Burial place: cremated, ashes scattered Father: Richard Ulrich Friedrich Joachim Ribbentrop Mother: Johanna Sophie Hertwig Spouse: Anna Elizabeth Henkell Children: sons: Rudolph, Adolph and Barthold
daughters: Bettina and Ursula The consignment: NSDAP (from 1932) Military service Years of service: 1914-1918 Affiliation: German empire Type of army: army Rank: senior lieutenant Battles: The first World War Autograph: Awards:

Ulrich Friedrich Wilhelm Joachim von Ribbentrop(it. Ulrich Friedrich Wilhelm Joachim von Ribbentrop , April 30 ( 18930430 ) , Wesel - October 16, Nuremberg) - German Foreign Minister (1938-1945), Adolf Hitler's foreign policy adviser.

Biography

Born in the city of Wesel in Rhine Prussia in the family of officer Richard Ulrich Friedrich Joachim Ribbentrop. In 1910 Ribbentrop moved to Canada, where he set up a company to import wine from Germany.

In November 1939, Ribbentrop sharply opposed Heydrich's plan to steal two British intelligence officers from the Netherlands, but Hitler defended the SD so fiercely that Ribbentrop had to give in:

Yes, yes, my Fuhrer, I immediately held the same opinion, but with these bureaucrats and lawyers in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, it's just a problem: they are too slow-witted.

It was not until January 1941 that the control over Himmler was found, after the SD independently attempted to overthrow the Romanian dictator Antonescu (the “Iron Guard” revolt). On January 22, when the situation became critical, Antonescu sent a request to the German embassy to find out if he still enjoyed Hitler's confidence. Ribbentrop immediately replied:

Yes, Antonescu must act as it deems necessary and appropriate. The Fuehrer advises him to act with the legionnaires in the same way as he once treated the Roman putschists.

Antonescu defeated the putschists and began to persecute them. But then the SD intervened, hiding the leadership of the "Iron Guard" and secretly taking them abroad.

Upon learning of this, Ribbentrop immediately reported to Hitler, presenting the incident as a monstrous conspiracy of the SD against the official foreign policy Third Reich. After all, the SD representative in Romania was the instigator of the coup, and the head of the Romanian group of Germans Andreas Schmidt, who was appointed to this position as the head of the center for work with the Volksdeutsche SS Obergruppenfuehrer Lorenz, sheltered the putschists. Ribbentrop also remembered to mention that Schmidt is the son-in-law of Gottlob Berger, head of the SS Main Directorate. Thus, Hitler got the impression that the top leadership of the SS was involved in the conspiracy.

Taking advantage of the Fuhrer's anger, Ribbentrop took action. He appointed a new envoy to Romania, who immediately dispatched a police attaché to Germany, who spent several months in the Gestapo's dungeons upon his return. Ribbentrop also began to demand that Heydrich stop interfering in the affairs of the Foreign Ministry. On August 9, 1941, an agreement was reached that the official correspondence of police attachés should go through the ambassador. And in the future, Ribbentrop tried to hurt Himmler for any reason. So, having learned about Himmler's intention to visit Italy, he said that the visits of the top leadership are carried out only in agreement with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Representatives of the SA who survived the "Night of the Long Knives" were appointed ambassadors to the countries of South-Eastern Europe. And the SS Gruppenfuehrer Werner Best, who had transferred to the diplomatic service from the SD, Ribbentrop said that now Best is only subordinate to him, and not to Himmler.

By the spring of 1945, Ribbentrop had lost all confidence in Hitler. In accordance with the "Political Testament of Adolf Hitler" in the new government of Germany, the post of Reich Foreign Minister was to be taken by Arthur Seyss-Inquart, but he himself resigned from this post, as he announced at a personal meeting to the new Reich President of Germany Karl Dönitz. The new Reich Foreign Minister was the new Reich Chancellor Lutz Schwerin-Krosig.
On June 14, 1945, he was arrested by American troops in Hamburg. Then he was committed to the International Military Tribunal in Nuremberg, on October 1, 1946, he was sentenced to death and hanged on October 16, 1946 in a Nuremberg prison.

Death

Joachim von Ribbentrop was executed by hanging on October 16, 1946 by the verdict of the Nuremberg Tribunal.

