2356: Seven minutes more. Students turn their attention to the collapse of the Ottoman Empire and the emergence of a strong current of ethno-nationalism rooted in Turkish identity. Now I dont think I can stick it out. That was my biggest disappointment; nobody, including my mass murderers, ever said Im sorry. . The following year he returned to economic research, becoming Ministerial Director and deputy to the State Secretary in the Ministry of Economics. 2100: Graham is excited over report from Munich newspaper to the effect that there has been another stay of execution. 2242: Big clock is ticking. Mr. Britt is testing the rope now; he lifts and then lowers himself on the closed trap. All quotes delayed a minimum of 15 minutes. On August 8, 1945, in London, the governments of the USA, France, Britain, and the USSR resolved to punish those German officers and men and members of the Nazi party who have been responsible for or have taken a consenting part in atrocities and crimes. Explore resources that meet the California HistorySocial Science Framework standards. I am a Jew, said Altmeier in English. Over 90,000 murders throughout Ukraine and the Caucusus are attributed to Ohlendorf's unit. Bickel says the criminals should have been hanged earlier. Ohlendorf's testimony horrified the court and had a depressing effect on the defendants. 2120: Graham receives message from Heidelberg. 2240: Bickel has telephoned Hulse in Frankfort confirming receipt of cable from Washington. 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.. These discussions aimed at the creation of a new government that could procure a separate peace with the Allies. But I should like to emphasize that if you execute these men, their lives will be wasted! A total of 265 have been hanged since the end of the war. 2 (a subunit of Einsatzgruppe A), who received a death sentence, was extradited to Belgium. Learn how the Nuremberg defendants' argued that German leaders were following orders when committing atrocities during the Holocaust. In 1947-48, Ohlendorf was the most notable of the 23 members of the Einsatzgruppentried by the Americans. On September 10, 1947, the US Military Government for Germany created Military Tribunal II-A (later renamed Tribunal II). I see Warrant Officer Britt efficiently rubbing the noose with wax, and his assistant, a sergeant, is busying himself with the black hoods which have been stored in an ordinary army foot locker. They matter particularly because there are only a dwindling number of Nazi war criminals still alive. . Otto Ohlendorf was born on the 4th of February 1907. 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. The resources Im getting from my colleagues through Facing History have been just invaluable. JAG officer observes that they cant do a thing until Graham has a piece of paper from the Department of the Army in the Pentagon. Wistrich, Robert. 4, 1950, p. 412. . Himmler communicated approval directly to the heads of some of the Special Task Forces. He straps prisoners ankles and steps back. Nor need the peril be that imminent in order to escape punishment. I never had a German come up to me and say Im sorry all the time I was in Germany, he told me. Stuttgart: Deutsche Verlagsanstalt, 1981. Create a FREE Account. Pamphlets and leaflets attacking American injustice were circulated by unknown and unidentified organizations. He also cited examples from other cases, including the High Command Case in which military commanders carried out the so-called Fuehrer Order calling for the murder of undesirable elements such as Jews and Gypsieswomen, men, and children alike who were offensive to the Germans. And he further noted that a great number of terrible and terrifying crimes had been committed in the name of maintaining the ethnic purity of the German people. He visited the morgue daily with an inmate dentist to extract gold teeth from the mouths of the corpses. A first-generation American of Lebanese descent, James Jabara was intent on being a fighter pilot. In June 1941, Reinhard Heydrich appointed Ohlendorf to be commander of Einsatzgruppe D which operated in southern Ukraine and Crimea. One remarks that it seems late in the day politically to be hanging Germans even if they are war criminals. 