SS officer who ran the deportation of Europe’s Jews to the death camps and in 1944 oversaw that of Hungary’s Jews to Auschwitz
Born to a Calvinist family in Solingen, Germany, he grew up in Austria, where the family moved in 1914, and joined the Nazi Party and the SS in 1932. In 1938 he was posted to Vienna to organise Jewish emigration from Austria. Head of RSHA Sub-Department IV B4 from December 1939, he attended the Wannsee Conference in January 1942 and prepared its minutes, after which he and his staff were responsible for deporting Jews to the extermination camps. After Germany occupied Hungary in March 1944 he oversaw the deportation of Hungary’s Jews; by the time the transports stopped in July, 437,000 of its 725,000 Jews had been deported. Captured by US forces after the war, he escaped from a detention camp and reached Argentina in 1950, but in 1960 Israel’s Mossad abducted him; tried in Jerusalem, he was hanged in 1962.
Activities and affiliations
Career Timeline
- 1932Joined the Austrian Nazi Party and the SS
- 1933–1938Jewish affairs, SS Security Service
- 1938–1939Central Agency for Jewish Emigration, Vienna
- 1939–1945Head of RSHA Sub-Department IV B4
- 1944Oversaw the deportation of Hungary’s Jews
- 1950–1960In hiding in Argentina
- 1960–1962Abducted by Mossad, tried in Jerusalem, executed
Related historical events
- 1938–1944.03Hungary on the Axis side: from the Vienna Awards to the DonSS officer for Jewish affairsIn March 1944, as the occupation was prepared, was instructed by Himmler to prepare the deportation of Hungary’s Jews to Auschwitz.
- 1944.03–1945.02Hungary under German occupation: from Operation Margarethe to the siege of BudapestHead of the SS special commandoSet up his staff in Budapest, had a Jewish Council formed and organised the deportation of provincial Jews to Auschwitz with Hungarian officials.