Beppo Römer

Josef "Beppo" Römer (ˈbɛ.po ˈʁøː.mɐ; 17 November 1892 – 25 September 1944) was a member of the Freikorps Oberland, one of the paramilitary organizations that sprang up around Germany as soldiers returned in defeat from World War I. He was later an organizer for the Communist Party of Germany (KPD). He was involved in German resistance to Nazism and plotted to assassinate Hitler in 1934. Römer was executed in 1944 by the Nazi regime. Römer was born in Munich, Kingdom of Bavaria. An officer during World War I, the colorful and charismatic Römer became a popular figure in the army, ending the war as a Captain. After the war, Römer naturally emerged as a Freikorps leader becoming the founder, along with de and Ludwig Horadam, of Bund Oberland, the largest and most significant of the Bavarian Freikorps. Oberland was instrumental in crushing the Bavarian Soviet Republic in April 1919, fought against the Ruhr workers in March and April 1920, and was a critical factor at the battle of Annaberg which drove the Poles from Upper Silesia in 1921 during the Silesian Uprisings. By this time, however, Römer was already in contact with the Communist Party of Germany (KPD) and, when called upon to break a strike in the Silesian city of Ratibor in mid 1921, the leaders of Oberland refused to undertake the task. By 1921, there were a number of patriotic groups in Bavaria clamoring for a restoration of the monarchy under Rupprecht, Crown Prince of Bavaria and talk of forming a break away Confederation of the Danube. Bund Oberland was against such a position and sought ways to thwart the monarchists. It appears that Römer devised a plan to harness the energies of radical workers. To do this, he contacted his childhood friend Otto Graf, KPD representative in the Bavarian parliament, and channeled some 350,000 marks in financial support to the KPD from Bund Oberland. In August 1922, during the course of an internal political struggle between Dr.