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. Ohlendorf, Otto, born 04-02-1907 in Hoheneggelsen, the son of farm owners. And one of them is a Jew whose family perished because of the berserk racial policies. Although much of the U.S. Army's investigative file on Ohlendorf was declassified in 1987, some documents were withheld and are being released under the Nazi War Crimes Disclosure Act. He says, whatever I have done, I did as a soldier who obeyed orders. New York: Macmillan, 1982. Students explore the intertwined personal stories of Jewish refugees who attempted to flee to the United States and the American rescuers who intervened on their behalf. Writer was one Frederick Wiehl, Pohls counsel in Germany: There will be no execution on Tuesday. In their judgment at the Einsatzgruppen trial, the judges wrote: No court will punish a man who, with a loaded pistol at his head, is compelled to pull a lethal lever. Fritz Bauer, a German prosecutor from a secular Jewish family who had spent most of the Nazi era in exile, returned after the war determined to make his countrymen face up to the horrors committed in their name. In some cases they had to dig their own graves. 0007: Borom says he wishes there were a seven-man gallows. How silent it has become. He was not yet a teenager when Germany suffered a crushing defeat in World War I. He expressed no remorse for his actions, telling prosecutor Benjamin B Ferenz, a Hungarian-born American lawyer that the Jews of America would suffer for what the prosecutor had done, and seemed to have been more concerned about the moral strain on those carrying out the murders than those being murdered. Hans Theodor Schmidt was trailed and hanged in Landsberg prison, on 07-06-1951, age 51.. He thinks the reason is that people no longer believe the USA will carry out the executions. Defending his actions, Ohlendorf compared Einsatzgruppenactivities to the Biblical Jewish extirpation of its enemies; he likewise claimed that his firing squads were no worse than the press-button killers who dropped the atom bomb on Japan. During this period, 5,000 prisoners died each month as a result of cruelties inflicted upon them by the SS. Otto Ohlendorf Einsatzgruppen www.HolocaustResearchProject.org Otto Ohlendorf was a German SS-Gruppenfhrer and head of the interior division of the SD. 2353: I return to the Death House, climb up the last stairway, see the gallows for the first time. The GI interpreter asks: Have you any last words? The prisoner replies: Jawohl!. He was the longest serving of the four commanders. Find topics of interest and explore encyclopedia content related to those topics, Find articles, photos, maps, films, and more listed alphabetically, Recommended resources and topics if you have limited time to teach about the Holocaust, Explore the ID Cards to learn more about personal experiences during the Holocaust. 2244: Graham hangs up the telephone. The Bundestag adopted a unanimous resolution condemning the execution of any of the prisoners. The court examined Ohlendorf concerning Einsatzgruppen operations in particular. He is amazingly efficient and cold-blooded. A tall, gray-faced woman is signing out. In the aftermath of the Battle of Kasserine Pass, US II Corps passed to the command of General Harold Alexanders 18th Army Group. Mother Unavailable. After a talk by Hans Joachim Von Merkatz, a functionary of an influential right-wing political group, Ehlers introduced Bundestag Deputy Jakob Altmeier, a Socialist party member. Hoheneggelsen, Province of Hanover, Prussia, German Empire, Otto Ohlendorf at the Einsatzgruppen Trial, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otto_Ohlendorf. There, he was sentenced to death and died in Belgian custody. The opinions expressed are his own. Lincoln and Jerusalem: University of Nebraska Press and Yad Vashem, 2004. He says there is to be a conference on the subject in the near future, urges me to attend. 2250: Warrant Officer Britt is discussing hangings with the medical officer. Later this expanded to include the Caucasus. Essentially, they were to murder commissars attached to units of the Red Army, officials of the Communist Party, and deal with any overt resistance to the German presence. The first of a series of indictments was filed on October 25, 1946, and the trial opened on December 9 of that year. We tell one another the prisoners could easily have spared themselves this inhuman waiting, simply by refraining from submitting petitions. Over 90,000 executions are attributed to Ohlendorf's command, who testified to this effect during his trial at Nuremberg. Gaps, recalled Schubert, existed in what was transmitted. A curious time to take a bath. At the start, the Special Task Forces were charged with political security. This euphemism conceals more than it reveals. Now not only Jewish men, whether in