Alfred Ingemar Berndt
| Alfred Ingemar Berndt | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Birth name | Alfred-Ingemar Berndt |
| Born |
April 22, 1905 Bromberg, West Prussia (now Bydgoszcz Poland) |
| Died | March 28, 1945 (aged 39) Veszprém, Hungary |
| Allegiance |
 Nazi Germany
|
| Service/branch |
 Schutzstaffel
|
| Rank | Hauptsturmführer |
| Unit | |
| Battles/wars | World War II |
| Awards | Iron Cross First Class, German Cross in Gold, War Merit Cross, Silver Medal of Military Valor |
Alfred-Ingemar Berndt (born 22 April 1905 in Bromberg (West Prussia); died 28 March 1945 at Veszprém, Hungary) was a German journalist, writer and close collaborator of Nazi Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels. Berndt wrote an eyewitness account of the 1940 German invasion of the Low Countries and France, Tanks Break Through!, and is regarded as propagandistic creator of the "Desert Fox" myth attached to the German Field Marshal Erwin Rommel.
Berndt's family was expelled and dispossessed from West Prussia in 1920, a result of the Versailles Treaty. The family moved to Berlin-Schöneberg, where Berndt in 1922, age 17, joined the Nazi Party. In 1924 he joined the Frontbann, reorganized front organization of the Sturmabteilung or SA. After the prohibition of the Nazi Party expired in 1925, he re-joined definitively. He was instrumental in building the organization and structure of the Hitler Youth in Berlin.
In December 1928, after interrupted study of German literature and volunteer work for German newspapers, Berndt got a job at Wolffs Telegraphisches Bureau (WTB), the largest news agency in Germany. Berndt was able to disguise his Nazi leanings as serious journalism. He wrote under various pseudonyms as columnist and commentator, and became a writer for two Nazi papers, Der Angriff and Der Völkische Beobachter. In 1931 he became head of the writers’ division of the Kampfbund für deutsche Kultur, an organization of Nazi authors, high school teachers, journalists, and cultural personages. A central figure in a growing network of Nazi newsmen at home and abroad, he was jailed and imprisoned from time to time during the Weimar Republic on account of his politics.
When Hitler became Chancellor in January 1933, Berndt’s position in the Kampfbund für deutsche Kultur led to his promotion in Wolffs Telegraphisches Bureau, which had become the Nazi press office, the Deutsche Nachrichtenbüro (DNB). In December 1933 he became chief editor of the DNB. Berndt was responsible for the coordination of the Reichsverbandes der Deutschen Presse (RDP) and was deputy of the Reich Press Chief, Otto Dietrich. After the Night of the Long Knives in 1934, when Hitler’s men murdered many opponents, Berndt left the SA and joined the Schutzstaffel (SS).
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