Gun Control in the Third Reich

by Stephen P. Halbrook

  In response, Wittenberge municipality confirmed the revocation of licenses and confiscation of firearms from three SPD members and a Jewish businessman.11 Jüterbog-Luckenwalde confirmed the revocation of licenses of SPD members, also noting that Rudolf Mosse’s firearms had been confiscated because his Jewish origin made him a suspected subversive.12 Soldin reported the following about its policies and practices:

  In this locality, from February 1933 in the course of the year, only 106 firearm licenses were granted. Here the firearm licenses issued have been limited to high officials, night watchmen, department heads as well as cash register attendants and money transports, but only a few firearm licenses have been issued to private persons. The offices and mayors who issued licenses have revoked them as to persons affiliated with the SPD, so that today SPD members no longer have firearm licenses. An examination of the weapons registration list reveals no members of the KPD in possession of firearms licenses.13

  Sorau suggested that its police had been remiss in investigating persons to determine whether they were SPD members or otherwise unreliable. It stated:

  A general revocation of firearm licenses etc. from members of the SPD and their auxiliary and fellow-traveler organizations has as not yet taken place. The execution of such measure would be impeded by the fact that the affiliation of many firearm licensees to the SPD is not adequately known.

  With the new stringent policy on firearm licenses, particular attention must be paid to the party affiliation of the applicant.

  The confiscation of arms from members of Communist organizations has taken place everywhere.14

  The mayor of Frankfurt/O similarly noted the revocation of the firearm licenses of SPD members, supporters, and fellow travelers, “where under the direction of the political police, the affiliation of the individual to the SPD and otherwise could be determined. Measures have not been taken regarding weapons that the owners acquired legally by reason of questionable licenses and have in their possession.”15

  For “security and general national reasons,” Police captain Knippel of Spremberg (Lausitz) revoked all firearm carry licenses and permits to acquire handguns held by SPD members. No licenses issued to Communists were found there.16

  The mayor of Landsberg (Warthe) noted the revocation of firearm licenses and confiscation of firearms of SPD members, promising the return of the firearms “after quieter times are restored.” A further revocation of firearm licenses or confiscation of firearms had not taken place, he continued, because the authorities had not required the registration of firearms, ammunition, and slashing and thrusting weapons pursuant to the decree of December 8, 1931. Despite that, enforcement continued: “The firearm license list is regularly reviewed. Marxist or Communist firearm license holders do not exist. Confiscations of arms, to curb and to stop owners without firearm licenses, took place repeatedly in searches of houses of left-wing circles.”17

  The administrative district of Seelow addressed control over “firearm permits, firearm acquisition permits, firearm arsenal permits, annual hunting permits, etc.,” stating that permits had not for some time been issued to “persons whose Communist attitude was known.” Moreover, the report continued: “After January 30, 1933, firearm permits were no longer issued to SPD members. Generally, when firearms were suspected to be possessed by SPD members and Communists, a search was executed. The firearms found were all confiscated. Generally in these cases when permits were presented, they were revoked.”18

  Rural districts reported details in July. Spremberg wrote: “For security and national political reasons, on March 1 of this year the head of the local police, Police Captain Knipple, confiscated and secured all firearms belonging to all of the persons belonging to the SPD who had firearm licenses.”19 Guben “revoked 2 firearm carry licenses, 3 hunting licenses and a firearms acquisition license as well as confiscated the arms and ammunition” from “Social Democrat–leaning persons.”20

  Rural district Luckau reported about former officials of the town of Finsterwalde who were SPD members. Former mayor Geist destroyed his firearm acquisition permit after it expired, and he had not obtained a firearm. The license issued to the former town manager Starke could not be found, but police had discovered him in possession of a pistol in March, and procedures to confiscate it were under review. Former assistant town manager Pietsch had his license revoked, but “a firearm acquired under this license could not be confiscated yet, since Pietsch spends time at an unknown address in Berlin.”21

  Meanwhile, the firearms being confiscated from opponents of Nazism and from Jews were being sent to concentration camps to guard these very same enemies of the regime. On July 28, Prussian interior minister Göring ordered the governmental heads to inform the Concentration Camp Sonnenburg about available confiscated firearms.22 Model 98 carbines, Model 08 army pistols, 9-mm submachine guns, and ammunition were of particular interest. The weapons were urgently needed for the arming of the concentration camp guards. Carbines for the Concentration Camp Oranienburg were also desired.

  The preceding microscopic view illustrates how the National Socialist government used police licensing records generated by the 1928 Firearms Law to identify firearm license holders and to confiscate the firearms of those identified as enemies of the state. It also shows clearly that individuals’ political or religious affiliations determined whether they were allowed access to guns. State authorities could find out who had firearms and could keep track of those citizens who did possess arms in case their “reliability” should change. Confiscation would have been all the easier in jurisdictions that authorized complete registration of all firearms under the decree of December 8, 1931.