the Communist Party or deemed of fighting age, were targeted. Showing real aptitude as a student Ohlendorf studied economics and lawat the University of Leipzig and the University of Gttingen, and by 1930 was already giving lectures at several economic institutions. Strauss argued that it was the tradition in West Germany to carry out a death sentence within four weeks after such sentence was imposed. Holler, Martin. Nuremberg Trial Day 26 (1946) Otto Ohlendorf Testimony (AM) Roughly 600 men (the smallest of the four), drawn from the SS and the various police agencies in the Reich, would serve under him. This was not a small group, Geyer elaborated. Left to right: Kthe Ohlendorf, wife of Otto Ohlendorf; Margot Schmidt, wife of Hans Theodor Schmidt, adjutant at Buchenwald concentration camp; von Ysenburg, who brought word to the wives of the reprieve; Magda Braune, wife of Werner Braune; and Elisabeth Naumann, wife of Erich Naumann. Pohl had been the head of an organization, the WVHA (Wirtschafts-und Verwaltungshauptamt), Economic and Administrative Department of the Nazi government, which, as an adjunct of the SS, had administered the concentration camps. Otto Rasch was deemed too ill to stand trial. The chief prosecutor was 27-year-old Ben Ferencz. Claudia Bautista,Santa Monica, Calif. You must have JavaScript enabled to use this form. Each one was charged with committing all three counts between June 1941 and July 1943. He is a German SS functionary and Holocaust perpetrator during the Nazi era. 2249: Graham answers the telephone. 47% of Ohlendorf men worked as a Farmer and 40% of Ohlendorf women worked as a Housekeeper. Allied Control Council no. 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. Because of Ohlendorfs work in this field, petitions for leniency were filed after he was sentenced to death by hanging. Graham is noncommital. But those who were most directly involved in the machinery of death were largely immune to any appeals to conscience. [39], Historian Donald Bloxham referred to Ohlendorf as a bureaucrat, who was trying to "prove himself in the field". Schmid also made the argument that in view of West Germanys abolishing of capital punishment, it would be ill advised for the U. S., although the occupying power, to act in violation of German law. They offer a last chance for confronting not just the legal but the moral issues that the perpetrators have so consistently tried to dodge in the past. In Germany he was serving his country not only as supreme representative of the United States government, but as the exponent of certain international agreements to which the U. S. government was a signatory. His hand is moist, clammy. Mueller vanished after the war, and for years it was surmised that Mueller offered himself to the U.S. or USSR for intelligence purposes. For example, Otto Ohlendorf commanded Einsatzgruppe D while it committed mass murder in territories that are part of Romania and Moldova, as well as in Ukraine and around the Crimean Sea. He talks about his law practice in Alabama, tells me how he once saved a man from the gallows. Otto Ohlendorf 1907-1951 - Ancestry What kind of tasks did Heydrich have in mind for this group? In June 1941, Reinhard Heydrich appointed Ohlendorf to be commander of Einsatzgruppen D ((mobile killing unit D) which operated in southern Ukraine and Crimea. This upsurge of public feeling reached a climax on January 9, when High Commissioner McCloy agreed to receive a six-man Bundestag delegation representing the leading political parties, to ask for amnesty for the war criminals. The men charged were: Paul Blobel, Ernst Biberstein, Walter Blume, Werner Braune, Lothar Fendler, Matthias Graf, Walter Haensch, Emil Hausmann, Waldemar Klingelhoefer, Gustav Noske, Adolf Ott, Waldemar von Radetzky, Felix Rhl, Martin Sandberger, Heinz Schubert, Erwin Schultz, Willy Seibert, Franz Six, Eugen Steimle, and Eduard Strauch. They acted on their own. Ohlendorf mentions a personal letter, dated 9 May 1945, which Himmler wrote and sent to British Field Marshall Bernard Montgomery. The rope dangles slightly, then suddenly is very still. 