Everything about Konrad Henlein totally explained
Konrad Henlein (
May 6,
1898 -
May 10,
1945) was the most important pro-
Nazi politician in
Czechoslovakia and leader of
Sudeten German separatists.
Early life
Born in
Maffersdorf (Vratislavice nad Nisou)- currently borough of
Reichenberg (Liberec), Northern Bohemia. In light of his being a leader of
Sudeten German movement, Henlein's origin wasn't without problems. His mother, Hedvika Anna Augusta Dvořáček, was a daughter of German-speaking mother but her father was a Czech. As Henlein pursued a policy against mixed marriages after
1938, he was forced to change his still-living mother's name from Dvořáček to Dworatschek, which sounded more German and thus more comfortable for Henlein's career as a high
Nazi official.
He attended a business school in
Jablonec nad Nisou. After serving in the Austrian army in the
First World War, during which he spent time in
Italian captivity, and the subsequent breakup of
Austria-Hungary he worked as a bank clerk in Czechoslovakia while taking an active part in the
Sudeten German communal life.
Leader of SdP
In the first half of the
1930s, Henlein held a pro-Czechoslovak and overtly anti-Nazi view in his public speeches and didn't become a follower of
Adolf Hitler until
1937, when the pro-German camp within the
Sudeten German Party (SdP) represented by
Karl Hermann Frank emerged victorious. He then swiftly aligned himself with the slogan "Ein Volk, ein Reich, ein Führer!" (One People, One Country, One leader), thus calling for the predominantly (typically more than 80%) German-speaking
Sudetenland to be a part of Germany. Henlein's political party's dominance of the Sudetenland in the 1930s ultimately led to the
Munich Agreement on
September 30,
1938, which he helped to accomplish by influencing the British delegate
Lord Runciman during the latter's visit of Czechoslovakia. Henlein presented his party's policy as striving to fulfill the "justified claims" of the then largely nazified German minority in Czechoslovakia. He said "We must make demands that can't be satisfied". In September 1938, he helped organize hundreds of terrorist attacks and two
coup attempts in the Sudetenland and instigated Hitler's frenetic speech in
Nuremberg. Since the attempted uprising was quickly suppressed by Czechoslovak forces, Henlein fled to Germany and made numerous intrusions into Czechoslovak territory as a commander of Sudeten German guerilla bands of
Freikorps. After the final
secession of the Sudetenland, Henlein's party merged with Hitler's
NSDAP on November 5, 1938. Henlein then became
Gruppenführer (later
Obergruppenführer)
SS and a
Reichstag deputy. In March and April 1939 he served as the head of civil service in the
Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia but soon most of the power went to the hands of another Sudeten German politician,
Karl Hermann Frank. On May 1, 1939 he was named
Gauleiter of the Sudetenland, a position he held until the end of the war.
In May
1945, while in
American captivity in the barracks of
Plzeň, he committed
suicide by cutting his veins with his broken glasses. He was buried anonymously in the Pilsen Central Cemetery.
Summary of his career
Dates of rank
Notable decorations
War Merit Cross without swords Second (?) and First (?) Classes
SS Honour Ring (?)
Golden Party Badge (?)
Wound Badge in Black (?)Further Information
Get more info on 'Konrad Henlein'.
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