Ernst Woermann

Ernst Woermann (30 March 1888, Dresden, German Empire — 5 July 1979, Heidelberg, West Germany) was a German diplomat who worked for the Foreign Office under the Third Reich. He was a junior state secretary of the German Foreign Ministry (1940—43) and the German ambassador to the Nanjing Nationalist Government, the Japanese puppet government in China (1943—45).

Biography

Woermann was the son of German art historian Karl Woermann, and had been born in Dresden in 1888. After attending a gymnasium, Woermann studied law at the Heidelberg University, the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, Freiburg University and Leipzig University. He got a doctorate in law and afterwards fought in World War I as an enlisted soldier, and then as a senior lieutenant (Oberleutnant). Following the end of the war and demobilization, Woermann worked in the Hamburg courts (Hamburger Justizdienst) and then the Foreign Ministry (from 1919). In 1920, Woermann was among the German delegation at the Paris Peace Conference and was part of the German embassy staff in France. In 1925 he was transferred to Vienna before working in the main department of the Foreign Ministry. Woermann was named "Envoy 1st class" in 1936 and worked at the embassy in London, being a close confidante of Joachim von Ribbentrop. On 1 December 1937 he became a member of the NSDAP.

After von Ribbentrop was appointed the German foreign minister in April 1938 Woermann replaced Ernst von Weizsäcker as the head of the political department of the Foreign Office. He also received the rank of SS-Standartenführer (equivalent of a colonel). In 1940, he became the junior state secretary (Unterstaatssekretär) of the ministry.

From 3 August 1943 until the end of World War II he served as the German ambassador to China, after Germany recognized the pro-Japanese Nationalist Government in Nanjing, led by Wang Jingwei.

He was tried at the "Wilhelmstrasse" Ministries Trial by the American military tribunal. On 11 April 1949 Woermann was sentenced to 7 years in prison. On 12 December, it was lowered to 5 years. However, he was released early in 1950 or 1951.

Sourcees

• Zalessky, K. A. NSDAP. Power in the Third Reich. Moscow. Eksmo, 2005. P. 94, 335. (in Russian)
• Zalessky, K. A. Who was Who in the Third Riech: Biographical Encyclopedia-Dictionary. Moscow. ACT Publications, 2002. P. 933. (in Russian)
• Eckart Conze, Norbert Frei, Peter Hayes und Moshe Zimmermann. Das Amt und die Vergangenheit. Deutsche Diplomaten im Dritten Reich und in der Bundesrepublik (The Office and the Past: German Diplomats in the Third Reich and Federal Republic). Munich, 2010. Pp. 172-173. (in German)