On February 1, a special messenger delivered an urgent dispatch from the Federal Minister of Justice, Thomas Dehler, in Bonn. There had been three last-minute reprieves prior to June 7the most recent on May 24, ninety minutes before the actual hangings were due to take place. 0015: I make my way down the steps to call Bickel. Himmler communicated approval directly to the heads of some of the Special Task Forces. 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. 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. Ohlendorf described the broad extent of Himmler's "degrading" and "unworthy" efforts to gain a post in the Doenitz government and Himmler's real anger on hearing that he was an "encumbrance" who would do the new government more harm than good. He says, yes, yes, yes, right, OK, ONeill, thanks, OK. The apple trees are in full blossom. . . The crimes they committed were crimes against you. I think of the evil conspiracies which have been hatched within these high walls. After he had started his blood bath, he was asked whether he would say something for the survivors. That was my biggest disappointment; nobody, including my mass murderers, ever said Im sorry. A former Newsweek foreign correspondent and editor, Andrew Nagorski is the author of The Nazi Hunters, which will be released on May 10. A previous version of this newly revised reading was titled We Were Not Supposed to Think., After the first trial ended in October 1946, the United States held 12 other trials at Nuremberg under the authority of the International Military Tribunal. Even the drinking water was hauled in from Augsberg. how it requires 15 to 19 minutes in some cases for final consummation. [50], Ohlendorf was called as a witness by the prosecution during the International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg on 3 January 1946. I agree. And for providing the also rapidly dwindling number of Holocaust survivors the chance to face their tormenters. On Jan. 3, 1946, Col. John Amen, Assistant American Associate Trial Counsel at the Nuremberg Trial, called Otto Ohlendorf as a witness. I keep my eyes away from that rope. Death 7 Jun 1951 - Unavailable. [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". Students are introduced to the enormity of the crimes committed during the Holocaust and look closely at stories of a few individuals who were targeted by Nazi brutality. He has executed scores of criminals and has been flown from Texas to perform his job again. He says, were all set; well call you right after the first one is pronounced dead, and after the last. The High Commissioner listened intently, eyes fixed on his scratch pad. Army still awaiting receipt of confirming cable. The German people did not wish to see any more blood spilled in Germany, especially in the name of a false idea of justice. For dessert they had fresh cherries. A handsome Negro captain, Artillery, a huge bunch of keys dangling from his belt, tells me in answer to a question that she is Mrs. Oswald Pohl. USA.gov, The U.S. National Archives and Records Administration [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. He was not yet a teenager when Germany suffered a crushing defeat in World War I. [3][55], "Five death sentences were confirmed: the sentence against Oswald Pohl, as well as those passed against the leaders of the Mobile Killing Units, Paul Blobel, Werner Braune, Erich Neumann, and Otto OhrlendorfIn the early morning hours of 7 June, the Nazi criminals were hanged in the Landesburg prison courtyard.". Wives have been asked to say their final goodbyesfor the fourth time. [24] To ensure the group killing mentality, Ohlendorf forbade any commando from taking individual actions and explicitly instructed his men not to take any of the victim's valuables. [11] Routine public opinion surveyswhich were under the purview of Ohlendorf and SS-Major Reinhard Hhnconstituted some of these reports. Excellent. 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. On July 29, 1947, the 24 defendants in the Einsatzgruppen Case were indicted for their role in murdering between 723,661 and one million people as part of a systematic program of genocide. The indictment listed three charges: Twenty-four Einsatzgruppen members were charged. . Himmler then had an adjutant take the letter to Montgomery. Wistrich, Robert. [13], In June 1941, Reinhard Heydrich appointed Ohlendorf to be commander of Einsatzgruppe D,[14] which operated in southern Ukraine and Crimea. He is obsessed with fear of a suicide attempt. [2] He joined the Nazi Party in 1925 and the SS in 1926. June 6, 1951 The Einsatzgruppen trial (officially, The United States of America vs. Otto Ohlendorf, et al.) Otto Ohlendorf is born February 4, 1907 in Hoheneggelsen, Province of Hanover, Prussia, German Empire. (Case No. God have mercy on those who murder me. Their names were Paul Blobel, Werner Braune, Erich Naumann, Otto Ohlendorf, Oswald Pohl, Georg Schallermair, and Hans Schmidt. 100-year-old tried for war crimes: Germany's continued confrontation with Nazi past The man, who has not been named due to German privacy laws, is charged with "knowingly and willingly" assisting in the murder of 3,518 people as a former SS guard at Sachsenhausen concentration camp. