| German Party | |||
| Native Name: | Deutsche Partei | ||
| Colorcode: | red | ||
| Chairman: | --> | ||
| Leader1 Title: | Volksgruppeführer | ||
| Leader1 Name: | Franz Karmasin | ||
| Dissolved: | 1945 | ||
| Predecessor: | Carpathian German Party | ||
| Newspaper: | Grenzebote, Deutsche Stimmen | ||
| Youth Wing: | German Youth | ||
| Wing1 Title: | Paramilitary wing | ||
| Wing1: | Freiwillige Schutzstaffel | ||
| Wing2 Title: | Labour wing | ||
| Wing2: | Arbeitsfront der Volksdeutschen in der Slowakei | ||
| Membership Year: | 1940 | ||
| Membership: | 57,000 (claimed) | ||
| Ideology: | Nazism | ||
| Colours: | --> | ||
| Seats1 Title: | Slovak Landtag (1938) | ||
| Seats1: |
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| Seats11: | --> | ||
| Flag: | Vlajka Německé strany (Slovensko).png | ||
| Country: | Slovakia | ||
The German Party (German: Deutsche Partei, abbreviated DP) was a Nazi political party active amongst the German minority in Slovakia from 1938 to 1945.[1]
The party was formed on October 8, 1938, as a successor to the Carpathian German Party (KdP).[2] Franz Karmasin, a member of the Czechoslovak Chamber of Deputies, led the party, holding the title of Volksgruppeführer.[2] DP functioned as the referent in Slovakia for the German People's Group in Czecho-Slovakia (DVG), the successor organization of the Sudeten German Party founded on October 30, 1938.[2] The party published Grenzbote and Deutschen Stimmen from Bratislava.
Organizationally, DP was modelled after the NSDAP in Germany, following the Führer principle.[3] [4] It used the swastika as its symbol and Horst-Wessel-Lied as its anthem.[3] The DP youth wing was known as 'German Youth' (Deutsche Jugend) and maintained a paramilitary wing called Freiwillige Schutzstaffel.[3] Politically DP strove to foster homogenous Carpathian German communities and to maintain a privileged position for the German community in Slovakia.[5] The party was closely aligned with German foreign policy.[5] The first article of the DP statutes from March 1, 1940, proclaimed that "the German Party [was] representative of the political will of the entire German population in Slovakia".[6] However, not all Germans in Slovakia were happy with the supposed unity party; DP faced resistance from followers of the pro-Hungarian Zipser German Party.[4]
On December 18, 1938, the German Party got two deputies elected to the Slovak Landtag on the unity list of the Hlinka Slovak People's Party – Party of Slovak National Unity (HSĽS-SSNJ); Karmasin and Josef Steinhübl.[7] [3] In March 1940 the DP politician Sigmund Keil became a member of the Landtag, replacing Gejza Rehák.[7] On November 20, 1941, a fourth DP politician became a Landtag member, as Dr. Adalbert Gabriel was appointed by presidential decree to represent the German community.[7]
By 1940 DP claimed to have 57,000 members organized in 120 local groups.[8] It folded in 1945.[7] [9]