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Bürckel, Josef

    Date of birth:
    March 30th, 1895 (Lingenfeld/Palatinate, Germany)
    Date of death:
    September 28th, 1944 (Neustadt/Thuringia, Germany)
    Buried on:
    German War Graves Hauptfriedhof Neustadt
    Service number:
    289.830
    Nationality:
    German (1933-1945, Third Reich)

    Biography

    Josef Bürckel was Gauleiter and Reichsstatthalter of the Westmark (Pfalz/Palatine, Saargebiet and Lothringen). He was a member of the Reichstag (German parliament) since 1930. In 1938 he was promoted to SS-Gruppenführer and in 1939 to NSKK-Obergruppenführer. He was e member of the NSDAP from 1921 and also was a SA-Obergruppenführer.

    Situation surrounding his death:
    Professor Dr. Richard Siebeck, head of the clinic at Heidelberg University, diagnosed on September 27, 1944 at 11 p.m.: "" "toxic" "" "collapse" "", "" "dysentery" poor overall condition '' ''. The cause of death a few hours later was a cardiac arrest. Bürckel died a natural death on 28 September 1944.

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    Period:
    Second World War (1939-1945)
    Rank:
    Gauleiter
    Awarded on:
    October 3rd, 1944

    5th Award, posthumous awarded
    Awarded with "Lorbeerkranz und Schwertern".
    Deutscher Orden des Großdeutschen Reiches
    Dienstauszeichnung der NSDAP 10 Jahre
    Dienstauszeichnung der NSDAP 15 Jahre

    With oak leave
    Goldenes Hitlerjugend Ehrenzeichen mit Eichenlaub
    Ehrenzeichen des 9. November 1923 (Blutorden)
    Gau Abzeichen

    Sources

    • Photo 1: Public Domain
    • - Lumsden R., Medals and Decorations of Hitler's Germany, Airlife, Shrewsbury, 2001
      - Josef Bürckel: Gauleiter Reichsstatthalter Krisenmanager Adolf Hitlers

    Photos