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. The sergeant aide is looking into the pit where architect Blobel is hanging. The Possibilities and Limits of Forgiveness, 56 high-ranking SS and other police officers, including 24 leaders of the, 23 doctors who participated in the Nazi medical killing program that targeted mentally and physically disabled people and conducted experiments on camp prisoners; and. It would be far better to keep them in prison as an example to future generations. Not to elicit a. Himmler, these men hoped, would lead this government and Hitler would be pushed aside if necessary. Otto Ohlendorf - Wikipedia If so, login to add it. [45] Hoping to salvage the reputation of the SD, Ohlendorf offered his services in the hopes that he could shape the postwar reconstruction of Germany, but along "National Socialist lines", remaining convinced as was Admiral Karl Dnitz (who gave Ohlendorf the economics portfolio), that some form of Nazism would ultimately survive. Case #9 is usually referred to as the Einsatzgruppen Case. The Einsatzgruppen were special task forces of the SS and Police. Family tree. Emil Hausmann committed suicide. This type of evidence I have accepted in mitigation of the original sentence., The High Commissioner said that he had been struck by the extent of the misinformation in the letters and petitions which were being sent to him. The crimes for which punishment was being meted out were the worst known in history, and they had to be atoned for in order to prevent their recurrence. In the spring of 1941, he assigned a new mission to Ohlendorf. Ninety-nine out of one hundred of these communications showed as much understanding of the cases as your dog, Professor Schmid.. Each assumed the right to decide the fate of men, and death was the intended result of his power and contempt. [51] During the trial, Ohlendorf insisted that he, as a loyal Nazi, had acted properly and had done nothing wrong. [30] During September 1941, Ohlendorf's group slaughtered 22,467 Jews and communists at Mykolaiv near the Black Sea port of Odesa. Quick access. The Einsatzgruppen trial (officially, The United States of America vs. Otto Ohlendorf, et al.) However, fewer accounts exist of Operation Flashpoint, Ninth US Armys assault crossing of the Rhine, which began on March 24. [32] This act should not be seen as a change of heart or kindness, as just a month prior in September 1941, Ohlendorf reported to his men that "from now on the Jewish question is going to be solved and that means liquidation". After him are Konstantinos Karamanlis, Giovanna of Italy, Compay Segundo, Erich Mielke, Daniel Bovet, and Barbara Stanwyck. No, he says rather unhappily. In his opening statement, Ferencz underscored that: It is with sorrow and with hope that we here disclose the deliberate slaughter of more than a million innocent and defenseless men, women, and children. They felt strongly that the so-called war crimes allegedly committed by the Landsberg prisoners could be atoned for by life sentences in cases where warranted, and did not call for draconic measures. Students develop a contract establishing a reflective classroom community as they prepare to explore the historical case study of this unit. 2255: Borom, the lieutenant colonel from Heidelberg, is lighting his pipe. 4 February 1907-7 June 1951 . He says the big brass has conferred, McCloy has talked with General Handy. He hangs up. As Ferencz told me during an interview for my book The Nazi Hunters, he still vividly recalls the protestations of Otto Ohlendorf, one of those condemned to death, that he was only doing his duty. This meant he received an excellent education preparing him for university. No one knows what they said, but theyve talked. He makes notes on a piece of paper. The 11th Army of Field Marshal Gerd von Rundstedts Army Group South, to which Ohlendorfs unit was attached, bore responsibility for providing EinsatzgruppeD with food, lodging, gasoline, and taking care of maintenance and repair of its motor vehicles. But were any of the defendants coerced into killing Jews under the threat of being killed themselves if they failed in their homicidal mission? 2045: Hulse calls Bickel. Otto Ohlendorf was convicted of crimes against humanity and war crimes committed during World War II. He then concluded: If I can find one honest man in Sodom, Ill save the city!. Theres no backing out now. Photos and Memories (0) Do you know Gustav? As a nonprofit, we offer free help to those looking to learn the details of their family story. He was born in Hoheneggelsen on 4 February 1907, the son of a peasant farmer. This was the tragic fulfillment of a program of intolerance and arrogance.Each of the defendants in the dock held a position of responsibility or command in an extermination unit. Our headquarters are located at: 89 South Street, Suite 401, Boston, MA 02111. His defense was simple: he was just following orders. The appearance of the Einsatzgruppenwas a death sentence for entire Jewish communities. [20][b] Ohlendorf's Einsatzgruppe in particular was responsible for the 13 December 1941 massacre at Simferopol, where at least 14,300 people, mostly Jews, were killed. [15] Joining the Einsatzgruppen was an unappealing prospect and Ohlendorf refused twice before his eventual appointment. 