Johann Appler

On 1 August 1928, Appler joined the Nazi Party (membership number 95,219). As an early Party member, he later would be awarded the Golden Party Badge. He became the Ortsgruppenleiter (local group leader) in Gunzenhausen in Gau Franconia until 1930. He then advanced to Bezirksleiter of the Party's Gunzenhausen district and then to Kreisleiter (county leader) until November 1940. In 1931, Appler founded the SS group in Gunzenhausen , which he led as an SS-Sturmführer. He was also a Gauredner (Gau speaker) for the Party and a member of the Sturmabteilung (SA), eventually attaining the rank of SA-Sturmbannführer.^[3]

On 21 January 1933, Appler was appointed to the Reichstag for electoral constituency 26 (Franconia) in the place of Wilhelm Stegmann [de], who had left the parliament. He retained his mandate in the elections after the Nazis seized power in that year, and retained this seat as a Reichstag deputy until Germany's surrender in the Second World War.^[4] Appointed second mayor of Gunzenhausen on 28 April 1933, Appler became first mayor (Bürgermeister) on 1 October 1935 and remained in that post until late April 1945 when the city was captured by American forces.

According to documents from the central office in Ludwigsburg, Appler managed to escape to Spain in 1945, from where he left for Cairo, Egypt in 1946. There he converted to Islam and lived under the name Salah Chaffar. After returning to Germany, he was charged with breach of the peace in September 1949 and sentenced to six months in prison, presumably for his significant participation in the Kristallnacht of 1938. Two further criminal proceedings ended in November 1949 and September 1950 with acquittals. Appler continued to live in Gunzenhausen until his death on 21 December 1978.