Ribbentrop's last words on the scaffold were:

Write a review on the article "Ribbentrop, Joachim von"

Literature

• Heinz Höne.... - M .: OLMA-PRESS, 2003 .-- 542 p. - 6000 copies. - ISBN 5-224-03843-X.
• Joachim von Ribbentrop. Between London and Moscow. - M .: Thought, 1996 .-- 334 p. - ISBN 5-244-00817-X.

see also

• Non-aggression Pact between Germany and the Soviet Union (Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact)

Notes (edit)

The death penalty Imprisonment Justified Decision not made Listed on the accused but did not stand trial

Excerpt from Ribbentrop, Joachim von

- Natasha, you are 16 years old, in your age I was married. You say that Borya is cute. He is very nice, and I love him like a son, but what do you want? ... What do you think? You completely turned his head, I can see it ...
As she spoke, the Countess looked back at her daughter. Natasha lay looking straight ahead and motionless at one of the mahogany sphinxes carved on the corners of the bed, so that the countess could only see her daughter's face in profile. This face struck the countess with its peculiarity of a serious and concentrated expression.
Natasha listened and thought.
- Well, what then? - she said.
- You turned his head completely, why? What do you want from him? You know you can't marry him.
- From what? - Natasha said without changing position.
- Because he is young, because he is poor, because he is related ... because you yourself do not love him.
- Why do you know?
- I know. This is not good, my friend.
- And if I want ... - Natasha said.
“Stop talking nonsense,” said the Countess.
- And if I want ...
- Natasha, I'm serious ...
Natasha did not let her finish, drew her to her big hand Countess and kissed her from above, then in her palm, then turned again and began kissing her on the bone of the upper joint of her finger, then in between, then again on the bone, whispering: "January, February, March, April, May."
- Speak, mother, why are you silent? Speak, ”she said, looking back at her mother, who looked at her daughter with a tender glance and, because of this contemplation, seemed to have forgotten everything she wanted to say.
“That won't do, my soul. Not everyone will understand your childhood connection, and seeing him so close to you can hurt you in the eyes of other young people who come to us, and, most importantly, tortures him in vain. He may have found a party for himself, rich; and now he's losing his mind.
- Coming off? Natasha repeated.
- I'll tell you about myself. I had one cousin ...
- I know - Kirilla Matveich, but he's an old man, isn't he?
- It was not always an old man. But here's what, Natasha, I'll talk to Borey. He doesn't need to travel so often ...
- Why not, if he wants to?
“Because I know it won't end with anything.
- Why do you know? No, Mom, you don't tell him. What nonsense! - Natasha said in the tone of a man from whom they want to take away his property.
“Well, I’m not getting married, so let him go, if he’s having fun and I’m having fun.” - Natasha, smiling, looked at her mother.
“Not married, but so,” she repeated.
- How is it, my friend?
- Yes, so. Well, it is very necessary that I will not marry, but ... so.
- So, so, - repeated the countess and, shaking with all her body, laughed a kind, unexpected old woman's laugh.
- Completely laugh, stop, - Natasha cried, - you shake the whole bed. You look terribly like me, the same giggle ... Wait ... - She grabbed both hands of the Countess, kissed her little finger on one bone - June, and continued kissing July, August on the other hand. - Mom, is he very much in love? How are your eyes? Were you so in love? And very nice, very, very nice! Only not quite to my taste - it is narrow, like a dining room clock ... Don't you understand? ... Narrow, you know, gray, light ...
- What are you lying! Said the countess.
Natasha continued:
- Do you really not understand? Nikolenka would have understood ... Earless - that blue, dark blue with red, and it is quadrangular.
“You’re flirting with him too,” the Countess said, laughing.
- No, he is a Freemason, I found out. It's nice, dark blue with red, how can you explain ...
“Countess,” came the count’s voice from behind the door. - Are you awake? - Natasha jumped up barefoot, grabbed her shoes and ran to her room.
She could not sleep for a long time. She kept thinking that no one can understand everything that she understands and what is in her.
"Sonya?" she thought, looking at the sleeping, curled up kitty with her huge braid. “No, where is she! She is virtuous. She fell in love with Nikolenka and doesn't want to know anything else. Mom, she doesn't understand either. It's amazing how smart I am and how ... she is cute, "she continued, speaking to herself in the third person and imagining that this is being said about her by some very smart, smartest and nicest man ..." Everything, everything in her is - continued this man, - unusually smart, sweet and then good, unusually good, dexterous, - swims, rides well, and his voice! An amazing voice, one might say! " She sang her favorite musical phrase from the Cherubin's opera, threw herself on the bed, laughed at the joyful thought that she would fall asleep now, shouted to Dunyasha to put out the candle, and before Dunyasha had time to leave the room, she had already passed into another, even happier world of dreams where everything was as easy and beautiful as in reality, but it was only even better, because it was different.