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 2009. The Nazi system, however, did not work that way. The latter have invented stories about how their husbands are being mistreated. He joined the Nazi Party in 1925 (member nr 6631) and the SS (member nr 880) in 1926. Bishops, lawyers, the man on the street, all felt the same impulseto hide things under the carpet. The 24 defendants in Case #9 were all leading members of Einsatzgruppen that operated on the Eastern Front during World War II. These trials are known as the Subsequent Nuremberg Proceedings. Case #9 of these twelve trials is known today as the Einsatzgruppen Case. In 1940, Farmer and Housekeeper were the top reported jobs for men and women in the USA named Ohlendorf. They were the parents of at least 2 sons. He is clean shaven now and looks older than his 57 years. Blobel speaks in a detached, remote voice. 1, The judges at Nuremberg rejected the following orders defense. Crimes against peace: participation in a common plan or conspiracy for the accomplishment of invasions, aggressive wars, etc. Otto. He is a small, slight man with soft, kindly eyes. He doesnt want it delayed or snafued by a suicide, which would mean writing lengthy reports and involve him in interminable red tape. . Later this expanded to include the Caucasus. . Among people born in 1907, Otto Ohlendorf ranks 36 . In November 1944 he was promoted again to Gruppenfhrer. Because of Ohlendorfs work in this field, petitions for leniency were filed after he was sentenced to death by hanging. Then the members of the Special Task Force marched them off, ostensibly to a place of transportation. At years end, Ohlendorf could report that his men had eliminated 55,000 Jews. They killed on their own. That sick feeling comes over me again. Seven times I have listened as they swore, in their dying words, that they had merely carried out orders; that they had been fighting for their country; that the Americans were their enemies. The Bundestag adopted a unanimous resolution condemning the execution of any of the prisoners. He then concluded: If I can find one honest man in Sodom, Ill save the city!. 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. 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. For instance, if the individual could prove that he was ignorant of the fact that the order was illegal, he would not be responsible. Not to elicit a. Radio cars were in the prison compound in anticipation of a possible breakdown of telephone communications. Thats enough. The footsteps have a hollow sound on the wooden stairway leading up into the loft. 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. Two of the men have fathers who were high-up servants of Hitler and soaked in the blood of the Holocaust. 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. [52] He expressed no remorse for his actions, telling prosecutor Ben Ferencz 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. The official cameramen photograph the prisoner after one of the GI assistants places the nameplate across the condemned mans chest. I have committed no crime. He was to lead EinsatzgruppeD, the fourth and final of the Special Task Forces put together for Operation Barbarossa. I stare out into the lovely June night, watch the big searchlights swinging around the heavily guarded compound. There is some new detail concerning Himmler's state of mind on May 6, 1945 after Hitler's Last Testament appointed Grand Admiral Karl Doenitz as the successor while expelling Himmler from the Nazi Party. View the list of all donors. . It was likely a final attempt to split the Anglo-Soviet alliance. [5] By 1938 he was also manager in the Trade section of the Reich Business Board (Reichswirtschaftskammer[de]). He. In a webinar in December 2020 with The National WWII Museum, historian Michael Geyer stressed the significance of those ideological fighters who implemented the Third Reichs vicious programs of mass murder. St. John's Scholar | St. John's University Research EinsatzgruppeDs zone of operations covered, initially, Bukovina and Bessarabia (territories seized from Romania by Joseph Stalin), then southern Ukraine and the Crimean Peninsula. I tell him I will be down to make a call after the first drop. 10, Nuernberg October 1946-April 1949, Volume IV: The Einsatzgruppen Case & The RuSHA Case. What other motivations might have contributed to their participation in mass murder? 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. Have you ever done this before? Some less common occupations for Americans named Ohlendorf were Clerk and Bookkeeper. I ask him if he will pronounce the men dead. 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. The Germans knew what had happened to thembut they did not know, they did not want to know what had happened to other people. Someone is looking for Warrant Officer Britt, the official executioner. There are no newspapermen around prison grounds. They murdered on their own.. Mr. Britt is testing the rope now; he lifts and then lowers himself on the closed trap. 0002: There is no wavering in voice or manner, never a sign of fear. Army officers and GIs, with enormous keys on their belts, are moving in and out of the office. He cited examples from the Medical Case in which the defendants were charged with and convicted of performing medical experiments on concentration camp inmateshigh altitude tests, freezing tests, tests with typhus and malaria germs, artificially induced infections, salt water tests, etc. Die Einsatzgruppen in der besetzten Sowjetunion 1941/42: Die Ttigkeits-und Lageberichte des Chefs der Sicherheitspolizei und des SD. How did Ohlendorf and Hss defend their actions at their trial? If so, login to add it. Everyone present agrees that the only hope is John J. McCloy. He objected to the sentence: The destruction of the Warsaw ghetto, including the deportation or extermination of more than 56,000 Jews, was