Hermann Neubacher

See also: Axis occupation of Greece and Hyperinflation in Greece

When war broke out, Neubacher took on the role of a special plenipotentiary envoy in the Balkans and Greece and initially served as an economic adviser in Romania before taking on the role of ambassador to the same country and afterwards Greece as well. ^[2] In Greece, he was joined by the Italian Alberto D'Agostino, with the two men given full authority over economic and financial matters after discussions between the Greek government and the occupiers aimed at reducing occupation costs. ^[3]

From October 1942, Neubacher was given the task of containing inflation, ^[4] which had skyrocketed after the exile of the prewar government and of the Bank of Greece in April 1941. ^[5] Neubacher would immediately suspend payments to Wehrmacht and Greek government contractors, force contractors to sell gold for drachmas and ban export of foodstuffs. ^[4] The techniques worked well for a while, as prices would fall during the winter of 1942–1943, but continued seignorage ultimately caused inflation to resume and accelerate from spring 1943 onwards.

Neubacher was the general manager of DEGRIGES, a German monopoly company for trade in Greece.

During the final days of the occupation of Greece, the more moderate Neubacher became embroiled in a struggle with Sicherheitspolizei chief Walter Blume, who had suggested that the Nazis should undertake a policy of executing all members of the political elite that were suspected of having links to the United Kingdom to leave the country leaderless (the so-called "Chaos Thesis"). ^[6] Neubacher rejected that as counterproductive and argued that as long as politicians opposed the work of the communist-controlled National Liberation Front and the Greek People's Liberation Army, their British ties would not help them in establishing control. In the end, Neubacher's line was approved, and Blume was withdrawn, a move that ultimately left in place a strong anticommunist right wing governing class in post-liberation Greece. ^[7]

Hermann Neubacher
Neubacher in 1943
Reich plenipotentiary for Greece
In office November 3, 1943 –October 12, 1944

In 1943, Neubacher devised the Neubacher Plan as a means to improve German occupation in the Balkans. In a wide-ranging raft of reforms, he suggested five main ideas to Joachim von Ribbentrop. These were:

1. The re-unification of Montenegro and Serbia in a federal type of state
2. Installing General Milan Nedić as President of the resulting Greater Serbia
3. Autonomy in Montenegro
4. The re-opening of the University of Belgrade and an end to German supervision of cultural life
5. Reduction in German military presence and the establishment of a gendarmerie controlled by the new government ^[8]

Ultimately only point 4 of his proposals was approved, although he did succeed in ending German military reprisals and in combating to an extent the Ustaše genocide against Serbs. ^[9]

Later life

After the war Neubacher faced trial in the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and in 1946 a military court in Belgrade sentenced him to 20 years of hard labor, although he was not ultimately required to serve the full sentence. ^[2] He served his prison term in Belgrade, in the building of the former Gestapo headquarters. He was released from prison in November 1952 due to poor health. Back in Austria, he worked as a building constructor in Salzburg, and from 1954–1956, he worked in Ethiopia as a consultant to Emperor Haile Selassie. He died in Vienna, aged 67.^{[ citation needed ]}

References

1. Philip Rees, Biographical Dictionary of the Extreme Right Since 1890 , p. 278
2. Rees, Biographical Dictionary, p. 279
3. Rodogno, David (2006). Fascism's European Empire: Italian Occupation During the Second World War. Cambridge University Press. p. 235.
4. Palairet, Michael R. (2000). The Four Ends of the Greek Hyperinflation of 1941-1946. University of Copenhagen: Museum Tusculanum Press. pp. 32–38. ISBN   9788772895826.
5. Makinen, Gail E. (September 1986). "The Greek Hyperinflation and Stabilization of 1943-1946". The Journal of Economic History. 46 (3): 795–805.
6. Mazower, Mark (1995). Inside Hitler's Greece: The Experience of Occupation, 1941-44. Yale University Press. pp. 232–234.
7. Deák István; Gross, Jan Tomasz; Judt, Tony (2000). The Politics of Retribution in Europe: World War II and Its Aftermath. Princeton University Press. p. 213.
8. Ramet, Sabrina P. The Three Yugoslavias: State-building and Legitimation, 1918-2005. p. 134.
9. Ramet. The Three Yugoslavias. p. 134-135.

External links

Media related to Hermann Neubacher at Wikimedia Commons

• Newspaper clippings about Hermann Neubacher in the 20th Century Press Archives of the ZBW

Political offices
Preceded by Richard Schmitz	Mayor of Vienna 1938–1940	Succeeded by Philipp Wilhelm Jung