The next day the Countess, having invited Boris to her place, talked to him, and from that day on he stopped visiting the Rostovs.

On the 31st of December, on the eve of the new year 1810, le reveillon [night supper], there was a ball at the Catherine's grandee. The ball was supposed to be a diplomatic corps and a sovereign.
On the Promenade des Anglais the famous house of the nobleman shone with countless illumination lights. At the lighted entrance with a red cloth stood the police, and not only gendarmes, but a police chief at the entrance and dozens of police officers. The carriages drove away, and new ones arrived, with red footmen and footmen in feathers on their hats. Men in uniforms, stars and ribbons emerged from the carriages; ladies in satin and ermines cautiously walked down the noisy steps, and hurriedly and soundlessly walked along the cloth of the entrance.
Almost every time a new carriage arrived, there was a whisper in the crowd and hats were taken off.
- Sovereign? ... No, minister ... prince ... envoy ... Can't you see the feathers? ... - said from the crowd. One of the crowd, dressed better than the others, seemed to know everyone, and called by name the noblest nobles of that time.
Already one third of the guests had arrived at this ball, and the Rostovs, who were supposed to be at this ball, were still hastily preparing for dressing.
There was a lot of talk and preparations for this ball in the Rostov family, many fears that the invitation would not be received, the dress would not be ready, and everything would not be arranged as it was needed.
Together with the Rostovs went to the ball Marya Ignatievna Peronskaya, a friend and relative of the countess, a thin and yellow maid of honor of the old court, leading the provincial Rostovs in the highest Petersburg society.
At 10 o'clock in the evening the Rostovs were supposed to pick up the maid of honor at the Tauride Garden; and meanwhile it was already five minutes to ten, and the young ladies were not yet dressed.
Natasha went to the first big ball in her life. She got up that day at 8 o'clock in the morning and was in feverish anxiety and activity all day. All her forces, from the very morning, were directed to ensure that they all: she, mother, Sonya were dressed as best as possible. Sonya and the Countess vouched completely to her. The countess was supposed to be wearing a masaka velvet dress, they were wearing two white smoky dresses on pink, silk covers with roses in a bodice. The hair had to be combed a la grecque [in Greek].
Everything essential had already been done: the legs, arms, neck, ears were already especially carefully, according to the ballroom, washed, perfumed and powdered; they were already shod with silk fishnet stockings and white satin shoes with bows; the hairstyles were almost finished. Sonya finished dressing, and so did the Countess; but Natasha, who was busy with everyone, fell behind. She was still sitting in front of the mirror in a dressing-gown draped over her slender shoulders. Sonya, already dressed, stood in the middle of the room, pressing her small finger painfully, pinning the last ribbon squealing under the pin.
“Not so, not so, Sonya,” said Natasha, turning her head from her hair and clutching at the hair with her hands, which the maid who held them did not have time to let go. - Not so bow, come here. - Sonya sat down. Natasha split the tape differently.
“Excuse me, young lady, you can't do that,” said the maid, who was holding Natasha's hair.
- Oh, my God, well after! That's it, Sonya.
- Are you soon? - the countess's voice was heard, - it's ten now.
- Now. - Are you ready, Mom?
- Just pin it.
- Don't do it without me, - Natasha shouted: - you won't be able to!
- Yes, ten.
It was decided to be at the ball at half past ten, while Natasha still had to get dressed and stop by the Tauride Garden.
Having finished her hair, Natasha, in a short skirt, from under which she could see ballroom shoes, and in her mother's blouse, ran up to Sonya, examined her, and then ran to her mother. Turning her head, she pinned the current, and, barely having time to kiss her gray hair, again ran to the girls who were hemming her skirt.
The matter was behind Natasha's skirt, which was too long; it was hemmed by two girls, hastily biting off the thread. The third, with pins in her lips and teeth, ran from the countess to Sonya; the fourth held the entire smoky dress on her hand held high.
- Mavrusha, rather, my dear!
- Give me a thimble from there, young lady.
- Is it soon, finally? - said the count, entering from behind the door. - Here's a perfume. Peronskaya was already tired of waiting.
“Done, young lady,” said the maid, lifting the hemmed smoky dress with two fingers and blowing and shaking something, expressing with this gesture the consciousness of the airiness and purity of what she was holding.
Natasha began to put on a dress.
“Now, now, don't go, dad,” she shouted to her father, who opened the door, even from under the haze of her skirt that covered her entire face. Sonya slammed the door. A minute later, the count was admitted. He was in a blue dress coat, stockings and shoes, perfumed and oiled.
- Oh, dad, how good you are, lovely! - said Natasha, standing in the middle of the room and straightening the folds of the haze.
“Excuse me, young lady, excuse me,” said the girl, kneeling, pulling on her dress and turning the pins with her tongue from one side of her mouth to the other.
- Your will! - Sonya cried out with despair in her voice, looking at Natasha's dress, - your will, it's long again!
Natasha walked away to look around in the pier glass. The dress was long.
“By God, madam, nothing is long,” said Mavrusha, crawling along the floor behind the young lady.
“Well, it’s long, so we’ll sweep it up, we’ll sweep it in one minute,” said resolute Dunyasha, taking out a needle from a handkerchief on her chest and again on the floor starting to work.
At this time the Countess entered, with shy, quiet steps, in her current and velvet dress.
- Whoa! my beauty! - the count shouted, - better than all of you! ... - He wanted to hug her, but she pulled back, blushing, so as not to wrinkle.
- Mom, more on the side of the current, - said Natasha. - I will pinch, and rushed forward, and the girls, who were hemming, did not have time to rush after her, tore off a piece of the haze.
- Oh my God! What is this? I’m not her God’s fault ...
- Nothing, I sweep it, it won't be visible, - said Dunyasha.
- Beauty, stealing that is mine! The nanny came in from behind the door. - And then Sonya, well, beauties! ...
At quarter past ten they finally got into the carriages and drove off. But I still had to stop by at the Tauride Garden.
Peronskaya was already ready. Despite her old age and ugliness, she had exactly the same thing that the Rostovs did, although not with such haste (for her it was a habitual thing), but it was also perfumed, washed, powdered old, ugly body, also diligently washed behind the ears , and even, and just like the Rostovs, the old maid admired with enthusiasm the attire of her mistress when she went into the living room in a yellow dress with a code. Peronskaya praised the Rostovs' toilets.
The Rostovs praised her taste and dress, and, taking care of their hairstyles and dresses, at eleven o'clock settled in the carriages and drove off.

