Korner.jpg
[Hide] (30.5KB, 283x359) Reverse Oskar Körner was born on January 4th, 1875 and grew up as an orphan in Silesia. After his schooling, he moved to Bielefeld in 1890 to work as a merchant apprentice. There he completed his military service with the 2nd Westphalian Infantry Regiment No. 15 from 1898 to 1900. He then moved to Düsseldorf where he married his wife Frieda and had two sons: Hans and Friedrich. After the Great War began, he was deployed for four years beginning August 2nd, 1914 in the medical service on the Western front. There he participated in the battle of Verdun and was awarded the War Merit Cross with Swords. He was discharged to Munich on December 17th, 1918, where he settled in Edlingerstrasse. After the war, he found employment in a toy shop which he took ownership of on March 15, 1919. A man who wanted the best for his Volk, he enlisted in the Civil Guard and became a member of the Deutschvölkischer Schutz- und Trutzbund as well as the völkisch employees' union Deutschnationaler Handlungsgehilfen-Verband. After hearing a speech by Hitler at the Sterneckerbräu on February 5th, 1920, he became member number 743 of the DAP, which later became the NSDAP. He gained great prestige in the party through his charitable nature, using the profits from his toy shop to become one of the party's early financiers. As a co-founder of the NSDAP, he made his way into Hitler's inner circle and participated in the design of the Swastika party symbol as well as enlisting the help of the jeweler, Joseph Fuess, who designed the golden party badge. He was promoted to 2nd secretary of the party around July 1920 and 1st secretary on September 30, 1920. On December 17th, 1920, he fundraised and financed the purchase of the Völkischer Beobachter. On January 21st, 1921, Körner was elected under party Chairman Anton Drexler as the Second Party Chairman, an office he held until January 31, 1922, when he subsequently served as advertising chairman and propaganda director until his death. As Second Chairman, he devoted himself to small, but necessary, jobs such as recruiting, putting up posters, and distributing leaflets. He frequently led party meetings and was a permanent member of Hitler's bodyguard. He became fast friends with Hitler and Hitler spent several Christmas celebrations with the Körner family. A talented orator himself, Körner founded several NSDAP local groups throughout Germany. As a guest at a lecture of the Wielenbach local group, Körner got to know Otto Dickel, the author of "Resurgence of the West," whose oratory he was enthusiastic about and engaged him as a speaker in the ballroom of the Munich Hofbräuhaus on June 24th, 1921. Körner was imprisoned for one week after being accused of distributing a hate leaflet against the deputy Karl Gareis, who had been murdered in June of 1921. Not one to be intimidated, Körner was back to distributing leaflets and pasting flyers in July. He was then sentenced to 3 months in prison on January 12th, 1922 for assault after storming a meeting of the Bayernbund. After his early release, Körner now had a reputation with the press for being a "jobless merchant." He had sacrificed everything but his life for the party. He faced more legal troubles as time went on and his last conviction is dated August 30th, 1923. On November 9th, 1923, Körner was initially among the party members in the Bürgerbräukeller in preparation for the march, then he joined the march on the Feldherrnhalle at the height of Marienplatz and marched at its head in the second row to the left of Alfred Rosenberg and Arno Schickedanz. During the clash with state police, Ulrich Graf, Hitler's bodyguard during the march, was seriously wounded. Körner then jumped protectively in front of Hitler and was both shot and received a fatal blow to the head. As with the other martyrs, several streets throughout the Reich were named in his honor.