In East Prussia, representatives of national-conservative, monarchical positions were predominantly elected in the Weimar Republic. Relations with the republic were strained from the outset, as the signing of the Treaty of Versailles by the government of the Reich was perceived as treason. In particular for East Prussia, aside from reparation demands and demilitarisation, the loss of territory and the resulting insularity of the province were considered to be an unacceptable contractual condition.
Far-reaching territorial demands from Poland and Lithuania fuelled anger and rejection of the new neighbours, which was successfully absorbed by the National Socialists. The mythical image of the "Eastern lands" surrounded by enemies since the time of the Order fitted into the nationalistic programme of the NSDAP. Nevertheless, at first they had a hard time competing against the established German National People's Party.
With the outbreak of the worldwide economic crisis in 1929, the National Socialists succeeded in presenting themselves as the only party representing the interests of East Prussia. The NSDAP became the strongest force.
Illustrations:
1.) Adolf Hitler in Königsberg, 1932
Hitler travelled through East Prussia in 1932 and was received triumphantly in many places. His speeches about a strong national community were also met with enthusiasm by ethnic minorities such as Masurians or Prussian-Lithuanians, who finally saw themselves as a fully accepted part of the East Prussian population.
Photo: Secret State Archives Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation, Berlin
2.)
Erich Koch (1896–1986), 1938
Erich Koch from Wuppertal was appointed by Hitler as the Gauleiter (leader of an NSDAP district) in East Prussia in 1928. The high electoral success of the NSDAP there was essentially also due to his work. From 1933 he held the highest administrative office in the province as the new "Oberpräsident" (supreme representative of the Prussian Crown) in addition to his political party power. In 1939 he became responsible for the "Zichenau administrative district" in occupied Poland, which was affiliated to East Prussia. After the attack on the Soviet Union, the District of Białystok (Bezirk Bialystok) and the "Reich Commissariat (Reichskommissariat) Ukraine" were added, making him one of the most powerful men in Eastern Europe.
In East Prussia he was long renowned for his investment programmes and as an active Protestant. As a leading participant in the genocide of Polish and Ukrainian Jews, he was extradited after the war to Poland, where he was imprisoned and remained without remorse or admission of guilt until his death.
Photo: German Federal Archives, picture 183-H13717