Since the morning of that day, Natasha had not had a moment of freedom, and had never had time to think about what lay ahead for her.

Ulrich Friedrich Wilhelm Joachim von Ribbentrop(it. Ulrich Friedrich Wilhelm Joachim von Ribbentrop, April 30, 1893, Wesel - October 16, 1946, Nuremberg) - German Foreign Minister (1938-1945), Adolf Hitler's foreign policy adviser.

Biography

Born in the city of Wesel in Rhine Prussia in the family of officer Richard Ulrich Friedrich Joachim Ribbentrop. In 1910 Ribbentrop moved to Canada, where he set up a company to import wine from Germany.

During the First World War, he returned to Germany to participate in hostilities: in the fall of 1914, he joined the 125th hussar regiment. In the war, Ribbentrop rose to the rank of senior lieutenant and was awarded the Iron Cross. He served in the East, and then on Western front... In 1918 Ribbentrop was sent to Constantinople, (present-day Istanbul, Turkey) as an officer of the General Staff.

He met Hitler and Himmler at the end of 1932, when he gave him his villa for secret negotiations with von Papen. With his exquisite manners at the table, Himmler so impressed Ribbentrop that he soon joined, first in the NSDAP, and later in the SS.

On May 30, 1933, Ribbentrop was awarded the title of SS Standartenfuehrer, and Himmler became a frequent guest at his villa.

On the instructions of Hitler, with the active assistance of Himmler, who helped with money and personnel, he created a bureau called the Ribbentrop Service, whose task was to spy on unreliable diplomats.

In February 1938 he was appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs. On this occasion, as an exception, he received the Order of Merit of the German Eagle. Immediately after his appointment, he achieved the admission of all employees of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to the SS. He himself often appeared at work in the uniform of an SS Gruppenfuehrer. Ribbentrop took only the SS as adjutants, and sent his son to serve in the SS Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler division.

