Konrad Henlein

Konrad Henlein
Freikorps leader Henlein, September 1938
Gauleiter of Reichsgau Sudetenland
In office 1 October 1938 – 8 May 1945
Preceded by	Position created
Succeeded by	Position abolished
Reichsstatthalter of Reichsgau Sudetenland
In office 1 May 1939 – 8 May 1945
Preceded by	Position created
Succeeded by	Position abolished
Commander of Sudetendeutsches Freikorps
In office May 1938 – September 1938
Preceded by	Position created
Succeeded by	Position abolished
Leader of the Sudeten German Party of Czechoslovakia
In office 1 October 1933 – 5 November 1938
Preceded by	Position created
Succeeded by	Position abolished
Personal details
Born	(1898-05-06)6 May 1898 Maffersdorf, Reichenberg, Bohemia, Austria-Hungary
Died	10 May 1945(1945-05-10) (aged 47) Pilsen, Czechoslovakia
Political party	NSDAP (1939–1945)
Other political affiliations	SdP (1933–1938)
Profession	Bank teller
Military service
Allegiance	Austria-Hungary  Nazi Germany
Branch/service	Austro-Hungarian Army Sudetendeutsches Freikorps Schutzstaffel
Rank	Kriegsfreiwilliger SS-Obergruppenführer
Unit	Tiroler Kaiser-Jäger-Regiment Nr. 3 Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 27
Battles/wars	World War I Italian Front (POW)

Konrad Ernst Eduard Henlein (6 May 1898 – 10 May 1945) was a Sudeten German politician in Czechoslovakia before World War II. After Germany invaded Czechoslovakia he became the Gauleiter and Reichsstatthalter of Reichsgau Sudetenland under the occupation of Nazi Germany.

Born in the Austro-Hungarian Empire in 1898, Henlein served in the Austro-Hungarian Army in World War I. The Austrian Empire collapsed after that, and the Sudetenland, where Henlein lived, became part of newly created Czechoslovakia.

He became active in the Deutscher Turnverband [cs] movement, a German nationalist and völkisch athletic organization. In 1933, he founded the Sudeten German Party of Czechoslovakia. It merged into the Nazi Party in 1939.

Henlein actively lobbied for Germany to annex the Sudetenland and led the Sudetendeutsches Freikorps in the Sudeten German uprising in September 1938 that led to the Munich Agreement and the German occupation of the Sudetenland. After the occupation in October 1938, he formally joined the Nazi Party and the SS and was appointed Gauleiter of Reichsgau Sudetenland.^[1] He became Reichsstatthalter of Reichsgau Sudetenland when it was formed on 1 May 1939, and was responsible for mass deportations to death camps. He died by suicide in 1945 in American custody after the war.