Herbert Kappler
Encyclopedia
Herbert Kappler was the head of German police and security services in Rome
during World War II
. He rose to the rank of Obersturmbannführer
in the Sicherheitsdienst
and was responsible for the Ardeatine massacre
as well as dealing with Vatican City
over its neutrality.
in what was then the German Empire
. During his childhood, Kappler witnessed World War I
, and came of age in the Weimar Republic
during the 1920s. Kappler attended four years of grammar school (Volksschule
) followed by four more of high school and graduated in 1925. He next attended a technical college and spent seven semesters studying electrical engineering
. By 1929, he was a certified electrician
, still living in Stuttgart.
Kappler's activities between 1929 and 1931 are little known, except that he was living in Stuttgart, occasionally performing work as an electrician. Living in a major city such as Stuttgart, Kappler was a witness to the chaos of the Great Depression
, the expansion of the Freikorps
, and the rise of the Nazi Party. In 1931, Herbert Kappler formally became a Nazi Party member.
in the Sturmabteilung
(SA) and served as an SA-Mann
from August 1, 1931 to December 1, 1932. His Nazi Party membership number
was 594,899.
Upon leaving the SA, Kappler was accepted as a prospective candidate into the Schutzstaffel
(SS) and appointed to the entry level probation rank of SS-Anwärter
. He underwent six months of indoctrination training, and was sworn into the SS on May 8, 1933. During Kappler's probationary period, Adolf Hitler
became Chancellor of Germany
, meaning that Kappler did not have the "honor" of full SS membership prior to the Nazis' assumption of power. Even so, due to his membership in the SA and Nazi Party dating from 1931, Kappler was considered an Alter Kämpfer and awarded the Honour Chevron for the Old Guard
in 1934.
After serving as an SS-Anwärter from December 1932 to May 1933, Kappler was appointed an SS-Mann and assigned the SS membership number 55,211. His first assignment was as a member of an Allgemeine-SS formation (the 13th SS-Standarte
), operating out of Stuttgart, performing part time duties as a member of the general SS.
Kappler was also in Stuttgart during the Night of the Long Knives
, but was at this time too junior in the SS to significantly participate. Towards the end of 1934, on September 29, he married Leonore Janns who was the same age as Kappler (27 at the time) and came from the city of Heilbronn
. The two lived at an address on Tübingern, Kurzestrasse 15, before later moving to an apartment listed at Stuttgart-Degerloch, Reutlingerstrasse 98.
In 1935, as part of Germany's rearming programs, Kappler was called up to serve in the Wehrmacht
. Since he was at this time considered only a general SS member, not assigned to permanent full time duties, Kappler was not exempt from the draft
and he became a Schütze
in the Reichswehr
on June 11, 1935. Kappler performed active training duty over three separate periods from June 1935 to September 1936, with final release on September 27, 1936 with the rank of Feldwebel
der Reserve. Kappler was never discharged and technically held this rank during World War II
, although by that time Kappler was an active full time SS member and exempt from further military service. Kappler was also never affiliated with the Waffen-SS
and spent the war performing "behind the lines" police and security duty.
In mid 1935, Kappler applied for transfer to the full time SS and submitted an application to join the Sicherheitspolizei
(Secret Police). In January 1936, he was promoted to the rank of SS-Scharführer
(Sergeant
) and assigned to duty at the Gestapo
main office of Stuttgart (Stapoleitstelle Stuttgart). Over the next year, Kappler began to be noticed by his superiors and at this time was first introduced to Reinhard Heydrich
(although some sources state Kappler knew Heydrich for some time before). In 1937, Kappler (now an SS-Oberscharführer
(Staff Sergeant)) was sent by his Gestapo superiors to attend the Führerschule der Sicherheitspolzei (Leadership School of the Secret Police) in Berlin
from which he graduated in the summer of 1937 as a certified Kriminalkommissar (Criminal Commissioner). This set the stage for further advancement and Kappler was commissioned a Gestapo officer, with the rank of SS-Untersturmführer
(Second Lieutenant), on November 9, 1938 (the traditional anniversary of the Munich Beer Hall Putsch
).
(Captain) out of the Stuttgart Gestapo main office. From 1939 to 1940, he was briefly deployed to Poland
and participated in various Einsatzgruppen
actions before serving a further tour as a uniformed Gestapo officer in occupied Belgium
where he acted to suppress resistance to German rule. In 1941, after the implementation of "Final Solution" directives resulting from the Wannsee Conference
, Kappler began to coordinate Jewish round-ups and deportations to death camps in eastern Europe.
In mid 1941, now an SS-Major, Kappler was selected as a liaison officer to the government of Benito Mussolini
as well as a security advisor to the Fascist police. His appointment to Italy was the result of his secret police experience, connections with the SS leadership (Reinhard Heydrich in particular), as well as a fluency in the Italian language
.
Following the armistice
between Italy and the Allied Forces on September 8, 1943, the German military occupied Rome and Kappler was ordered to serve as the Chief of the Secret Police and Security Services
(Oberbefehlshaber des Sicherheitspolizei und SD) for all SS and police units
deployed in Rome
. He was promoted to SS-Obersturmbannführer (Lieutenant Colonel) on September 12 and quickly assumed his new duties operating out of the Italian capital.
