Horst Ernst Görlich

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NSDAP
In the Bundesarchiv in Berlin, membership of the party could be established for neither Horst Görlich nor his wife Nanny Görlich. No check of the parents was carried out.

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Education
Horst Görlich completed a blacksmith’s apprenticeship, as can be gathered from the registration records in Leipzig. After 1927 he went to sea. Fortunately his seaman’s register has largely been preserved. This register now gives us information about his career and the voyages he made.

Unfortunately the copies of the microfilms are in places so poorly legible that the handwriting cannot always be deciphered. These passages therefore remain open. The individual voyages are also not listed, but rather the periods during which Horst Görlich sailed on the same vessel. It did in fact happen that Horst Görlich made several consecutive voyages on the same vessel.

Seaman’s register

1. In maritime navigation, the Levant refers to the countries of the eastern Mediterranean.
2. According to the passenger list, the Delecto was an American vessel; no further information about this ship could be obtained. There were 5 documented voyages from Cuba to the USA in 1929. An exact reconstruction of the voyages was not possible. On 12.05.1929 the Delecto docked at the American Sugar Refining Company (New York). Whether all voyages of the Delecto were sugar cane transports cannot be determined from the passenger lists (in these cases the crew members of the vessel were listed). There were also voyages to New Orleans. The purpose of the voyages is unknown.
3. Cargo steamer
4. Hamburg-Amerikanische Packetfahrt-Actien-Gesellschaft (H.A.P.A.G., also Hamburg-Amerika-Linie, or abbreviated Hapag or HAPAG)
   Source: Wikipedia
5. Fishing trawler

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Horst Görlich served in 1927 on the Emil Kirdorf as an ordinary seaman.
Emil Kirdorf (photo: Hans Hartz)

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Albert Ballin, Source: Wikipedia

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Source: Seaman’s register Knappschaft Bahn See.

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In his final years Horst Görlich was employed in deep-sea fishing. The names of the shipping companies confirm this. For example, the “Ural” sailed for the company “Nordsee Deutsche Hochseefischerei”.

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One of the cards from the seaman’s register that have been preserved on microfilm. Source: Knappschaft Bahn See.

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In the seaman’s register of Horst Görlich two entries can be found:

1. 5 months pursuant to order 28.2.41
2. Military service 1.2.40

No other references to his military career can be found in the poorly legible register.

Deutsche Dienststelle (WASt)

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Information on service rank

According to a letter from the Deutsche Dienststelle of 18.09.2009, Horst Görlich held the rank of Maschinenobermaat.
On his grave cross the rank of Obermaschinisten is given. On the index cards of the Central Personnel Register* which I have now consulted, the following ranks are noted in succession:
Ob. Maat (Ob.Maschinist), Ob.Masch.Mt. d.R. Above the rank of Obermaschinenmaat der Reserve, (Maschinist) was noted.
_{*Reference in the Sources}

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According to information from the Deutsche Dienststelle Berlin, Horst Görlich was admitted to War Hospital 1/509 Oslo on 07.02.1943. The reason: a fracture of the right ankle.

He was discharged on 20.03.1943 to return to his front-line unit.

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The family history

Horst Görlich’s father, a pharmacist by profession, died at a fairly young age. He was listed in the address books of Leipzig (online until 1949) until 1921. Something can be read about the family home here. From 1922 onwards only Horst Görlich’s mother could be traced there, with a bakery branch in Dürenbergerstrasse. The address was also found on the registration card of the widow and her two children. By 1929 however the bakery branch had come to an end. The mother moved with her daughter to Kuhturmstrasse. Her registration card gives the date of death as 05.10.1940. In 1941 Horst Görlich’s mother could still be found in the Leipzig address book, listed as a bookseller. This is certainly because data could no longer be incorporated into the production of the address books from a certain point in time. From 1942 onwards, at the last address of widow Anna Görlich, Horst Görlich’s sister was listed. Horst Görlich’s sister died in 1982; she was unmarried and childless.

Horst Görlich moved a number of times. To analyse this in detail would serve little purpose. From checking several addresses in the Cuxhaven address book it is clear however that he lived there as a lodger. One address belongs to the seamen’s hostel in Cuxhaven. The moves are certainly connected with Horst Görlich’s professional activities. His wife also made some of the moves to Cuxhaven, as these can also be found on her Leipzig registration card. She died in 1986 in Leipzig. The Görlich couple had no children.

Krause trial file

In the family possession of the relatives of Arno Krause there is a 10-page document translated from English into German (see further under General Information). It contains the charges, the detailed presentation of evidence for the prosecution, and a summary of the statements of the seven defendants, including Horst Görlich.

Source from the literature

“Frustrated in its tactical and long-range sabotage and espionage missions, the 150th Panzer Brigade sent seven of its members in U.S. uniform, on foot, behind American lines with the mission of locating a U.S’. artillery battery near Geromont. Through conversations with the gun crew, the seven were to secure information concerning positions and intentions of the battery. The American artillerymen proved poor hosts and poorer quiz contestants, and the seven spies were detained and taken to the 30th CiC Detachment. This detachment rushed the group to the 301st CIC with the same speed with which the alert soldiers of the 117th U.S. Regiment had delivered the captives to them.
More information was gained concerning the Eisenhower assassination plot. Naval Sergeant Horst Goerlich said that he had heard Hardieck discussing the plan, which included the dropping of parachutists near Paris to aid the expedition. This statement added impetus to the threat since unconfirmed reports of parachutist droppings near Paris had been received on 20 December, three days before.

Acting Corporal Rolf Benjamin Meyer, alias Lt. Sammy Rosner, also substantiated previous versions of the plot, adding that the alleged assassins would have Nipolit, a plastic explosive, and specially manufactured poisoned ammunition.
Goerlich, Meyer and their five associates were executed on 30 December, four days after their sentence by a U.S. Military Commission. All seven had been members of the Einheit Stielau.”

History of the CIC, John Mendelsohn

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Bundesarchiv Department PA, formerly Deutsche Dienststelle Berlin (WASt)

The personnel index cards* which I consulted in March 2020 contained little that was new or of particular note.
Report 16.06.1945: According to the casualty report of the O.K.W., Horst Görlich had been listed as missing in the Malmedy area since 23.12.1944. This is followed by several reports dealing with an American death certificate and with burial lists being sent back and forth. The reinterment date and grave location are then also given. An aunt of Horst Görlich was notified in December 1950.
_{*Reference in the Sources}

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Information from the International Red Cross (ICRC) in Geneva

(International Committee of the Red Cross, ICRC)

The death certificate from the International Red Cross in Geneva speaks for itself.

Why the 13th Parachute Regiment is given as the unit (as also in the cases of Krause, Meyer, Miegel, Pollack, Schilz and Wittsack) could not be conclusively established.

The place of capture was Géromont, municipality of Malmedy.

American death certificate. Source: Archive of the International Red Cross Geneva.

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German Military Cemetery Lommel, Belgium. Photo: © Stichting Oorlogsslachtoffers.