Graham calls out: Attention! All in the room stand. These, in turn, were handed over to Himmler and Hitler. Otto Ohlendorf (1866 - 1866) - Genealogy Many historians have written about the famous Buffalo Soldiers of the all-Black 92nd Infantry Division, who fought with distinction during World War II. It was, he argued, almost inhuman to keep men, regardless of the crimes they might have committed, in a state of terrible uncertainty as to whether they were going to live or die. He was among the last Nazis put to death on the authority of the United States for crimes committed during the Second World War. How does Doris Bergens statement that the Nazis did not force people to be killers affect your opinion of the way Hss and Ohlendorf explain their choices? And Ohlendorfs men engaged in such depravity over and over again. God have mercy on those who murder me. The Tribunal rendered its judgment on April 89, 1948. He is obsessed with fear of a suicide attempt. Die Einsatzgruppen in der besetzten Sowjetunion 1941/42: Die Ttigkeits-und Lageberichte des Chefs der Sicherheitspolizei und des SD. Graham nods. The routine, carefully prepared in advance, is followed to the letter. Then the members of the Special Task Force marched them off, ostensibly to a place of transportation. When Gustav Ohlendorf was born on 19 October 1892, in Heinrichswalde, Elchniederung, East Prussia, Prussia, Germany, his father, Gottlieb Ohlendorf, was 38 and his mother, Amalie Wenzel, was 25. [caption=0c5326ca-3fd0-4df0-8f36-5840fd057055], [credit=0c5326ca-3fd0-4df0-8f36-5840fd057055], United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Washington, DC, Mass Shootings of Jews during the Holocaust, Trials of War Criminals before the Nuernberg Military Tribunals, German Invasion of Western Europe, May 1940, Genocide of European Roma (Gypsies), 19391945, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Library bibliography: The Nuremberg Trials, Poster Set: Justice and Accountability (PDF), Holocaust Survivors and Victims Resource Center. Ohlendorfs Einsatzgruppe was responsible for the 13-12-1941 massacre at Simferopol where at least 14,300 people, mostly Jews, were killed. If so, login to add it. It was clear from the moment Dr. Herman Ehlers (Bundestag president) delivered his opening address, that the delegates had made elaborate preparations for the meeting. We would like to thank Crown Family Philanthropies and the Abe and Ida Cooper Foundation for supporting the ongoing work to create content and resources for the Holocaust Encyclopedia. Britt is fooling with the second noose. We wait. It is three times as difficult for me as it is for my colleagues, he continued, to plead with you for commutation of the death sentences. Students consider the ways in which World War I intensified peoples loyalty to their country and resentment toward others perceived as a threat. 2240: Bickel has telephoned Hulse in Frankfort confirming receipt of cable from Washington. Of the 28 death sentences, only seven were carried out in June 1951 Pohl and Ohlendorf among them. Translated by Tom Lampert. Seventy years after the Nuremberg trials, something truly extraordinary happened in a German courtroom last week. The town is tense with excitement but no real trouble is expected. I study his photograph, compare it with the man. It is still remotely possible. Report on the Otto Ohlendorf IRR File | National Archives The resources Im getting from my colleagues through Facing History have been just invaluable. And, he went on, American-German relations would improve greatly if the Landsberg death sentences were commuted. The High Commissioner listened intently, eyes fixed on his scratch pad. USA.gov, The U.S. National Archives and Records Administration That sick feeling comes over me again. He studied at the University of Pavia, where he gained his doctors degree in jurisprudence; and by 1933 he obtained the position of a research directorship in the Kiel Institute for the World Economy(at that timeInstitut fr Weltwirtschaft und Seeverkehr Institute for World Economy and Maritime Transport). The following year he returned to economic research, becoming Ministerial Director and deputy to the State Secretary in the Ministry of Economics. They came from every state in West Germany, and even from the United States. All quotes delayed a minimum of 15 minutes. Yitzhak Arad, himself a Soviet partisan during World War II, has edited a selection of these reports for educators. Third mistake: Pohl was a man of many titles . Little or nothing was said in print or on the air about the crimes committed by these men. During a trial that featured a procession of survivors who testified in agonizing detail about their ordeals, Bauer vented his frustration. "[26][d], Many of the killing