Ernst Kaltenbrunner in Parade vor dem Burgtheater, 29.1.1939
Ernst Kaltenbrunner (4 October 1903 – 16 October 1946) was an Austrian-born senior official of Nazi Germany during World War II. An Obergruppenführer (general) in the Schutzstaffel (SS), between January 1943 and May 1945 he held the offices of Chief of the Reich Main Security Office (Reichssicherheitshauptamt; RSHA). He was the highest-ranking member of the SS to face trial at the first Nuremberg trials. He was found guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity and executed.
Born in Ried im Innkreis, Austria, Kaltenbrunner was the son of a lawyer, and was educated at the Realgymnasium in Linz. Raised in a right-wing nationalist family, Kaltenbrunner was childhood friends with fellow Austrian, Adolf Eichmann, the infamous SS officer who played a key role in implementing the Nazis' Final Solution against Europe's Jews.[1] After Gymnasium, Kaltenbrunner went on to obtain his doctorate degree in law at Graz University in 1926.[2] He worked at a law firm in Salzburg for a year before opening his own law office in Linz.[3] He had deep scars on his face from dueling in his student days, although some sources attribute them to an automobile accident.[4]
On 14 January 1934, Kaltenbrunner married Elisabeth Eder (b. 1908) who was from Linz and a Nazi Party member. They had three children. In addition to the children from his marriage, Kaltenbrunner had twins, Ursula and Wolfgang, (b. 1945) with his long-time mistress Gisela Gräfin von Westarp (née Wolf). All the children survived the war
On 18 October 1930, Kaltenbrunner joined the Nazi Party as NSDAP member number 300,179.[6] In 1931, he was the Bezirksredner (district speaker) for the Nazi Party in Oberösterreich. He went on to join the SS on 31 August 1931, his SS number was 13,039.[2] He first became a Rechtsberater (legal consultant) for the party in 1929 and later held this same position for SS Abschnitt VIII beginning in 1932.[7] That same year, he began working at his father's law practice and by 1933 was head of the National-Socialist Lawyers' League in Linz.[7]
In January 1934, Kaltenbrunner was briefly jailed at the Kaisersteinbruch detention camp with other National Socialists for conspiracy by the Engelbert Dollfuss government. While there he led a hunger strike which forced the government to release 490 of the party members. In 1935, he was jailed again on suspicion of high treason. This charge was dropped, but he was sentenced to six months imprisonment for conspiracy and he lost his license to practice law.[8]
From mid-1935 Kaltenbrunner was head of the illegal SS Abschnitt VIII in Linz and was considered a leader of the Austrian SS. To provide Heinrich Himmler, Reinhard Heydrich and Heinz Jost with new information, Kaltenbrunner repeatedly made trips to Bavaria. Hiding on a train and on a ship that traveled to Passau, he would return with money and Reich orders for Austrian comrades.[9] Kaltenbrunner was arrested again in 1937, by Austrian authorities on charges of being head of the illegal Nazi Party organisation in Oberösterreich. He was released in September.[10]
Kaltenbrunner (on the far left), Heinrich Himmler and August Eigruber inspect Mauthausen concentration camp in 1941, in the company of camp commander Franz Ziereis.
Acting on orders from Hermann Göring, Kaltenbrunner assisted in the Anschluss with Germany in March 1938, and was thereafter awarded the role as the state secretary for public security in the Seyss-Inquart cabinet.[11] Controlled from behind the scenes by Himmler, Kaltenbrunner still led, albeit clandestinely, the Austrian SS as part of his duty to 'coordinate' and manage the Austrian population.[12] Then on 21 March 1938, he was promoted to SS-Brigadeführer.[13] He was a member of the Reichstag from 10 April 1938 until 8 May 1945.[13] Amid all this activity, he also helped establish the concentration camp at Mauthausen near Linz.[14] On 11 September 1938, Kaltenbrunner was promoted to the rank of SS-Gruppenführer, equivalent to a lieutenant general in the army while holding the position of Führer of SS-Oberabschnitt Österreich (re-designated SS-Oberabschnitt Donau in November 1938). Also in 1938, he was appointed High SS and police leader (Höherer SS- und Polizeiführer; HSSPF) for Donau, which was the primary SS command in Austria (he held that post until 30 January 1943)
I have loved my German people and my Fatherland with a warm heart. I have done my duty by the laws of my people and I am sorry that in this hardest of time my people were led by men who were not soldiers and that crimes were committed of which I had no knowledge. Germany, good luck.
