'Martyrs with a small band of loyal followers' - The first Gauleiter of the NSDAP in Pomerania, Karl Theodor Vahlen

Karl Theodor Vahlen, professor of mathematics and Rector of Greifswald Univ ersity was the first Gauleiter of the Pomeranian National Socialists. Early on he built up the organisation in the Gau and led the party to notable el ectoral successes, had a seat in the Reichstag and published the National S ocialist daily newspaper. In 1927, however, the paper had to close, Vahlen, under Hitler's pressure, had to give up his office and with his entire top Gau leadership had to leave Pomerania. This came about because Vahlen belo nged to a group of National Socialists with pronounced socialist tendencies in league with the Strasser brothers, a group which developed in north Ger many after the failed Hitler Putsch in 1923 and which began to distance its elf from Hitler. As co-founder of the NSDAP association of Gaus in northern and western Germany and personal friend of Otto Strasser, Vahlen was numbe red among the opponents of Hitler within the NSDAP who were fought against and systematically removed after Hitler's release from prison.