German officer Theodor Eike: biography with photo

Theodor Eike is one of the most famous Nazi criminals during the Third Reich. He played a significant role in the formation of the dictatorial regime in Germany and other countries. He was personally acquainted with many prominent figures of the National Socialist Party, took part in the coup d'etat, as a result of which Hitler was able to take power into his own hands. Also Eike was guilty of many crimes against humanity, running various concentration camps.

Theodore Eike: biography. Youth

Born Theodore in the territory of modern France, in Lorraine. His father was a well-to-do landowner and ran a railway station. In 1892, his eleventh child was born - Theodor Eike. The date of birth is disputed by German historians, but generally accepted is the seventeenth of October. Theodore studied at the school. However, he was extremely unfit for studying and communicating with peers. Due to constant absenteeism and strange behavior, he is expelled from the school. Immediately after this, Theodor Eike goes into the army. In two years he changed several units. The beginning of the World War he met in the Bavarian Infantry Regiment.

The First War

Immediately after the outbreak of hostilities, Eike fights on various fronts. He was baptized in Flanders. In the spring of 1915, fierce battles broke out near the town of Ypres. The German army first used chemical weapons. At night, special forces brought artillery to the front line. The next morning the British positions were shelled with chlorine. However, the wind blew towards the German fortifications, and many soldiers were poisoned by their own chemical weapons. After Ipra, Theodor Eike goes to Verdun. It is there that the most difficult battles of that war flare up. In the fields near Verdun, about a million people perished from both sides. The injured Eike is transferred to the reserve corps, where he meets the end of the war.

Postwar Life

After the war, Theodore Eike replaces several professions. A new German society is critical of a terrible senseless war. Theodore was unable to adapt to the time of peace and is imbued with hatred for the whole of society. He hates the Weimar Republic that was formed as a result of the revolution , but at the same time works as a secret informant. In 1928, the National Socialist Party was gaining popularity. Extreme militarism, revanchism and misanthropy are in the nature of Eike, and he joins the Nazis. Already in three years he holds the post of commander of the platoon of the SS - special paramilitary units, which were subordinate to Himmler.

Through the time, Theodore is arrested, but a loyal Nazi judge releases him. Eike runs to Italy. There he draws closer with other refugees from Germany. In the thirty-third year, Hitler seized power. Theodore Eike returns to the country. He was Himmler's personal favorite, who appoints him to a high position. In the spring, the first concentration camp is created.

The Nazi career

Eike becomes commandant of Dachau. Immediately after assuming office, he makes a number of changes. He holds all the camp guards in his gloves . At the same time, he creates horrifying orders in Dachau. For many offenses of prisoners executed without trial and effect. Severe exploitation makes it possible to turn a concentration camp into a profitable enterprise. Himmler appreciated these merits Eike and appointed him to the position of inspector on camp issues. He wants Theodore to personally check out the other camps and reorganize them according to the example of Dachau.

On the thirtieth day of June thirty-fourth, the famous "night of long knives" occurred. Theodore Eike and Hitler took a personal part in eliminating Ernst Röhm's main opponent. According to some sources, Eike shot at Ernst when he came to kill him with his adjutant. After that, he continued to organize the construction of Nazi concentration camps.

Creation of SS

For more stringent control, he creates a paramilitary group of SS "Dead Head". Immediately after the outbreak of World War II, the Totenkopf units are sent to the east. But the first fight of the Waffen-SS part was taken in France. All the soldiers were characterized by fanatical devotion to the ideas of National Socialism. Parts of the SS suffered huge losses, as Theodor Eike did not care much about the personnel. Also, at the beginning of the war, the SS divisions were famous for their particular cruelty towards prisoners of war and civilians.

After the outbreak of war against the Soviet Union, parts of the SS are sent to the East. There they take part in the occupation of the Baltic states. During this operation, Eike's machine is undermined by a mine, and he is injured. In the beginning of 1942, the division "The Dead Head" is fighting in the south of the Eastern Front.

On the eastern front

When the Soviet troops begin to counterattack, the Germans go to the defense. Eike's divisions managed to repulse several attacks near Lake Ilmen. However, the cold winter of the forty-second Red Army managed to carry out an offensive and encircle several German divisions. With a breakthrough from the encirclement, the "Dead Head" lost most of its personnel.

After that, the German officer Theodor Eike was appointed general of the SS troops, and he was also presented to several awards. After that Totenkopf was sent back to France, where the division was completed. They also participated in the occupation of Vichy France, as Berlin was worried about the loyalty of the Vichy regime. Being on the Western Front, the "Dead Head" continued to organize atrocities, which dramatically increased the number of partisan anti-fascist detachments.

Battle of Kharkiv

In the winter of 1943, a new battle for Kharkov took place. After the capture of Kursk, the Soviet troops advanced swiftly, wishing to liberate their territory as soon as possible. Already in early February, the first units of the Red Army advanced from Belgorod in the direction of Kharkov. The "Dead Head" division was transferred to this sector of the front. In mid-February, German troops were surrounded, and the SS divisions, in defiance of Hitler's orders, retreated. During the subsequent counter-attack, the Germans still managed to capture the city.

On February 26, Eike went with an inspection to the Kharkiv region. However, his plane was brought down by machine-gun fire from the ground. The leader of the "Dead Head" died on the spot. Initially, he was buried near the village of Artnoye. However, according to Himmler's personal order, Eike's body was sent to Zhitomir so that his grave was out of reach of the Red Army. However, in December 1943 Soviet troops liberated Zhitomir, and the fate of Eike's grave is unknown. In March, the newspaper Völkischer reported that General SS Theodor Eike had died. Photo and obituary were posted on the first page.