World War II Database

Contributor: C. Peter Chen

ww2dbaseErnst Kaltenbrunner was born in Ried im Innkreis, Austria to an attorney. He received a law degree in 1926 and worked as a lawyer in Linz and Salzburg. In 1932, he joined the Austrian Nazi Party. He quickly became the leader of his district, then was promoted to the office of SS Division VIII as its legal advisor. He was jailed a number of times for being a conspirator against the Austrian state, but after the German annexation of Austria he, by now the leader of the Austrian SS, became a Nazi hero and was given the rank of SS Gruppenführer. In Apr 1941, he was promoted the Major General of the Police. On 30 Jan 1943, he replaced the assassinated Reinhard Heydrich as the Chief of the RSHA, which included the Security Police and the SD. On 15 Nov 1944, he was awarded the Knights Cross of the War Merit Cross with Swords. After the war, he was charged war crimes, mass murder, genocide, execution of political prisoners, and execution of captured enemy soldiers. He was found guilty and was executed by hanging at about 0115 hours on 16 Oct 1946. His remains were cremated, and the ashes were scattered in a tributary of the River Isar.