Paul Dickopf
Paulinus Dickopf (June 9, 1910 - September 19, 1973) was member of the German Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) between 1965 and 1971 where he was President. Under the Nazi government of Adolf Hitler, he was a member of the Sturmabteilung and the Schutzstaffel. He was also the President of Interpol from 1968 -1972. Dickopf, before and during World War II had been an active Nazi officer in the Schutzstaffel (SS) with SS number 337259. Dickopf's SS personnel file reveals that he became a member in 1935 of the National Socialist German Students' League (Nationalsozialistischer Deutscher Studentenbund; abbreviated NSDStB) having the same status and membership requirements of the official Nazi Party, the Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei (NSDAP).
After voluntary army service (1934-1935) he began his police career in 1937 at the Kriminal-Polizei ('Kripo'- Criminal Police) as a criminal commissar candidate serving the last three months in the Sicherheitsdienst des Reichsführers-SS. In 1938 he volunteered for the Führerschule (leadership school) of 'Sipo' (Sicherheits-Polizei - Security Police). Fifteen SS officers of the rank of lieutenant upwards sponsored him. Dickopf was recommended for officer rank by the commandant of the SD school and graduated as an SS Untersturmführer (Lieutenant) became a criminal commissar and member of the SD. Dickopf later enrolled in the general SS in 1939, however, any record of his war activities are obscure since his SS file for that period is incomplete.
Dickopf was elected as the president of Interpol in 1968. While his former Nazi connections were known, he maintained his post until 1972.[1]
Throughout his tenure as president of Interpol he was regarded as a conscientious and diligent professional always stressing the organization's political neutrality.
Dickopf died from a brief but fatal illness on September 19, 1973 in Bonn, Germany.
References
- ↑ Posner, Gerald (6 March 1990). "Interpol's Nazi Affiliations Continued After War". The New York Times. Retrieved 12 February 2012.
In 1968, Interpol elected Paul Dickopf as its president. Although it was discovered that he had been an SS officer in the war, having worked in the very villa where Interpol and the Gestapo were headquartered, he nevertheless remained president until 1972.
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