The Freikorps reference article from the English Wikipedia on 24-Apr-2004 (provided by Fixed Reference: snapshots of Wikipedia from wikipedia.org)

Freikorps

The Freikorps (German for "Free Corps") were paramilitary organizations that sprung up around Germany as soldiers returned in defeat from World War I. Many German veterans felt profoundly disconnected from civilian life, and joined the Freikorps in search of stability within a military structure. Others, angry at their sudden, apparently inexplicable defeat, joined up in an effort to put down Communist uprisings or exact some form of revenge (see Dolchstoßlegende).

Some future members and, indeed, leaders of the Nazi Party were members of the Freikorps, including Ernst Röhm, future head of the Sturmabteilung or SA, and Rudolf Höss, the future Kommandant of Auschwitz.

Most Freikorps members, however, remained outsiders during the Third Reich. A frequent conversational topic amongst Freikorps veterans was, "Where was Hitler back in 1919/20, when we fought the Communists?"

See also: Stahlhelm, British Free Corps, Ernst von Salomon

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