But after a while, relations between Ribbentrop and Himmler soured. The reason for this was the gross interference of Himmler and his subordinates (first of all, Heydrich) in the affairs of the foreign policy department, and they acted very amateurishly.

The discord intensified even more after Ribbentrop caught the SD officers, who worked in the embassies as police attachés, of using the diplomatic mail channels to send denunciations of embassy staff.

In November 1939, Ribbentrop sharply opposed Heydrich's plan to steal two British intelligence officers from the Netherlands, but Hitler defended the SD so fiercely that Ribbentrop had to give in:

Yes, yes, my Fuhrer, I immediately held the same opinion, but with these bureaucrats and lawyers in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, it's just a problem: they are too slow-witted.

It was only in January 1941, after the SD attempted to overthrow the Romanian dictator Antonescu, that the control over Himmler was found. On January 22, when the situation became critical, Antonescu sent a request to the German embassy to find out if he still enjoyed Hitler's confidence. Ribbentrop immediately replied:

Yes, Antonescu must act as it deems necessary and appropriate. The Fuehrer advises him to act with the legionnaires in the same way as he once treated the Roman putschists.

Antonescu defeated the putschists and began to persecute them. But then the SD intervened, hiding the leadership of the "Iron Guard" and secretly taking them abroad.

Upon learning of this, Ribbentrop immediately reported to Hitler, presenting what happened as a monstrous SD conspiracy against the official foreign policy of the Third Reich. After all, the SD representative in Romania was the instigator of the coup, and the head of the Romanian group of Germans Andreas Schmidt, who was appointed to this position as the head of the center for work with the Volksdeutsche SS Obergruppenfuehrer Lorenz, sheltered the putschists. Ribbentrop also remembered to mention that Schmidt is the son-in-law of Gottlob Berger, head of the SS Main Directorate. Thus, Hitler got the impression that the top leadership of the SS was involved in the conspiracy.

Taking advantage of the Fuhrer's anger, Ribbentrop took action. He appointed a new envoy to Romania, who immediately dispatched a police attaché to Germany, who spent several months in the Gestapo's dungeons upon his return. Ribbentrop also began to demand that Heydrich stop interfering in the affairs of the Foreign Ministry. On August 9, 1941, an agreement was reached that the official correspondence of the police attachés went through the ambassador.

And in the future, Ribbentrop tried to hurt Himmler for any reason. So, having learned about Himmler's intention to visit Italy, he said that the visits of the top leadership are carried out only in agreement with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Ambassadors to countries Southeast Europe SA survivors were assigned to the Night of the Long Knives. And the SS Gruppenfuehrer Werner Best, who had transferred to the diplomatic service from the SD, Ribbentrop said that now Best is only subordinate to him, and not to Himmler.

By the spring of 1945, Ribbentrop had lost all confidence in Hitler. In accordance with the "Political Testament of Adolf Hitler" in the new government of Germany, the post of Reich Foreign Minister was to be taken by Arthur Seyss-Inquart, but he himself resigned from this post, as he announced at a personal meeting to the new Reich President of Germany Karl Dönitz. The new Reich Foreign Minister was the new Reich Chancellor Lutz Schwerin-Krosig.

On June 14, 1945, he was arrested by American troops in Hamburg. Then he was committed to the International Military Tribunal in Nuremberg, on October 1, 1946, he was sentenced to death and hanged on October 16, 1946 in a Nuremberg prison.

Death

Joachim von Ribbentrop was executed by hanging on October 16, 1946 by the verdict of the Nuremberg Tribunal.

Ribbentrop's last words on the scaffold were:

God save Germany. God be merciful to my soul. My last wish is for Germany to regain its unity, so that mutual understanding between East and West will lead to peace on Earth.

RIBBENTROP, IOACHIM VON(1893-1946) - large statesman Nazi Germany, a member of the NSDAP since 1930, Reich Foreign Minister (1938 - 1945), Adolf Hitler's adviser on foreign policy of the Third Reich.

Born April 30, 1893 in Wesel (North Rhine-Westphalia) in the family of an officer. In 1910, after completing his studies in Kassel, Ribbentrop lived for some time in Canada, where he was engaged in the sale of wine.

In 1914 he returned to Germany and volunteered for the Kaiser's hussar regiment. He took part in battles on the Eastern and Western Fronts. Was injured. Awarded the 1st degree Iron Cross for bravery. At the end of the war, he was sent to Turkey on a German military mission with the rank of chief lieutenant.

