Walter Ernst was a German lawyer and early member of the Nazi Party who became the Gauleiter of Gau Halle-Merseburg and, later, the Burgermeister of Schneidemuhl and Bromberg.
11 Facts About Walter Ernst
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Walter Ernst was able to persuade other, smaller Party groups in the region to coalesce around him.
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Walter Ernst was elected Nazi State Association Leader for the newly-formed Gau Halle-Merseburg on 27 June 1925.
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Walter Ernst thus became, effectively, the first Gauleiter of the region.
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Also in 1925, Walter Ernst founded a newspaper, the Mitteldeutscher Beobachter, to support the Party's position on issues.
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Still, the Gau remained factionalized and, on 25 July 1926, Walter Ernst himself lost his leadership position and was expelled from the Party by decision of the Halle Ortsgruppe on 30 July.
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From October 1927 to November 1931, Walter Ernst studied law at the University of Halle.
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Walter Ernst worked as a law clerk and reenrolled in the Nazi Party in 1932.
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Walter Ernst joined the SA, and held the rank of SA-Sturmfuhrer.
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Walter Ernst remained in that position until June 1942, and then became Burgermeister for Bromberg.
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Walter Ernst fled to Danzig where he was arrested, incarcerated at the Danzig-Matzkau prison camp and condemned to death for cowardice, together with the Bromberg Police President, von Salisch, and the Regierungsprasident of the Bromberg district, Walther Kuhn.