  *

  1. Der Pr.Min.d.Inn. to Reg. Präs., Feb. 15, 1933, Inhaber von Waffenscheinen listen-mäßig zu erfassen, Brandenburgisches Landeshauptarchiv (BrLHA), Pr. Br. Rep. 3B, Reg. Frankfurt/O I Pol/1877, Waffenscheine 1933–42.

  2. Reg.Präs. Potsdam, Feb. 17, 1933, BrLHA, Pr. Br. Rep. 2A, Reg. Potsdam I Pol/3477, Waffenangelegenheiten Bd. 3, 1928–37.

  3. Der Landrat d.Kr. Spremberg to Reg. Präs Frankfurt/O, Feb. 28, 1933, Verzeichnis der Waffenscheininhaber, BrLHA, Pr. Br. Rep. 3B, Reg. Frankfurt/O I Pol/1877, Waffenscheine 1933–42.

  4. Der Landrat to Reg. Präs. Frankfurt/O, Feb. 28, 1933, Verzeichnis der Waffenscheininhaber, BrLHA, Pr. Br. Rep. 3B, Reg. Frankfurt/O I Pol/1877, Waffenscheine 1933–42.

  5. Der Landrat Königsberg to Reg. Präs. Frankfurt/O, Mar. 10, 1933, Einziehung von Waffenscheinen, BrLHA, Pr. Br. Rep. 3B, Reg. Frankfurt/O I Pol/1877, Waffenscheine 1933–42.

  6. Der Landrat Königsberg to Reg. Präs. Frankfurt/O, July 3, 1933, Einziehung von Waffenscheinen, BrLHA, Pr. Br. Rep. 3B, Reg. Frankfurt/O I Pol/1877, Waffenscheine 1933–42.

  7. Der Pr. Min.d.Inn. to Reg. Präsidenten, Feb. 22, 1933, Verwertung eingezogener u. beschlagnahmter Waffen, BrLHA, Pr. Br. Rep. 2A, Reg. Potsdam I Pol/3477, Waffenangelegenheiten Bd. 3, 1928–37.

  8. Reg. Präs. Potsdam to Pr. Min.d.Inn, Mar. 30, 1933, Erteilte Waffenscheine, BrLHA, Pr. Br. Rep. 2A, Reg. Potsdam I Pol/3477, Waffenangelegenheiten Bd. 3, 1928–37.

  9. Der Pr. Min.d.Inn. to Reg. Präsidenten, June 8, 1933, Pr. Br. Rep. 2A, Reg. Potsdam I Pol/3477, Waffenangelegenheiten Bd. 3, 1928–37.

  10. Reg. Präs. Potsdam to Landraete, June 17, 1933, Pr. Br. Rep. 2A, Reg. Potsdam I Pol/3477, Waffenangelegenheiten Bd. 3, 1928–37.

  11. Der Erste Bürgermeister Wittenberge to Reg. Präs. Potsdam, July 7, 1933, Einziehung von Waffenscheinen, Pr. Br. Rep. 2A, Reg. Potsdam I Pol/3501, Ausstellung u. Einziehung von Waffenscheinen 1929–38.

  12. Der Landrat des Kr. Jüterbog-Luckenwalde to Reg. Präs. Potsdam, July 27, 1933, Waffenschein pp. für SPD-Angehörige, Pr. Br. Rep. 2A, Reg. Potsdam I Pol/3501, Ausstellung u. Einziehung von Waffenscheinen 1929–38.

  13. Der Landrat Soldin to Reg. Präs. Frankfurt/O, June 24, 1933, Einziehung von Bescheinigungen, BrLHA, Pr. Br. Rep. 3B, Reg. Frankfurt/O I Pol/1877, Waffenscheine 1933–42.

  14. Der Landr
at Sorau to Reg. Präs. Frankfurt/O, June 28, 1933, Waffenscheine für Angehörige der SPD, BrLHA, Pr. Br. Rep. 3B, Reg. Frankfurt/O I Pol/1877, Waffenscheine 1933–42.

  15. Der Oberbürgermeister F/O to Reg.Präs. Frankfurt/O, June 26, 1933, Verfügung June 16, 1933, BrLHA, Pr. Br. Rep. 3B, Reg. Frankfurt/O I Pol/1877, Waffenscheine 1933–42.

  16. Der Landrat d.Kr.Spremberg, June 22, 1933, Erteilung von Waffenscheinen an Angehörige der SPD, BrLHA, Pr. Br. Rep. 3B, Reg. Frankfurt/O I Pol/1877, Waffenscheine 1933–42.

