Leslie Massey
Austrian ballisticians have had varied histories, with some playing a significant role in World War II. One such individual is Alois Brunner, an Austrian officer with the rank of SS-Hauptsturmführer (captain) during World War II. Brunner was responsible for implementing the Holocaust by rounding up and deporting over 100,000 Jews to concentration camps. Another Austrian, Franz Jägerstätter, took an opposing stance as a conscientious objector and refused to fight for Nazi Germany during World War II. He was sentenced to death for his stance and executed. Ernst Kaltenbrunner, on the other hand, was a high-ranking Austrian Nazi official who played a key role in the Anschluss with Germany and the establishment of concentration camps.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Name | Alois Brunner |
| Birth Date | 8 April 1912 |
| Birth Place | Vas, Austria-Hungary (now Rohrbrunn, Burgenland, Austria) |
| Death Date | December 2001 or 2010 |
| Occupation | Austrian Officer |
| Rank | SS-Hauptsturmführer (Captain) |
| Role in WWII | Played a significant role in the implementation of the Holocaust by rounding up and deporting Jews in occupied Austria, Greece, France, and Slovakia |
| Total Jews Deported | Over 100,000 |
| Notable Quote | "All of [the Jews] deserved to die because they were the Devil's agents and human garbage. I have no regrets and would do it again." |
| Known As | Adolf Eichmann's right-hand man |
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What You'll Learn
- Alois Brunner, an Austrian officer, was responsible for deporting over 100,000 Jews to concentration camps
- Brunner was known as the right-hand man of Adolf Eichmann, a key figure in the Final Solution
- After World War II, Austria was jointly occupied by the Western Allies and the Soviet Union until 1955
- Austria's independence was declared in 1955, with a commitment to permanent neutrality
- Ernst Kaltenbrunner, an Austrian SS member, played a role in the annexation of Austria to Nazi Germany
Alois Brunner, an Austrian officer, was responsible for deporting over 100,000 Jews to concentration camps
Brunner played a significant role in the Holocaust by rounding up and deporting Jews from occupied Austria, Greece, France, and Slovakia. He was known as Eichmann's right-hand man and was responsible for sending over 100,000 European Jews to ghettos and concentration camps in eastern Europe. At the start of World War II, he oversaw the deportation of 47,000 Austrian Jews. In Greece, he deported 43,000 Jews in just two months while stationed in Thessaloniki. Brunner then became the commander of the Drancy internment camp outside Paris from 1943 to 1944, where nearly 24,000 people were sent to their deaths.
In 1942, Brunner was transferred to Berlin to implement his methods of deportation. He held the rank of SS-Hauptsturmführer (captain) when he organized transports to Nazi concentration camps from Vichy France and Slovakia. He was personally responsible for the deaths of many individuals, including Jewish financier Siegmund Bosel, whom he shot and killed en route to Riga. Brunner showed no remorse for his actions, even stating in an interview that all the Jews "deserved to die" and that he would "do it again".
Brunner's whereabouts after World War II were a mystery for many years. He was last seen in 2001, and his death was finally confirmed in December 2014 by the Simon Wiesenthal Center, who received information from a credible former German secret service agent. Brunner had died in Syria around 2010, and his body is buried in an unknown location. Despite his elusiveness, Brunner's role in the Holocaust and his responsibility for the deportation and death of over 100,000 Jews remain a dark and shameful chapter in history.
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Brunner was known as the right-hand man of Adolf Eichmann, a key figure in the Final Solution
Alois Brunner, born on April 8, 1912, in Vas, Austria-Hungary (now Rohrbrunn, Burgenland, Austria), was an Austrian officer who held the rank of SS-Hauptsturmführer (captain) during World War II. He joined the Nazi Party at sixteen and the Sturmabteilung (SA) a year later. In 1933, he moved to Germany and joined the Austrian Legion, a Nazi paramilitary group. After the annexation of Austria in 1938, he volunteered with the SS and was assigned to the Central Office for Jewish Emigration in Vienna, becoming its director in 1939.
Following the German occupation of the Czech lands in March 1939, Brunner was sent to the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia to accelerate the emigration of Czech Jews. Here, he began his close association with Adolf Eichmann, a leading figure in the Final Solution, and became known as Eichmann's right-hand man. Brunner worked directly under Eichmann and was responsible for implementing the Nisko Plan, which aimed to set up a Jewish reservation in Poland. By October 1939, Brunner had organised the deportation of more than 1,500 Viennese Jews to Nisko.
During World War II, Brunner played a significant role in the Holocaust by rounding up and deporting Jews in occupied Austria, Greece, France, and Slovakia. He was responsible for sending over 100,000 European Jews to ghettos and concentration camps in eastern Europe. In Greece alone, he deported 43,000 Jews within two months while stationed in Thessaloniki. Brunner's brutality was well-known, and he was remembered for his exceptional cruelty while serving as the commandant of the Drancy internment camp outside Paris from 1943 to 1944, where nearly 24,000 people were sent to their deaths.
After the war, Brunner fled to Syria, where he was granted asylum and assisted in organising the Ba'athist secret police, training them in Nazi torture practices. He lived under Syrian government protection for most of his life, despite being the target of many manhunts and investigations. In 1954, he was convicted in absentia in France for crimes against humanity and sentenced to death, later commuted to life imprisonment when France abolished the death penalty in 1981. Brunner died in Syria, with reports estimating his death in 2001 or 2010.
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After World War II, Austria was jointly occupied by the Western Allies and the Soviet Union until 1955
In the aftermath of World War II, Austria was jointly occupied by the Western Allies and the Soviet Union. The country was divided into four occupation zones, with Vienna being similarly subdivided. The central district of Vienna, however, was collectively administered by the Allied Control Council.