. Kappler was next entrusted with Jewish roundups for transportation to Auschwitz; in his first action, 1,007 Italian Jews were deported with only 16 surviving, and Kappler would later arrange the deportation of a further ten thousand Roman Jews
, nearly all of whom would eventually perish in Nazi gas chamber
s.
By early 1944, Kappler was the highest representative of the Reichssicherheitshauptamt
(Reich Security Main Office) in Rome and answered directly to both the military governorship, under Luftwaffe
Major General
Kurt Mälzer
, as well as the SS chain of command under the Supreme SS and Police Leader of Italy
, SS-Obergruppenführer
Karl Wolff
. Kappler's main activities during this period involved suppressing resistance groups, rounding up "enemies of the state", and enforcing anti-Jewish measures, conducting Jewish ghetto raids, and deportations to extermination camps.
As the Allied armies invaded Italy
and began moving north towards Rome, Kappler became significantly involved in hunting suspected Allied agents as well as Allied prisoners-of-war
which had escaped Italian POW camps after the Italian Army
capitulated. In these measures, Kappler came into direct conflict with the Vatican
, which was highly suspected of harboring Allied fugitives and escaped prisoners, even though the Vatican under Pope Pius XII
was technically neutral. A particular adversary of Kappler's in this respect was Monsignor Hugh O'Flaherty
, whose activities helping Jewish fugitives and Allied prisoners escape Rome led to Kappler having him targeted for assassination. Paradoxically, after the war Kappler and O'Flaherty would become friends of sorts.
One of the most notorious actions Kappler undertook while in Rome was the organization of the Ardeatine massacre
where over three hundred Italian civilians were killed on March 24, 1944 in collective punishment
for an attack by Resistance fighters against an SS formation in Rome.
, did manage to escape and it was not until 1996 that Priebke would face justice.
In 1947, Kappler was tried by an Italian military tribunal
and sentenced to life imprisonment in the military prison of Gaeta
. Kappler and his first wife divorced while Kappler was serving his sentence, but he was married again to Anneliese Kappler, a nurse who had carried on a lengthy correspondence with Kappler before marrying him in a prison wedding ceremony in 1972. By this time Kappler had also converted to Catholicism
, partly under the influence of his war-time opponent, the Vatican diplomat Mgr Hugh O'Flaherty
, who had often visited Kappler in prison, discussing literature and religion with him.
By 1975, at the age of sixty-eight, Kappler was diagnosed with terminal cancer and he was moved to a military hospital in Rome in 1976. Appeals by both his wife and the West German government
to release him were denied by Italian authorities.
Because of Kappler's deteriorating condition and his wife's nursing skills, Anneliese Kappler had been allowed almost unlimited access to him during his time in the Italian hospital. On a prison visit in August 1977, Kappler's wife carried him out in a large suitcase (Kappler weighed less than 105 pounds at the time) and escaped to West Germany
, assisted by apparently unwitting carabinieri
.
The Italian
s unsuccessfully demanded that Kappler be returned, but the West Germany authorities refused to extradite him and also did not prosecute Kappler for any further war crimes, reportedly due to his ill health.
Kappler died on February 9, 1978, at home in Soltau
at the age of 70.
Dates of rank
Awards
Other service
.
Kappler was also portrayed by Christopher Plummer
in the 1983 TV movie The Scarlet and The Black
, which detailed Kappler's first meeting with Monsignor Hugh O'Flaherty.
Kappler's post-war time seeking asylum in the Vatican, and his resultant friendship with his former enemy Monsignor O'Flaherty, was dramatised in the radio play The Scarlet Pimpernel
of the Vatican by Robin Glendinning. The radio play was first broadcast on November 30, 2006 on UK BBC Radio 4
.
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. He rose to the rank of Obersturmbannführer
Obersturmbannführer
Obersturmbannführer was a paramilitary Nazi Party rank used by both the SA and the SS. It was created in May 1933 to fill the need for an additional field grade officer rank above Sturmbannführer as the SA expanded. It became an SS rank at the same time...
in the Sicherheitsdienst
Sicherheitsdienst
Sicherheitsdienst , full title Sicherheitsdienst des Reichsführers-SS, or SD, was the intelligence agency of the SS and the Nazi Party in Nazi Germany. The organization was the first Nazi Party intelligence organization to be established and was often considered a "sister organization" with the...
and was responsible for the Ardeatine massacre
Ardeatine massacre
The Fosse Ardeatine massacre was a mass execution carried out in Rome on 24 March 1944 by German occupation troops during the Second World War as a reprisal for a partisan attack conducted on the previous day in central Rome....
as well as dealing with Vatican City
Vatican City
Vatican City , or Vatican City State, in Italian officially Stato della Città del Vaticano , which translates literally as State of the City of the Vatican, is a landlocked sovereign city-state whose territory consists of a walled enclave within the city of Rome, Italy. It has an area of...
over its neutrality.
Early life
Kappler was born on September 23, 1907, to a middle class family in the city of StuttgartStuttgart
Stuttgart is the capital of the state of Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. The sixth-largest city in Germany, Stuttgart has a population of 600,038 while the metropolitan area has a population of 5.3 million ....
in what was then the German Empire
German Empire
The German Empire refers to Germany during the "Second Reich" period from the unification of Germany and proclamation of Wilhelm I as German Emperor on 18 January 1871, to 1918, when it became a federal republic after defeat in World War I and the abdication of the Emperor, Wilhelm II.The German...
