Karl-Siegmund Hermann-Julius Litzmann was a German Nazi politician and official who served as the Generalkommissar of Generalbezirk Estland in the Reichskommissariat Ostland from December 1941 to September 1944.
21 Facts About Karl-Siegmund Litzmann
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Karl-Siegmund Litzmann was appointed Nazi governor of German-occupied Estonia in 1941, overseeing the Estonian Self-Administration and mass killings by the SS.
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Karl-Siegmund Litzmann fled the Red Army advance into Estonia in 1944 and was reassigned to the Waffen-SS in Central Europe where he went missing in action in early 1945.
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Karl-Siegmund Litzmann was found alive in Allied-occupied Germany shortly after the war but died under unexplained circumstances.
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Karl-Siegmund Litzmann enrolled in cadet school of the Imperial German Army in 1905 and was appointed a Fahnenjunker in 1911, receiving his commission as a Leutnant in November 1913 after completing the officer course in Paderborn.
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Karl-Siegmund Litzmann was assigned to Reserve Infantry Regiment 261 and served throughout the First World War, being wounded in action three times.
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Karl-Siegmund Litzmann earned both classes of the Iron Cross as well as the Knight's Cross of the House Order of Hohenzollern with swords.
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In 1919, Karl-Siegmund Litzmann received training in agricultural management from the large landowner Carl Wentzel in Teutschenthal, and in 1921 he took over the administration of the Wentzel estate near Insterburg in East Prussia.
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In 1929, Karl-Siegmund Litzmann joined the Nazi Party and the Sturmabteilung, leading the SA's development in East Prussia.
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In 1931, Karl-Siegmund Litzmann was promoted to SA-Gruppenfuhrer and named the commander of SA-Gruppe Ostland.
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In July 1932, Karl-Siegmund Litzmann was elected to the Landtag of Prussia as a Nazi deputy, and served until its dissolution in October 1933.
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Karl-Siegmund Litzmann was reelected in 1936 and 1938, and retained his seat until the fall of the Nazi regime in 1945.
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On 27 June 1933, Karl-Siegmund Litzmann was promoted to SA-Obergruppenfuhrer, and in July he took command of the newly formed SA-Obergruppe I comprising East Prussia.
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In 1935, Karl-Siegmund Litzmann was made a member of the People's Court.
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Karl-Siegmund Litzmann was appointed Reichsreiterfuhrer, the highest authority for horse breeding and racing.
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Karl-Siegmund Litzmann was charged with establishing the Reichsreiterfuhrerschul in Berlin-Zehlendorf which he led as Reich Inspector of SA Equestrian Schools.
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Karl-Siegmund Litzmann was placed in charge of preparing the German riding team for the 1936 Summer Olympics.
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In 1941, Karl-Siegmund Litzmann was appointed Generalkommissar for the Generalbezirk Estland in the Reichskommissariat Ostland with headquarters in Reval after equestrian training for the SA and the Wehrmacht was discontinued.
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In official Estonian language texts, Karl-Siegmund Litzmann's name was spelt Lietzmann out of consideration for his wife, because the Estonian word lits means "slut".
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On 17 September 1944, the Red Army launched the Tallinn offensive and Karl-Siegmund Litzmann left for Hungary, becoming an SS-Sturmbannfuhrer in the Waffen-SS on 30 January 1945.
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In May 1945 Karl-Siegmund Litzmann turned up under a false name living with his sister in Kappeln in Schleswig-Holstein, and reportedly died under unclear circumstances in August 1945.