operations were personally overseen by Ohlendorf, who wanted to ensure they were "military in character and humane under the circumstances". Bishops, lawyers, the man on the street, all felt the same impulseto hide things under the carpet. He tells me that he always had a hard time finding matches during the invasion of Nazi-controlled France. Berlin: Edition Heinrich, 1997. ; War crimes: atrocities committed against persons or property constituting violations of the customs of war; murder, ill treatment, deportation to slave labor camps, plunder of public or private property, killing of hostages, wanton destruction of towns, devastation not justified by military necessity, etc. In June 1941, Reinhard Heydrich appointed Ohlendorf to be commander of Einsatzgruppen D ((mobile killing unit D) which operated in southern Ukraine and Crimea. The High Commissioner therefore undertook a review of the sentences with the help of an Advisory Board on Clemency which began work in Washington early in 1950, and continued in Munich in July 1950. We left the death chamber after Schmidt, of Buchenwald infamy, had been pronounced dead and after I had signed the affidavits as the governments official witness. 2110: Graham shows me a letter which had been intercepted and copied before delivery to its addresseeOswald Pohl. Holmes confides that the Registrar had refused to attend the executions for political reasons, that he had been ordered to attend, that he was a die-hard Nazi. Browning, Christopher (with contributions by Jrgen Matthas). In June 1941, Reinhard Heydrich appointed Ohlendorf to be commander of Einsatzgruppe D which operated in southern Ukraine and Crimea. He explained: Dont you see, we SS men were not supposed to think about these things; it never even occurred to us. Top Home Latest TRENDING Studio9 Specials State INDIA WORLD SPORTS 2. Ohlendorf's comment that Mueller was ordered to remain adds weight to the probability that Mueller died in Berlin. Warrant Officer Britt then places the prisoner on the trap door. Ohlendorf said that Himmler until the very end believed that an agreement could be struck and that he hoped to be the Allies' "confidence man in Europe. The 24 defendants in Case #9 were all leading members of Einsatzgruppen that operated on the Eastern Front during World War II. As higher SS and Police Leader in Austria after the Anschluss, he supervised and had knowledge of the activities of the Gestapo and the SD in Austria. [6], Ohlendorf joined the SD in 1936 and became an economic consultant of the organisation. 2355: Quite a few people are now in the loft. Even one of the most notorious architects of the Final Solution, Adolf Eichmann, organizer of the mass deportation of Jews to Auschwitz and other concentration camps, portrayed himself as a mere. Students examine how choices made by individuals and groups contributed to the rise of the Nazi Party in the 1920s and 1930s. Of three hundred people brought to Muehldorf in the fall of 1944, only 72 survived. A first-generation American of Lebanese descent, James Jabara was intent on being a fighter pilot. He had to wait, though, for his appointment with the hangman. Nonetheless, this does not diminish the significance of Hannings remarks. Explore a timeline of events that occurred before, during, and after the Holocaust. Modern mechanized armies need a robust logistics chain to provide fuel, ammunition, and other sinews of war to sustain combat operations. Ferencz called no witnesses and based the case on wartime SS reports that detailed mass shootings conducted by the Einsatzgruppen. He straps prisoners ankles and steps back. After the IMT trial, the United States conducted twelve additional trials on the basis of the Charter. Accounts of Himmler's final days do not mention the letter, so one can only surmise what it said. Wistrich, Robert. 1905: We are admitted to the admissions office. The views expressed in this article are not those of Reuters News. His pipe is fragrant. I wonder how he can sleep with himself. Altmeiers opening words came as a shock to the High Commissioner who, for the first time in the meeting, kept his eyes glued to the speaker. Fighting the Allies during the North African campaign of 1942-1943, German Field Marshal Erwin Rommels Afrika Korps (DAK) was resupplied by a concerted air and sea lift effort. How did Ohlendorf and Hss defend their actions at their trial? He and several other subordinates were arrested by the British near Lneburg on 23 May 1945. [44] Sometime in November 1944, he was promoted to Gruppenfhrer. Found guilty for the mass murder of 90,000 men, women, and children, mostly Jews, Ohlendorf was sentenced to death in April 1948. TTY: 202.488.0406. tried leading members of the Einsatzgruppen. There is a fire extinguisher resting