From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Emil Maurice
Emil Maurice
Hitler’s chauffeur. He reportedly had a brief relationship
with Geli Raubal, Hitler’s niece, and lost his job as Hitler’s
chauffeur.
When the SS was reorganized and began to expand in
1932, Maurice became a senior SS officer and would even-
tually be promoted to the rank SS-Oberführer. While Mau-
rice never became a top commander of the SS his status
as SS Member #2 effectively credited him as the actual
founder of the organization. Heinrich Himmler, who ulti-
mately would become the most recognized leader of the
SS, held SS Member #168.
Maurice was with Hitler during the Night of the Long
Knives— Maurice shot to death Edmund Heines and his
boyfriend on 30 June 1934. He also shot and killed Father
Bernhard Stempfle, who had been talking about Hitler’s
relationship with Geli Raubal.[3]
After Himmler had become Reichsführer-SS, Maurice
fell afoul of Himmler’s racial purity rules for SS officers,
when he had to submit details of his family history before
he was allowed to marry in 1935.[4] All SS officers had
to prove racial purity back to 1750, and it turned out
that Maurice had Jewish ancestry – Charles Maurice
Schwartzenberger (1805–1896), the founder of Thalia
Theater in Hamburg, was his great-grandfather. Himm-
ler, who had always been jealous of Hitler’s close friends
Emil Maurice wearing the Blood Order. from the early days of the Party, and especially of the
lack of control he had over Hitler’s inner bodyguards,
Emil Maurice (19 January 1897, Westermoor – 6 Fe- was delighted.
bruary 1972, Munich) was an early member of the Nazi He recommended that Maurice be expelled from the
Party and is regarded by historians as the founder of the SS, along with other members of his family. To Himmler’s
SS[1]. A watchmaker by trade, Maurice was a close associ- annoyance however, the Führer stood by his old friend.
ate of Adolf Hitler with a personal friendship dating back In a secret letter written on the 31st of August 1935,
to at least 1919. With the founding of the Sturmabteilung Hitler compelled Himmler to make an exception for Mau-
in 1920, Maurice became the first Oberster SA-Führer rice and his brothers, who were informally declared
(Supreme SA Leader). "Honorary Aryans" and allowed to stay in the SS. Despite
In 1923, Maurice also became the SA commander of his Jewish ancestry, and his relationship with Hitler’s
the newly established Stabswache, a special SA company niece, Geli Raubal, Maurice was first and foremost a loyal
given the task of guarding Hitler at Nazi parties and ral- companion to Hitler.
lies. He was imprisoned with Hitler and Rudolf Hess at From 1940 to 1942, he served in the Luftwaffe as an
Landsberg after the failure of the Beer Hall Putsch. While officer. After the war in 1948, he was sentenced to four
in prison with Hitler, he took down part of the dictation years in a labor camp.[5]
for Mein Kampf and is mentioned in the book.[2]
In 1925, two years after the failed Beer Hall Putsch, References
Maurice and Hitler refounded the Stabswache as the
Schutzstaffel (SS). At that time, Hitler became SS Member [1] Zentner, Christian Ed; Bedürftig, Friedemann Ed
No. 1 and Emil Maurice became SS Member No. 2. Mau- (1985) (in German). Das große Lexikon des Dritten
rice became an SS-Führer in the new organization, al- Reiches. München: Südwest Verlag.
though the leadership of the SS was assumed by Julius ISBN 3517008346.
Schreck, the first Reichsführer-SS. Maurice became
1
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Emil Maurice
Political offices
Preceded by Leader of the SA Succeeded by
none 1920 - 1921 Hans Ulrich Klintzsche
[2] Hamilton, Charles (1984). Leaders & Personalities of Persondata
the Third Reich, Vol. 1, R. James Bender Publishing, p.
Name Maurice, Emil
161.
[3] Emil Maurice mini biography: Alternative names
[4] Hamilton, Charles (1984), p. 161. Short description
[5] Hamilton, Charles (1984), p. 161. Date of birth 19 January 1897
Place of birth Westermoor, German Empire
Date of death 6 February 1972
External links Place of death Munich, West Germany
• Article on Emil Maurice (Spartacus Educational)
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Emil_Maurice&oldid=462185381"
Categories:
• 1897 births
• 1972 deaths
• Nazi leaders
• SA officers
• SS generals
• German people of Jewish descent
• Nazis who participated in the Beer Hall Putsch
• People from the Province of Schleswig-Holstein
• Chauffeurs of Adolf Hitler
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