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Richard DarreNazi ideologist, Minister of Food and Agriculture
Date of Birth: 14.07.1895
Country:  Germany |
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Nazi Ideologue, Minister of Food and Agriculture
Richard Walther Darré, born on July 14, 1895, in the suburbs of Buenos Aires, was a prominent Nazi ideologue, Obergruppenführer of the SS, Imperial Minister of Food and Agriculture from 1933 to 1942, and head of the SS Race and Settlement Office.
Early Life and Education
Darré's parents were Richard Oscar Darré (1854-1929) and Emilia Bertha Eleonora Darré, nee Lagergren (1872-1936), a half-Swedish, half-German woman. His father moved to Argentina in 1888 for business purposes. Although the family lived in affluence, the marriage was unhappy due to the father's alcoholism and infidelity. Nevertheless, Darré and his siblings received an excellent education. Darré Jr. was fluent in four languages - German, Spanish, English, and French. In 1912, the Darré family returned to Germany due to deteriorating international relations.
At the age of 9, Darré was sent to study in Heidelberg, Germany, and at the age of 11, he became a pupil at the prestigious King's College School in Wimbledon, England, which only accepted academically inclined children. In 1914, Darré attended the German Colonial School in Witzenhausen, where his interest in agriculture was sparked. With the outbreak of war, Darré volunteered for the front and was wounded multiple times before being demobilized as a lieutenant.
Political Career
After the war, Darré intended to return to Argentina to pursue a career in agriculture. However, the family's capital had been eroded by inflation, making this plan impossible. In 1922, Darré resumed his studies at the University of Halle, and in 1929, he obtained a degree in animal husbandry. He was married twice, first to Alma Stadt, a childhood friend of his sister, which ended in divorce in 1927. His second wife was Charlotte Freiin von Wittinghoff-Schell, who outlived him. He had two daughters from his first marriage.
Darré initially joined the nationalist movement "Völkische Bewegung," which led him to develop the idea known as "Blut und Boden" (Blood and Soil), which stated that the future of the Nordic race was tied to the land. His first book, published in 1928, explored the role of peasantry as the life source of the Nordic race, highlighted the importance of forest conservation, and called for territorial expansion. This idea captivated the minds of Nazi leaders and led to the Eastward expansion.
In 1925, Darré joined the Nazi Party (NSDAP) and became an active Nazi activist. In 1930, he successfully recruited members of the NSDAP from Germany's farming population, aiming to attract the minds and votes of those who would eventually displace Slavs from eastern territories. Unlike Heinrich Himmler, Darré did not share the occultism fascination of the Nazi elite. However, in his books, he strongly criticized Christianity and its notion of equality before God.
After the Nazis came to power, Darré utilized his expertise and became the Minister of Agriculture. He also led the SS Race and Settlement Office and the Imperial Peasantry. In addition to expanding territories and establishing successful farms, Darré played a leading role in creating racist and anti-Semitic organizations within the SS and developed the ideological foundation for Nazi policies of territorial annexation. Under Darré's influence, SS leader Heinrich Himmler solidified his plan for selective breeding to create an elite German race, which resulted in the death of millions of people from other nationalities during World War II.
In 1936, Darré was awarded the Golden Party Badge of the NSDAP, a distinguished symbol of party leadership. In 1942, he resigned from his positions, officially citing health reasons, but in reality, he opposed Hitler's order to reduce rations in labor camps. In 1945, Darré was arrested and tried at the Nuremberg Trials. While he avoided serious charges such as genocide, he was sentenced to 7 years of imprisonment. Released early in 1950, Darré worked as an agrochemical consultant but succumbed to liver cancer caused by alcoholism and died in Munich in 1953.