on a stone ledge at the end of the wall. The SS and police now pursued, rounded up, and executed women, children, and the elderly. Photos and Memories (0) Do you know Gustav? The Holocaust in Eastern Europe: At the Epicenter of the Final Solution. It takes a special human type to shoot small children in a pit before the very eyes of their parents, themselves destined to die as well. Graham shows me a great heap of letters and telegrams from German sympathizers offering comfort to the criminals. Oswald Pohl, who received more support than any of his fellow prisoners, although his crimes (i.e., the destruction of the Warsaw ghetto) were among the worst, had great success with a booklet called The Way to God in which he explained his reason for converting to the Catholic faith. One hour and some 25 minutes are left now. and 5 received sentences that ranged from 10 to 20 years. Dehler indicated that an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court would be based on these alleged mistakes. . He says the big brass has conferred, McCloy has talked with General Handy. Hitler envisioned Barbarossa as a modern crusade against Jewish Bolshevism and the Einsatzgruppenwould be at the forefront of this war of subjugation and extermination against the Soviet Union. There is insufficient attention paid to the long history of the Roma within European culture. The sentences were reduced in a number of cases where there appeared a basis for clemency. After him are Konstantinos Karamanlis, Giovanna of Italy, Compay Segundo, Erich Mielke, Daniel Bovet, and Barbara Stanwyck. All the while, Himmler encouraged the butchery, sanctioning it as indispensable for the final victory over Bolshevism. [25] One of Ohlendorf's most trusted "proper" military-style murderers, SS-Haupsturmfhrer Lothar Heimbach, once exclaimed, "A man is the lord over life and death when he gets an order to shoot three hundred childrenand he kills at least one hundred fifty himself. 2200: CIC2 agents come in from the town of Landsberg-on-the-Lech. Holmes, the commandant of Landsberg Military sub-Post, is seated within speaking distance of me and next to the towns civilian (German) Registrar of Vital Statistics. The first of a series of indictments was filed on October 25, 1946, and the trial opened on December 9 of that year. Pamphlets and leaflets attacking American injustice were circulated by unknown and unidentified organizations. Marking the 80th anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, The National WWII Museum connects two instances of remorse for Nazi criminality by leading German politicians. Preparations are being completed. Only Ohlendorf, his deputy in EinsatzgruppeD, Willy Seibert, and the telegraphist, a man named Fritsch, could remain in the radio station when these happened. Germany has come a very long way since then. 1935: JAG1 lieutenant colonels from Heidelberg, two of them, have arrived to serve as army witnesses. 2249: Graham answers the telephone. This quickly devolved into identifying and executing Jewish men considered potential partisans. He says, yes, yes, yes, right, OK, ONeill, thanks, OK. ", Historian Martin Gilbert reported that in front of the Nuremberg Tribunal, Ohlendorf described the use of gas vans for killing operations as "unpleasant" and that the, "Story 34Mass Murderers Seek to Justify Genocide (19461949)", Otto Ohlendorf, Einsatzgruppe D, and the Holocaust by Bullets, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Otto_Ohlendorf&oldid=1149039801, This page was last edited on 9 April 2023, at 20:51. I am glad to talk. Moreover, West Germany had abolished the death penalty in the new constitution, and for the U. S. authorities to carry out capital punishment would show lack of respect for this constitution, with far-reaching consequences for American-German relations.. View the list of all donors. What insights do the Milgram experiments (see reading. The cameramans flash goes off in a sudden stab of light. Then there is another sound, the sound of the cover being nailed onto the coffin. General William H. Simpson, commander of Ninth Army, has received little attention in the historiography of World War II. Graham shows me a letter from one of the former prison chaplains, a German who refuses to accept an invitation to administer last rites to prisoners. I ask. 2205: A German newspaper calls from Ulm to advise Graham there has been a stay of execution. 