volksschule and Gymnasium and then served a three year apprenticeship in banking from 1908 to 1911. He was employed as a bank clerk for the next few years. At the outset of the First World War, he volunteered for military service with the Imperial German Army and was deployed to the front lines in December 1914 with Foot Artillery Battalion 18. He was subsequently transferred to Foot Artillery Battalion 39, and was commissioned a Leutnant in May 1916 with Landwehr Foot Artillery Battalion 11. In January 1917, he became the deputy artillery battery commander in Foot Artillery Battalion 59. In March 1917, he transferred to the Luftstreitkräfte and trained as a pilot, flying with Flieger-Abteilung (Aviation Detachment) 224 and 40 as a pilot and technical officer until the end of the war. He was discharged from military service in December 1918, having earned the Iron Cross, 1st and 2nd class.[1]

Returning to civilian life, Jahn resumed his banking career. Typical of many returning German war veterans of this time, Jahn joined right-wing political parties, Wehrverbände (military associations) and völkisch groups.[2] He began to be politically active in 1920, and joined the conservative German National People's Party but left it the same year.[3] In January 1921, he joined the antisemitic paramilitary Organisation Escherich, headed by Georg Escherich, and became the business leader of the group in Osnabrück. In March of the same year, he also joined the conservative and nationalistic military veterans association Der Stahlhelm.[4]

Career in the Nazi Party Sturmabteilung (SA)

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In July 1922, Jahn became a member of the Nazi Party in the Ortsgruppe (local group) Osnabrück. As an early Party member, he would later be awarded the Golden Party Badge. Between 1922 and 1924, he worked as a self-employed electrical equipment salesman in Osnabrück where he founded a local Sturmabteilung (SA) group in the spring of 1923. When the SA was banned in the aftermath of the failed Beer Hall Putsch in November 1923, Jahn joined the Frontbann, an SA front organization headed by Ernst Röhm.[5]

From 1925 to 1930, Jahn worked as an automobile salesman and sales manager in Osnabrück where he rejoined the local Party on 16 August 1926 (membership number 42,535). He also rejoined the SA in December 1928, and became a full-time SA officer on 1 January 1931, with the rank of SA-Standartenführer. He was assigned for the next few months as the adjutant to Viktor Lutze, the Deputy Supreme SA Führer, North. On 15 April 1931, Jahn became the Chief of Staff to SA-Gruppe-Nord. While in this post, he participated in the SA mass rally in Braunschweig on 18 October 1931, for which he would be awarded the Brunswick Rally Badge.[6]

Jahn was promoted to SA-Oberführer in December 1931. From 1 July to 14 October 1932, he was given his own command as Führer of SA-Gruppe Nordsee, headquartered in Bremen. He was then promoted to SA-Gruppenführer and appointed as Chief of Staff of the SA-Obergruppe II in Hanover, overseeing four SA -Gruppe (Niederrhein, Niedersachsen, Nordsee and Westfalen), again under the command of Viktor Lutze. On 15 July 1933, he assumed the post of Aviation Advisor to the now renamed Obergruppe VI. However, he left the SA on 24 September 1934, after taking a position as a full-time leader of Flieger-Landesgruppe (State Aviation Group) IV of the German Air Sports Association in July. He remained employed there until 31 March 1935, and then reentered the SA on 1 October as a reserve Führer in SA-Gruppe Niedersachsen.[7]

On 12 February 1936, Jahn was named as the acting Police President of Halle, an appointment that was made permanent effective 1 October. He was also placed in charge of the local Kriminalpolizei office and assigned as the local air raid protection coordinator. On 20 July 1937, he was given a five-year appointment as a lay judge on the People's Court. He reached his highest rank in the SA on 9 November 1937 when he was promoted to SA-Obergruppenführer.[8] In April 1938, Jahn unsuccessfully sought a seat as a deputy of the Reichstag.[9] On 11 January 1939, he was transferred from Halle to Stettin (today, Szczecin) where he took up the duties of Police President and air raid protection coordinator. He left this post in July 1943, and then served as a reserve SA-Führer in SA-Gruppe Pommern (August 1943 – November 1943) and SA-Gruppe Elbe (December 1943 – May 1945) until the fall of the Nazi regime.[10]

Little is documented of Jahn's post-war life, and he died in Göttingen on 21 September 1952.[4]

SA ranks

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SA ranks[4]
Date Rank
1 January 1931 SA-Standartenführer
18 December 1931 SA-Oberführer
15 October 1932 SA-Gruppenführer
9 November 1937 SA-Obergruppenführer

References

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  1. ^ Miller & Schulz 2015, pp. 616, 619.
  2. ^ Campbell 1998, p. 68, 200 n. 85.
  3. ^ Campbell 1998, p. 198 n. 55.
  4. ^ a b c Miller & Schulz 2015, p. 616.
  5. ^ Miller & Schulz 2015, pp. 616–617.
  6. ^ Miller & Schulz 2015, pp. 617, 619.
  7. ^ Miller & Schulz 2015, pp. 617–618.
  8. ^ Miller & Schulz 2015, pp. 616, 618.
  9. ^ Stockhorst 1985, p. 216.
  10. ^ Miller & Schulz 2015, p. 619.

Sources

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  • Campbell, Bruce (1998). The SA Generals and the Rise of Nazism. Lexington: University Press of Kentucky. ISBN 978-0-813-12047-8.
  • Miller, Michael D.; Schulz, Andreas (2015). Leaders of the Storm Troops. Vol. 1. Solihull, England: Helion & Company. ISBN 978-1-909-98287-1.
  • Stockhorst, Erich (1985). 5000 Köpfe: Wer War Was im 3. Reich. Arndt. ISBN 978-3-887-41116-9.
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