Hermann Höfle | |
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 Höfle in 1961 | |
| Birth name | Hermann Julius Höfle |
| Nickname | Hans |
| Born | (1911-06-19)19 June 1911 |
| Died | 21 August 1962(1962-08-21) (aged 51) |
| Allegiance | Nazi Germany |
| Branch | Schutzstaffel |
| Years of service | 1933–1945 |
| Rank | SS-Sturmbannführer |
| Commands | Second in command forOperation Reinhard |
| Awards | War Merit Cross 2nd Class With Swords |
| Other work | Auto mechanic |
Hermann Julius Höfle, alsoHans (or)Hermann Hoefle (German:[ˈhɛʁmanˈhøːflə]ⓘ; 19 June 1911 – 21 August 1962[1]), was anAustrian-bornSS commander andHolocaust perpetrator during theNazi era. He was deputy toOdilo Globočnik in theAktion Reinhard program, serving as his main deportation and extermination expert. Arrested in 1961 in connection with these crimes, Höfle died viasuicide by hanging in prison before he was tried.
Born inSalzburg,Austria, Höfle joined theNazi Party on 1 August 1933, with party number 307,469. He joined theSchutzstaffel (SS) at the same time. Before the war, he worked as anauto mechanic. Due to illegal political activities, he was imprisoned in Salzburg from 25 May 1935 to 1 January 1936.[1]
After theconquest of Poland, Höfle served inNowy Sącz, in Southern Poland. In November 1940 he served as an overseer of a Jewishlabour camp southeast ofLublin. Up to December 1941 Höfle was inMogilev. He was involved in deportations to the camps ofBelzec,Sobibor, andTreblinka. He lived and worked from the Aktion Reinhardheadquarters with theJulius Schreck Barracks, Ostland Strasse, in Lublin.
Höfle was "Coordinator" ofOperation Reinhard and chief of staff toOdilo Globočnik, serving as his main deportation and extermination expert. AlongsideChristian Wirth, Höfle had chief authority of Operation Reinhard beside Globočnik. At the beginning of the operation, he held the rank of SS-Hauptsturmführer (captain). SS members, including those fromAction T4 who were assigned to the operation, reported to the headquarters in Lublin and were instructed to their duties by Höfle. For an example of the limited paperwork, every member of Operation Reinhard signed the following declaration of secrecy:
I have been thoroughly informed and instructed by SSHauptsturmführer Höfle, as Commander of the main department ofEinsatz Reinhard of the SS and Police Leader in the District of Lublin:
1. that I may not under any circumstances pass on any form of information, verbally or in writing, on the progress, procedure or incidents in the evacuation of Jews to any person outside the circle ofEinsatz Reinhard staff;
2. that the process of the evacuation of Jews is a subject that comes under "Secret Reich Document," in accordance with censorship regulation Vershl V. a;...
4. that there is an absolute prohibition on photography in the camps ofEinsatz Reinhard;...I am familiar with the above regulations and laws and am aware of the responsibilities imposed upon me by the task with which I have been entrusted. I promise to observe them to the best of my knowledge and conscience. I am aware that the obligation to maintain secrecy continues even after I have left the Service.
— From:Yitzhak Arad,Belzec, Sobibor, Treblinka.[2]
As head of the "Main Department" (Hauptabteilung), Höfle was in charge of the organization and manpower of Operation Reinhard. He coordinated the deportations of Jews from all areas of theGeneral Government and directed them to one of the extermination camps.[2] The deportation orders were coordinated and channeled through SS authorities from Höfle's office for theLublin reservation, through the districtSS and Police Leaders, down to the localities where the expulsions were to take place.
Around May 1942 in the General Government, a substitution policy developed for a short time in whichPolish workers who were sent to the German Reich were gradually replaced withJewish laborers. It became standard procedure to stop deportation trains from the Reich and Slovakia in Lublin in order to select able-bodied Jews for work in the General Government, the others being sent on to their deaths in Belzec. In this way, many Jews were temporarily spared death and instead relegated to forced labor. Höfle was one of the chief supporters and implementers of this policy.[3][4]
Höfle personally oversaw the deportation of theWarsaw Ghetto, the so-calledGroßaktion Warschau. The operation was preceded on 20 and 21 July 1942 by a spree of randomly killing actions along the streets of the Ghetto and by the arrest and brutal imprisonment of many others taken as hostages among counselors, department managers and those connected in a way or another to theJudenrat. All this was to intimidate and soften the Judenrat to the new upcoming measures. The day after, in the morning of 22 July,Sturmbannführer Höfle, accompanied by an entourage of SS and government officials, arrived at the Judenrat in the Warsaw Ghetto and announced to the chairman,Adam Czerniaków, that the Jews, regardless of sex or age and with but a few exceptions, were to be evacuated to the East. The exceptions were workers in German factories who had valid work permits, Judenrat employees, theJewish Ghetto Police, hospital patients and employees, and the families of the exempt. The deportees were allowed to carry with them 15kg of baggage, food for three days, money, gold, and other valuables. The order also called for 6,000 Jews to report to theUmschlagplatz every day by 4 p.m. to board the trains for deportation.[5]
Adam Czerniaków wrote in his diary on 22 July 1942, the day before he died by suicide:
Sturmbannführer Höfle (who is in charge of the evacuation) asked me into his office and informed me that for the time being my wife was free, but if the deportation were impeded in any way, she would be the first one to be shot as a hostage.
— From: Yitzhak Arad,Belzec, Sobibor, Treblinka[6]
Höfle also played a key role in theHarvest Festival massacre of Jewish inmates of the various labour camps in the Lublin district in early November 1943. Approximately 43,000 Jews were murdered during this operation which was the single largest German massacre of Jews in the entire war. Höfle rejoined Globočnik inTrieste, after various missions in theNetherlands andBelgium.
On 11 January 1943, Höfle sent aradiogram from Lublin to SS-ObersturmbannführerFranz Heim in Kraków, who was at the time the deputy commander of theSecurity Police andSD in the General Government, and to SS-ObersturmbannführerAdolf Eichmann in Berlin. The message documented the total deportations of Jews to the four Operation Reinhard camps through 31 of December 1942. Today this document is called theHöfle Telegram.
On 31 May 1945 Höfle was found hiding in Möslacher Alm near theWeissensee Lake inCarinthia (Southern Austria) by the British, along with SS-Gruppenführer Odilo Globocnik and SS-SturmbannführersErnst Lerch andGeorg Michalsen. After two years in the British interrogation centerWolfsberg (Carinthia), he was released to the Austrian judicial system. On 30 October 1947, under oath, he was released to continue his earlier occupation as an auto mechanic in his birthplace, Salzburg.
After an extradition request on 9 July 1948 by the Polish government, he fled to Italy, where he lived under a false name until 1951. Later he returned to Austria and then emigrated toWest Germany. There he was employed briefly as an informant forU.S. Army Counterintelligence.
Höfle returned to Salzburg, where he lived as a free man until 2 January 1961, when he was arrested by the Austrian authorities and sent to prison inVienna, where in 1962 hehanged himself before his trial could begin.[7]
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