Erich Koch
| Erich Koch | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Gauleiter of East Prussia | |
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In office 1928–1945 |
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| Leader | Adolf Hitler |
| Preceded by | Bruno Gustav Scherwitz |
| Succeeded by | none |
| Oberpräsident of East Prussia | |
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In office May 1933 – 9 April 1945 |
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| Preceded by | Wilhelm Kutscher |
| Succeeded by | none |
| Reichskommissar for Ukraine | |
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In office 20 August 1941 – 6 October 1943 |
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| Appointed by | Adolf Hitler |
| Preceded by | none |
| Succeeded by | Curt von Gottberg |
| Reichskommissar for the Ostland | |
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In office 26 September 1944 – 2 February 1945 (de facto ousted 13 October 1944) |
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| Appointed by | Adolf Hitler |
| Preceded by | Hinrich Lohse |
| Succeeded by | none |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 16 January 1896 Elberfeld, German Empire |
| Died | 12 November 1986 (aged 90) Barczewo, People's Republic of Poland |
| Political party | NSDAP |
| Religion | Protestant |
Erich Koch (19 June 1896 – 12 November 1986) was a Gauleiter of the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in East Prussia from 1928 until 1945. Between 1941 and 1945 he was Chief of Civil Administration (Chef der Zivilverwaltung) of Bezirk Bialystok. During this period, he was also the Reichskommissar in Reichskommissariat Ukraine from 1941 until 1943. After the Second World War, Koch stood trial in Poland and was convicted in 1959 of war crimes and sentenced to death. The sentence was commuted to life imprisonment a year later.
Koch was born in Elberfeld, today part of Wuppertal, as the son of foreman Gustav Adolf Koch (1862 – 1932) and his wife Henriette, née Matthes (1863 – 1939). In World War I he served without distinction as a soldier from 1915 to the end of the war in 1918. He later fought as a member of Freikorps Rossbach in Upper Silesia. A skilled trader, Koch joined the railway service as an aspirant for the middle level of the civil service. He was dismissed from this position in 1926 for anti-republican activities.
Koch joined the NSDAP in 1922 (member #90). From 1922 he worked in various party positions in the NSDAP-Gau Ruhr. During the Occupation of the Ruhr, he was a member of Albert Leo Schlageter's group and was imprisoned several times by the French authorities. In 1927 he became Bezirksführer of the NSDAP in Essen and later the deputy Gauleiter of Gau Ruhr. Koch belonged to the left wing of the party and was a supporter of the faction led by Gregor Strasser.
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