After the war, Ribbentrop returned to the wine trade. He married the daughter of a wealthy winemaker Otto Henkel. By the mid-1920s, Ribbentrop had become a successful businessman himself. The industrial and political bohemians of Germany often gathered in his luxurious mansion. In the early 30s he met Hitler. He was fascinated by the personality of the Fuhrer and joined the ranks of the NSDAP. It was in Ribbentrop's house that negotiations were held between political parties on the appointment of Hitler as Reich Chancellor.

In 1932, by order of Hitler, Ribbentrop created the so-called. "Ribbentrop Bureau", which was engaged in identifying unreliable diplomats. Having become close to Himmler, Ribbenotrope accepts people from the SS into its bureau. In 1933 he became SS Obergruppenfuehrer (Major General).

In 1934 Ribbentrop directed the preparations for German-Japanese cooperation in the rank of Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Third Reich and Plenipotentiary for Foreign Policy at the headquarters of Deputy Fuhrer Rudolf Hess.

In 1935 Ribbentrop negotiated with the British, in 1936 he was appointed ambassador of Nazi Germany to Great Britain.

February 4, 1938 Hitler appoints Ribbentrop as Reich Foreign Minister of the Third Reich. In this post, Ribbentrop played important role in the outbreak of the Second World War by the Nazis.

By the beginning of World War II, Ribbentrop had to face Himmler and the head of the Imperial Security Directorate, Heydrich, who tried to openly interfere in the affairs of the Foreign Ministry. In this confrontation, Hitler supported the latter. Only in the middle of 1941 did Ribbentrop manage to neutralize the interference of Himmler and Heydrich in the affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, using the support of the Fuhrer in a clever intrigue in the Romanian crisis of the fascist ally of the dictator Antonescu.

On August 23, 1939, in Moscow, together with the People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs of the Soviet Union V.M. Molotov, Ribbentrop signed the infamous non-aggression pact between Germany and the USSR. Exactly one week later on September 1, 1939 fascist Germany having arranged a provocation on the Polish border, she attacked Poland. The Second World War began, which lasted exactly six years until September 2, 1945.

Ribbentorop and his foreign ministry took part in all the aggressive plans of Nazi Germany: the Anschluss of Austria on March 12-13, 1938; the invasion of the Sudetenland and Czechoslovakia in the summer of 1938; Munich Agreement in the fall of 1938; an attack on Poland in 1939, Denmark, Norway, Belgium, Holland, France in 1940, Yugoslavia, Greece, and the USSR in 1941.

The Reich Foreign Minister fully shared the Nazi racial theory and was an ardent supporter of a brutal policy with captured non-Aryan prisoners. The Ribbentrop department played a huge negative role in the extermination of Jews and Slavs in the occupied Eastern European territories.

In view of complete isolation Germany during World War II, the Foreign Ministry lost its significance, and Ribbentrop himself fell out of favor with the Fuhrer and the ruling elite of Nazi Germany.

After the rout Hitlerite Germany Ribbentrop went into hiding in Hamburg, but in June 1945 he was arrested by the British occupation authorities and brought before the international military tribunal at Nuremberg. Was convicted on all four counts as one of the war criminals of the Third Reich and sentenced to death by hanging. On October 16, 1946, the sentence was carried out.

While in prison, Ribbentrom wrote a subjective documentary memoir about the activities of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the foreign policy of the Third Reich.

