Ulrich Heinrich Emil Richard Greifelt (8 December 1896 – 6 February 1949) was a German SS functionary and war criminal during the Nazi era. He was convicted at the RuSHA trial at Nuremberg, sentenced to life imprisonment, and died in prison.
Kapitänleutnant Walther Schwieger (Wilhem Otto Walther Schwieger) (7 April 1885 – 5 September 1917) was a U-boat commander in the Imperial German Navy (Kaiserliche Marine) during First World War. In 1915, he sank the passenger liner RMS Lusitania with the loss of 1,199 lives.
Max Naumann (12 January 1875 – 18 May 1939) was the founder of Verband nationaldeutscher Juden (League of National German Jews), which called for the elimination of Jewish ethnic identity through Jewish assimilation. The league was outlawed by the Nazi government on 18 November 1935.
Naumann was a captain in the Bavarian Army during World War I and a Berlin lawyer.
Wilhelm Biltz (8 March 1877 – 13 November 1943) was a German chemist and scientific editor.
In addition to his scholarly work, Biltz is noted for commanding the principal German tank involved in the first ever tank-on-tank battle in history at the Second Battle of Villers-Bretonneux.
Carl Heinrich Max Freybe (September 26, 1886 (Stettin) – September 8, 1982 (Bielefeld)) was a German politician (business party) and official of the Association of Butchers.
Daniel Vorländer (11 June 1867 – 8 June 1941) was a German chemist who synthesized most of the liquid crystals known until his retirement in 1935.
Vorländer was born in Eupen in Rhenish Prussia. He studied chemistry at Kiel, Munich, and Berlin, after which he became a professor at University of Halle-Wittenberg.
Vorländer applied his knowledge of molecular structure to select those exhibiting the crystalline liquid state. In particular a linear molecular geometry was conductive. "Over the years Vorländer and his students synthesized hundreds of liquid crystalline compounds. An interesting discovery was that amongst the slimy liquid crystals were many soap and soap-like compounds." (Dunmur & Sluckin p 48)
Vorländer served as a volunteer during World War I, during which he received the Iron Cross. He died in Halle.
Leutnant Georg von Hantelmann (9 October 1898 – 7 September 1924) was a German fighter ace credited with winning 25 victories during World War I. It was notable that these victories included three opposing aces shot down within the same week in September 1918–David Putnam, Maurice Boyau, and Joseph Wehner.
Max Looff (2 May 1874 – 20 September 1954) was a naval officer of the Imperial German Navy, who reached the rank of Vizeadmiral and later a military writer. Looff commanded the cruiser SMS Königsberg during the Battle of Rufiji Delta before it was sunk by two Royal Navy monitors, HMS Mersey and Severn on 11 July 1915.
Friedrich Christiansen (12 December 1879 – 3 December 1972) was a German general who served as commander of the German Wehrmacht in the occupied Netherlands during World War II.
Christiansen was a World War I flying ace and the only seaplane pilot to receive the Pour le Mérite. He joined the Nazi Party in the interwar period, eventually rising to the rank of Korpsführer of the National Socialist Flyers Corps. After the German invasion of the Netherlands, Christiansen was appointed as the Wehrmachtbefehlshaber (Chief Military Commander) in the Netherlands. In response to attacks by the Dutch Resistance, he ordered reprisals against Dutch civilians such as the Putten raid. He was also responsible for the Dutch famine of 1944–1945 that resulted in the deaths of thousands of civilians after ordering an embargo on all food transports to the western Netherlands. After the war, Christiansen was arrested and convicted of war crimes.
Armin Theophil Wegner (October 16, 1886 – May 17, 1978) was a German soldier and medic in World War I, a prolific author, and a human rights activist. Stationed in the Ottoman Empire during World War I, Wegner was a witness to the Armenian genocide and the photographs he took documenting the plight of the Armenians today "comprises the core of witness images of the Genocide.": 258–259 In the years following World War I, Wegner also voiced his opposition, at great risk to his own life, to the antisemitic policies of the Nazi regime. In 1933, he authored an impassioned plea to Adolf Hitler on behalf of German Jews. He suggested that the persecution of the Jews was not just a question of "the fate of our Jewish brothers alone, [but also] the fate of Germany.": 240 Noting that he was writing the letter as a proud German who could himself trace his Prussian familial roots back to the time of the Crusades, Wegner asked Hitler what would become of Germany if it continued its persecution of Jews. Answering his own question, Wegner declared, "There is no Fatherland without justice!": 244 He was persecuted by the Nazi regime and fled after being released from a concentration camp.
After leaving Germany, Wegner lived the rest of his life in Italy. He was later recognized for his anti-genocide efforts, including recognition by Yad Vashem as Righteous Among the Nations. His story and his pictures have featured in multiple later efforts to document the Armenian genocide.