1915: I look through Grahams window at the prison compound. [43], Ohlendorf devoted only four years (19391943) of full-time activity to the RSHA, for in 1943, in addition to his other jobs, he became a deputy director general in the Reich Ministry of economic affairs. Blobel, Braune, Naumann, and Ohlendorf had all been leaders of the Extermination Squads ( Einsatzgruppen ), which were the chief instruments devised by the Nazis for wiping out the Jews of Europe. We shake hands with him and members of his staff. The medical officer has arrived, Lieutenant Colonel Huff. Otto Ohlendorf (1907-1951) | WikiTree FREE Family Tree [35][e] When gas van killing operations were conducted, it was usually at night to keep the population from witnessing the macabre affair. Ohlendorf obliquely mentioned this letter's existence at his trial in 1947 but this British interrogation provides more detail. Commentary: Long overdue, a Nazi finally says sorry | Reuters Subsequent Nuremberg Proceedings, Case #9, The Einsatzgruppen Case Those damned Germans. Before him are Louis Ferdinand, Prince of Prussia, Maurice Blanchot, Daphne du Maurier, Dora Maar, Solomon Asch, and Burgess Meredith. However, the U. S. Military Governor (General Lucius Clay), and his successor (High Commissioner John J. McCloy) felt that the right of appeal should not be denied the convicted men. We hear a murmur, then the soft voice of the medical officer. Another voice in my head says, No, you must see it through. I agree. OHLENDORF: Heydrich was wounded at the end of May 1942, and died on 4 June 1942. After the launching of Barbarossa on June 22, Ohlendorf could also turn to the Army for ammunition, maps, and telecommunications. He joined the Nazi Party in 1925 (member nr 6631) and the SS (member nr 880) in 1926. Heydrich appreciated young men like Ohlendorf, who were educated and yet completely committed to the ultra-reactionary ideas of National Socialism. Twenty-two of the defendants were tried. To put it bluntly, this was a coordinated effort of mass killing enacted by the SS-led Special Task Force and the Wehrmacht. Such planning for the post-war time was strictly forbidden, on one side. One telegram to Graham pleads for the privilege of hanging in place of Pohl. Soon, the five foot five airman would make US military aviation history. After the IMT trial, the United States conducted twelve additional trials on the basis of the Charter. He served there with figures like Adolf Eichmann and Ernst Kaltenbrunner, both roughly his age, who aided Himmler and Heydrich in their policies of terror, mass extermination, and genocide across the European continent. After he had started his blood bath, he was asked whether he would say something for the survivors. The charter defined as crimes the following acts: The United States Military Government in Germany, on October 18, 1946, enacted an ordinance under which military tribunals were established in the American Zone of Occupation, with the purpose of trying and punishing criminals within that zone who had escaped prosecution at Nuremberg. No matter what happens to our application on Monday in the District Court in Washington for a permanent injunction prohibiting the executions, there will be no executions. SS Gruppenfhrer and head of the Sicherheitsdienst (SD) Inland. [caption=0c5326ca-3fd0-4df0-8f36-5840fd057055] - [credit=0c5326ca-3fd0-4df0-8f36-5840fd057055]. WIKITREE PROTECTS MOST SENSITIVE INFORMATION BUT ONLY TO THE EXTENT STATED IN THE TERMS OF SERVICE AND PRIVACY POLICY. A total of seven men, then, were to be executed at Landsberg. How did Heydrich ascertain the blood-drenched progress of the Special Task Forces? Ultimately, only four of the 14 death sentences were carried out. There is a slight fluff in the air pocket. I watch the preparations. Has been making a lot of trouble for us.. The 24 defendants in Case #9 were all leading members of, that operated on the Eastern Front during World War II. Otto Ohlendorf. These, however, were turned down by the Allies. Please enter your email address. The Nazi system, however, did not work that way. Modern mechanized armies need a robust logistics chain to provide fuel, ammunition, and other sinews of war to sustain combat operations. 