2229: A German Evangelical chaplain named Ermann, employed for two years by the prison, was intercepted smuggling mail out for the prisoners, and was sacked. However, Ohlendorf, suspecting Roma of sabotage and aiding resistance activity, murdered them wherever he found them. It is a small room; I am sitting within ten feet of the gallows. EinsatzgruppeDs zone of operations covered, initially, Bukovina and Bessarabia (territories seized from Romania by Joseph Stalin), then southern Ukraine and the Crimean Peninsula. They did not need commands. The crimes they committed were crimes against you. To the end, he exhibited hardly any remorse about what he had done. was the ninth of the twelve trials for war crimes and crimes against humanity that the US authorities held in their occupation zone in Germany in Nuremberg after the end of World War II. Ferencz presented the case in just two court sessions. Heinz Jost: Jost was in charge of Einsatzgruppe A. This was not a small group, Geyer elaborated. 08-06-1951, age 44, hangedat theLandsberg PrisoninBavaria. In 1941, Ohlendorf is appointed the commander of Einsatzgruppe D, which perpetrates mass murder in Moldova, south Ukraine, the Crimea, and, during 1942, the North Caucasus. Unlike some in the SS, Ohlendorf refused to distinguish between itinerant and sedentary Gypsies. The latter, seen as more civilized, were often left alone. He is tried at the Einsatzgruppen Trial, convicted, and executed on June 8, 1951 in Landsberg Prison, West Germany, https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/pa1042218. He tweets @AndrewNagorski. An economist by education, he is head of the Sicherheitsdienst (SD) Inland, responsible for intelligence and security within Germany. The apple trees are in full blossom. In this same prison Adolf Hitler wrote Mein Kampf, and was released for political reasons. The official cameramen photograph the prisoner after one of the GI assistants places the nameplate across the condemned mans chest. IMPORTANT PRIVACY NOTICE & DISCLAIMER: YOU HAVE A RESPONSIBILITY TO USE CAUTION WHEN DISTRIBUTING PRIVATE INFORMATION. I am to identify them before certifying. He was sentenced to death in April 1948 and spent three years in detention before being hanged at the Landsberg Prison in Bavaria on 7 June 1951. Each month, a courier brought the written reports directly to Berlin. While some perpetrators in the Holocaust claimed, and may have believed, that they would be physically harmed if they did not follow orders to participate in mass murder, historian Doris Bergen notes that the Nazis did not harm those who refused: Germans were not forced to be killers. Heinrich Hoefler, a founder of the Christian Democratic party, based his appeal on humanitarian grounds. Sometime between mid-July and mid-August 1941 Himmler, certainly with Hitlers approval, ordered the expansion of killing. 2350: I look into the telephone shack to see exactly where I have to call Bickel after the first drop. Otto Ohlendorf was born on the 4th of February 1907. He is a German SS functionary and Holocaust perpetrator during the Nazi era. The JAG lieutenant colonel seated next to me whispers, there but for the grace of God go I. 1-86-NARA-NARA or 1-866-272-6272, Nazi War Crimes Interagency Working Group, Discussions held in Berlin in April 1945 between senior SS officials including Ohlendorf, SS-General Felix Steiner, and SS-General Richard Hildebrandt. Categories: Death by Hanging | Executed | Nazi Party, World War II | Nazis, WIKITREE HOME | ABOUT | G2G FORUM | HELP | SEARCH. Graham says the men have eaten their last supper. This was done to avoid any possibility of poison or suicides. Attached to the SS with the rank of SS-Hauptsturmfhrer, by 1939, he had obtained the rank of SS-Standartenfhrer and was appointed as head of Amt III (SD-domestic branch), of the Reichs Main Security RSHA ) , a position he kept until 1945. Defense attorneys of people accused of war crimes have looked hard for such a case because it would support the claim that their clients had no choice. The medical officer has arrived, Lieutenant Colonel Huff. . Attorneys for the defense of the condemned men (including counsel engaged in Washington, D.C., and paid for by the federal government) made plans to appeal to the Supreme Court. 2151: There is a lot of bustle in Grahams office now, as uniformed officers and men come and go. The United States charged 24 defendants with war crimes, crimes against humanity, and membership in a criminal organization. Leave a message for others who see this profile. Ohlendorf, Otto, born 04-02-1907 in Hoheneggelsen, the son of farm owners. He hangs up. There was one ordained minister who renounced the cloth to become a Sonderkommando leader. [3] Believing their expertise invaluable, Ohlendorf, Ludwig Erhard, and other experts concerned themselves with how to stabilize German currency after the war. How are you feeling? Emil Hausmann committed suicide. I am quite sick now, my hands are cold as ice. Jesus famously said when he was crucified: Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. The Nazi criminals knew all too well what they were doing.