Prince August Wilhelm of Prussia - National Socialism

National Socialism

In 1933 August Wilhelm was given a position within the Prussian state, and became a member of the German Reichstag. However, after the establishment of a dictatorship, the National Socialists no longer needed the former prince, who himself had secretly hoped "that Hitler would one day hoist him or his son Alexander up to the vacant throne of the Kaiser". Thus in spring 1934 he was denied direct access to Hitler and by the summer after the Röhm affair, he found himself in the wilderness politically. This did not, however, reduce his adoration of Hitler. On 31 June 1939 he was made an Obergruppenführer, the second highest rank in the SA, but after making derogatory remarks about Joseph Goebbels in private, he was denounced in 1942. From then on, he was completely sidelined and was also banned from making public speeches.

At the beginning of February 1945, in the company of the former Crown Princess Cecilie, August Wilhelm fled the approaching Red Army, going from Potsdam to Kronberg to take refuge with his aunt Princess Margaret of Prussia, a sister of his father.