. During his childhood, Kappler witnessed World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, and came of age in the Weimar Republic
Weimar Republic
The Weimar Republic is the name given by historians to the parliamentary republic established in 1919 in Germany to replace the imperial form of government...
during the 1920s. Kappler attended four years of grammar school (Volksschule
Volksschule
A Volksschule was an 18th century system of state-supported primary schools established in the Habsburg Austrian Empire and Prussia . Attendance was supposedly compulsory, but a 1781 census reveals that only one fourth of school-age children attended. At the time, this was one of the few examples...
) followed by four more of high school and graduated in 1925. He next attended a technical college and spent seven semesters studying electrical engineering
Electrical engineering
Electrical engineering is a field of engineering that generally deals with the study and application of electricity, electronics and electromagnetism. The field first became an identifiable occupation in the late nineteenth century after commercialization of the electric telegraph and electrical...
. By 1929, he was a certified electrician
Electrician
An electrician is a tradesman specializing in electrical wiring of buildings, stationary machines and related equipment. Electricians may be employed in the installation of new electrical components or the maintenance and repair of existing electrical infrastructure. Electricians may also...
, still living in Stuttgart.
Kappler's activities between 1929 and 1931 are little known, except that he was living in Stuttgart, occasionally performing work as an electrician. Living in a major city such as Stuttgart, Kappler was a witness to the chaos of the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
, the expansion of the Freikorps
Freikorps
Freikorps are German volunteer military or paramilitary units. The term was originally applied to voluntary armies formed in German lands from the middle of the 18th century onwards. Between World War I and World War II the term was also used for the paramilitary organizations that arose during...
, and the rise of the Nazi Party. In 1931, Herbert Kappler formally became a Nazi Party member.
Early Nazi Party and SS membership
Herbert Kappler joined the Nazi Party on August 1, 1931 at the age of twenty three. At the same time, he became a stormtrooperStormtrooper
Stormtroopers were specialist soldiers of the German Army in World War I. In the last years of the war, Stoßtruppen were trained to fight with "infiltration tactics", part of the Germans' new method of attack on enemy trenches...
in the Sturmabteilung
Sturmabteilung
The Sturmabteilung functioned as a paramilitary organization of the National Socialist German Workers' Party . It played a key role in Adolf Hitler's rise to power in the 1920s and 1930s...
(SA) and served as an SA-Mann
Mann (military rank)
Mann , was a paramilitary rank used by several Nazi Party paramilitary organizations between 1925 and 1945. The rank is most often associated with the SS, and also as a rank of the SA where Mann was the lowest enlisted rank and was the equivalent of a Private.In 1938, with the rise of the...
from August 1, 1931 to December 1, 1932. His Nazi Party membership number
Service number
A service number is an identification code used to identify a person within a large group. Service numbers are most often associated with the military; however, they may be used in civilian term as well...
was 594,899.
Upon leaving the SA, Kappler was accepted as a prospective candidate into the Schutzstaffel
Schutzstaffel
The Schutzstaffel |Sig runes]]) was a major paramilitary organization under Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party. Built upon the Nazi ideology, the SS under Heinrich Himmler's command was responsible for many of the crimes against humanity during World War II...
(SS) and appointed to the entry level probation rank of SS-Anwärter
Anwärter
Anwärter is a German title which translates as “Candidate”. In modern day Germany, the title of Anwärter is typically used by those applying for employment and also as a designation for members of the Bundeswehr who are under consideration for a leadership assignment.During the Third Reich,...
. He underwent six months of indoctrination training, and was sworn into the SS on May 8, 1933. During Kappler's probationary period, Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
became Chancellor of Germany
Chancellor of Germany
The Chancellor of Germany is, under the German 1949 constitution, the head of government of Germany...
, meaning that Kappler did not have the "honor" of full SS membership prior to the Nazis' assumption of power. Even so, due to his membership in the SA and Nazi Party dating from 1931, Kappler was considered an Alter Kämpfer and awarded the Honour Chevron for the Old Guard
Honour Chevron for the Old Guard
The Honour Chevron for the Old Guard, or in German Ehrenwinkel für Alte Kämpfer, was a political decoration of the Nazi Party in Germany. It was authorised in February 1934, as a silver chevron to be worn on the upper right arm, by all members of the SS, who had joined the SS, NSDAP or any other...
in 1934.
After serving as an SS-Anwärter from December 1932 to May 1933, Kappler was appointed an SS-Mann and assigned the SS membership number 55,211. His first assignment was as a member of an Allgemeine-SS formation (the 13th SS-Standarte
13th SS-Standarte
The 13th SS-Standarte was a regimental formation of the Allgemeine-SS first founded in the year 1927. During its first years of existence, the Standarte was one of a handful of regional SS-Gaus and was headquartered in the city of Stuttgart...
), operating out of Stuttgart, performing part time duties as a member of the general SS.
