II. The accused Rudolf Werner
Was born 14 August 1907 in Schroda/Prov. Posen as son of the Regierungsobersekretaer Wilhelm Werner. He first attended the Volksschule in Samter 4 years, followed by 2 years at the Berger Oberrealschule [a high school emphasizing the sciences, math, and engineering] in Posen (1918-1919) vol 1 p 125 ff, Personnel files I p 1 - 5, 16, Personnel files II, p 3 – 11
The family of the accused was expelled from Posen in 1919 and moved to Berlin. Following this, Werner attended the Herderschule (Realgymnasium) in Berlin-Charlottenburg to Untertertia, until this father’s death. He then began business education at the Feed and Grain Wholesaler David Son in Berlin-Charlottenburg.
According to a curriculum vitae written by the accused 11 July 1939, he allegedly gave up this education on political grounds and was until 1 April 1925 generally unemployed. Doc vol VI p 602 ff (DC-documents)
On 1 April 1925 he volunteered for the Reichswehr of the time, and served 12 years in the 1 Prussian Pioneer Battalion in Koenigsberg/Prussia. Before he left the Wehrmacht as Stabsfeldwebel on 30 April 1937, he attended the Army Technical College from 1 January 1936 to 31 December 1937, and took Final Examination I (Industry and Technology) for Strassenmeister [Street Master = ?]. On 1 May 1937 he was appointed Versorgungsanwaerter [a non-permanent official in the area of obtaining provisions] at the Amtsverwaltung [Administration] Kleinblittersdorf/Saar. He attended the administration and credit union school in Saarbruecken and took the examination for simple and middle-grade [civil] service with a grade of “good”. On 1 May 1938 he was taken on as permanent official for life as administrative secretary in the Kleinblittersdorf/Saar administration. Personnel files I p 6, doc vol VII p 607
He worked a year in this position as case worker for welfare and in the police administration.
On 1 July 1939 he was transferred to the Landrat [district president – a Prussian governmental unit with no exact equivalent] office in Hohenstadt/Mach (Sudetenland) as Regierungsobersekretaer. [That’s administrative secretary with a jump in civil service rank; in Germany there have always been titles associated with each jump in rank, & they are always used] and worked on police matters such as passports and personal identity matters. [Any change in family status – a move, death, birth] had also to be recorded with the police].
In the fall 1939 he was called up as Stabsfeldwebel to the Pioneer Supplementary Battalion 28 in Breslau. He was transferred along with this unit to Strasbourg in spring 1940. On 7 May 1941 he was detached to the raiders in Berlin. Vol 1 p 126, doc vol VII p 618
During his stay in Berlin he was sent to an SS-Post in Berlin on account of his abilities, shortly after the invasion of Russia. There he was told that he was being groomed for administrative duties in the occupied Eastern territories. He then received marching orders to the Ordensburg in Kroessinsee/Pommern, Special Staff “R” (Rosenberg). There he received a brown uniform and education for his posting in the civil administration in the occupied territories. He was already slated for RC Lida at Kroessinsee. The first of the later members of the RC Lida whom he met here was the accused Windisch, and a short time later the eventual RC of Lida, Hanweg. From Kroessinsee, he went, in summer 1941 – presumably September – with 4 – 5 men, among them Hanweg and Windisch, directly to Lida in a motor car. Here he was entrusted with the building up and direction of the economics division in the RC Lida as Regierungsobersekretaer. This post the accused held in Lida until about the fall of 1942. Vol 2 p 315.
In fall 1942 Werner was transferred from the RC Lida by way of the General Commissariat Minsk and the Reichs Commissariat for the East Riga to RC Arensburg on the island Oesel (Estonia). He alleges he directed the fisheries and hunting division there for 6 weeks and was then transferred to the RC Reval in the winter of 1942/43, where he directed the housing division for the German population. Vol 1 p 128
In November 1943, the accused was again called up into the Wehrmacht.
