Ernst von Salomon (September 25, 1902 - August 9, 1972) was a German writer and one of the assassins of Walther Rathenau. September 25 is the 268th day of the year (269th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1902 (MCMII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... August 9 is the 221st day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (222nd in leap years), with 144 days remaining. ... 1972 (MCMLXXII) was a leap year starting on Saturday. ... Walter Rathenau Walther Rathenau (September 29, 1867–June 24, 1922) was a German industrialist and politician who served as Foreign Minister of Germany. ...

He was born in Kiel, the son of an officer. From 1913 he was a cadet in Karlsruhe and Berlin-Lichterfelde; from 1919 Freikorps ("Free-Corps") in the Baltic and Upper Silesia. Kiel ( ) is a city in northern Germany and the capital of the Bundesland Schleswig-Holstein. ... 1913 (MCMXIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday. ... Karlsruhe (population 283,959 in 2005) is a city in the south west of Germany, in the Bundesland Baden-Württemberg, located near the French-German border. ... 1919 (MCMXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... The designation of Freikorps (German for Free Corps, i. ... Population density in the wider Baltic region. ... Map of Upper Silesia, 1746 Upper Silesia (Polish: Górny Śląsk, German: Oberschlesien, Czech: Horní Slezsko) is the south-eastern part of Silesia, a historical and geographical region of Poland (Opole Voivodship and Silesian Voivodship) and of the Czech Republic (Silesian-Moravian Region). ...

He received a five year prison sentence in 1922 for taking part in the plot to assassinate Walther Rathenau - he had organized a car for the assassins. The courts at this time were sympathetic to right-wing radicals. In 1927 he received another prison sentence for an attempted feme murder (paramilitary "self-justice" in Weimar Germany), and was released after a few months - he had refrained from the murder when the severely wounded victim, Wagner, pleaded for his life, which was acknowledged by the court. 1922 (MCMXXII) was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... Walter Rathenau Walther Rathenau (September 29, 1867–June 24, 1922) was a German industrialist and politician who served as Foreign Minister of Germany. ... In politics, right-wing, the political right, or simply The Right, are terms that refer to the segment of the political spectrum often associated with any of several strains of conservatism, the religious right, and areas of classical liberalism, or simply the opposite of left-wing politics. ... 1927 (MCMXXVII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar). ...

From 1933–1945 Salomon resented Adolf Hitler and wrote for cinema. His spouse Ille Gotthelft was Jewish but was not harmed due to his support. Von Salomon later described how they were both assaulted by American soldiers when they were arrested, were called "Nazi swines", how he was lambasted and his spouse Ille sexually assaulted. 1933 (MCMXXXIII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1945 (MCMVL) was a common year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1945 calendar). ... Hitler redirects here. ...

Salomon was interned by the Americans from 1945–1946. 1945 (MCMVL) was a common year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1945 calendar). ... 1946 (MCMXLVI) was a common year starting on Tuesday. ...

In 1951 he published the book "Der Fragebogen" ("The Questionnaire"), in which he publicised his answers to the 131 point questionnaire every German had to answer after the war about his relationship to the Nazi Government for purposes of denazification. A famous public discussion of the book took place in Cologne main station, organised by bookseller Gerhard Ludwig. This may be seen at one of the first steps in German post-war education in Democracy. In his book he questioned the wisdom of the questionnaire by asking whether the Americans are fit to evaluate Germans about democracy while the USA itself contains many deficits towards democracy. 1951 (MCMLI) was a common year starting on Monday; see its calendar. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Denazification (German: Entnazifizierung) was an Allied initiative to rid German and Austrian society, culture, press, economy, judiciary and politics of any remnants of the Nazi regime. ... Gerhard Ludwig (1909–1994) was a German bookseller. ...

Salomon died in Stoeckte near Winsen. Winsen can refer to: Winsen (Luhe) (also: Winsen an der Luhe), capital of the district Harburg, Lower Saxony, Germany. ...

Bibliography

• Die Geächteten (translated at The Outlaws) (1930), a fictionalized account of Ernst von Salomon's adventures as a Freikorpskämpfer.
• Die Stadt (The City) (1932)
• Die Kadetten (The Cadets) (1933)
• Putsch (Coup d'Etat)(1933)
• Der Fragenbogen (The Questionnaire or Answers to the 131 Questions of the Allied Military Government “Fragebogen”) (1951).

Note: this bibliography is incomplete.

Quotes

• Anyone who judges Freikorpskämpfers by the standards of the civilization it was their task to help destroy is utilizing the standards of the enemy.
• The blood surging through our veins was full of a wild demand for revenge and adventure and danger…We were a band of fighters drunk with all the passions of the world; full of lust, exultant in action. What we wanted, we did not know. And what we knew, we did not want! War and adventure, excitement and destruction. An indefinable, surging force welled up from every part of our being and flayed us onward. ("Die Geächteten", 1930)
• It was no inspired, controversial political idea that spurred us to protest. The actual cause lay simply in despair, which is never articulate. ("Die Geächteten", 1930)

External links

• Very critical 1955 Time review of Ernst von Salomon's "Der Fragebogen".