Kappler was also in Stuttgart during the Night of the Long Knives
Night of the Long Knives
The Night of the Long Knives , sometimes called "Operation Hummingbird " or in Germany the "Röhm-Putsch," was a purge that took place in Nazi Germany between June 30 and July 2, 1934, when the Nazi regime carried out a series of political murders...
, but was at this time too junior in the SS to significantly participate. Towards the end of 1934, on September 29, he married Leonore Janns who was the same age as Kappler (27 at the time) and came from the city of Heilbronn
Heilbronn
Heilbronn is a city in northern Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is completely surrounded by Heilbronn County and with approximately 123.000 residents, it is the sixth-largest city in the state....
. The two lived at an address on Tübingern, Kurzestrasse 15, before later moving to an apartment listed at Stuttgart-Degerloch, Reutlingerstrasse 98.
In 1935, as part of Germany's rearming programs, Kappler was called up to serve in the Wehrmacht
Wehrmacht
The Wehrmacht – from , to defend and , the might/power) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the Heer , the Kriegsmarine and the Luftwaffe .-Origin and use of the term:...
. Since he was at this time considered only a general SS member, not assigned to permanent full time duties, Kappler was not exempt from the draft
Conscription
Conscription is the compulsory enlistment of people in some sort of national service, most often military service. Conscription dates back to antiquity and continues in some countries to the present day under various names...
and he became a Schütze
Schütze
Schütze in German means "shooter" or "rifleman". It also occasionally occurs as a surname, as Schütz, as in the opera Der Freischütz. The word itself is derived from the German word schützen, meaning to protect, or to guard...
in the Reichswehr
Reichswehr
The Reichswehr formed the military organisation of Germany from 1919 until 1935, when it was renamed the Wehrmacht ....
on June 11, 1935. Kappler performed active training duty over three separate periods from June 1935 to September 1936, with final release on September 27, 1936 with the rank of Feldwebel
Feldwebel
Feldwebel is a German military rank which has existed since at least the 18th century with usage as a title dating to the Middle Ages. The word Feldwebel is usually translated as sergeant being rated OR-6 in the NATO rank comparison scale, equivalent to the British Army Sergeant and the US Army...
der Reserve. Kappler was never discharged and technically held this rank during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, although by that time Kappler was an active full time SS member and exempt from further military service. Kappler was also never affiliated with the Waffen-SS
Waffen-SS
The Waffen-SS was a multi-ethnic and multi-national military force of the Third Reich. It constituted the armed wing of the Schutzstaffel or SS, an organ of the Nazi Party. The Waffen-SS saw action throughout World War II and grew from three regiments to over 38 divisions, and served alongside...
and spent the war performing "behind the lines" police and security duty.
In mid 1935, Kappler applied for transfer to the full time SS and submitted an application to join the Sicherheitspolizei
Sicherheitspolizei
The Sicherheitspolizei , often abbreviated as SiPo, was a term used in Nazi Germany to describe the state political and criminal investigation security agencies. It was made up by the combined forces of the Gestapo and the Kripo between 1936 and 1939...
(Secret Police). In January 1936, he was promoted to the rank of SS-Scharführer
Scharführer
Scharführer was a Nazi Party title that was used by several paramilitary organizations from 1925 to 1945. Translated as “Squad Leader”, the title of Scharführer can trace its origins to the First World War, where a Scharführer was often a Sergeant or Corporal who commanded special action or shock...
(Sergeant
Sergeant
Sergeant is a rank used in some form by most militaries, police forces, and other uniformed organizations around the world. Its origins are the Latin serviens, "one who serves", through the French term Sergent....
) and assigned to duty at the Gestapo
Gestapo
The Gestapo was the official secret police of Nazi Germany. Beginning on 20 April 1934, it was under the administration of the SS leader Heinrich Himmler in his position as Chief of German Police...
main office of Stuttgart (Stapoleitstelle Stuttgart). Over the next year, Kappler began to be noticed by his superiors and at this time was first introduced to Reinhard Heydrich
Reinhard Heydrich
Reinhard Tristan Eugen Heydrich , also known as The Hangman, was a high-ranking German Nazi official.He was SS-Obergruppenführer and General der Polizei, chief of the Reich Main Security Office and Stellvertretender Reichsprotektor of Bohemia and Moravia...
(although some sources state Kappler knew Heydrich for some time before). In 1937, Kappler (now an SS-Oberscharführer
Oberscharführer
Oberscharführer was a Nazi Party paramilitary rank that existed between the years of 1932 and 1945. Translated as “Senior Squad Leader”, Oberscharführer was first used as a rank of the Sturmabteilung and was created due to an expansion of the enlisted positions required by growing SA membership...
(Staff Sergeant)) was sent by his Gestapo superiors to attend the Führerschule der Sicherheitspolzei (Leadership School of the Secret Police) in Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
from which he graduated in the summer of 1937 as a certified Kriminalkommissar (Criminal Commissioner). This set the stage for further advancement and Kappler was commissioned a Gestapo officer, with the rank of SS-Untersturmführer
Untersturmführer
Untersturmführer was a paramilitary rank of the German Schutzstaffel first created in July 1934. The rank can trace its origins to the older SA rank of Sturmführer which had existed since the founding of the SA in 1921...
