Julius Schaub

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1+12 years in prison. He was released on 31 December 1924, [3] 11 days after Hitler's 20 December release. [11] After Hitler left prison, there was an official reformation of the Nazi Party in early 1925. That same year, Hitler ordered the formation of a small new bodyguard unit dedicated to his personal service. It was tasked with providing personal protection for Hitler at party functions and events. Schaub became founding member number seven of the unit, which became known as the Schutzstaffel (SS) and made its first appearance in April. [12]

Schaub continued in the capacity as a personal aide and adjutant for Hitler. [13] A friendship developed, which was evident by Hitler later appearing as a witness at Schaub's second wedding. [4] Traudl Junge states that Schaub considered himself to be an "amazingly important, significant person" to the Nazi cause. [4] The Luftwaffe chief Hermann Göring, who gave humorous nicknames to almost all in Hitler's inner circle, dubbed Schaub the Reisemarschal ("Travel Marshal") as he typically took care of Hitler's traveling arrangements and often accompanied him. [14] On automobile trips, Schaub was one of the men who was allowed to travel regularly in Hitler's personal motorcar. [15] [16] He later became Hitler's chief aide and adjutant (Chefadjutant des Führers) in October 1940, replacing Wilhelm Brückner. Martin Bormann, then chief of staff in the office for Deputy Führer Rudolf Hess, was behind Brückner being replaced by Schaub, who was closer to Bormann. [13] [17] Bormann calculated this would led Schaub to support him as he gained power and he also believed Schaub could be manipulated. [18] Part of Schaub's duties was to give day-to-day operational orders to Hitler's personal protection chief, Johann Rattenhuber of the Reichssicherheitsdienst (Reich Security Service; RSD). He was also allowed to use RSD guards for errands and runner services. [19] In 1943, he was promoted to his final rank of SS- Obergruppenführer . [3] As Hitler disliked change in personnel and liked to keep familiar faces around him, Schaub remained in Hitler's staff for over 20 years. [3] [8] Jochen von Lang described Schaub as one of Hitler's "all-purpose companions from way back". [20]

20 July 1944 plot

The shattered conference room shortly after the explosion, 1944 Bundesarchiv Bild 146-1972-025-10, Hitler-Attentat, 20. Juli 1944.jpg
The shattered conference room shortly after the explosion, 1944

Later during World War II, with Germany suffering major defeat on all fronts, Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg and his fellow conspirators decided to eliminate Hitler and the Nazi leadership, establish a new government and save Germany from total destruction. Stauffenberg had his opportunity on 20 July 1944 at a military briefing at Hitler's East Prussian headquarters known as the Wolf's Lair (Wolfsschanze). [21] He managed to get through security and plant a briefcase bomb under the conference table. The bomb exploded, fatally wounding three officers and a stenographer who died shortly thereafter. Schaub was in another building at the time of the explosion. He rushed over to find Hitler, who survived with only minor injuries, as did other men present, who were shielded from the bomb blast by the conference table leg. [22] [23]

In the aftermath of the event, Hitler had a badge struck to honor all those injured or killed in the explosion; the "20 July Wound Badge". [24] Those present at the conference later said that Schaub falsely tried to claim he was injured so as to qualify for the badge. [25]

1945

In January 1945, Hitler and his staff relocated to the Führerbunker in Berlin. [26] During the Battle of Berlin midday conference of 22 April, Hitler declared for the first time that the war was lost. [27] Hitler ordered Schaub to burn all of the documents from his safe in the bunker and two safes in the Reich Chancellery. [28] Schaub performed the task on 22 or 23 April 1945. In the next several days, Hitler ordered much of his personal staff to leave Berlin. Hitler also ordered Schaub to burn the contents of the dictator's personal safes in Munich and at the Berghof on the Obersalzberg. [1] [3] His final act as aide and adjutant was to destroy Hitler's personal train, the Führersonderzug , in Austria. [3]

Post-war and death

After the war, while possessing false identification papers and introducing himself as "Josef Huber", Schaub was arrested by American troops on 8 May 1945 in Kitzbühel, and remained in custody until 17 February 1949. [3] Ultimately, Schaub was classified by denazification investigators as being only a "fellow traveler" and was not accused or associated with any war crimes. Schaub died on 27 December 1967 in his hometown, Munich. [1] Traudl Junge described Schaub in her memoirs as "extremely kind, but very curious too". She further notes that "for historical purposes, it's not worth saying much about him". [4]

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References

Citations

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Hamilton 1984, p. 168.
  2. Albertini 1953, pp. 273–274.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Joachimsthaler 1999, p. 287.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Junge 2004, p. 40.
  5. Evans 2003, pp. 103–108.
  6. Evans 2003, pp. 170–171.
  7. Goldhagen 1996, p. 85.
  8. 1 2 Kershaw 2008, p. 375.
  9. Felton 2014, p. 6.
  10. Hastings 2009, pp. 143–144.
  11. Kershaw 1999, p. 239.
  12. Weale 2012, p. 26.
  13. 1 2 Hoffmann 2000, p. 55.
  14. Whetton 2005, p. 236.
  15. Hoffmann 2000, p. 135.
  16. Felton 2014, p. 36.
  17. Felton 2014, p. 19.
  18. Lang 1981, pp. 177–178.
  19. Hoffmann 2000, pp. 36, 238–239.
  20. Lang 1981, p. 80.
  21. Housden 1997, p. 106.
  22. Housden 1997, pp. 107–108.
  23. Fest 2009, p. 224.
  24. Angolia 1987, pp. 264–267.
  25. The Daily Telegraph 2015.
  26. Beevor 2002, p. 139.
  27. Beevor 2002, p. 275.
  28. Joachimsthaler 1999, p. 107.

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Online

Julius Schaub
Julius Schaub in his adjutant uniform.png
Aide and Adjutant to Adolf Hitler
In office
1 January 1925 30 April 1945