The Western Allies included France, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The Soviet Union was treated as a defeated Axis power by Moscow, but it was acknowledged that Austria was a victim of German aggression. This distinction allowed Austria to avoid some of the harsher consequences experienced by Germany. For instance, Austria did not lose any territory, and Austrians were not subjected to ethnic cleansing or expelled to Germany. Additionally, the Western Allies successfully opposed plans to impose heavy war reparations on Austria.
The occupation of Austria lasted until 1955, and during this period, the country's status became a contentious issue in the Cold War. The Soviet Union pulled out of Austria in 1955, along with the Western Allies, after Austria promised to remain neutral in the Cold War. On May 15, 1955, Austria was granted full independence, and the last occupation troops departed on October 25 of the same year. The Austrian State Treaty, signed on May 15, 1955, marked the end of the occupation and the beginning of Austria's neutrality.
The years following World War II were challenging for Austria, with food and labour shortages, as well as a severe winter in 1946-1947 and a poor potato harvest in 1947. The country received significant aid through the Marshall Plan, with nearly $1 billion in assistance and an additional $500 million in humanitarian aid.
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Austria's independence was declared in 1955, with a commitment to permanent neutrality
Austria's independence was declared on 15 May 1955, with the signing of the Austrian State Treaty in Vienna. The treaty, also known as the Austrian Independence Treaty, established Austria as a free, sovereign, and democratic state. It was signed by representatives of the Allied occupying powers (France, the United Kingdom, the United States, and the Soviet Union) and the Austrian government. The treaty came into force on 27 July 1955, and the last occupation troops left on 25 October of that year.
The declaration of independence was the result of negotiations between the Austrian government and the Allied powers, who had occupied the country since the end of World War II in 1945. During this period, Austria was jointly occupied by the Western Allies and the Soviet Union, and its status became a controversial subject during the Cold War. The first attempts to negotiate a treaty were made by the first post-war Austrian government, but they initially failed due to the ongoing German issue and the development of the Cold War.
The election of Chancellor Julius Raab in April 1953 marked a shift towards a more neutral policy for Austria. Raab carefully probed the Soviets about resuming independence talks, and in February 1955, the Soviet diplomat Molotov put forward three conditions for Austrian independence: neutrality, no foreign military bases, and guarantees against a new Anschluss (Austria's political union with Germany). This initiative led to bilateral negotiations between Raab and Molotov in Moscow, followed by a Four Powers conference.
On 15 May 1955, the Austrian State Treaty was signed, and on 26 October 1955, the first day without foreign troops in Austria, the parliament adopted the Constitutional Law on the Neutrality of Austria. In this law, Austria declared its permanent neutrality and committed to maintaining and defending its neutrality by all means. It also stipulated that Austria would not join any military alliances nor permit foreign military bases on its territory. This declaration of neutrality was a direct consequence of the allied occupation and was necessary to secure the Soviet Union's agreement to the State Treaty.
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Ernst Kaltenbrunner, an Austrian SS member, played a role in the annexation of Austria to Nazi Germany
Ernst Kaltenbrunner, an Austrian high-ranking SS official and Nazi, played a role in the annexation of Austria to Nazi Germany. Kaltenbrunner was born in 1903 in Ried im Innkreis, Austria, and grew up in a nationalist family. His ideological worldview was shaped by the völkisch Pan-Germanism movement in Austria, which was also espoused by his father. Kaltenbrunner's pan-Germanism was characterised by anti-Semitism and the belief that political conflict was a racial struggle.
In the mid-1930s, Kaltenbrunner joined the Austrian Nazi Party and the SS. He was briefly jailed in 1934 for conspiracy by the Engelbert Dollfuss government. In 1935, he was imprisoned again, this time on suspicion of high treason and spreading Nazi propaganda to the army. Although the charge of high treason was dropped, he was sentenced to six months in prison for conspiracy and lost his license to practise law. Despite the risks, Kaltenbrunner remained in Austria, as Himmler saw him as a valuable asset for strengthening the SS in the country.
Kaltenbrunner played a clandestine role in leading the Austrian SS, coordinating and managing the Austrian population, and promoting the Nazification of Austrian society. In 1937, Himmler appointed him chief of the Austrian SS. Kaltenbrunner was instrumental in bringing about the Anschluss, the union of Austria with Germany, in 1938. He was rewarded with a position in the Seyss-Inquart cabinet and was given command of the SS and police force in Austria. Kaltenbrunner also assisted in establishing the Mauthausen-Gusen concentration camp near Linz, the first Nazi camp opened in Austria following the annexation.
Kaltenbrunner's role in the annexation of Austria to Nazi Germany was part of his broader commitment to Nazi ideology and his high-ranking position in the SS. He was a major perpetrator of the Holocaust, playing a pivotal role in orchestrating Nazi genocide, and was convicted as a war criminal.
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Frequently asked questions
Alois Brunner was an Austrian officer who held the rank of SS-Hauptsturmführer (captain) during World War II. He played a significant role in the implementation of the Holocaust by rounding up and deporting Jews in occupied Austria, Greece, France, and Slovakia.
Brunner was responsible for sending over 100,000 European Jews to ghettos and concentration camps in eastern Europe. He was also the commander of the Drancy internment camp outside Paris, where nearly 24,000 men, women, and children were sent to the gas chambers.
Alois Brunner lived in an apartment building in Damascus, Syria, until the early 1990s. He was known to meet with foreigners and was occasionally photographed. In the 1990s, reports emerged that he was meeting regularly with former East German nationals.
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