  17. Der Oberbürgermeister Landsberg to Reg. Präs. Frankfurt/O, June 22, 1933, BrLHA, Pr. Br. Rep. 3B, Reg. Frankfurt/O I Pol/1877, Waffenscheine 1933–42.

  18. Der Landrat Seelow to Reg. Präs. Frankfurt/O, June 30, 1933, Einziehung von Waffenscheinen, BrLHA, Pr. Br. Rep. 3B, Reg. Frankfurt/O I Pol/1877, Waffenscheine 1933–42.

  19. Der Landrat d. Kr. Spremberg to Reg. Präs. Frankfurt/O, July 19, 1933, Erteilung von Waffenscheinen, BrLHA, Pr. Br. Rep. 3B, Reg. Frankfurt/O I Pol/1877, Waffenscheine 1933–42.

  20. Der Landrat Guben to Reg. Präs. Frankfurt/O, July 25, 1933, Einziehung von Waffenscheinen, BrLHA, Pr. Br. Rep. 3B, Reg. Frankfurt/O I Pol/1877, Waffenscheine 1933–42.

  21. Der Landrat d. Kr. Luckau to Reg. Präs. Frankfurt/O, Aug. 18, 1933, Bescheinigung, BrLHA, Pr. Br. Rep. 3B, Reg. Frankfurt/O I Pol/1877, Waffenscheine 1933–42.

  22. Der Pr. Min.d.Inn. to Reg. Präsidenten, July 28, 1933, Asservatwaffen, BrLHA, Pr. Br. Rep. 2A, Reg. Potsdam I Pol/3477, Waffenangelegenheiten Bd. 3, 1928–37.

  6

  Defining Enemies of the State

  THE REPRESSION OF gun owners in Brandenburg was by no means unique. On seizing power, the Nazis began the policy of Gleichschaltung, the forcing into line of all institutions in society into a totalitarian system. Every aspect of the state, including industry, labor, education, law, culture, and sports, was to be harnessed to serve the National Socialist state, and every individual was to be subordinated to this goal.1 Gun owners, gun clubs, gun dealers, gun importers, and gun manufacturers were subjected to Gleichschaltung, if not to outright banning.

  This forcing into line included generally all sporting organizations and in particular the shooting associations, a particularly sensitive topic because their members possessed firearms—which potentially could be used against the regime. Many of them had originated in medieval brotherhoods, and they had played a major role in the democratic revolution of 1848, which had failed in part because the standing armies of the forces of reaction were far better armed than the populace.2 Although there are no comprehensive works on the Nazi repression of the gun clubs, studies exist on this topic for the regions of the Rhineland and Westphalia.3

  Shooting clubs, in particular those in rural areas, often united local populations into societal gathering hubs and political fora. Some were anti-Nazi, and they proliferated during the Weimar period. The process of forcing these clubs into line in 1933–34 illuminates the phases, objectives, and infiltration methods of National Socialism. The Nazis sought to force the shooting clubs into line by formal, institutional, and finally structural processes.4

  In the Weimar Republic, the German Shooting Association (Deutscher Schützenbund) was a member of the German Reich Committee for Physical Exercise (Deutscher Reichsausschuss für Leibesübungen), the umbrella organization of the German sport associations, which was dissolved on May 10, 1933.5 The new umbrella organization, the Reich Leadership of German Sports (Reichsführerring des Deutschen Sports), formed two weeks later, created the German Shooting Sport Association (Deutscher Schießsportverband), which replaced the German Shooting Association.6 The Reich sport commissar (Reichssportkommissar, later renamed the Reichssportführer) was Hans von Tschammer und Osten, who would later lead Germany’s hosting of the 1936 Olympics.

  Under the Führer Principle (Führerprinzip), the Reich sport commissar was the sole decision maker, dictating to region (Gau), district, and local leadership jurisdictions. By order issued on July 12, 1933, all shooting clubs were required to join the German Shooting Sport Association. Those that failed to register by the deadline of August 15 were dissolved.7 Clubs that remained in existence would in the future be subjected to tighter institutional forcing into line with the Nazi agenda, and those that resisted would be banned.

  The preexisting club leaderships remained in control well into 1933, whereby the mandated Führer Principle was often realized only in form, not in substance. This largely superficial adaptation did not remain concealed from the regime, however, which would thereupon require that more than half of each club’s members as well as its president and entire board of directors must be Nazis.8

  Meanwhile, as the firearm industry had done during the Weimar Republic, it appealed to the head of the government for relief from onerous regulations. The Reich Association of German Gunsmiths and Firearm and Ammunition Dealers wrote to Chancellor Hitler on March 18, 1933, complaining of the arms restrictions that disarmed law-abiding citizens while smugglers and traffickers supplied criminals with arms.9 Taking note of a recent automobile exposition in Berlin at which Hitler acknowledged the emergency situation of that industry and facilitated economic relief, the letter sought similar attention to the firearm industry’s dire needs, including liberalization of laws and decrees.

