Paul Hofmann (Gauleiter)

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Paul Hofmann (24 August 1901 – 16 October 1980) was a German Nazi Party official who briefly served as Gauleiter of Gau Magdeburg-Anhalt in 1932 and as the mayor of Dessau from August 1932 to April 1933. Born in Meißen, he trained as a teacher before joining the Freikorps in 1919 and fighting in the Baltic campaign. He then served in the Reichswehr from 1920 to 1930.

Hofmann joined the Nazi Party in 1930 and rose quickly through party ranks in Magdeburg-Anhalt, including roles as Local Group Leader in Dessau, Gau Business Manager, Organization Leader, Propaganda Leader, and Deputy Gauleiter. He briefly became Gauleiter on 15 July 1932 when the previous Gauleiter, Loeper, was temporarily reassigned, but the position was abolished in December 1932 and Loeper returned. Hofmann was elected to the Anhalt state parliament in 1932 and became First City Councilor (Bürgermeister) of Dessau in August 1932.

After the Nazis took power, Hofmann ordered the removal of books by Trotsky and other Communists and pacifists from the Dessau city library. Conflicts with Loeper led him to resign from his party posts in March 1933 and to step down as Bürgermeister in April 1933. He then worked for the NSBO at a Junkers factory and later for the DAF. He was taken into protective custody during the war amid suspicions about ties between some Junkers workers and Communists.

Little is known about his activities during the war. After World War II, Hofmann returned to politics in West Berlin. He led the West Berlin branch of Tatgemeinschaft Freie Deutscher, a conservative group, and helped found the Social People's Party in 1953. In 1954 the party merged with the All-German Bloc/League of Expellees and Deprived of Rights. He served as deputy chairman (1954–1955) and chairman (1955–1957) of the Berlin regional party, and from 1957 to 1959 was chairman of the Berlin State Association of the All German Union.