German military and political leader, German Foreign Minister (1938-1945), adviser Adolf Hitler on foreign policy. In the fall of 1914, during the First World War, he joined the 125th Hussar Regiment. In the war, he rose to the rank of senior lieutenant and was awarded the Iron Cross. He served on the Eastern and then on the Western Front. In 1918 he was sent to Constantinople, (modern Istanbul, Turkey) as an officer of the General Staff. Met Hitler and Himmler at the end of 1932. In January 1933 he gave Hitler his villa for secret negotiations with von Papen... With his exquisite manners at the table, Himmler so impressed Ribbentrop that he soon joined, first in the NSDAP, and later in the SS. On May 30, 1933, he was awarded the title of SS Standartenfuehrer. On the instructions of Hitler, with the active assistance of Himmler, who helped with money and personnel, he created a bureau called the Ribbentrop Service, whose task was to spy on unreliable diplomats. In February 1938 he was appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs. On this occasion, as an exception, he received the Order of Merit of the German Eagle. Immediately after his appointment, he achieved the admission of all employees of the Imperial Foreign Office to the SS. He took only the SS as adjutants, and sent his son to serve in the SS Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler division. But after a while, the relationship between him and Himmler soured. The reason for this was the rude intervention of Himmler and his subordinates (primarily Heydrich) in the affairs of the foreign policy department. The discord intensified further after Ribbentrop caught the SD officers, who worked in the embassies as police attachés, of using diplomatic mail channels to send denunciations of embassy staff. On August 23, 1939 he arrived in Moscow and was received Stalin... Together with the USSR People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs Vyacheslav Molotov signed a non-aggression pact between Germany and The Soviet Union for a period of 10 years, known as the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, subsequently violated by Hitler. On September 27, 1939, he arrived in the Soviet capital for the second time. Negotiations with Stalin and Molotov took place late in the evening. Negotiations continued the next day and ended on the morning of September 29, 1939, with the signing of a border and friendship treaty, which had an official date of September 28, 1939.The main point of the treaty was that the two governments agreed to divide the spheres of influence, as suggested Stalin. In November 1939, Ribbentrop sharply opposed Heydrich's plan to steal two British intelligence officers from the Netherlands, but Hitler defended the SD so fiercely that Ribbentrop had to yield. It was not until January 1941 that the control over Himmler was found, after the SD independently tried to overthrow the Romanian dictator. Antonescu(the mutiny of the "Iron Guard". Antonescu defeated the putschists and began to pursue them. But then the SD intervened, hiding the leadership of the "Iron Guard" and secretly taking them abroad. Upon learning of this, Ribbentrop immediately reported to Hitler, presenting the incident as a conspiracy of the SD against the official foreign After all, the SD representative in Romania was the instigator of the coup, and the leader of the Romanian group of Germans Andreas Schmidt, appointed to this position as the head of the center for work with the Volksdeutsche SS Obergruppenfuehrer Lorenz, sheltered the putschists. He also did not forget to mention that Schmidt is the son-in-law of Gottlob Berger Thus, Hitler had the impression that the top leadership of the SS was involved in the conspiracy. Taking advantage of the Fuhrer's anger, Ribbentrop began to act. He appointed a new envoy to Romania, who immediately sent a police attaché to Germany, who upon his return months in the dungeons of the Gestapo. He also began to demand from Heydrich to stop interfering in the affairs of the Foreign Ministry. On August 9, 1941, an agreement was reached that the official correspondence of the police attachés went through the ambassador. By the spring of 1945, he had lost all confidence in Hitler. In accordance with the "Political Testament of Adolf Hitler" in the new government of Germany, the post of Reich Foreign Minister was to take Arthur Seyss-Inquart, but he himself resigned from this position, as he said at a personal meeting to the new Reich President of Germany Karl Doenitz... The new Reich Chancellor became the new Reich Minister of Foreign Affairs. Lutz Schwerin-Krosig... On June 14, 1945, he was arrested by American troops in Hamburg. Then he was handed over to the International Military Tribunal in Nuremberg, on October 1, 1946, was sentenced to death and hanged on October 16, 1946 in the Nuremberg prison.

Joachim von RIBBENTROP
(1893-1946)

