Early life and education Hilgenfeldt was born on 2 July 1897 in
Heinitz. He went to the
Oberrealschule in
Saarbrücken, whereafter he went to the
Francke Foundations in
Halle until
Obersekunda (roughly Grade or Year 11).
Personal life Married on 24 April 1922 to Marie-Charlotte Köhler, they separated around 1935 and finally divorced 30 November 1940. They had two children together, Reinhard (2 March 1923 – killed in action 2 November 1943 at the Trigno River area 1 km south of
Tufillo/
Italy) and another boy (1 October 1927). Hildgenfeldt then remarried on 6 December 1940 to Leopoldine Statischek (23 September 1907 at
Novi Sad/
Serbia – suicide by poison ? April/May 1945 at
Berlin) from Wien.
World War I service and employment Hilgenfeldt volunteered in August 1914 for service with the
Imperial German Army in the
First World War. He served on the front lines with Field Artillery Regiment 55 (2nd Thuringian). He was commissioned as a
Leutnant of
reserves in October 1915 and transferred to Aviation Detachment A 206 as an aerial observer in 1918. He left the military as an
Hauptmann of reserves, having earned the
Iron Cross, 1st and 2nd class. Returning to civilian life, he worked in the timber and mineral industries, ultimately advancing to a managerial position. From 1927, Hilgenfeldt obtained a government job on the staff of the Department of General Economic and Business Statistics in the Reich Statistical Office.
Nazi Party career Hilgenfeldt was politically involved with the militant German veteran's organization,
Der Stahlhelm before joining the
Nazi Party on 1 August 1929 (membership number 143,642). By 1932, he had become a NSDAP
Kreisleiter (District Leader) in
Berlin and, by 1933, NSDAP
Gauinspektor for
Inspektion I Groß-Berlin. He was a Party organizer and propagandist and worked closely with the Berlin
Gauleiter,
Joseph Goebbels. By 1931, he was a municipal councilor for Berlin-Welmersdorf. Hilgenfeldt worked as office head at the NSDAP Office for People's Welfare and in close association with the
Nationalsozialistische Volkswohlfahrt (NSV), or the
National Socialist People's Welfare. By organizing a charity drive to celebrate Hitler's Birthday on 20 April 1931, Goebbels named him the head of the NSV. The NSV was named the single Nazi Party welfare organ in May 1933. From November of the same year, Hilgenfeldt was a member of the Reich Work Chamber (
Reichsarbeitskammer), as well as the
Academy for German Law and an honorary judge at the Supreme Honour and Disciplinary Court. As NSV leader, he was also
Reich Women's Leader (
Reichsfrauenführerin)
Gertrud Scholtz-Klink's superior. Also by virtue of his NSV office, he was the head of the German union of private charitable organizations, which included among its members the Protestant Inner Mission organization and the
Catholic Caritas, as well as the NSV itself. In 1933, he served in the
Prussian Landtag until its
dissolution in October. At the November 1933 parliamentary election, he obtained a seat in the
Reichstag from electoral constituency 2 (
Berlin) and retained this seat until his death. Hilgenfeldt spoke at the
Nuremberg Party Rally in 1936, during the third session of the Party conference. On 9 September 1937, Hilgenfeldt joined the
Allgemeine SS as an SS-
Oberführer with member number 289,225, and then was promoted on 30 January 1939 to SS-
Brigadeführer. He was assigned to the personal staff of the
Reichsführer-SS. In the course of Hilgenfeldt's career, he was not only made an honorary judge, but also appointed Chairman of the Reich Association for Offender Support (
Reichsverband für Straffälligenbetreuung). Furthermore, he was also awarded the
Danziger Kreuz, first class. He ultimately reached the rank of SS-
Gruppenführer.
Death Hilgenfeldt went missing in late April 1945 during the
Battle in Berlin. He is thought to have died either during the house-to-house fighting or by committing suicide, but the circumstances of his death are still unclear. On 5 June 1945, the director of the Berlin Caritas reported: "In the Main Office for People's Welfare … there was heavy fighting. Hilgenfeldt is dead. A sign had been hung around his neck: 'Here lies the criminal Hilgenfeldt'". Hilgenfeldt had a sister named Hedwig who officially had Erich and his wife Leopoldine
declared dead at the register's office in
Berlin-Charlottenburg, in 1957. == See also ==