Born in Ried im Innkreis, Austria, Kaltenbrunner was the son of a lawyer, and was educated at the Realgymnasium in Linz. Raised in a right-wing nationalist family, Kaltenbrunner was childhood friends with fellow Austrian, Adolf Eichmann, the infamous SS officer who played a key role in implementing the Nazis' Final Solution against Europe's Jews.[1] After Gymnasium, Kaltenbrunner went on to obtain his doctorate degree in law at Graz University in 1926.[2] He worked at a law firm in Salzburg for a year before opening his own law office in Linz.[3] He had deep scars on his face from dueling in his student days, although some sources attribute them to an automobile accident.[4]
On 14 January 1934, Kaltenbrunner married Elisabeth Eder (b. 1908) who was from Linz and a Nazi Party member. They had three children. In addition to the children from his marriage, Kaltenbrunner had twins, Ursula and Wolfgang, (b. 1945) with his long-time mistress Gisela Gräfin von Westarp (née Wolf). All the children survived the war
On 18 October 1930, Kaltenbrunner joined the Nazi Party as NSDAP member number 300,179.[6] In 1931, he was the Bezirksredner (district speaker) for the Nazi Party in Oberösterreich. He went on to join the SS on 31 August 1931, his SS number was 13,039.[2] He first became a Rechtsberater (legal consultant) for the party in 1929 and later held this same position for SS Abschnitt VIII beginning in 1932.[7] That same year, he began working at his father's law practice and by 1933 was head of the National-Socialist Lawyers' League in Linz.[7]
In January 1934, Kaltenbrunner was briefly jailed at the Kaisersteinbruch detention camp with other National Socialists for conspiracy by the Engelbert Dollfuss government. While there he led a hunger strike which forced the government to release 490 of the party members. In 1935, he was jailed again on suspicion of high treason. This charge was dropped, but he was sentenced to six months imprisonment for conspiracy and he lost his license to practice law.[8]
From mid-1935 Kaltenbrunner was head of the illegal SS Abschnitt VIII in Linz and was considered a leader of the Austrian SS. To provide Heinrich Himmler, Reinhard Heydrich and Heinz Jost with new information, Kaltenbrunner repeatedly made trips to Bavaria. Hiding on a train and on a ship that traveled to Passau, he would return with money and Reich orders for Austrian comrades.[9] Kaltenbrunner was arrested again in 1937, by Austrian authorities on charges of being head of the illegal Nazi Party organisation in Oberösterreich. He was released in September.[10]
Kaltenbrunner (on the far left), Heinrich Himmler and August Eigruber inspect Mauthausen concentration camp in 1941, in the company of camp commander Franz Ziereis.
Acting on orders from Hermann Göring, Kaltenbrunner assisted in the Anschluss with Germany in March 1938, and was thereafter awarded the role as the state secretary for public security in the Seyss-Inquart cabinet.[11] Controlled from behind the scenes by Himmler, Kaltenbrunner still led, albeit clandestinely, the Austrian SS as part of his duty to 'coordinate' and manage the Austrian population.[12] Then on 21 March 1938, he was promoted to SS-Brigadeführer.[13] He was a member of the Reichstag from 10 April 1938 until 8 May 1945.[13] Amid all this activity, he also helped establish the concentration camp at Mauthausen near Linz.[14] On 11 September 1938, Kaltenbrunner was promoted to the rank of SS-Gruppenführer, equivalent to a lieutenant general in the army while holding the position of Führer of SS-Oberabschnitt Österreich (re-designated SS-Oberabschnitt Donau in November 1938). Also in 1938, he was appointed High SS and police leader (Höherer SS- und Polizeiführer; HSSPF) for Donau, which was the primary SS command in Austria (he held that post until 30 January 1943)
I have loved my German people and my Fatherland with a warm heart. I have done my duty by the laws of my people and I am sorry that in this hardest of time my people were led by men who were not soldiers and that crimes were committed of which I had no knowledge. Germany, good luck.
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