Kaltenbrunner, Ernst
- Date of birth:
- October 4th, 1903 (Ried, Austria-Hungary)
- Date of death:
- October 16th, 1946 (Nuremberg/Bavaria, Germany)
- Buried on:
- Wenzbach
- Service number:
- SS-Nr.: 13.039 // NSDAP-Nr.: 300.179
- Nationality:
- Austrian
Biography
Ernst Kaltenbrunner was a high-ranking Austrian SS official during the Nazi era and a major perpetrator of the Holocaust. He was Chief of the Reich Main Security Office (RSHA), which included the offices of Gestapo, Kripo, and SD, from January 1943 until the end of World War II in Europe.
Kaltenbrunner joined the Nazi Party in 1930 and the SS in 1931, and by 1935 he was considered a leader of the Austrian SS. In 1938, he assisted in the Anschluss and was given command of the SS and police force in Austria. In January 1943, Kaltenbrunner was appointed chief of the RSHA, succeeding Reinhard Heydrich, who was assassinated in June 1942.
A committed anti-Semite and fanatical Hitler loyalist, Kaltenbrunner oversaw a period in which the genocide of Jews intensified. He was the highest-ranking member of the SS to face trial at the first Nuremberg trials, where he was found guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity. Kaltenbrunner was sentenced to death and executed by hanging in October 1946.
Promotions:
SS-Mann – 31 August 1931
SS-Truppführer – 1931
SS-Sturmhauptführer – 25 September 1932
SS-Standartenführer – 20 April 1936
SS-Oberführer – 20 April 1937
SS-Brigadeführer – 21 March 1938
SS-Gruppenführer – 11 September 1938
SS-Untersturmführer der Reserve der Waffen-SS – 1 July 1940
Generalleutnant der Polizei – 1 April 1941
SS-Obergruppenführer und General der Polizei – 21 June 1943
General der Waffen-SS und Polizei – 1 December 1944
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Ehrenwinkel der Alten Kämpfer
- Rank:
- SS-Hauptsturmführer (Captain)
- Awarded on:
- 1934
- Awarded on:
- 1934
Nr. 160.180
- Awarded on:
- 1935
- Period:
- Second World War (1939-1945)
- Awarded on:
- 1938
- Awarded on:
- 1938
- Rank:
- SS-Gruppenführer (Lieutenant General)
- Awarded on:
- January 30th, 1939
- Awarded on:
- 1939
- Rank:
- SS-Gruppenführer (Lieutenant General)
- Awarded on:
- 1939
- Period:
- Second World War (1939-1945)
- Rank:
- SS-Gruppenführer / Generalleutnant der Polizei
- Awarded on:
- 1942
- Period:
- Second World War (1939-1945)
- Rank:
- SS-Gruppenführer / Generalleutnant der Polizei
- Awarded on:
- May 6th, 1942
- Period:
- Second World War (1939-1945)
- Period:
- Second World War (1939-1945)
- Rank:
- SS-Gruppenführer / Generalleutnant der Polizei
- Awarded on:
- January 30th, 1943
- Period:
- Second World War (1939-1945)
- Rank:
- SS-Gruppenführer / Generalleutnant der Polizei
- Awarded on:
- January 30th, 1943
- Period:
- Second World War (1939-1945)
- Rank:
- SS-Obergruppenführer / General der Polizei (Lieutenant-General)
- Unit:
- Chef, RSiHA Berlin
- Awarded on:
- October 22nd, 1943
- Period:
- Second World War (1939-1945)
- Rank:
- SS-Obergruppenführer / General der Polizei (Lieutenant-General)
- Unit:
- Chef des RSHA
- Awarded on:
- October 12th, 1944
The announcement was made public on 15th November 1944 and the presentation was on 9th December 1944.
- Period:
- Second World War (1939-1945)
- Period:
- Second World War (1939-1945)
- Period:
- Second World War (1939-1945)
- Period:
- Second World War (1939-1945)
Sources
- Photo 1: Willi Schumacher Collection
- - Die Ordensträger der Deutschen Wehrmacht (CD), VMD-Verlag GmbH, Osnabrück, 2002
- Patzwall K., Scherzer V., Das Deutsche Kreuz 1941-1945, Geschichte und Inhaber Band II, Verlag Klaus D. Patzwall, Norderstedt, 2001
- Miller, M. Leaders of the SS and German Police, Vol. 2, 2015
- Axis Biographical research
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