(Second Lieutenant), on November 9, 1938 (the traditional anniversary of the Munich Beer Hall Putsch
Beer Hall Putsch
The Beer Hall Putsch was a failed attempt at revolution that occurred between the evening of 8 November and the early afternoon of 9 November 1923, when Nazi Party leader Adolf Hitler, Generalquartiermeister Erich Ludendorff, and other heads of the Kampfbund unsuccessfully tried to seize power...
).
World War II
Upon the outbreak of World War II, in September 1939, Kappler was serving as an SS-HauptsturmführerHauptsturmführer
Hauptsturmführer was a Nazi rank of the SS which was used between the years of 1934 and 1945. The rank of Hauptsturmführer was a mid-grade company level officer and was the equivalent of a Captain in the German Army and also the equivalent of captain in foreign armies...
(Captain) out of the Stuttgart Gestapo main office. From 1939 to 1940, he was briefly deployed to Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
and participated in various Einsatzgruppen
Einsatzgruppen
Einsatzgruppen were SS paramilitary death squads that were responsible for mass killings, typically by shooting, of Jews in particular, but also significant numbers of other population groups and political categories...
actions before serving a further tour as a uniformed Gestapo officer in occupied Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
where he acted to suppress resistance to German rule. In 1941, after the implementation of "Final Solution" directives resulting from the Wannsee Conference
Wannsee Conference
The Wannsee Conference was a meeting of senior officials of the Nazi German regime, held in the Berlin suburb of Wannsee on 20 January 1942. The purpose of the conference was to inform administrative leaders of Departments responsible for various policies relating to Jews, that Reinhard Heydrich...
, Kappler began to coordinate Jewish round-ups and deportations to death camps in eastern Europe.
In mid 1941, now an SS-Major, Kappler was selected as a liaison officer to the government of Benito Mussolini
Benito Mussolini
Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini was an Italian politician who led the National Fascist Party and is credited with being one of the key figures in the creation of Fascism....
as well as a security advisor to the Fascist police. His appointment to Italy was the result of his secret police experience, connections with the SS leadership (Reinhard Heydrich in particular), as well as a fluency in the Italian language
Italian language
Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...
.
Following the armistice
Armistice with Italy
The Armistice with Italy was an armistice signed on September 3 and publicly declared on September 8, 1943, during World War II, between Italy and the Allied armed forces, who were then occupying the southern end of the country, entailing the capitulation of Italy...
between Italy and the Allied Forces on September 8, 1943, the German military occupied Rome and Kappler was ordered to serve as the Chief of the Secret Police and Security Services
Sicherheitsdienst
Sicherheitsdienst , full title Sicherheitsdienst des Reichsführers-SS, or SD, was the intelligence agency of the SS and the Nazi Party in Nazi Germany. The organization was the first Nazi Party intelligence organization to be established and was often considered a "sister organization" with the...
(Oberbefehlshaber des Sicherheitspolizei und SD) for all SS and police units
Ordnungspolizei
The Ordnungspolizei or Orpo were the uniformed regular police force in Nazi Germany between 1936 and 1945. It was increasingly absorbed into the Nazi police system. Owing to their green uniforms, they were also referred to as Grüne Polizei...
deployed in Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
. He was promoted to SS-Obersturmbannführer (Lieutenant Colonel) on September 12 and quickly assumed his new duties operating out of the Italian capital.
Chief of Police in Rome
Kappler's first action as head of German security forces in Rome was to help plan the rescue of Benito Mussolini by the SS special forces, a feat which was accomplished by Otto SkorzenyOtto Skorzeny
Otto Skorzeny was an SS-Obersturmbannführer in the German Waffen-SS during World War II. After fighting on the Eastern Front, he was chosen as the field commander to carry out the rescue mission that freed the deposed Italian dictator Benito Mussolini from captivity...
. Kappler was next entrusted with Jewish roundups for transportation to Auschwitz; in his first action, 1,007 Italian Jews were deported with only 16 surviving, and Kappler would later arrange the deportation of a further ten thousand Roman Jews
History of the Jews in Italy
The history of the Jews in Italy goes back over two thousand years. Jews have been present in Italy from the Roman period until the present.-Antiquity:-Pre-Christian Rome:...
, nearly all of whom would eventually perish in Nazi gas chamber
Gas chamber
A gas chamber is an apparatus for killing humans or animals with gas, consisting of a sealed chamber into which a poisonous or asphyxiant gas is introduced. The most commonly used poisonous agent is hydrogen cyanide; carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide have also been used...
s.
By early 1944, Kappler was the highest representative of the Reichssicherheitshauptamt
RSHA
The RSHA, or Reichssicherheitshauptamt was an organization subordinate to Heinrich Himmler in his dual capacities as Chef der Deutschen Polizei and Reichsführer-SS...
(Reich Security Main Office) in Rome and answered directly to both the military governorship, under Luftwaffe
Luftwaffe
Luftwaffe is a generic German term for an air force. It is also the official name for two of the four historic German air forces, the Wehrmacht air arm founded in 1935 and disbanded in 1946; and the current Bundeswehr air arm founded in 1956....
Major General
Major General
Major general or major-general is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. A major general is a high-ranking officer, normally subordinate to the rank of lieutenant general and senior to the ranks of brigadier and brigadier general...
