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Waldemar Kraft
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Waldemar Kraft
Waldemar Kraft (19 February 1898 – 12 July 1977) was a German politician. A member of the SS in Nazi Germany, he served as Managing Director of the Reich Association for Land Management in the Annexed Territories from 1940 to 1945, administering parts of occupied Poland.
After the war, he became a West German politician, representing right-wing All-German Bloc/League of Expellees and Deprived of Rights in the Landtag of Schleswig-Holstein from 1950 to 1953, where he served as Minister of Finance. As well, he was the organization's chairman from 1951 to 1954. Kraft entered the Bundestag in 1953, and served as Federal Minister for Special Affairs in the Cabinet of Chancellor Konrad Adenauer from 1953 to 1956. In 1956, he became a member of the Christian Democratic Union, and retired from the Bundestag in 1961.
Waldemar Kraft was born to a Protestant German family in Fischerau, Jarotschin district, in the Province of Posen on the Prussian-Russian border (today Brzostów, Poland). He attended secondary school in pre-1914 Posen, focusing his secondary school studies on agriculture. Between 1915 and 1920 he was a soldier of the Prussian Army and participated in World War I, where he was severely wounded. Afterwards he served as a company commander.
After the war he chose to return to the Greater Poland and from 1921 to 1939 he was the director of the Hauptvereins der Deutschen Bauernvereine or Main German Farmers' Associations in Poznań. In 1925 he was also appointed director of the Deutschen Landwirtschaftlichen Zentralverbandes in Polen or Central Association of German Farming in Poland.
From 1939 to 1940 he served as the regional President of Agriculture (the Landwirtschaftskammer) in Nazi Posen. From 1940 to 1945 he was Managing Director of the Reichsgesellschaft für Landbewirtschaftung in den eingegliederten Ostgebieten mbH („Reichsland“) or Reich Association for land management in the annexed territories, in Berlin. Shortly before the war ended this Reich Association, and Kraft, moved to Ratzeburg in Schleswig-Holstein. From 1945 to 1947 he was interned in Schleswig-Holstein and remained unemployed in Ratzeburg to 1950.
From 1949 to 1951 he was the spokesperson for the Landsmannschaft Weichsel-Warthe or German Vistula and Warta Association. As such he signed the Charter of the German expellees and later became honorary chairman (an Ehrenvorsitzender).
Kraft joined the NSDAP in 1943 (membership number 9.428.904). On 13 November 1939, immediately following the Nazi invasion of Poland and the incorporation of his region into the Warthegau, he was also appointed an Honorary Captain (Ehren-Hauptsturmführer) of the SS.[citation needed]
In 1950 he was among the founders of the All-German Bloc/League of Expellees and Deprived of Rights (Gesamtdeutscher Block/Bund der Heimatvertriebenen und Entrechteten, often abbreviated as "GB/BHE") in Schleswig-Holstein. In 1951, Kraft was elected as the League's national chairman, and Eva Gräfin Finck von Finckenstein as his press secretary. In September 1954, she was not reelected into the League administrative board, resulting in Kraft's own resignation as Chairman.
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Waldemar Kraft
Waldemar Kraft (19 February 1898 – 12 July 1977) was a German politician. A member of the SS in Nazi Germany, he served as Managing Director of the Reich Association for Land Management in the Annexed Territories from 1940 to 1945, administering parts of occupied Poland.
After the war, he became a West German politician, representing right-wing All-German Bloc/League of Expellees and Deprived of Rights in the Landtag of Schleswig-Holstein from 1950 to 1953, where he served as Minister of Finance. As well, he was the organization's chairman from 1951 to 1954. Kraft entered the Bundestag in 1953, and served as Federal Minister for Special Affairs in the Cabinet of Chancellor Konrad Adenauer from 1953 to 1956. In 1956, he became a member of the Christian Democratic Union, and retired from the Bundestag in 1961.
Waldemar Kraft was born to a Protestant German family in Fischerau, Jarotschin district, in the Province of Posen on the Prussian-Russian border (today Brzostów, Poland). He attended secondary school in pre-1914 Posen, focusing his secondary school studies on agriculture. Between 1915 and 1920 he was a soldier of the Prussian Army and participated in World War I, where he was severely wounded. Afterwards he served as a company commander.
After the war he chose to return to the Greater Poland and from 1921 to 1939 he was the director of the Hauptvereins der Deutschen Bauernvereine or Main German Farmers' Associations in Poznań. In 1925 he was also appointed director of the Deutschen Landwirtschaftlichen Zentralverbandes in Polen or Central Association of German Farming in Poland.
From 1939 to 1940 he served as the regional President of Agriculture (the Landwirtschaftskammer) in Nazi Posen. From 1940 to 1945 he was Managing Director of the Reichsgesellschaft für Landbewirtschaftung in den eingegliederten Ostgebieten mbH („Reichsland“) or Reich Association for land management in the annexed territories, in Berlin. Shortly before the war ended this Reich Association, and Kraft, moved to Ratzeburg in Schleswig-Holstein. From 1945 to 1947 he was interned in Schleswig-Holstein and remained unemployed in Ratzeburg to 1950.
From 1949 to 1951 he was the spokesperson for the Landsmannschaft Weichsel-Warthe or German Vistula and Warta Association. As such he signed the Charter of the German expellees and later became honorary chairman (an Ehrenvorsitzender).
Kraft joined the NSDAP in 1943 (membership number 9.428.904). On 13 November 1939, immediately following the Nazi invasion of Poland and the incorporation of his region into the Warthegau, he was also appointed an Honorary Captain (Ehren-Hauptsturmführer) of the SS.[citation needed]
In 1950 he was among the founders of the All-German Bloc/League of Expellees and Deprived of Rights (Gesamtdeutscher Block/Bund der Heimatvertriebenen und Entrechteten, often abbreviated as "GB/BHE") in Schleswig-Holstein. In 1951, Kraft was elected as the League's national chairman, and Eva Gräfin Finck von Finckenstein as his press secretary. In September 1954, she was not reelected into the League administrative board, resulting in Kraft's own resignation as Chairman.
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