Description

Gießen, Germany: H. Boehm, 1939–1951. Two diaries originally written 1939–1951 and retyped 1972 and 1981, respectively, and privately bound in only three copies.

Family Chronicle (1972 diary): 300 by 210mm (11¾ by 8¼ inches). Red cloth boards with title to spine in gilt; [2], 1–9, [1], 10–34, [1], 35–41, [1], 42–46, [2], 47–66, [1], 67–71, [3], 72–76, [1] 77–79, [1], 80–83. [1], 84–116, [1] 117–211, [1], 212–291, [1], 292 + hand-drawn fold out family tree. typed, with hand drawn map, a drawn portrait, and 28 original silver gelatin photographs (all of which are identified). In German. Light soiling to back board, otherwise near fine.

Family Chronicle 1944–1948 (1981 diary): 210 by 150mm (8¼ by 6 inches). Red cloth boards with title to spine in gilt; [2], 1–10, [6], 11–-18, [4], 19–213, + hand-drawn fold out map showing the path of flight from American soldiers. Hand written introduction with the remaining pages typed. With 18 original silver gelatin photographs. In German. Spine cocked, otherwise near fine.

These are the diaries of the important Nazi eugenicist Hermann Alois Boehm (1884–1962), which he primarily wrote during the three years he was interned awaiting the Nuremberg Trials. In total there are over 500 pages of dense typed text and 46 original photographs.

Boehm was a German doctor, Professor of “racial hygiene”, and one of the earliest members of the NSDAP. He joined the party on March 24, 1925 as member number 120. He took part in the failed 1923 coup d’etat on behalf of Hitler (the “Beer Hall Putsch”), for which Boehm was awarded The Blood Order (”Blutorden”), one of the most prestigious awards of the Nazis. Boehm ran the NSDAP’s leadership school for teaching German doctors about heritage and “racial care”. After the war, Boehm was interned for three years and was a witness at the Nuremberg Trials (his trial affidavit is digitized at Harvard Law).

Researcher Dr. Sigrid Oehler-Klein described Boehm as ”one of the most active representatives of National Socialist racial hygiene philosophy in the science, politics and administration of the Nazi regime.” (translated).

Boehm was married to another doctor, Katharina Boehm née Tietje (born 1897). She also joined the NSDAP on March 24, 1925 with member number 121.

For ease of identification we will now refer to Boehm family members by their first names. Out of respect for privacy, we will identify minors with an initial.

The First Diary, The Family Chronicle

This book discusses the Boehm family history, but is primarily an extensive write-up of Hermann’s life prior to the war. Between chapters, Hermann lapses into the present and discusses where he is imprisoned and when during the day he has time to work on the diary. The diary was written at internment camps in Nürnberg, Dachau (the former concentration camp housed POWs post war), and Darmstadt. (pgs. 167 & 292).

As a teenager Hermann was a student at the prestigious Wilhelmsgymnasium in Munich, where he was a classmate of German-Jewish author Lion Feuchtwanger (1884–1958). Their relationship and the fact that Feuchtwanger was Jewish is addressed on pg. 145.

Of great interest for research purposes are the 50 pages in which Hermann explains his medical school education and internship. He writes extensively about the professors who taught him including Austrian eugenicist Max von Gruber (1853–1927) (pg. 253) and German specialist in psychiatric genetics, Emil Kräpelin (1856–1926) (pgs. 253–255). The extensive information on Hermann’s medical education help us understand his later position as Nazi eugenicist.

The Second Diary, Family Chronicle 1944–1948

Hermann and Katharina had four children, two boys and two girls. This Family Chronicle of 1944 to 1948 starts with the birth of their youngest son H. on April 27, 1944, and ends in September 1948 with Hermann’s release from internment.

A very interesting aspect of this diary is that it was written by three different people, and thus presents us with a narrative of the end of World War II from three different perspectives.

For the first 37 pages, the author is Katharina and the diary is ostensibly a “baby book” to inform H. of the wartime circumstances in which he was born. Here we have the perspective of a mother who no longer worked as a doctor and was constantly seeking shelter from Allied bombs. In the diary, Katharina estimates that 93% of Gießen was destroyed by aerial bombs (statistics today state that 75% of the town was destroyed).

The bulk of the diary was written by Hermann. Pages 37–147 are Hermann’s and the most interesting part of the book. We learn about how the family was forced to flee their home and spend several months fleeing approaching American troops. The hand drawn fold out map details their movement through the German countryside.

This, the heart of diary, is the narrative of how Hermann first encounters Americans; how he learns of Hitler’s suicide; how and when he was captured and interrogated and the entire process of eventually transferring him to Internierungslager Schwarzborn, where he would eventually act as a witness in the Nuremberg Trials. This diary is a first person perspective of how a prominent Nazi fled and eventually was captured. It represents the downfall of his entire world view and narrative from his perspective. The account is detailed, fascinating, terrifying and historically important.

Allow us to present select passages from Hermann’s diary.

