Maximilian
von Herff (17th April 1893 to 6th
September 1945)
Off a road in
rural Staffordshire lies Cannock Chase German Military Cemetery. In 1959
Britain and Germany made an agreement about what to do with the remains of
German military personnel and civilian internees from the two World Wars. It
was agreed that Germans who lost their lives in the UK would be transferred to dedicated
cemeteries. This is one of them.
Here reside 4992
bodies or ashes mostly of Germans, some Austrians and some Ukrainians. The
graves are spread across a large field made from two slopes each bearing the
souls from each World War. Each stone represents two people.
This cemetery
lies off a road that cuts through trees and heeds you to drive slowly with
signs reading, “Deer Killed Last Year : 165.” When I arrived I was surprised to
see the cemetery was empty as it was a sunny Sunday afternoon. I had a stroll
around and looked at every headstone without fail. They’re
are all similar and there’s no ornamentation, no urns, no flowers, no letters
in transparent waterproof bags. One distinction is that a few are female. The
other distinction is the profession of the dead. There are three well-known
flying aces but there’s one big bad boy - Maximilian von Herff
who was a high-ranking Nazi commander. He served in the army in North Africa,
was promoted to Oberst (colonel) and aged 47 was
awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross. These are bit like the Victoria
Cross awarded in Britain and were highest awards to be gained in Germany during
World War II.
Two years
later and at Heinrich Himmler’s request Maximilian was transferred to the
Waffen-SS. He joined the Nazi Party (number 8 858 661) and the SS (number was
405 894). For nearly three years he became one of Himmler’s personal staff and
dealt with internal and financial matters that arose from the SS expanding to a
million men. He knew of the Final Solution although he claims he wasn’t involved
in exterminations. Three days after his 50th birthday he was
promoted to SS-Obergruppenführer (SS general).
So how did he
end up in the Staffordshire countryside? In 1949 he was captured by British
forces and put into a Grizedale Hall, near Hawkshead in the Lake District. This country manor house
was used as a Prisoner Of War camp. The fighter pilot Franz Baron von Werra was
held there and his famous escape was made famous by the film The One That Got Away. Maximilian
probably decided to stay as the camp was christened “The U Boat Hotel” due to
its elegant architecture.
Here
Maximilian suffered a stroke and was transferred to Conishead
Priory Military Hospital, Ulverston where he died
aged 52. He was buried but then later re-buried here where I’m standing.
I had a stroll
around the place which was noisy with birds –chaffinches kept landing on the
headstones. Among the dead are the crews of four Zeppelin airships shot down
over the north of England. The headstones are laid out for ease of maintenance
and there’s not much to do besides keeping the grass down. A party of German
schoolchildren are brought over each year to tend the plots.
It took about
forty minutes to find the Maximilians’s grave even
though I could read three rows of stones simultaneously. Looking closely in the
grass I could see someone had secreted stones in the grass. I doubt presents
are allowed though I did see one solitary canary-yellow flower by one of the
graves.
How much
Maximilian knew about the mass extermination of six million Jews is unknown.
The Franke-Gricksch Report written about the invasion
of Poland says Maximilian inspected Auschwitz in May 1943. Can a Nazi of such
high rank who worked for Heinrich Himmler not have known about the camps? After
the war he claimed Himmler abused him by employing him as a whipping boy should
atrocities by uncovered. I suppose we’ll never know. These huge crimes make you
wonder if there is a God. If there isn’t the evil people go unpunished and get
away with it. Is Maximilian as dead as the granite stone he’s under or frying
like bacon somewhere?
Looking looking
looking…
The prisoner of war camp where he
had a stroke…