From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Gustav Simon
Gustav Simon
See also Gustav Simon (physician) Unlike almost all other Gauleiters, Simon did not belong
to the SA or the SS; however, he was an Obergruppen-
Gustav Simon (2 August 1900, Saarbrücken – 18 Decem- führer in the National Socialist Motor Corps (National-
ber 1945)[1] was, as the Nazi Gauleiter in the Moselland sozialistisches Kraftfahrerkorps or NSKK).
Gau from 1940 until 1944, the Chief of the Civil Adminis-
tration in Luxembourg, which was occupied at that time
by Nazi Germany. Chief of Civil Administration in
Luxembourg
Family, schooling and profes- After the German aggression on 10 May 1940, the Grand
sion Duchy of Luxembourg first fell under the administration
of the German Military Commander of Belgium and
Gustav Simon’s father was a railway official. His parents Northern France in Brussels, namely General Alexander
farmed small plots on the Hunsrück. Simon went to a von Falkenhausen. Under this commander, Gustav Simon
Volksschule in Saarbrücken, and thereafter underwent took over civil administration of Luxembourg on 25 July
training as a schoolteacher in Merzig. Although he got 1940. The occupation status ended on 2 August 1940,
his diploma, he did not get a teaching job. He then de- when Simon was appointed Chef der Zivilverwaltung (CdZ)
cided to take his Abitur, and meanwhile he helped out on by a decree from the Führer (Führererlass). His represen-
the railway and with customs. After his Abitur, he stud- tative in this function was the district president
ied economics at the Johann Wolfgang Goethe Univer- (Regierungspräsident) of Trier, Heinrich Siekmeier. Their
sity in Frankfurt am Main with a view to becoming a job was to give the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg – now
teacher in the subject. After completing his studies in the CdZ-Gebiet Luxemburg– German administrative struc-
1927, he taught in Völklingen. Before the year was even tures, and to make it an integral part of the Greater Ger-
out, though, he left the school and began as his main man Reich.[4]
occupation working for the National Socialist German
Workers’ Party – the Nazis.
Simon’s death
NSDAP When the war ended, Simon went into hiding using his
mother’s maiden name in Upsprunge, a community in
By 1923, Simon was a member of a völkisch College Group Salzkotten, Westphalia, where he posed as a gardener.
(völkischen Hochschulgruppe) in Frankfurt. Already on 14 On 10 December 1945, he was seized by Captain Hanns
August 1925, he joined the NSDAP, membership number Alexander and local soldiers and taken to a British Army
17 017[2][3], thereby becoming one of the "Old Fighters" prison in Paderborn.
("alte Kämpfer") who would later automatically be deco- About his death there have been since late 1945 – and
rated with the "Golden Party Badge". Shortly after join- there still are – many rumours that contradict each oth-
ing, Simon founded the Hochschulgruppe Frankfurt of the er as to where and under what circumstances Simon met
National Socialist German Students’ League. In 1927, he his end. The stories, however, can be grouped into two
was chosen by the majority of students to be the National fundamental versions. The official version has it that Si-
Socialist President of the Students’ Board. mon died in Paderborn, as the registry office there put on
Not only was he already active for the Nazis during the death certificate. Simon is said to have hanged him-
his time studying, but he furthermore set up more Party self shortly before he was to have been handed over to
locals (Ortsgruppen) in the Hunsrück. Luxembourg. It does stand out, though, that the registra-
Beginning in 1928, Simon quickly rose in the Party tion number 66/1946 was only written in February 1946,
hierarchy. In 1928 he became NSDAP "district leader" some two months after the date of Simon’s death.
