Nazi Party Membership
In 1933 Franz Joseph became a member of the SS (member number 276 691). On 1 April 1936, he became as full member of the Nazi party with membership number 3765580. As a leading Roman Catholic nobleman and a near relative of the Habsburg, Bourbon, and Saxon dynasties, Franz Joseph did much to lend respectability to the Nazi party.
From 1939 to 1944 Franz Joseph commanded a marine flak battery at the Cuxhaven naval base. In June 1944 he was released from active service. In November 1944 he was expelled from the SS together with other upper class Nazis whose devotion was becoming suspect in the face of Germany's, by then, near-certain defeat. In a letter to Heinrich Himmler dated 3 January 1945, Franz Joseph proclaimed his continued devotion to the Nazi cause and unsuccessfully begged to be readmitted to the SS.
Read more about this topic: Franz Joseph, Prince Of Hohenzollern-Emden
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