Kurt Mälzer
Kurt Mälzer
Kurt Mälzer was a General of the German Luftwaffe during World War II. In 1944, Mälzer was appointed the military commander of the city of Rome, under the overall command of Field Marshal Albert Kesselring...
, as well as the SS chain of command under the Supreme SS and Police Leader of Italy
SS and Police Leader
SS and Police Leader was a title for senior Nazi officials that commanded large units of the SS, of Gestapo and of the regular German police during and prior to World War II.Three levels of subordination were established for bearers of this title:...
, SS-Obergruppenführer
Obergruppenführer
Obergruppenführer was a Nazi Party paramilitary rank that was first created in 1932 as a rank of the SA and until 1942 it was the highest SS rank inferior only to Reichsführer-SS...
Karl Wolff
Karl Wolff
Karl Friedrich Otto Wolff was a high-ranking member of the Nazi Schutzstaffel , ultimately holding the rank of SS-Obergruppenführer and General of the Waffen-SS. He became Chief of Personal Staff to the Reichsführer and SS Liaison Officer to Hitler until his replacement in 1943...
. Kappler's main activities during this period involved suppressing resistance groups, rounding up "enemies of the state", and enforcing anti-Jewish measures, conducting Jewish ghetto raids, and deportations to extermination camps.
As the Allied armies invaded Italy
Allied invasion of Italy
The Allied invasion of Italy was the Allied landing on mainland Italy on September 3, 1943, by General Harold Alexander's 15th Army Group during the Second World War. The operation followed the successful invasion of Sicily during the Italian Campaign...
and began moving north towards Rome, Kappler became significantly involved in hunting suspected Allied agents as well as Allied prisoners-of-war
Prisoner of war
A prisoner of war or enemy prisoner of war is a person, whether civilian or combatant, who is held in custody by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict...
which had escaped Italian POW camps after the Italian Army
Italian Army
The Italian Army is the ground defence force of the Italian Armed Forces. It is all-volunteer force of active-duty personnel, numbering 108,355 in 2010. Its best-known combat vehicles are the Dardo infantry fighting vehicle, the Centauro tank destroyer and the Ariete tank, and among its aircraft...
capitulated. In these measures, Kappler came into direct conflict with the Vatican
Holy See
The Holy See is the episcopal jurisdiction of the Catholic Church in Rome, in which its Bishop is commonly known as the Pope. It is the preeminent episcopal see of the Catholic Church, forming the central government of the Church. As such, diplomatically, and in other spheres the Holy See acts and...
, which was highly suspected of harboring Allied fugitives and escaped prisoners, even though the Vatican under Pope Pius XII
Pope Pius XII
The Venerable Pope Pius XII , born Eugenio Maria Giuseppe Giovanni Pacelli , reigned as Pope, head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of Vatican City State, from 2 March 1939 until his death in 1958....
was technically neutral. A particular adversary of Kappler's in this respect was Monsignor Hugh O'Flaherty
Hugh O'Flaherty
Monsignor Hugh O'Flaherty, CBE was an Irish Roman Catholic priest and senior official of the Roman Curia. During World War II, he was responsible for saving 6,500 Allied soldiers and Jews...
, whose activities helping Jewish fugitives and Allied prisoners escape Rome led to Kappler having him targeted for assassination. Paradoxically, after the war Kappler and O'Flaherty would become friends of sorts.
One of the most notorious actions Kappler undertook while in Rome was the organization of the Ardeatine massacre
Ardeatine massacre
The Fosse Ardeatine massacre was a mass execution carried out in Rome on 24 March 1944 by German occupation troops during the Second World War as a reprisal for a partisan attack conducted on the previous day in central Rome....
where over three hundred Italian civilians were killed on March 24, 1944 in collective punishment
Collective punishment
Collective punishment is the punishment of a group of people as a result of the behavior of one or more other individuals or groups. The punished group may often have no direct association with the other individuals or groups, or direct control over their actions...
for an attack by Resistance fighters against an SS formation in Rome.
Arrest and Later Life
As Rome fell to Allied forces, Kappler unsuccessfully tried to seek refuge in the Vatican, but he was arrested by British authorities in 1945 and later turned over to the Italian government in 1947. Kappler's second in command in Rome, SS-Captain Erich PriebkeErich Priebke
Erich Priebke is a former Hauptsturmführer in the Waffen SS. In 1996 he was convicted of war crimes in Italy, for participating in the massacre at the Ardeatine caves in Rome, on March 24, 1944...
, did manage to escape and it was not until 1996 that Priebke would face justice.
In 1947, Kappler was tried by an Italian military tribunal
Military tribunal
A military tribunal is a kind of military court designed to try members of enemy forces during wartime, operating outside the scope of conventional criminal and civil proceedings. The judges are military officers and fulfill the role of jurors...
and sentenced to life imprisonment in the military prison of Gaeta
Gaeta
Gaeta is a city and comune in the province of Latina, in Lazio, central Italy. Set on a promontory stretching towards the Gulf of Gaeta, it is 120 km from Rome and 80 km from Naples....
