Karl Rahm

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Karl Rahm
Executed
Conviction(s)Crimes against humanity
Criminal penaltyDeath
Military career
Allegiance 
Theresienstadt concentration camp

Karl Rahm (2 April 1907 – 30 April 1947) was a

Theresienstadt concentration camp. Rahm was the third and final commander of the camp, succeeding Siegfried Seidl and Anton Burger
. He was hanged for war crimes.

Early life and Nazi membership

Rahm was born in 1907 in the city of

SS-Oberabschnitt Donau under the command of Ernst Kaltenbrunner
. His brother Franz was deported to a concentration camp as a Communist.

World War II

At the start of

Allgemeine-SS. Applying for transfer to full-time SS duties, Rahm was attached to the Gestapo and assigned to the Central Agency for Jewish Emigration in Vienna, where he served under Adolf Eichmann. In 1940, he was transferred to Prague into the same office, as a deputy of Hans Günther. In March 1941, Rahm was briefly sent to the Netherlands together with Günther, to set up the same institution here, which however failed.[1]

Theresienstadt

Rahm was promoted to SS-

Theresienstadt. Ein Dokumentarfilm aus dem jüdischen Siedlungsgebiet
(Terezin: A Documentary Film of the Jewish Resettlement), that was to be shown in neutral countries.

During his time as Kommandant, Rahm oversaw mass deportations of Jews from Theresienstadt to Auschwitz concentration camp, the heaviest volume of which occurred in the fall of 1944, after the IRC visit and the making of the propaganda film. 18,000 people were deported within one month.[citation needed] Theresienstadt had imprisoned prominent artists, musicians, and intellectuals of the era, some of whom died in Theresienstadt or subsequently in Auschwitz.

Rahm was known for his cynical and rash character; he frequently beat prisoners himself and oversaw torture sessions. On the other hand, Rahm appears to have had an interesting, almost cordial relationship with some Jewish inmates, especially those who shared his working-class Viennese background.

bribe) as well as on occasion referring to members of the Theresienstadt Judenrat in the German tense
of Sie (indicating respect) instead of du, even in front of other SS officers.

Post-war capture, trial, and execution

Rahm evacuated Theresienstadt on May 5, 1945, along with the last of the SS personnel. He was captured shortly afterward by American forces in Austria and extradited in 1947 to Czechoslovakia. Put on trial, Rahm was found guilty of crimes against humanity and sentenced to death.[3] Rahm was hanged on April 30, 1947, four hours after his guilty verdict had been handed down by the Czech court.[4]

Depictions in media

In the mini-series

Holocaust
.

References

  1. ^ Anna Hájková, "The Making of a Zentralstelle: Die Eichmann-Männer in Amsterdam" [The Making of a Zentralstelle: The Eichmann Men in Amsterdam], Theresienstädter Studien und Dokumente (2003): 353–382
  2. ^ Anna Hájková, "Der Judenälteste und seine SS–Männer: Benjamin Murmelstein, der letzte Judenälteste in Theresienstadt und seine Beziehung zu Adolf Eichmann und Karl Rahm," "Der Letzte der Ungerechten": Der Judenälteste Benjamin Murmelstein in Filmen 1942–1975, eds. Ronny Loewy, Katharina Rauschenberger (Frankfurt/Main: Campus, 2011).
  3. ^ "Eichmann trial - The District Court Sessions". Archived from the original on 2010-02-05. Retrieved 2010-06-09.
  4. ^ State Regional Archive Litomerice, MLS 441/47

External links

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