2210: We wait, smoking and looking uneasily at the clock. I seat myself next to Lieutenant Colonel Borom. 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). Ohlendorfs Einsatzgruppe was responsible for the 13-12-1941 massacre at Simferopol where at least 14,300 people, mostly Jews, were killed. . Yet they were not the only targets. He wears black shirt, black trousers, leather belt and sandals. Re: Otto Ohlendorf by Helge 05 May 2012, 10:55 The children were two boys and three girls: 1) Henning - Born February 11, 1938 2) Behrend - Born September 18, 1943 3) Irmtraut - Born March 25, 1936 4) Meinhard - Born October 30, 1940 5) Ulrike - Born May 11, 1945 Sota ei pt kuka on oikeassa, vain sen ett kuka on jljell. I am to identify them before certifying. Ohlendorf stated that he tried to mitigate any "unnecessary agitation" for the victims during the, Justifying the murder of children, Ohlendorf stated, "the children were people who would grow up and surely being the children of parents who had been killed, they would constitute a danger no smaller than their parents. There was one ordained minister who renounced the cloth to become a Sonderkommando leader. Otto Ohlendorf, Einsatzgruppe D, and the 'Holocaust by Bullets' Wildt, Michael. To this day no one has found an example of a German who was executed for refusing to take part in the killing of Jews or other civilians. Lost your password? Martin Holler has argued convincingly that Otto Ohlendorf became to a certain degree the trailblazer for the complete solution of the Gypsy question on Soviet soil. Ferencz called no witnesses and based the case on wartime SS reports that detailed mass shootings conducted by the Einsatzgruppen. 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 functionary who had no animosity towards his victims. [12] These public opinion polls on the social climate of Nazi Germany were both unpopular and controversial. Ohlendorf Name Meaning & Ohlendorf Family History at - Ancestry They were to be the last death sentences on the soil of the Federal Republic. There is a staff sergeant, stout and unsmiling, unarmed, standing at the door. They report to the commandant, Colonel Graham. Will there be another reprieve? Otto Ohlendorf, et al.. Case #9 is usually referred to as the Einsatzgruppen Case. Otto Ohlendorf, the former commandant of Einsatzgruppe D, was sentenced to death for the murder of about 90,000 Jews, Roma, and Sinti after admitting that he had ordered his men to kill children as well as adults. EinsatzgruppeDs zone of operations covered, initially, Bukovina and Bessarabia (territories seized from Romania by Joseph Stalin), then southern Ukraine and the Crimean Peninsula. There is a fire extinguisher resting on a stone ledge at the end of the wall. . He adds one thought, that none of us likes this business but weve got to go through with it. Otto Ohlendorf (German pronunciation: [to olndf]; 4 February 1907 7 June 1951) was a German SS functionary and Holocaust perpetrator during the Nazi era. 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. It was purely accidental that I, an American, and a Jew, became the official witness for the U.S. High Commissioner to the execution of the condemned men. [6], Ohlendorf joined the SD in 1936 and became an economic consultant of the organisation. 2400: Now we hear footsteps and the voice of a chaplain praying in sonorous German. GI alert units are much in evidence, tommy guns at the ready. To that end, he orchestrated the Frankfurt trial of 22 former Auschwitz personnel in the 1960s -- not the big bosses, but the people who had tortured and killed prisoners on a daily basis. He says: Thats it, boys. They said that when an individual follows an order that is illegal under international law, he is responsible for that choice, except under certain circumstances. Otto Ohlendorf was convicted of crimes against humanity and war crimes committed during World War II. He says, were all set; well call you right after the first one is pronounced dead, and after the last. It was likely a final attempt to split the Anglo-Soviet alliance. 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. If the Justices agree, there will be another two month delay, since the Court goes into summer recess. [29] On 1 August 1941, Einsatzgruppen commanders including Ohlendorf, received instructions from Gestapo chief Heinrich Mller to keep headquarters (Hitler especially) informed of their progress in the East; Mller also encouraged the speedy delivery of photographs showing the results of these operations.