personally committed by him [Oswald Pohl]. According to Dehler, Pohl destroyed the ghetto but not its inhabitants. There were enough willing perpetrators so that coercive force could be reserved for those deemed enemies. Their own reports will show that the slaughter committed by these defendants was dictated, not by military necessity, but by that supreme perversion of thought, the Nazi theory of the master race. The Registrar sits very still, his legs crossed, staring at the gallows. Roughly 600 men (the smallest of the four), drawn from the SS and the various police agencies in the Reich, would serve under him. According to Raul Hilberg, Heydrich soon grew weary of Ohlendorfs multiple intellectual pursuits. The decision made it harder for the shooter to know who he killed. It would be bad for the soul of the German people, McCloy went on, to put these things under the carpet. I am listening half-heartedly, reply in the negative. 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. 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. After the sentencing, Ferencz decided to meet with Ohlendorf in a courtroom holding cell. The defendants were arraigned between September 15 and 22, 1947. In the summer of 1942 Ohlendorf was transferred from the Soviet Union back to desk work in the RSHA. Germany has come a very long way since then. Warrant Officer Britt then places the prisoner on the trap door. But I should like to emphasize that if you execute these men, their lives will be wasted! and other experts, who planned, e.g., how to introduce the new German currency Deutsch Mark. [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. 2244: Graham hangs up the telephone. There, he was sentenced to death and died in Belgian custody. His pipe is fragrant. [41] His commitment to the Nazi cause kept him in Ukraine longer than any of his comrades, and while he may have disliked the political direction in which Germany was headed, he never registered complaints about murdering Jews. Otto Ohlendorf (German pronunciation: [to olndf]; 4 February 1907 7 June 1951) was a German SS functionary and Holocaust perpetrator during the Nazi era. The public reaction to McCloys announcement was exactly as anticipated. Otto Ohlendorf, the head of the SD Domestic office in the RSHA, personally commanded Einsatzgruppe D. This unit deployed to southern Ukraine, Crimea, and the North Caucasus. 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. June 7, 1951 There is a fire extinguisher resting on a stone ledge at the end of the wall. There were pleas from churchmen and politicians, university men and students, former soldiers, disinherited royalty. [34], Between February and March 1942, Himmler ordered that gas vans should be used to murder women and children so as to reduce the strain on the men, but Ohlendorf reported that many of the Einsatzkommandos refused to utilize them since burying the victims proved an "ordeal" afterwards. He had studied the cases not with any political considerations in mind but purely in judicial terms. These discussions aimed at the creation of a new government that could procure a separate peace with the Allies. I have photographs of the seven men in my hands. The rope doesnt fit correctly. This Board, consisting of New York State Supreme Court Justice David Peck, Commissioner Frederick A. Moran (the chairman of the New York Board of Parole), and Brigadier General Conrad E. Snow, was not empowered to review the decisions of the Military Tribunals on questions of law or fact, but to consider disparities among the sentences for comparable crimes and other matters which tended to show that the sentences imposed were excessive. The Board was directed to consider anything that might warrant mitigation of sentences.. There is insufficient attention paid to the long history of the Roma within European culture. After leaving Flensburg on the 9th, he regularly sent a man to Ohlendorf to see if Montgomery had replied. Mr. McCloy invited the delegation to advise him on some of the difficult cases he had to review. He said that the Landsberg men had been imprisoned between two and three years ago, and were still waiting for the final verdict. Explore resources that meet the California HistorySocial Science Framework standards. Ohlendorf said that Himmler showed the letter to him and that he altered Himmler's text because "it had been unfortunately worded." He was born in Hoheneggelsen on 4 February 1907, the son of a peasant farmer. 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. It was a fine point of law, Mr. McCloy insisted, to claim that traditional German legal methods should be applied to cases such as these. Their own reports will show that the slaughter committed by these defendants was dictated, not by military necessity, but by that supreme perversion of thought, the Nazi theory of the master race.1. Third mistake: Pohl was a man of many titles . Ohlendorf's apparently reliable testimony was attributed to his distaste for the corruption in Nazi Germany and a stubborn commitment to duty. 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. 2100: Graham is excited over report from Munich newspaper to the effect that there has been another stay of execution. [33] From that month forward, the Einsatzgruppen had begun the process of systematically shooting not just men but women and children, a transition that historian Peter Longerich terms "a decisive step on the way towards a policy of racial annihilation". The meeting took place in McCloys offices in a Frankfort building that had once been the headquarters of the I. G. Farben empire. 