Eugen Gerstenmaier

Eugen Gerstenmaier was a German conservative theologian, resistance fighter, and later a Westphalian politician who served as the first Vice President of Westphalia from 1946 until 1950.

Early Life
Gerstenmaier was born on August 25, 1906 in the Bavarian city of Kirchheim unter Teck. He studied theology and philosophy at various universities before joining the German Evangelical Church.

In 1938, after the Munich Conference, a horrified Gerstenmaier realized that the international community was unwilling to confront German dictator Adolf Hitler, despite his widely-advertised plans to subjugate the countries around him. Upon this realization, Gerstenmaier, a fierce opponent of the Nazi Party and its hold over Germany, joined the Kreisau Circle, a secret group of anti-Nazi Germans seeking to undermine Hitler's power. It is unknown what his activities were during World War II, or whether he played a part in the assassination attempt on Hitler in 1945.

Political Career
After Germany lost the war, the American government under isolationist President Robert Taft sought to grant self-governance to its German occupation zone as soon as possible. The government of the new state, Westphalia, was structured similarly to the American government, with a President and a Vice President; Field Marshall Erich von Manstein was selected to lead the new state as President, while Gerstenmaier was singled out for his spotless anti-Nazi and pro-democratic record, as well as his conservative political leanings. By the end of 1946, Westphalia had been officially declared, and Gerstenmaier took office as Vice-President.

Gerstenmaier was affiliated with Solidarity, the right-wing political party that had been founded by Manstein and his supporters. Gerstenmaier likely had little to do during the three-and-a-half years was in office, as his position as Vice-President was largely ceremonial.

Death
Konrad Adenauer, a moderate opposition politician, seemed to have a chance at defeating Manstein in the presidential election of 1950. To prevent this from happening, President Manstein declared martial law and suspended the elections indefinitely. However, as he announced his decision to his Party in Oldenburg Hall on June 6 of that year, Manstein was killed by a bomb that had been planted by an underground Jewish terrorist group led by Moshe Dayan and Yitzhak Rabin. Had Gerstenmaier survived the bombing, he would have succeeded Manstein as President, but the Vice President was killed in the blast, along with several other high-ranking officials in Manstein's government and his party. With the line of succession ravaged, the reins of power were transferred to the highest-ranking official who survived the blast: Attorney General Reinhard Gehlen.