Paul Carell

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Paul Carell, whose real name was Paul Karl Schmidt, was born on 2 November 1911 in Kelbra (Kyffhäuser) in Germany; he died in June 1997 in Rottach-Egern in Bavaria. During the 3rd Reich and World War II he was a member of the civilian Allgemeine SS with the rank of Obersturmbannführer (Lieutenant Colonel). He worked as press spokesman of NS Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop. After the war ended in 1945 he became a successful author.

Contents

[edit] Life

[edit] Before and during World War II

Paul Karl Schmidt became a member of the NSDAP in 1931 and a member of the SS in 1938. He graduated from university in 1934, and became an assistant at the Institute of Psychologie of the Kiel University in Germany. He held several positions in the Nazi Student Association.

In the SS Schmidt was promoted to the rank of Obersturmbannführer in 1940. During the same year he became press spokesman of foreign minister Joachim von Ribbentrop. In this position he was responsible for the German Foreign Ministry’s news and press division.

The main task of Schmidt was the chairing of the daily press conferences of the ministry. He must therefore be seen as one of the most important propagandists of National Socialism during World War II. Recent studies confirm that his influence was at least on the same level as that of Otto Dietrich (Reichspressechef of Adolf Hitlers) and of Hans Fritzsche (Pressechef the Reichspropagandaministerium). Schmidt was also responsible for the very well done German propaganda magazine 'Signal', which was published in several languages to tell the German side of the story in neutral countries during the war.

That Schmidt justified the Holocaust through his propaganda is now seen as certain. In May 1944 he even gave advice on how to justify the deportation and murder of Hungarian Jews, to counter the potential accusation of mass murder: 'The planned undertaking (against the Jews of Budapest) will create significant attention, and lead to a strong reaction because of its scope. Those who are against us will scream and talk of a hunt on humans, and will try to use terror propaganda to increase feelings against us in neutral states. I would therefore like to suggest whether it would not be possible to prevent these things by creating reasons and events justifying the undertaking, e.g. finding explosives in Jewish association buildings and Synagogues, plans for sabotage attacks, for a coup d’etat, attacks on policemen, smuggling of currency in significant amounts to destroy the fabric of the Hungarian economy. The final piece of this should be a particularly heinous case, which can then be used to justify the dragnet.' (Note: 1)

Schmidt was arrested on 6 May 1945, and interned for 30 months. It was left open for a long time whether he would appear as indicted or as witness for the prosecution in court. During the trial of the German Foreign Ministry (Wilhelmstraßen-Prozess, part of the Nuremberg Trials) he finally appeared as witness of the prosecution, and portrayed himself as fighter for democratic freedom of the press. (Note 2)

[edit] Post-war

After the end of World War II Schmidt became an author. Since the 1950s he wrote for the magazine „Kristall“ which then had a very high circulation. He first used the nom de plume "Paul Karell", and later "Paul Carell".

From 1965 to 1971 the Office of the State Prosecutor of Verden in Germany investigated him for murder. But the investiation which should have clarified his role in the genocide of Hungarian Jews ended without an indictment. Schmidt never had to face a trial for his activities during the war (Note: 3)

In parallel to this investigation Schmidt’s second successful career as a writer commenced, aided by his network of 'old comrades' working in the publishing industry. He worked as a free-lance author under various adopted named for newspapers such as Die Welt and Die Zeit, e.g. as P. C. Holm. He also wrote in the magazines NorddeutschenRundschau and Spiegel, and published some accounts of war stories for Landser. He was seen as an influential adviser in the German Axel Springer AG, where he wrote speeches for Axel Springer.

The success of his books "Unternehmen Barbarossa (Hitler Moves East)" and "Verbrannte Erde (Scorched Earth)" made Schmidt a leading post-war chronicler of World War II on the Eastern Front. In the Ullstein-Verlag his book "Die Gefangenen" 1980 dealing with German prisoners of war in the Soviet Union was published. These books generally had a positive media reception. E.g. Die Welt wrote: „Helps to reduce the dislike between Germans and Russians (...) qualified as a historian.“ Or the Düsseldorfer Mittag: „Someone for whom the seriousness of the source and the value of documentation are more important than going for cheap thrills – that is Paul Carell!“ (Source: 4)

In 1992 Schmidt claimed despite the numerous evidence to the contrary that even after the Battle of Stalingrad there was a possibility for Germany to win the war. In his view it was solely the command of Adolf Hitler that lead to the defeat. The leadership of the Wehrmacht and very competent commanders such as Erich von Manstein could have achieved a negotiated peace without this interference. In Schmidt’s view, the attack on the Soviet Union was a preventive attack to pre-empt an attack by the Red Army, even though there is little credible evidence to support this view.

Until the end of his life Schmidt denied the existence of German crimes against civilians during the Soviet-German War.

Ironically, many readers of his books who are not aware of his biography believe that he was a war correspondent and experienced combat himself, due to the very well written accounts of battle in his books.

[edit] Books authored

  • 'Stalingrad: The Defeat of the German 6th Army Atglen', PA: Schiffer Military History, 1993
  • 'Hitler's War on Russia', volume 2 Scorched Earth London: Harrap, 1970
  • 'Hitler Moves East', 1941-1943 New York: Little, Brown, 1964
  • 'Invasion! They're Coming!' New York: Dutton, 1963
  • 'Foxes of the Desert' New York: Bantam, 1960

[edit] Sources

[edit] Notes

  1. Nürnberger Dokument Dokument NG-2424, Bundesarchiv, Außenstelle Ludwigsburg
  2. Nürnberger Dokument Dokument NG-3590, Staatsarchiv Nürnberg; eidesstattliche Erklärung Paul Carell Schmidt vom 13. November 1947
  3. Ermittlungsverfahren der Staatsanwaltschaft Verden gegen Dr. Paul Karl Schmidt u.a. wegen Mordes. Akte 412 AR-Nr. 1082 / 1965; Bundesarchiv, Außenstelle Ludwigsburg, neue Signatur (seit November 2003): B 162 AR 650 1082
  4. Der Spiegel 8/1967 vom 13. Februar 1967, Seite 107

[edit] Bibliography

  • Wigbert Benz: Paul Carell. Ribbentrops Pressechef Paul Karl Schmidt vor und nach 1945. Berlin 2005. ISBN 3-86573-068-X
  • Peter Longerich: Propagandisten im Krieg. Die Presseabteilung des Auswärtigen Amtes unter Ribbentrop. München 1987 (ausführlich über Schmidts Tätigkeit im AA - nicht eingesehen)

[edit] Internet

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