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. 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? The judges agreed that members of the Einsatzgruppen had not been threatened with physical harm if they did not murder their victims. 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. In the United States, there was sharp criticism of the decisions as having been too lenient, while in Germany, McCloy was attacked for having been too severe. Someone asks about the 650,000 signatures appended to a petition for clemency sent to President Truman from Germany. Instead of engaging in the individual Genickschuss, a shot to the nape of the neck, Ohlendorf decided to have his men fire on those rounded up from a distance. Graham says prisoners have been gaining weight on the excellent prison fare. The chief prosecutor was 27-year-old Ben Ferencz. 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. 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. Hans Theodor Schmidt was trailed and hanged in Landsberg prison, on 07-06-1951, age 51.. As the leader of EinsatzgruppeD, Otto Ohlendorf was responsible for the murder of 90,000 Soviet Jews, Roma, and Communists. And, he went on, American-German relations would improve greatly if the Landsberg death sentences were commuted. [4] He participated in major debates between the SS, the German Labour Front, and the Quadrenniel Organization on economic policy. Translated by Tom Lampert. Unlike some in the SS, Ohlendorf refused to distinguish between itinerant and sedentary Gypsies. The latter, seen as more civilized, were often left alone. Discover life events, stories and photos about Otto Ohlendorf (1907-1951) of . Twenty Einsatzgruppen leaders were found guilty by the court, and four, including Ohlendorf, were eventually executed. Ohlendorf led the mobile SS death squad in Crimea. He seems calm and placid as a lake. One of the lieutenant colonels from Heidelberg offers odds of 6 to 5 that it wont happen tonight. Historian Christian Ingrao quips that for Ohlendorf, Nazism was a "quest for race" in the historical continuum, and even though he never stated it that way, his faith in Germandom was akin to that of his fellow SS intellectuals. Schubert claimed that, unlike the radio transmissions, these reports contained exact details and descriptions of the places in which the actions had taken place, the course of the operations, losses, numbers of places destroyed and persons killed, arrest of agents, reports on interrogations, reports on the civilian sector, etc. Heydrich and others at the Reich Security Main Office parsed this material and assessed the success of the commanders. They matter particularly because there are only a dwindling number of Nazi war criminals still alive. He straps prisoners ankles and steps back. . Explore resources that meet the Massachusetts History and Social Science Framework. Each chaplain is allowed all the time he needs in the cell with the condemned man before he is led to the gallows. That is in large part the product of the efforts of Nazi hunters like Ferencz, Bauer and others who pushed for such trials, not allowing the past to be buried along with its victims. I tell him Blobel has been pronounced dead at 0014, June 7. . in accordance with the laws of the liberated countries and of the free governments that will be created therein. After consultation, there was established an International Military Tribunal for the trial of war criminals whose crimes had no particular geographical location. An act of grace from you, Mr. McCloy, would be a great gesture of reconciliation between the American and the German people, and it will never be forgotten.. as adjutant general and quartermaster general, etc. All the while, Himmler encouraged the butchery, sanctioning it as indispensable for the final victory over Bolshevism. 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. "[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". 2 (a subunit of Einsatzgruppe A), who received a death sentence, was extradited to Belgium. 2240: Bickel has telephoned Hulse in Frankfort confirming receipt of cable from Washington. Otto Ohlendorf, et al.. Case #9 is usually referred to as the Einsatzgruppen Case. Either Ohlendorf or Seibert dictated every word to Fritsch. Students deepen their thinking about memory and identity by reflecting on the stories of Holocaust and Armenian Genocide survivors and their descendants. That was the mentality.. Many historians have written about the famous Buffalo Soldiers of the all-Black 92nd Infantry Division, who fought with distinction during World War II. 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. Though short, he is athletic, wiry and powerful. Start your risk free trial with unlimited access. Is their defense persuasive to you? WILLY SEIBERT, EUGEN STEIMLE, ERNST BIBER- STEIN, WERNER BRAUNE, WALTER HAENSCH, GUSTAV NOSSKE, ADOLF OTT, EDUARD STRAUCH, EMIL HAUSSMAN, WOLDEMAR KLINGHOFFER, LOTHAR FENDLER, WALDEMAR VON RADETZKY, FELIX RUEHL, HEINZ SCHUBERT, and MATTHIAS GRAF, Defendants OPINION AND JUDGEMENT OF THE TRIBUNAL Captain Michael A. Musmanno, U.S.N.R., Presiding Judge BillionGraves FREE Dr. Phil Otto Ohlendorf, 1879 - 1913 was born in 1879. The GI interpreter asks: Have you any last words? The prisoner replies: Jawohl!. 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. I will be vindicated by God and history. Pamphlets and leaflets attacking American injustice were circulated by unknown and unidentified organizations.
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