Ernst Kaltenbrunner (4 October 1903 – 16 October 1946) was a General of the SS of Nazi Germany during World War II who served as head of the Reich Main Security Office from 1943 to 1945. He played a major role in crimes against humanity and war crimes, and he was executed in 1946 after the Nuremberg Trials.
Biography[]
Ernst Kaltenbrunner was born on 4 October 1903 in Ried im Innkreis in Austria-Hungary to an Austrian family. He was a fan of fencing and gained some scars on his face from competing in fencing tournaments. Kaltenbrunner joined the Nazi Party and in 1932 he was the 13,039th person to join the SS elite unit of Nazi forces. In 1934, he was arrested by Engelbert Dollfuss' government in the Kaisersteinbruch concentration camp for being a Nazi, and he was held in prison after the July assassination of President Dollfuss. However, he was soon released and became the leader of the Austrian SS in 1935.
Kaltenbrunner was promoted to Major-General of the Police in 1941 and became the leader of Interpol in 1943, replacing Reinhard Heydrich. In 1944, he was responsible for the execution of all people who stood up to Adolf Hitler in the 20 July 1944 bomb plot, and he plotted Operation Long Jump to assassinate the Allied leaders Franklin D. Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, and Josef Stalin. In December 1944 Kaltenbrunner was promoted to General of the Waffen-SS, the armed wing of the SS that were fanatical in their fighting against the Allies. On 12 May 1945 he was captured by the US Army as he fled to Altaussee in the Liezen district of Austria, where he had prevented the destruction of paintings by the Nazis.
Execution[]
Kaltenbrunner after the hanging
Kaltenbrunner was charged with conspiracy against peace, crimes against humanity, and war crimes in the aftermath of World War II. He was held responsible for mass murder of civilians of occupied countries by the Einsatzgruppen, killing recaptured prisoners-of-war in concentration camps, establishing the camps, mass murder, execution of captured paratroopers and commandoes, protection of civilians who lynched captured Allied troops, persecution of Jews, persecution of churches and religions, persecution of gypsies, and a myriad of other charges. On 16 October 1946 he was executed by hanging after wishing Germany good luck.
Gallery[]
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