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German Chancellors Who Lived In Sheffield


lysander

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Another forum has posed the question ..."which German Chancellor lived in Sheffield". I haven't a clue. I wonder, does anyone know?

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It may be a red herring, but Admiral Doenitz (spelling?) was a PoW at Redmires in WW1, and succeeded Hitler as Chancellor in 1945 after Hitler's suicide.

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It may be a red herring, but Admiral Doenitz (spelling?) was a PoW at Redmires in WW1, and succeeded Hitler as Chancellor in 1945 after Hitler's suicide.

Good thinking Bayleaf.

In my book that made him a Sheffield resident for the duration. Albeit an unwilling one.

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It may be a red herring, but Admiral Doenitz (spelling?) was a PoW at Redmires in WW1, and succeeded Hitler as Chancellor in 1945 after Hitler's suicide.

That is my favourite ever Sheffield History fact!

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Strictly speaking, did Doenitz ever become Chancellor of Germany? Or did he just stay President even after Goebbels death?

Either way, just a technicality, sorry. :-/

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Strictly speaking, did Doenitz ever become Chancellor of Germany? Or did he just stay President even after Goebbels death?

Either way, just a technicality, sorry. :-/

You may well be right Diablo. Various sources state Hitler named him his successor as head of state, one source says he was president, I can't find any use of the word chancellor specifically.

Worse calvin, the story of him being a prisoner is I believe based on the name appearing as grafitti at the camp, but the sources I've been looking at say he was a PoW, but in Malta, having been captured in the Med. He was a PoW until the peace treaty in 1919, so I suppose he could have been transferred to the UK at some time.It's a shame no-one knows whether there are records buried in the archives somewhere with prisoner lists. The facebook page for Redmires PoW camp has a number of requests from people trying to trace their relatives.

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No sooner was i excited by a Sheffield History fact that i didn't know then people doubt whether he was Chancellor OR ever in Sheffield!

It is certainly widely accepted that Doenitz succeeded Hitler for a very short time, so whatever his title i think that part is ok, but was he a POW in Sheffield?

Were any other future high ranking Nazis held in Sheffield during WW1?

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You may well be right Diablo. Various sources state Hitler named him his successor as head of state, one source says he was president, I can't find any use of the word chancellor specifically.

Worse calvin, the story of him being a prisoner is I believe based on the name appearing as grafitti at the camp, but the sources I've been looking at say he was a PoW, but in Malta, having been captured in the Med. He was a PoW until the peace treaty in 1919, so I suppose he could have been transferred to the UK at some time.It's a shame no-one knows whether there are records buried in the archives somewhere with prisoner lists. The facebook page for Redmires PoW camp has a number of requests from people trying to trace their relatives.

http://www.thestar.co.uk/features/how-sheffield-was-home-to-the-nazi-elite-1-856534

Some details about Doenitz being here in WW1, apparently confirmed in his writings.

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A friend ,who was in the Luftwaffe, was captured in North Africa in 1943.Having been told they would probably be shot by his captors ( the Free French) he was eventually "liberated" by the Americans who shipped him to the UK, where he spent a short time in Redmires before being moved to a camp in Cumberland...where he escaped but was quickly re-captured and punished.

With the average POW, under the Geneva Convention, being better fed than the average civilian he and thousands of others were shipped across the Atlantic to a reluctant United States where he spent the rest of the War, not being released until 1948.

Another war but a connection with our POW camp.

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A while ago I used to write little pieces of local history for our parish magazine, and one was about Redmires, the camps, racecourse etc. One of the older ladies told me that their regular Sunday walk in WW2 was past the camp and up to Stanage. Whenever they were passing the camp there was always the most appetizing smells of roasting etc coming from the camp, so they were quite sure the prisoners ate better than those on the outside!

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Surprised no one has mentioned Franz von Werra ( pronounced 'Verra' ) who was at Redmires and the subject of the 1957 film 'The one that got away' due to his successful escape. Regarding prisoner of war treatment, the Allies were guilty of a serious crime over the deliberate mis-treatment of German PoW's at the end of WW2, over a million of whom were held in the notorious Rhine Meadows open camps. Although there were a few tents provided in a very few sections, the vast majority of prisoners were held in the open, sleeping in muddy holes dug in the ground in winter time with starvation rations forcing fights for food, the International Red Cross , who were refused access until the final days, estimated deaths from starvation and the elements between 3,000 to 10,000. All this is only now becoming known due to the internet....Google 'Rhine Meadows WW2 PoW camps'. 

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