Hans-Adolf Prützmann (31 August 1901 – 16 May 1945) was among the highest-ranking German SS officials during the Nazi era. From June 1941 to September 1944, he served as a Higher SS and Police Leader in the occupied Soviet Union, and from November 1943 was the Supreme SS and Police Leader in Ukraine. He oversaw the activities of the Einsatzgruppen detachments that perpetrated the Holocaust in the Baltic States and Ukraine. After being captured at the end of the Second World War, he committed suicide.
Early life
Prützmann was born in the East Prussian town of Tolkemit, the son of a businessman. After completing his secondary education at the gymnasium, Prützmann became a member of the Freikorps "Aulock" between 1918 and 1921, seeing active service in the Upper Silesian uprisings in the summer of 1921. Afterwards, he studied agriculture at the University of Göttingen from 1921 to 1923 and then worked for seven years as an agricultural official in the Prussian provinces of Pomerania, Brandenburg, and East Prussia.
Peacetime SS career
Prützmann joined the Nazi Party on 1 August 1929 (membership number 142,290) and was a holder of the Golden Party Badge. He entered the SA shortly afterward, but he left the SA and transferred to the SS in Bochum on 12 August 1930 (SS number 3,002).
By August 1931 he was promoted to SS-Standartenführer and became the first commander (führer) of the 19th SS-Standarte "Westfalen-Nord," based in Gelsenkirchen. At this point in time, Prützmann's career began a steep rise. In April 1932, he was elected to the Landtag of Prussia. In July of that year he was elected to the Reichstag from electoral constituency 17, Westphalia-North. He would continue to serve in the Reichstag until the end of the Nazi regime, and he would successively represent East Prussia, Württemburg and Hamburg, as his SS postings changed.
In September 1932, Prützmann transferred from Westphalia to take command of the 18th SS-Standarte "Ostpreussen", based in Königsberg (now Kaliningrad). This was followed by a stint as commander of SS-Abschnitt (District) X based in Stuttgart from July to November 1933. He was promoted to SS-Brigadeführer in November 1933, and appointed the first commander of the newly-formed SS-Oberabschnitt (Main District) "Südwest," also based in Stuttgart. In February 1934, he was promoted to the rank of SS-Gruppenführer.
From 1 March 1937 through 30 April 1941, Prützmann led SS-Oberabschnitt "Nordwest" (renamed "Nordsee" 20 April 1940) whose headquarters were in Hamburg. In June 1937, he joined the State government as a Staatsrat (State Councillor) and member of the Hamburg Senate. At the end of March 1938, he was named chief of police administration for Hamburg, Germany's second largest city. When the post of Höherer SS- und Polizeiführer (HSSPF), (Higher SS and Police Leader) "Nordwest" was created on 28 June 1938 (renamed "Nordsee" 20 April 1940), Prutzmann became the first holder of this position. As HSSPF, he reported directly to Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler. From Hamburg, Prützmann was transferred on 30 April 1941 to become the HSSPF "Nordost" and commander of the Oberabschnitt "Nordost," in Königsberg.
World War II
By April 1941, Prützmann had been appointed Generalleutnant (Lieutenant General) of Police. Immediately after the German invasion of the Soviet Union, he took up the position of HSSPF "Ostland und Rußland-Nord" (Baltics and Northern Russia) in Riga on 29 June 1941. In this position, he was responsible for internal security and combating partisans in the Army Group North Rear Area encompassing the Baltic States and western Belorussia. He commanded all SS, SD (Security Service) and Order Police in the region, including Police Regiment North. He retained this position until November 1941 and then was transferred to become HSSPF "Rußland-Süd" (Southern Russia), headquartered in Kiev. At that time he was promoted to SS-Obergruppenführer and General of Police.
In early 1942, Prützmann was put in charge of securing forced labor for the Durchgangsstrasse IV, a large project to build a road from Lemberg (now Lviv) to Stalino (now Donetsk). Workers came from Soviet prisoners of war and Jewish concentration camp inmates. Thousands perished from the harsh conditions and from liquidation of the labor camps when the project was completed.
On August 1942, Himmler made Prützmann responsible for all anti-partisan activities in Ukraine. During the first half of 1943, Prützmann conducted numerous anti-partisan operations, each one resulting in the deaths or capture of many thousands.