Otto Hellmuth

Otto Hellmuth (July 22, 1896 – April 20, 1968) was a member of the Nazi Party.

Born at Markt Einersheim, he was Gauleiter of the German region of Lower Franconia (Unterfranken) from 1928 to 1945. His home and office were in Würzburg, the capital of the Gau Mainfranken. By 1935, Hellmuth had his Gau renamed as Mainfranken. After World War II, the region's original name was reinstated. He entered service as a Kriegsfreiwilliger, assigned successively to 9. Bayerisches Infanterie-Regiment, 4. Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment, and 8. Landwehr-Infanterie-Regiment. He was wounded in action four times during World War I. He returned to Germany in October, 1918 after being severely gassed.

In 1928, Hellmuth became Gauleiter of Lower Franconia. Three weeks before the first nationwide anti-Jewish boycott began in 1933, Hellmuth already forced the closing of Jewish-owned stores and offices in Würzburg. As a private residence, he acquired the house of a Jewish pharmacist. When the Gaufrauenschaftsleiterin of Mainfranken paid Passau a formal visit, with a delegation of activists, Margarethe Schneider-Reichel presented them with a painting of Hellmuth.

Over most of his term, Hellmuth was not an impressive personality. Joseph Goebbels saw him as "a most retiring unassuming Gauleiter in whom one had not too much confidence." However, Hellmuth defended his Gau vigorously in the spring of 1945, as Goebbels noted in his diary on April 2.

In 1947, Hellmuth was accused of complicity in the murders of Allied aircraft pilots. He was tried at Dachau and sentenced to death. This sentence was later commuted to life imprisonment. He was released in 1955.

Hellmuth killed himself on April 20, 1968 in Reutlingen.

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