Maximilian von Herff

Maximilian von Herff
Herff's grave in Cannock Chase German war cemetery
Born17 April 1893
Hanover, Kingdom of Prussia, German Empire
Died6 September 1945(1945-09-06) (aged 52)
Ulverston, England, United Kingdom
Buried
Cannock Chase German war cemetery
Allegiance
Branch
Service years
1914–1945
Rank
SS-Obergruppenführer und General der Waffen-SS
CommandsSS Personnel Main Office
Conflicts
AwardsKnight's Cross of the Iron Cross
RelationsEberhard Herf (cousin)

Maximilian Karl Otto von Herff (17 April 1893 – 6 September 1945) was a German career military officer who became a senior SS official during the Nazi era. Rising to the rank of SS-Obergruppenführer, he served as head of the SS Personnel Main Office from 1942 to 1945. He was taken prisoner at the end of World War II and died while in British military custody.

Early life

Maximilian von Herff was born in Hanover on 17 April 1893, the son of a general practitioner. The Protestant von Herff family originated from Herve in Belgium and moved to the Palatinate in 1577 to escape religious persecution. His ancestor, Christian Herff, had been inducted into the nobility in 1814.[1]

On the outbreak of World War I, Herff joined the Royal Prussian Army's 115th (1st Grand Ducal Hessian) Lifeguard Infantry Regiment in Darmstadt. He was later transferred to the 154th (5th Lower Silesian) Infantry Regiment. He was promoted to Leutnant on 11 February 1915 and to Oberleutnant on 18 October 1918, remaining in the unit until 9 November 1918. After the war, Herff fought with a Freikorps unit in Hanover between March and October 1919 before transferring into the post-war Reichswehr. In 1926, he was assigned to the 18th Cavalry Regiment in Stuttgart, and in February 1928, to the 15th Infantry Regiment in Kassel. He was promoted to Hauptmann on 1 February 1928, and to Major on 1 October 1934. In the Wehrmacht he was promoted to Oberstleutnant on 1 August 1937, and transferred to the staff of the XVII Army Corps in Vienna as an adjutant on 3 January 1939.

World War II

During World War II, Herff served with the Deutsches Afrika Korps in North Africa. He was promoted to Oberst and commanded "Kampfgruppe von Herff". For his service in North Africa, he was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross in June 1941.[2][3]

Part of a report rendered by SS-Sturmbannführer Alfred Franke-Gricksch on a trip through the General Government on 4 to 16 May 1943. Excerpt by Eric M. Lipman, War Crime Branch Officer, Third U.S. Army

At the suggestion of Heinrich Himmler, Herff transferred to the Waffen-SS. On 1 April 1942, he joined the Nazi Party (member no. 8,858,661) and the SS (member no. 405,894). From 1 October 1942 to 8 May 1945, he was chief of the SS Personnel Main Office where he dealt with internal and financial SS matters. On 20 April 1944, Herff was promoted to SS-Obergruppenführer.[4][5]

Capture and death

Herff was taken prisoner by British forces after Germany's surrender in May 1945, and held at Grizedale Hall POW camp. He suffered a stroke and died at nearby Conishead Priory Military Hospital. He was later reburied at Cannock Chase German Military Cemetery, Staffordshire.[6]

Family

Herff's sister, Carin von Herff, moved to London during his imprisonment where she lived for four years before returning to Germany with her French Huguenot husband, a former SS-Oberführer of the 33rd Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS Charlemagne (1st French).[7] Both were acquitted of any war crimes and, along with Maximilian von Herff, claimed they were only involved in the Nazi Party and the Waffen-SS not the extermination of the Jews. The couple later returned to live in England in the 1960s.

Herff's cousin was Eberhard Herf, a senior SS police official. He commanded Police Regiment North and Order Police units in Minsk, Belarus and directed mass murder of the Jews in the Minsk Ghetto.[8] Following the war, Eberhard Herf was convicted in the Minsk Trial and executed.[9]

Awards and decorations

References

  1. ↑ Genealogisches Handbuch des Adels, Bd. 52, 210/212. C.A.Starke Verlag.
  2. ↑ Fellgiebel, Walther-Peer (1986). Die Träger des Ritterkreuzes des Eisernen Kreuzes, 1939–1945. Die Inhaber der höchsten Auszeichnung des Zweiten Weltkrieges aller Wehrmachtteile. Pozun Verlag. ISBN 3-7909-0284-5.
  3. 1 2 Scherze, Veit (2007). Die Ritterkreuzträger 1939–1945 [The Knight's Cross Bearers 1939–1945 The Holders of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross 1939] (in German). Jena, Germany: Scherzers Militaer-Verlag. p. 384. ISBN 978-3-938845-17-2.
  4. ↑ Dienstalterliste der Waffen-SS, SS-Obergruppenführer bis SS-Hauptsturmführer, Stand vom 1. Juli 1944, berichtigt 31.08.1944, 29.12.1944, 31.01.1945.
  5. ↑ von Preradovich, Nikolaus (1985). Die Generale der Waffen-SS. Kurt Vowinckel Verlag KG. ISBN 3-921-655-41-2.
  6. ↑ https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/7509069/maximilian-von-herff/
  7. ↑ "The USA and us"-"The sins of the forefathers" J. Andreani,
  8. ↑ Blood, Philip W. (2006). Hitler's Bandit Hunters: The SS and the Nazi Occupation of Europe. Potomac Books. p. 226. ISBN 978-1-59797-021-1.
  9. ↑ Heer, Hannes (1995). "Der Minsker Prozess". Hannesheer.de.
  10. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Reichswehrministerium (Ed.): Rangliste des Deutschen Reichsheeres. E.S. Mittler & Sohn, Berlin: 1930, p. 147.
  11. 1 2 3 Webb, James Jack (2024). Generals and Admirals of the Third Reich: For Country or Fuehrer. Vol. 2: H–O. Havertown, PA: Casemate Publishers. p. 52. ISBN 978-1-952-71517-4.
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