Josef Ackermann (politician)

Born the son of a coachman in Arenberg-Immendorf, Prussia, Ackermann attended primary and commercial trade school from 1911 to 1919. After joining the Nazi party in 1925, he later became the Gauredner (English: Nazi Party spokesman).

After the Nazis seized power in 1936, Ackermann became Regional Inspector in the Koblenz-Trierin area under Gauleiter Gustav Simon, and in 1942 in the Mosel district. After the occupation of Luxembourg by German troops in May 1940, Simon, in addition to Gauleiter, was named the Head of Civil Administration (CDZ) in Luxembourg. He took Ackermann with him to be part of his staff. Ackermann was a member of the Sturmabteilung (SA), where he became SA-Oberführer on November 9, 1938 and was promoted to the rank SA-Brigadeführer on November 9, 1943. On December 9, 1941 Ackermann became the successor in the Reichstag to Detlef Dern for the seat from Neuwied.

In the spring of 1945 Ackermann and his wife were fleeing to an air raid shelter in Arenberg that had spots reserved for Nazi Party members. A one-legged German soldier, who had recently been at the military hospital, became upset that Ackermann would be permitted entrance and protested. Ackermann punched the soldier in response. Angered by this, the shelter attendees refused entry to Ackermann and his wife.

After the war he was interned by the Allies and a short time later he was extradited from Luxembourg. According to documents from the Central Office of the State Justice Administration for the Investigation of National Socialist Crimes, he was sentenced to ten years hard labour on July 21, 1950 in Luxembourg. Following a pardon on April 23, 1951 his sentence was reduced to seven years imprisonment. Ackermann returned to Germany in the early 1950s when his prior years of internment were counted against the reduced sentence and he was released.