Economist and SD domestic chief who led Einsatzgruppe D in mass murder in southern Ukraine, Crimea and the Caucasus
Appointed commander of Einsatzgruppe D in June 1941, he led the unit that murdered more than 90,000 people, most of them Jews, as it moved through Moldova, southern Ukraine, the Crimea and the North Caucasus.
Born into a farming family near Hanover, he joined the Nazi Party in 1925 and the SS in 1926. After studying economics and law at Leipzig and Göttingen he became a research director at the Kiel Institute for the World Economy. From 1939 to 1945 he headed Amt III (SD-Inland) of the Reich Security Main Office. In June 1941 Heydrich made him commander of Einsatzgruppe D, which murdered more than 90,000 people in Moldova, southern Ukraine, Crimea and the North Caucasus. In 1943 he also became a deputy director-general in the Reich Ministry of Economics. Sentenced to death at the Einsatzgruppen Trial, he was hanged at Landsberg in 1951.
Activities and affiliations
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1925–1945
Security, intelligence and policing
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1939–1945
Schutzstaffel (SS)Head of RSHA Amt III (SD-Inland)Main
Security, intelligence and policing -
1941–1942
Schutzstaffel (SS)Commander of Einsatzgruppe D
Security, intelligence and policing -
1943–1945
Germany state institutionsDeputy director-general, Reich Ministry of Economics
Economy, finance and planning