Joachim von Ribbentrop(German Ulrich Friedrich Wilhelm Joachim von Ribbentrop, April 30, 1893, Wesel - October 16, 1946, Nuremberg) - German Foreign Minister (1938-1945), Adolf Hitler's foreign policy adviser.
Born in the city of Wesel in Rhine Prussia in the family of officer Richard Ulrich Friedrich Joachim Ribbentrop. In 1910 Ribbentrop moved to Canada, where he established a company to import wine from Germany. During the First World War, he returned to Germany to participate in hostilities: in the fall of 1914, he joined the 125th Hussar Regiment. In the war, Ribbentrop rose to the rank of senior lieutenant and was awarded the Iron Cross. He served on the Eastern and then on the Western Front. In 1918 Ribbentrop was sent to Constantinople (present-day Istanbul, Turkey) as an officer of the General Staff.
He met Hitler and Himmler at the end of 1932, when he gave him his villa for secret negotiations with von Papen. With his exquisite manners at the table, Himmler so impressed Ribbentrop that he soon joined, first in the NSDAP, and later in the SS. On May 30, 1933, Ribbentrop was awarded the title of SS Standartenfuehrer, and Himmler became a frequent visitor to his villa.
On the instructions of Hitler, with the active assistance of Himmler, who helped with money and personnel, he created a bureau called the Ribbentrop Service, whose task was to spy on unreliable diplomats.
In February 1938 he was appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs. On this occasion, as an exception, he received the Order of the German Eagle. Immediately after his appointment, he achieved the admission of all employees of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to the SS. He himself often appeared at work in the uniform of an SS Gruppenfuehrer. Ribbentrop took only the SS as adjutants, and sent his son to serve in the SS Adolf Hitler.
But after a while, relations between Ribbentrop and Himmler soured. The reason for this was the gross interference of Himmler and his subordinates (first of all, Heydrich) in the affairs of the foreign policy department, and they acted very amateurishly. And Ribbentrop was already furious when he noticed one of his subordinates in SS uniform.
The discord intensified even more after Ribbentrop caught the SD officers, who worked in the embassies as police attachés, of using the diplomatic mail channels to send denunciations of embassy staff.
In November 1939 Ribbentrop sharply opposed Heydrich's plan to steal two British intelligence officers from the Netherlands, but Hitler defended the SD so fiercely that Ribbentrop had to give in: “Yes, yes, my Fuhrer, I immediately held the same opinion, but with these bureaucrats and lawyers in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is simply in trouble: they are too slow-witted. "
It was not until January 1941 that the control over Himmler was found, after the SD independently attempted to overthrow the Romanian dictator Antonescu. On January 22, when the situation became critical, Antonescu sent a request to the German embassy to find out if he still enjoyed Hitler's confidence. Ribbentrop immediately replied: "Yes, Antonescu must act as it deems necessary and expedient. The Fuehrer advises him to do with the legionnaires in the same way as he dealt with the Roman putschists."
Antonescu defeated the putschists and began to persecute them. But then the SD intervened, hiding the leadership of the "Iron Guard" and secretly taking them abroad.
Upon learning of this, Ribbentrop immediately reported to Hitler, presenting what happened as a monstrous SD conspiracy against the official foreign policy of the Third Reich. After all, the SD representative in Romania was the instigator of the putsch, and the head of the Romanian group of Germans Andreas Schmidt, who was appointed to this position as the head of the center for work with the Volksdeutsche SS Obergruppenfuehrer Lorenz, sheltered the putschists. Ribbentrop also remembered to mention that Schmidt is the son-in-law of Gottlob Berger, head of the SS Main Directorate. Thus, Hitler got the impression that the top leadership of the SS was involved in the conspiracy.
Taking advantage of the Fuhrer's anger, Ribbentrop took action. He appointed a new envoy to Romania, who immediately dispatched a police attaché to Germany, who spent several months in the Gestapo's dungeons upon his return. Ribbentrop also began to demand that Heydrich stop interfering in the affairs of the Foreign Ministry. On August 9, 1941, an agreement was reached that the official correspondence of the police attachés went through the ambassador.
And in the future, Ribbentrop tried to hurt Himmler for any reason. So, having learned about Himmler's intention to visit Italy, he said that the visits of the top leadership are carried out only in agreement with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Representatives of the SA who survived the "Night of the Long Knives" were appointed ambassadors to the countries of South-Eastern Europe. And the SS Gruppenfuehrer Werner Best, who had transferred to the diplomatic service from the SD, Ribbentrop said that now Best is only subordinate to him, and not to Himmler.
Joachim von Ribbentrop was executed by hanging on October 16, 1946 by the verdict of the Nuremberg Tribunal.
Ribbentrop's last words on the scaffold were: "God, be merciful to my soul. My last wish is for Germany to regain its unity, so that mutual understanding between East and West will lead to peace on Earth."
(From "Wikipedia")

Gustav HILGER
(1886-1965)

Gustav Hilger was born in 1886 in Moscow into the family of a German manufacturer and was fluent in Russian since childhood. Having become a career diplomat, from 1923 until June 1941 he was first an employee and then an adviser to the German Embassy in the USSR. Like his boss, Ambassador Count Werner von der Schulenburg, was not an active and convinced Nazi and was a supporter of peaceful good-neighborly relations between Germany and the Soviet Union. During the war he served in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; in 1948-1951 lived in the USA, and in 1953-1956. was an adviser to the Adenauer government of the FRG on "Eastern issues".
(From the book "I was present at this")