  An association of arms makers in Thuringia likewise wrote to Hitler pleading for a relaxation of the arms laws.10 It pointed to the arms industries of Russia, Poland, Finland, Sweden, Czechoslovakia, Denmark, and Switzerland, which supplied military arms and then proceeded to produce hunting, sport, and defensive arms. In the letter, the association noted how it deeply resented smuggled arms from Belgium and Spain, especially pistols and revolvers, which members of the public could obtain without the knowledge of the police. Besides the Weimar firearm laws, the letter complained of monopoly contracts to supply military and police weapons between the government and firms such as Simson & Co. of Suhl, which eliminated competition from other firms.

  Hitler did not answer these letters, nor did his new government take any action on their petitions.

  Indeed, on seizing power, the Nazis were well served by the 1928 and 1931 firearm laws. Most obvious were the laws requiring firearm owners to be licensed or registered with the police and empowering the authorities to decree the confiscation of arms. Civilian possession of pistols became increasingly suspect, and the Nazi regime decided to decrease the supply by banning imports. On May 31, deeply concerned about the importation of pistols, Wilhelm Frick, the Reich minister of the interior, wrote to Hermann Göring, interior minister of Prussia and head of that state’s police, explaining:

  In the past few months the import of pistols from abroad, in particular from Belgium and Spain, has increased considerably. I have been informed that in March of this year, approximately 17,000 pistols were imported from abroad. This amounts to ten times the average import of the preceding three months. It is clear that for reasons of public security we cannot tolerate the unrestrained import of such huge amounts of weapons. Even though the acquisition of firearms in Germany is permitted only if the strict requirements of the Firearms Law are met, we have to take into account the fact that the rules will not be observed by all of the arms dealers, that unauthorized persons will obtain foreign arms flowing into the country and that hidden arms caches will be established. From a security standpoint, I therefore consider it necessary to prohibit the import of small arms from abroad for a certain time.11

  Pointing to the 1928 Firearms Law, Frick continued that exceptions in certain cases might be made for an individual under an acquisition, carry, or hunting permit, but that arms dealers would be prohibited from importing pistols even though they were authorized to do so by the Firearms Law. Reflecting the system of legislating by decree, Frick added, “Unless I receive your objection by June 10 of this year, I will assume that you agree with this draft and will put the decree into force.”12 This was yet another instance of the Hitler regime nullifying statutory law by decree.

  Görin
g did not object, and on June 12 Frick decreed the prohibition on the importation of handguns.13 The next day he sent a memorandum to the governments of the Länder (states) and to the Ministry of the Interior for Prussia (Göring) explaining that “the import of handguns from abroad has increased dramatically. For reasons of public safety it was no longer possible to tolerate this situation.” It was now “illegal to import handguns until further notice.” Exceptions could be made for individuals, such as hunters returning from trips abroad, but dealers could no longer import handguns.14

  Leisurely discussions on possible amendments to the firearm laws were held over the coming five years. The discussants included Wilhelm Frick, the Reich interior minister; Hermann Göring, who as the Prussian interior minister controlled the police of that state; Heinrich Himmler, the SS Reichsführer and chief of the German police; the Head Office of the Security Police (Hauptamt Sicherheitspolizei), which included the criminal police and the Gestapo (Secret State Police);15 and other members of the Nazi hierarchy.

  In July 1933, Frick initiated a reexamination of the Firearms Law, which would be debated in drafts back and forth and would culminate in revisions in 1938. By now, the Nazi government had succeeded in using the registration lists to confiscate firearms from SPD members and other political enemies. On July 7, Frick wrote to the Reich minister of justice, minister of commerce, and secretary of the Reich Chancellory; the Prussian interior minister; and the states: “Following the victory of the National Revolution I consider it necessary to undertake a basic examination of the Firearms Law to decide which provisions should be kept, and in particular, whether the acquisition of firearms should remain in the domain of the police where it generates a lot of administrative work or whether, as before the war, it would be sufficient to prohibit certain categories of persons from carrying weapons, such as in particular enemies of the people and the state.” If that sounded like a liberalization of the Firearms Law, it wasn’t: the “enemies of the people and the state” now included large segments of the population—indeed, everyone who disagreed with the new regime. Citing a need “to improve the situation of the weapons industry,” Frick suggested that the 1931 decree requiring “need” to acquire a weapon16 should be reconsidered to “make it easier for patriotically-minded citizens to acquire a firearm.” However, “the requirement that a need has to be proven to obtain a permit for the carrying of firearms outside one’s apartment, etc. shall not be changed.”17