The following describes Hermann’s very first encounter with Americans:

20 American tanks rattled through the village. This first contact with the enemy was extremely harmless for us. The tanks in front were followed by a huge number of cars and tanks through the town throughout the night…. It was shocking to us that numerous vehicles were driven and manned by Negroes. One has the impression that it makes no difference [to the the Americans] whether a man is white or Negro. (pgs. 70–72. translated).

And here, Hermann discusses his feelings when he learned that Hitler died:

And then came the hardest blow. On May 2nd, the radio announced that the Führer had been killed in battle at his base in the Reich Chancellery. The man who wholeheartedly dedicated his life to his people, in the end gave his life in the most consequent implementation of his teachings. A depression, the extent of which is impossible to describe, enveloped us. What would happen now without the leadership of this man, in whom we had placed all our trust and all our love? Will this really be the end of Germany?…

For us personally—who have dedicated 20 years of our lives to saving Germany—life seems to have lost its meaning. Should we draw the resulting consequences? Are we allowed to? We have the impression that our leadership betrayed us with promises that they could not fulfill” (pgs. 75–77. translated).

Hermann was arrested twice. His first arrest in May 1945 he described as follows:

Then Americans came in with guns and demanded IDs. We didn’t suspect anything bad… But to my not small and extremely unpleasant surprise, the American motioned for me to get into a car. And then the journey began. Two tanks in front, then my car, then another tank in rear. So I was arrested. But why actually?…

Accompanied by an American soldier, I was brought—at gunpoint with the firing safety off—to a German-speaking, probably Jewish, American officer. He questioned me, looked at my papers, asked me about details of joining the party [and] whether I had ever seen a concentration camp… (pgs. 85–86. translated).

The above initial interrogation was followed a few days later with the following discussion with an American officer:

His question about what had caused me to join the party so early gave me a welcome opportunity to give him a corrective lecture on National Socialism and racial hygiene. I quoted American and English authors wherever possible. He listened to me calmly; my comments seemed to make sense to him. When I finished my lecture, he asked another question. For example, again whether I had seen Buchenwald concentration camp. (pg. 94. translated).

Hermann’s second arrest was June 8, 1945. He described it as follows:

[T]he two officers taking my statement—one of whom is certainly Jewish, the other is probably Jewish—were 100 percent against me. One of them, for no apparent reason, repeatedly yelled at me in a way I had never experienced before in my life. From the contents of my file I could see that the Americans carried out a thorough search of my house… My ‘misfortune’ is of course my low party membership number and my high rank as SA leader and Reichsamt leader. (pg. 139. translated).

When the decision was made to intern Hermann for a longer period of time, he wrote on June 9, 1945:

So today will bring the decision. How will it fall? My dear little boy will I look into your bright blue eyes this evening…? My clear conscience gives me the only consolation. Whatever the decision may be, I feel innocent; I haven’t done anything that I couldn’t answer to with my conscience. And everything I did was done with the purest intention to benefit my people and my fatherland. (pgs. 140–141. translated).

Hermann’s perspective was highly naive. He would remain interned for three years and be a witness at the Nuremberg Trials.

The third point of view in the diary is of a teenager. Daughter G. was 16 when she takes up writing the diary (after her father’s internment). She takes us from pages 147–213. In those pages a certain normalcy returns to daily life as the family watches son H. take his first steps and read his first words, all while Hermann is away from the family.

The unfiltered viewpoint of a child is at times shocking. For example, African American soldiers are derided as “baby Americans” (the exact words are “Bäbä-Amis” pg. 181–182).

Numerous important figures in the history of Nazi eugenics and war crimes are mentioned in the diary including:

• Werner Kyrieleis (1898–1961). Doctor in the Waffen-SS and Professor at the University of Gießen;
• Alfred Brüggemann (1882–1971). Doctor and Director of a Tuberculosis Clinic. Interned after the war;
• Leonore Liebenam (born 1894). Doctor of racial psychology and eugenics;
• Heinrich Wilhelm Kranz (1897–1945). Doctor of racial hygiene. He committed suicide in May 1945. Hermann meets up with Kranz two months prior to his death and notes in the diary that Kranz was ”completely discouraged” (trans.); and
• Eugen Katzenmeier (received a life sentence for executing an American airman).

The question arises how these diaries survived. The idea of creating books from Hermann’s diaries arose when the family gathered for Christmas 1970. By 1973, son H. arranged for the creation of the original Family Chronicle. Then in 1981, H. created the second book. Per the introduction to the second diary, H. created one copy for each sibling (3 copies, as the oldest child was deceased). He mailed our copies to his sister S., who had moved to the United States in 1957. S. died in 2024, and both diaries are from her estate.

As far as we can discern, these diaries have never been published and are not held at any institution.

For an extensive analysis of Hermann’s position in Nazi Germany, please see Sigrid Oehler-Klein “Professor Hermann Alois Boehm. Ein Wissenschaftler im Dienst der nationalsozialistischen Rassenhygiene”. In: Boeck, Gisela Lammel, Hans-Uwe (Editor): Die Universität Rostock in den Jahren 1933–1945, Pgs. 205–225.

Price: $3,500

Additional information