Ulrich Graf

For the motorcyclist, see Ulrich Graf (motorcyclist).

Ulrich Graf
Ulrich Graf in 1934
Born	(1878-06-06)June 6, 1878 Bachhagel,Bavaria, German Empire
Died	Munich, West Germany
Allegiance	German Empire Nazi Germany
Service/branch	Deutsches Heer Sturmabteilung Schutzstaffel
Years of service	1932 - 1945
Rank	ss-Brigadeführer
Battles/wars	First World War Second World War
Awards	see decorations
Other work	Backbencher

File:Bundesarchiv Bild 119-1412, Ulrich Graf.jpg

Ulrich Graf, picture taken in 1920

Ulrich Graf (6 July 1878 – 3 March 1950) was one of the earliest members of the Nazi Party and of the inner-circle of Adolf Hitler.

Biography

After his studies joins Graf the Bavarian Army. He resigned the army in 1904 after he was wounded and became town clerk in Munich.

During the First World War he became a member of the German Workers' Party and was a founding member of the Sturmabteilung (SA). In 1921 he became member number 2882 of the NSDAP.

Graf was an amateur wrestler and a butcher's apprentice, and became Hitler's personal bodyguard from 1920 to 1923. He was present at the Beer Hall Putsch, where, with Rudolf Hess, he cleared Hitler's way to the platform. During the subsequent march through Munich, Hitler, Erich Ludendorff, and their followers were blocked by about a hundred armed police outside the Feldherrnhalle. Graf stepped forward and shouted "Don't shoot! His excellency Ludendorff is coming." There was nevertheless gunfire, and fourteen Nazis and four police officers were killed. (Two supporters had been killed earlier at the War Ministry). Graf shielded Hitler with his body, received several bullet wounds, and possibly saved Hitler's life. Graf recovered, and rejoined the Nazi Party after Hitler was freed from prison. By the time Hitler came to power, he was a Sturmbannführer in Heinrich Himmler's SS—equivalent to a major in the Wehrmacht.

In December 1924 Graf was elected Councillor in Munich and went to office 1 January 1925. In that same year he rejoined the forbidden, newly founded NSDAP as member nr. 8. From the end of 1925 he was assessor of the NSDAP supreme court of justice. He was re-elected as Councillor in 1929.

As from 1935 he became counsellor of Munich In 1936, Graf was elected to the Reichstag. In 1937, he was promoted to the rank of SS-Oberführer, and on 20 April 1943, Hitler's birthday, became an SS-Brigadeführer. On Graf's birthday, 3 July 1943, he received a book from Himmler, Vogt Bartold: The Long Train to the East, signed by Himmler, thanking Graf for saving Hitler's life 20 years earlier.

In 1948, Graf was sentenced to five years hard labor and died in March 1950.

Military carreer

• SS-Brigadeführer: 20 April 1943
• SS-Obersturmbannführer: 24 February 1935
• SS-Sturmbannführer: 9 Novermber 1933
• SS-Sturmführer: 1 October 1932

Registration numbers

• NSDAP-nr.:8
• SS-nr.:26

Decorations

• Blutorden, nr. 21
• Die Medaille zur Erinnerung an die Heimkehr des Memellandes 22. März 1939
• Medaille zur Erinnerung an den 1. Oktober 1938 mit Spange „Prager Burg“
• Medaille zur Erinnerung an den 13. März 1938
• Dienstauszeichnung der NSDAP, III Gold (for 25 year award)
• Dienstauszeichnung der NSDAP, II Silver ( 15 year award)
• Dienstauszeichnung der NSDAP, I Bronze (10 year award)
• Golden Party Badge, nr. 8
• SS-Dienstauszeichnung
• Ehrendegen des Reichsführers-SS
• SS-Ehrenring
• Coburg Badge 1922
• Ehrenwinkel der Alten Kämpfer
• Verwundetenabzeichen (1918) in black

References

• Heiden: Hitler: a Biography
• Shirer: The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich