Schellenberg's secretary executed for homosexuality: Hans-Heinrich Gaulke
• In Amt I: In Jan 1937, Gaulke was among the staff of Zentralabteilung I 1, along with WS, and Erhard Urbannek, who would become WS's adjutant in IV-E.
• In IV-E: As the 27 Sep 1940 application for Gaulke's promotion to Untersturmführer indicated, Gaulke followed WS to the IV-E.
• In Amt VI
In the May 1942 telephone book of RSHA, Gaulke and Werner Krüger were in charge of the same phone numbers: 250, 251, and 252 of Berkaerstrasse 32. These were supposed to be the telephones of WS's Vorzimmer (reception room).
As seen in the telephone book, Schienke and Erdmann were both in VI-Wi by then. And WS had a residence inside of the office buildings that could be reached at an internal phone number.
Gaulke last appeared in the June 1943 telephone book. Although Schienke and Erdmann were still marked as VI-Wi staff, they were virtually in charge of the telephones in WS's Vorzimmer; however, Schienke claimed that she took over Gaulke's work only after his arrest. Wilhelm Schmitz had not yet joined Amt VI.
• Execution
The exact time and circumstances of Gaulke's arrest were unknown. His verdict was published in the internal bulletin on "the most important unappealable decisions of SS and Police Courts", dated 27 July 1943:
SS-Hauptscharführer G. committed lewd acts with other men and allowed himself to be abused by them for lewd acts, even at a time when he was already aware of the Führer's decree on the purity of the SS and police of November 15, 1941.
Consequence: G. was sentenced to death and three years in prison for unnatural lewd acts with men under §175 RStGB and for continued crimes after the declaration of Article I of the Führer's decree on the purity of the SS and police of November 15, 1941, and was expelled from the SS. He was deprived of his civil rights for life.
The sentence was carried out.
Schienke was questioned about Werner Krüger, Gaulke's execution, and WS's attitude on 6 May 1948:
Q. But there were other known cases.
A. I don't know. I only know about Gaulke. I know from hearsay about other SS men who violated the Paragraphs. This has been kept secret. His colleague was a man named Werner - I don't remember his last name. He was also a young SS man and called himself an "adjutant". But he was not what one would understand as an adjutant.
Q. They were just young louts?
A. Schellenberg noticed this very soon and sent Werner to war. He sent him to an SS unit. He came back on vacation twice. Then I heard nothing more from him.
Q. Didn't you ask Schellenberg, “Why didn't you try to help Gaulke?”
A. I asked him that later. I couldn't ask him until later. Schellenberg was unapproachable during the first 14 days when I first arrived. Later, when the matter had already been settled, I asked about Gaulke. He said to me, "That would have been impossible for me. One could easily have reproached me: 'You may have been his friend.' ” Schellenberg had himself once been a low-ranking SS officer. During that time, he had met Gaulke. I believe it was at Heydrich's. He told me that he couldn't help because Mueller had already claimed the credit for himself.
Q. The boy's mother turned to Schellenberg.
A. Schellenberg couldn't keep that a secret. He couldn't. Mueller would have been happy to have had that weapon in his hands. I always felt sorry for Gaulke. That's how I got there. I was all alone for the first few days. That didn't work. I had so many phone calls. It was impossible.
In June 1943, Himmler became irritated when the SS sexologist Dr Martin Brustmann, representing the RSHA, objected to 3 death sentences he signed against SS-Police members for violation of §175. He commanded Kaltenbrunner to put an end to the situation that the "old and asleep" SS experts and the head of IV C 4 c, Fritz Fehling, were "singing in the same tune", or he would cease the cooperation between the SS court and the RSHA.
I do not consider it justifiable, during a war that is a matter of our people's survival or non-existence, to pursue such soft tricks and to employ a human expenditure on a number of deranged scoundrels whose work is disproportionate to the success. For the duration of the war, I order that only the strictest punishment shall be given for all crimes, including those in the area of homosexuality, and leniency can only prevail in cases where it truly concerns the seduction of a clearly normal youth.
Kaltenbrunner explained the cases reviewed by Brustmann as follows:
1. An SS soldier accused of homosexuality was diagnosed as "mentally and physically retarded" and therefore pardoned to 5 years of imprisonment;
2. A Schupo member accused of homosexuality was diagnosed with "abnormally large genitals" and thus difficulties in heterosexual intercourse. He was therefore pardoned and underwent treatment;
3. A Schupo member who committed sodomy with chickens in a drunken state was diagnosed with a brain tumour.
Himmler and Brustmann had previously both believed in the connection between homosexuality and foreign espionage activities.
"The strictest punishment" demanded by Himmler was in response to the 15 Nov 1941 order issued by Hitler:
In order to keep the SS and the police free of same-sex destructive agents, the Führer decreed on November 15, 1941, that any member of the SS or the police who commits lewd acts with another man or allows himself to be abused by another man for lewd acts will be punished by death, regardless of age. In less serious cases, the sentence may be penal servitude or imprisonment for not less than six months.
Explanation of the 1935 amendment of §175:
The concept of ‘unnatural sex act’ was replaced with the considerably broader one of ‘sex offence’. The former had applied only to intercourse-like acts, defined by a ruling of the supreme court [the Reichsgericht] as anal, oral and thigh intercourse; self-gratification in the presence of, against or with another man did not count.
Evidence could seldom be produced (since the men were usually dealt with together and they knew the scope for interpretation), so that before 1935 criminal proceedings were initiated in relatively few cases.
In the new version, the existence of an intercourse-like act was no longer required.
Nor was it necessary, therefore, to prove that a criminal act had taken place – it became impossible to stop proceedings by means of the law. A ‘sex offence’ between men now designated not only intercourse-like acts but any kind of self- gratification in the presence of another man. An offence was committed when the member of one male touched the body of another ‘with sexual intent’, so that even the snuggling together of two naked male bodies came under this definition.
—— Günter Grau. The Hidden Holocaust.
Gaulke was found to have "committed lewd acts with other men" (!!!plural), which could hardly be classified as "less serious". With Himmler irritated, Kaltenbrunner agitated, and the SS medical experts with milder views discarded, it may be concluded why Gaulke was doomed...
