This Date in History: October 8

 

Max Pauly, SS-Obersturmbannführer, born June 1, 1907 in Wesselburen, Kommandant of the Neuengamme and Stutthof concentration camps, winner of the Iron Cross 1st Class, tried by the British in Hamburg as part of the “Neuengamme Trial” and sentenced to death, executed (Tod durch den Strang) by hangman Albert Pierrepoint on October 8, 1948 in Hameln, discussed why he joined the SS: “I was 18 years old, and suddenly we faced great economic difficulties; I had the responsibility for providing for the entire family.”  (2,000 Quotes From Hitler’s 1,000-Year Reich)

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Walter von Reichenau, Army Field Marshal, born October 8, 1884 in Karlsruhe, winner of the Iron Cross 1st Class in World War I, commander 6th Army, commander of Army Group South, winner of the Knight’s Cross of the Iron Cross, died of a stroke January 17, 1942 while being transported by air from Russia to Germany after collapsing at his headquarters, on Adolf Hitler in 1939: “The man [Hitler] is in the greatest error if he thinks the war will be over in six weeks; it will last six years.”  (2,000 Quotes From Hitler’s 1,000-Year Reich)