. Kappler and his first wife divorced while Kappler was serving his sentence, but he was married again to Anneliese Kappler, a nurse who had carried on a lengthy correspondence with Kappler before marrying him in a prison wedding ceremony in 1972. By this time Kappler had also converted to Catholicism
Catholicism
Catholicism is a broad term for the body of the Catholic faith, its theologies and doctrines, its liturgical, ethical, spiritual, and behavioral characteristics, as well as a religious people as a whole....
, partly under the influence of his war-time opponent, the Vatican diplomat Mgr Hugh O'Flaherty
Hugh O'Flaherty
Monsignor Hugh O'Flaherty, CBE was an Irish Roman Catholic priest and senior official of the Roman Curia. During World War II, he was responsible for saving 6,500 Allied soldiers and Jews...
, who had often visited Kappler in prison, discussing literature and religion with him.
By 1975, at the age of sixty-eight, Kappler was diagnosed with terminal cancer and he was moved to a military hospital in Rome in 1976. Appeals by both his wife and the West German government
West Germany
West Germany is the common English, but not official, name for the Federal Republic of Germany or FRG in the period between its creation in May 1949 to German reunification on 3 October 1990....
to release him were denied by Italian authorities.
Because of Kappler's deteriorating condition and his wife's nursing skills, Anneliese Kappler had been allowed almost unlimited access to him during his time in the Italian hospital. On a prison visit in August 1977, Kappler's wife carried him out in a large suitcase (Kappler weighed less than 105 pounds at the time) and escaped to West Germany
West Germany
West Germany is the common English, but not official, name for the Federal Republic of Germany or FRG in the period between its creation in May 1949 to German reunification on 3 October 1990....
, assisted by apparently unwitting carabinieri
Carabinieri
The Carabinieri is the national gendarmerie of Italy, policing both military and civilian populations, and is a branch of the armed forces.-Early history:...
.
The Italian
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
s unsuccessfully demanded that Kappler be returned, but the West Germany authorities refused to extradite him and also did not prosecute Kappler for any further war crimes, reportedly due to his ill health.
Kappler died on February 9, 1978, at home in Soltau
Soltau
- Middle Ages :The region of the Lüneburg Heath had already been settled by the start of the New Stone Age about 4,000 years ago. The Soltau area was initially occupied by a few individual farms. The parish of Soltau was probably founded around 830 and the first wooden church Sante Johannis...
at the age of 70.
Summary of SS career
- SS number: 55,211
- Nazi Party number: 594,899
- Primary positions: GestapoGestapoThe Gestapo was the official secret police of Nazi Germany. Beginning on 20 April 1934, it was under the administration of the SS leader Heinrich Himmler in his position as Chief of German Police...
, SicherheitspolizeiSicherheitspolizeiThe Sicherheitspolizei , often abbreviated as SiPo, was a term used in Nazi Germany to describe the state political and criminal investigation security agencies. It was made up by the combined forces of the Gestapo and the Kripo between 1936 and 1939...
, RSHARSHAThe RSHA, or Reichssicherheitshauptamt was an organization subordinate to Heinrich Himmler in his dual capacities as Chef der Deutschen Polizei and Reichsführer-SS... - Waffen-SS service: None
Dates of rank
- SS-AnwärterAnwärterAnwärter is a German title which translates as “Candidate”. In modern day Germany, the title of Anwärter is typically used by those applying for employment and also as a designation for members of the Bundeswehr who are under consideration for a leadership assignment.During the Third Reich,...
: December 1, 1932 - SS-MannMann (military rank)Mann , was a paramilitary rank used by several Nazi Party paramilitary organizations between 1925 and 1945. The rank is most often associated with the SS, and also as a rank of the SA where Mann was the lowest enlisted rank and was the equivalent of a Private.In 1938, with the rise of the...
: May 8, 1933 - SS-SturmmannSturmmannSturmmann was a Nazi Party paramilitary rank that was first created in the year 1921. The rank of Sturmmann was used by the Sturmabteilung and the Schutzstaffel ....
: November 20, 1933 - SS-RottenführerRottenführerRottenführer was a Nazi Party paramilitary rank that was first created in the year 1932. The rank of Rottenführer was used by several Nazi paramilitary groups, among them the Sturmabteilung , the Schutzstaffel and was senior to the paramilitary rank of Sturmmann.The insignia for Rottenführer...
: February 20, 1934 - SS-ScharführerScharführerScharführer was a Nazi Party title that was used by several paramilitary organizations from 1925 to 1945. Translated as “Squad Leader”, the title of Scharführer can trace its origins to the First World War, where a Scharführer was often a Sergeant or Corporal who commanded special action or shock...
: January 30, 1936 - SS-OberscharführerOberscharführerOberscharführer was a Nazi Party paramilitary rank that existed between the years of 1932 and 1945. Translated as “Senior Squad Leader”, Oberscharführer was first used as a rank of the Sturmabteilung and was created due to an expansion of the enlisted positions required by growing SA membership...
: April 20, 1937 - SS-UntersturmführerUntersturmführerUntersturmführer was a paramilitary rank of the German Schutzstaffel first created in July 1934. The rank can trace its origins to the older SA rank of Sturmführer which had existed since the founding of the SA in 1921...