(Bezirksleiter) for the Trier-Birkenfeld district, and in 1929 The second – and to this day unofficial – version has
also for the Koblenz-Trier district, as well as a member it that Simon died in Luxembourg. After the British Occu-
of the Rhineland Provincial Landtag. In 1930, he became pation Administration agreed to hand him over, he was
a member of the Reichstag for the electoral district of to have been taken by car by two Luxembourgers from
Koblenz-Trier. On 1 June 1931, Adolf Hitler appointed Paderborn to the Luxembourgish capital (also called Lux-
him Gauleiter of the newly created Gau of Koblenz-Trier. embourg) so that he could be brought to book before
1
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Gustav Simon
a court there. Shortly before reaching Luxembourg, at des Nationalsozialismus. Sources and accounts of
Waldhaff, there was an incident provoked by Simon in contemporary history, published by the Institut für
which he was killed. Simon’s body was nonetheless taken Zeitgeschichte, Band 33, R. Oldenbourg Verlag,
to the prison in Grund, a neighbourhood in the capital, München 1991, S. 95-104, ISBN 978-3-486-54631-6.
where it was photographed by the press, and then in the
end buried. His premature death thwarted any trial. To
suppress the whole business, the media, among them the
References
agency DANA (Deutsch-Amerikanische Nachrichtenagentur) [1] G. Hausemer (2006): Luxemburger Lexikon. Das
and the Tageblatt, were furnished with information by Großherzogtum von A-Z. Luxembourg, Editions
the British Captain Hanns Alexander, about the "suicide Binsfeld, p. 397.
in Paderborn". [2] Paul Dostert: Luxemburg zwischen Selbstbehauptung
This so-called second version is merely a fiction, as und nationaler Selbstaufgabe, ISP 1985, p.70
has been proved by studies based on both British and [3] Hans Peter Klauck: Gustav Simon, der Satrap aus
Luxembourgish archival documents.[5] Saarbrücken, Gauleiter des Mosellandes [1]
[4] Paul Dostert: Luxemburg zwischen Selbstbehauptung
und nationaler Selbstaufgabe, ISP 1985
Literature [5] A. Schaack (2009): Le suicide du Gauleiter face aux
• Dostert, Paul: Luxemburg zwischen Selbstbehauptung légendes historiques: La mort du Gauleiter Gustav Simon.
und nationaler Selbstaufgabe. Die deutsche In: Die Warte 2009, Nr. 10 (19. März), pp. 2-3.
Besatzungspolitik und die Volksdeutsche Bewegung Spang 1992 (cf. literature).
1940-1945. Diss. Freiburg, Luxembourg 1985. P. Spang 1992 (cf. Literatur).
• Schneider, Volker: Gauleiter Gustav Simon, der P.J. Muller (1968): Tatsachen aus der Geschichte des
"Moselgau" und das ehemalige SS-Sonderlager/KZ Luxemburger Landes. Luxembourg, Vlg. "De
Hinzert. In: Hans-Georg Meyer/Hans Berkessel (Hg.): Frendeskres" u. Impr. Bourg-Bourger, p. 410.
Die Zeit des Nationalsozialismus in Rhineland-Palatinate. Persondata
Für die Außenwelt seid ihr tot. Hermann Schmidt,
Name Simon, Gustav
Mainz 2000, Bd. 2, S. 276-307, ISBN
978-3-87439-454-3. Alternative names
• Spang, Paul: Gustav Simons Ende. In: Hémecht. Short description
Zeitschrift für Luxemburger Geschichte. Revue d’histoire Date of birth 2 August 1900
luxembourgeoise 44 (1992) 3, S. 303-317.
Place of birth
• Kienast, E. (Hg.): Der Großdeutsche Reichstag. IV.
Wahlperiode, Beginn am 10. April 1938, verlängert bis zum Date of death 18 December 1945
30. Januar 1947. Berlin 1943. Place of death
• Arndt, Ino: Luxemburg. In: Wolfgang Benz (Hg.):
Dimension des Völkermords. Die Zahl der jüdischen Opfer
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Categories:
• 1900 births
• 1945 deaths
• People from Saarbrücken
• German Nazi politicians
• Gauleiter
• Nazi leaders
• People from the Rhine Province
• Luxembourg in World War II
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