Josef Grohé

Grohé was already active in anti-democratic and racist organizations as an adolescent. He joined the anti-Semitic Deutschvölkischer Schutz und Trutzbund and the Nazi Party in 1922.[1] He was co-founder of the Nazi organization in Cologne in 1922 and founder of its newspaper, the Westdeutscher Beobachter.[1] In 1931 he was appointed Gauleiter (regional party leader) of Cologne-Aachen, and in 1932 he was elected to both the Reichstag and the Prussian Staatsrat (State Council).[1]

In July 1944, in addition to these posts, Grohé was made the Reichskommissar of the newly created civilian administration in German-occupied Belgium and Northern France.[1] From September 1944, however, the territory's liberation by the Allies begun. In 1945, he organized the Cologne Volkssturm and ordered the demolition of five large bridges over the Rhine.[1]

Grohé was arrested by the British occupation authorities in Cologne in 1945 and imprisoned until 1950.[1]

After the war, Grohé remained dedicated to the Nazi cause for the rest of his life and showed no remorse.[1] In 1950, he was sentenced to a four and a half years imprisonment (time served) by a court in Bielefeld for being a part of the political leadership of the Nazi party.[2] He had known of the Holocaust, but the court was not able to prove his involvement in atrocities.[2] After being released from imprisonment, he continued his professional career as a sales representative for German toy manufacturers.[2] He died on 27th of December 1987 in Brück, Cologne.[2]