: November 9, 1938 - SS-ObersturmführerObersturmführerObersturmführer was a paramilitary rank of the Nazi party that was used by the SS and also as a rank of the SA. Translated as “Senior Assault Leader”, the rank of Obersturmführer was first created in 1932 as the result of an expansion of the Sturmabteilung and the need for an additional rank in...
: January 1, 1939 - SS-HauptsturmführerHauptsturmführerHauptsturmführer was a Nazi rank of the SS which was used between the years of 1934 and 1945. The rank of Hauptsturmführer was a mid-grade company level officer and was the equivalent of a Captain in the German Army and also the equivalent of captain in foreign armies...
: September 1, 1939 - SS-SturmbannführerSturmbannführerSturmbannführer was a paramilitary rank of the Nazi Party equivalent to major, used both in the Sturmabteilung and the Schutzstaffel...
: January 30, 1941 - SS-ObersturmbannführerObersturmbannführerObersturmbannführer was a paramilitary Nazi Party rank used by both the SA and the SS. It was created in May 1933 to fill the need for an additional field grade officer rank above Sturmbannführer as the SA expanded. It became an SS rank at the same time...
: September 12, 1943
Awards
- SA Sports BadgeSA Sports BadgeThe SA Sports Badge was a decoration of Nazi Germany that was issued between the years 1933 and 1945. It was a political version of the much more generic German Sports Badge which was also issued in great numbers by the Nazis....
(in Bronze) - SS Honor Sword
- SS Honor RingSS-EhrenringThe SS-Ehrenring , unofficially called Totenkopfring , was an award of Heinrich Himmler's Schutzstaffel . It was not a state decoration, but rather a personal gift bestowed by Himmler...
- Honour Chevron for the Old GuardHonour Chevron for the Old GuardThe Honour Chevron for the Old Guard, or in German Ehrenwinkel für Alte Kämpfer, was a political decoration of the Nazi Party in Germany. It was authorised in February 1934, as a silver chevron to be worn on the upper right arm, by all members of the SS, who had joined the SS, NSDAP or any other...
Other service
- Sturmabteilung: August 8, 1931 - December 1, 1932 (SA-Mann)
- Reichswehr: June 11, 1935 - September 21, 1936 (Feldwebel der Reserve)
In film and drama
In the 1973 feature film Massacre in Rome, which deals with the Ardeatine massacre, Kappler was portrayed by actor Richard BurtonRichard Burton
Richard Burton, CBE was a Welsh actor. He was nominated seven times for an Academy Award, six of which were for Best Actor in a Leading Role , and was a recipient of BAFTA, Golden Globe and Tony Awards for Best Actor. Although never trained as an actor, Burton was, at one time, the highest-paid...
.
Kappler was also portrayed by Christopher Plummer
Christopher Plummer
Arthur Christopher Orne Plummer, CC is a Canadian theatre, film and television actor. He made his film debut in 1957's Stage Struck, and notable early film performances include Night of the Generals, The Return of the Pink Panther and The Man Who Would Be King.In a career that spans over five...
in the 1983 TV movie The Scarlet and The Black
The Scarlet and the Black
The Scarlet and the Black is a 1983 made for TV movie starring Gregory Peck and Christopher Plummer. This production should not be confused with the 1993 British television mini series Scarlet and Black, which starred Ewan McGregor and Rachel Weisz....
, which detailed Kappler's first meeting with Monsignor Hugh O'Flaherty.
Kappler's post-war time seeking asylum in the Vatican, and his resultant friendship with his former enemy Monsignor O'Flaherty, was dramatised in the radio play The Scarlet Pimpernel
Scarlet pimpernel
Scarlet pimpernel is a low-growing annual plant found in Europe, Asia and North America...
of the Vatican by Robin Glendinning. The radio play was first broadcast on November 30, 2006 on UK BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station, operated and owned by the BBC, that broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history. It replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. The station controller is currently Gwyneth Williams, and the...
.
Sources
- SS service recordService recordA service record is a collection of either electronic or printed material which provides a documentary history of a person's activities and accomplishments while serving as a member of a given organization...
of Herbert Kappler, National Archives and Records AdministrationNational Archives and Records AdministrationThe National Archives and Records Administration is an independent agency of the United States government charged with preserving and documenting government and historical records and with increasing public access to those documents, which comprise the National Archives...
, College Park, MarylandCollege Park, MarylandCollege Park is a city in Prince George's County, Maryland, USA. The population was 30,413 at the 2010 census. It is best known as the home of the University of Maryland, College Park, and since 1994 the city has also been home to the "Archives II" facility of the U.S...
(The Simon Wiesenthal CenterSimon Wiesenthal CenterThe Simon Wiesenthal Center , with headquarters in Los Angeles, California, was established in 1977 and named for Simon Wiesenthal, the Nazi hunter. According to its mission statement, it is "an international Jewish human rights organization dedicated to repairing the world one step at a time...
http://motlc.learningcenter.wiesenthal.org/text/x12/xm1223.tml)
See also
- Italy and the Second World War (1940-1945)
- Military History of Italy during World War IIMilitary history of Italy during World War IIDuring World War II , the Kingdom of Italy had a varied and tumultuous military history. Defeated in Greece, France, East Africa and North Africa, the Italian invasion of British Somaliland was one of the only successful Italian campaigns of World War II accomplished without German support.In...
.