He was sent to the
Active Duty Company of the Pioneer Supplementary and Training Battalion
28 in Breslau, and was ordered to the front early in 1944 with the 1 Company
of the Pioneer Battalion 18, arriving 7 February 1944. Doc vol VII
p 618 (WAST)
As member of this unit, the accused was taken prisoner of war by the Russians in June/July 1944 during the retreat battles in the vicinity of Ivje, Belarus. [what irony! EIN] vol 1 p 128,vol 7 p 1105 ff
He spent about 2 weeks in a collection camp in – rather well-known to him from his service in the RC Lida – Lida, and from there he went to a prisoner of war camp in Minsk. In the prison camp in Lida, Jews recognized him as the “notorious Werner”. He succeeded, however, in denying the identification by insisting he was being confused with his brother. In November 1945 the accused was released by the Russians and reunited with his family in a refugee camp in Thuringia. He moved with his family to Marburg/Lahn on 27 March 1946. Personnel files I p 4, 16, Personnel files II p 4, 8, vol 5 p 901, (Zietlow)
After illness, unemployment and various jobs in the private sector or at American posts as watchman, kitchen help, truck driver, etc. he was hired under TOA VIII at the state education office in Marburg on 1 July 1952. He was active in the branch office of the Marburg-Land county from 10 September 1952 to 30 July 1954. Personnel files I p 5, 16, personnel files II p 9, 11.
The accused said nothing of his employment in the civil administration in the occupied Eastern Territories in a statement given under oath on 22 September 1951 and intended for presentation to the Government President in Kassel, instead falsely stated that from 1 August 1941 to 28 June 1943 he was Stabsfeldwebel at the Pioneer Battalion 19 in “Russia – Central Division”. Furthermore he also stated in this document under oath that he was Government Inspector at the Landrat Office in Hohenstadt/March from 1 January 1940 to 8 May 1945, although he was only Regierungsobersekretaer there. Personnel file I, p 15, vol 1 p 126, vol 2 p 315, doc vol VII p 607.
He made the same false assertions in regard to his job application at the County Administration Marburg-Land in the application form and in his biography of 22 May 1952. There he also stated, falsely, to have been awarded the Iron Cross First and Second Class, the silver Close Combat Bar, as well as the Pioneer Storm Insignia. Apparently the accused hoped that these false statements about his military career would make his statements about his service in the Wehrmacht during the war more credible. Personnel file I p 1 vol 1 p 129
On 31 July 1954 Werner was named Regierungsinspektor [Government Inspector] for Reuse with temporary civil service status, and probationary Kreisobersekretaer, and a document dated 22 August 1955 made the appointment permanent. Personnel fil I p 9, Personnel file II p 24 f.
On his request, Werner was transferred, after a 4 month probationary period, on 1 December 1960 as Regierungsobersekretaer in the service of the Bundesminister for Defence, Defense Administration IV, at the Allendorf/Krs. Marburg post. Personnel file I p 17, Personnel file II p 39, 42
With a document of 7 January 1941, the accused was promoted to Reg. Inspektor, and with a document of 3 October 1963, to Reg. Oberinspektor. The accused was, until the date of his arrest during this investigation on 9 November 1964 director of sector II (Personnel, Tariff and Labor Law) in the Allendorf Administration Post. Personnel file II p 44, 52, vol 6 p 985, 1066
In performance reviews of the County Branch at the Landkreis Marburg Branch Office and the Allendorf Administration Post, the accused was generally judged satisfactory. In a final review, of 34 May 1961 of the Landkreis Marburg, he was described as “industrious and goal-oriented , completing all his tasks completely satisfactorily” and “through his calm and humble demeanor obtaining full authority over the coworkers under him”. Personnel file I p 1018, personnel file II p 23, 30 Rs, 49 Rs, 50
In a letter of recommendation from the Allendorf Post Administration of 20 May 1963, the accused is described as a “large, stately presence with a worthy aura and mature character” whose “equable being made him a valued coworker”. His general and professional achievements were rated as considerably above average. Personnel fil II p 49 Rs.
In a recommendation for promotion to Regierungsoberinspektor of 2 September 1963, in addition to the false statements, the “extensive life experience, calm and equanimity as well as his knowledge of people” are praised. Personnel file II p 50
As the accused also gave the already described false information about his past in an application for employment as official of the Ministry of Defense, and at his most recent position, on 8 February 1965 a formal disciplinary hearing was instituted against him through the President of the Defense Administration IV. The process has been at the Bundes Disciplinary Administration since 7 September 1966. It is not yet settled. Personnel file II p 2 – 11 Rs, vol 23 p 3, 165
On 27 May 1933 the accused married Helene nee Groening in Koenigsberg/Prussia. Two daughters were born to this marriage, in 1935 and 1939; they are both married. The older daughter married a minister of the Evangelical [Lutheran] Chruch 24 April 1954. Personnel file I p 3 f, Personnel file II, p 8, 10, doc vol VII p 603
On 15 April 1954 the accused, who had left the Evangelical Church before the war, joined the Evangelical Church. Personnel file I p 8, doc vol VII p 602
Copyright © 2000 Irene Newhouse
HTML by Irene Newhouse