Werner Kampe

Werner Adolf Kampe (1911-1974) was a Kreisleiter of the NSDAP, a SS Hauptsturmführer and a Mayor of Bydgoszcz between September 1939 and February 1941.

Werner Adolf Kampe was born Werner Kamiński on May 11, 1911, in Nowy Dwór Gdański, then called Tiegenhof.

He was the eldest son of Adolf Kamiński, a merchant, and Berta née Schwichtenberg.

His father was killed in 1918, while fighting on a World War I front.

Consequently, his mother, looking for providing sustenance, moved the family from Nowy Dwór Gdański to Berlin then Sopot.

Werner attended various schools but was never interested in science: he only managed to receive a basic education.

In 1920, Berta Kamińska remarried Heinrich Freimann, a merchant.

Werner stayed at the family's house till November 1927, when he was sent to learn a trade at Ertmann and Perlewitz, a clothing firm in Gdańsk.

Here he started a professional career, holding different positions: salesman, branch manager and sales representative.

In October 1930, Werner, aged 19, joined the NSDAP in Gdańsk where his political activity quickly propelled him as the head of the section.

In 1932, he lost his position at Ertmann and Perlewitz and found himself unemployed.

Although he started to work in his parents' shop in Nowy Dwór Gdański, he had a lot of free time which he dedicated to immerse fully himself into the political activity of the NSDAP.

Hence, Werner served in the office of propaganda, in the office of economic affairs and for a time, he even worked as Aide-de-camp to the Kreisleiter.

During this period, he joined the SS, where eventually he reached the rank of Hauptsturmführer.

After the Nazi party took power in Germany in 1933, Werner's career lifted off: he took a strong position in the leadership of Gdańsk's NSDAP.

In accordance with his skills, he was appointed to the position of manager for economic and financial affairs while also carrying out specific tasks in the political field.

The zeal he displayed in his duties was recognised by Albert Forster, Gauleiter of Danzig-West Prussia: in November 1934, Werner was appointed as his Aide-de-camp.

From this moment on, he was at the forefront of the leadership of the Nazi party in Gdańsk.

This appointment marked the end of personal feuds which occurred within the Gdańsk NSDAP and concluded with the complete victory of Albert Forster and his suite over the president of the Senate of the Free City of Danzig and the deputy gauleiter Hermann Rauschning, who both had to resign.

Kamiński's post as aide-de-camp to Forster helped him to hone his skills in the NSDAP, doctrinally and practically.

In 1936, Forster promoted him to the position of Kreisleiter of the Gdańsk County (powiat gdański).

In the same move, he took the post of municipal manager of the real estate administration.

In 1937, he changed his name "Werner Kamiński" to "Kampe", hence officially turning his back to his Polish roots.

Gdańsk NSDAP saw its role expand with the outbreak of World War II and the subsequent occupation of Pomerania by Nazi troops, covering the entire region renamed Reichsgau Danzig-West Prussia.

In this new administrative area, Bydgoszcz was the second largest political and social center.

To take over the political and administrative power in that place, only a man from Forster's closest circle could be trusted: the choice fell logically on Werner Kampe, then 28 year old.

He was a war criminal, responsible for the murder of Poles and Jews in Bydgoszcz in 1939.

He additionally ordered the demolitions carried out in the area of Bydgoszcz Old Town during WWII.

This function proved to be a stepping stone for him as in August 1939, he became a government counselor.

On September 8, 1939, he was appointed Kreisleiter of Bydgoszcz NSDAP and city commissioner.

At his arriving, Kampe installed himself in the Town Hall, soon creating and managing the local Nazi party.

He set his abode in 50 Gdańska street, though he also rented an apartment in the villa at 8a Sielanka, which was close to the seat of Selbstschutz at 7 Ossoliński Alley.

He was regularly seen in the city SS headquarters set up at 48 Gdańska street.

On October 27, 1939, Werner Kampe was officially appointed Mayor of Bydgoszcz.

As soon as September 9 and 10, 1939, he ordered the shooting of 50 inhabitants of Bydgoszcz along the western facade of the Old Market place.

In his position, he had both political and administrative authorities, hence having a crucial influence on the destiny of Bydgoszcz during the beginning of the occupation.

He first turned against Dr. Sperling, who, after a stint in Słupsk, came to be mayor of Bydgoszcz by the decision of Wilhelm Frick, the German Interior Minister.

Kampe did not yield to him, despite several interventions of high rank officers threatening to use force, and Dr. Sperling moved back to Słupsk.

Following this confrontation, he called Albert Forster who used his leverage on Hitler: as a result, not only was Kampe kept in his office, but also the Bydgoszcz Region was attached to his native Reichsgau Danzig-West Prussia and not to the Reichsgau Wartheland as initially planned by the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

Kampe, using the full authority of the Nazi system, held the position of commander over the city's state administration and local government.