Walter Kutschmann (24 July 1914 – 30 August 1986) was a GermanSS-Untersturmführer andGestapo officer, a member of anEinsatzkommando, based first inLwów,Poland (todayLviv,Ukraine), and later inDrohobycz. He was responsible for the massacre of 1,500Polish Jews in Lwów, Poland, in the years 1941–42.
Walter Kutschmann was born inDresden in 1914, the son of a dentist. In 1928, he joined theHitler Youth. In 1932, he enlisted in theLuftwaffe, in which he served until 1936. He began to studylaw, but left this career path to join theCondor Legion, loyal to the forces ofFrancisco Franco in Spain, participating in theSpanish Civil War. There he was later the third secretary of the GermanConsulate inCádiz. Kutschmann was a relative latecomer to theNazi Party (membership number 7,475,729) and theSS (membership number 404,651).[1]
At the start of theSecond World War, he moved toLeipzig, where he joined theSiPo (Security Police) forces commanded byKarl Eberhard Schöngarth. Kutschmann was promoted to SS-Untersturmführer and was the commanding officer of anEinsatzgruppe that operated inDrohobycz,Poland. Under his leadership, the Einsatzgruppe carried out themassacre of Lwów professors in 1941.[2] In 1942, he ordered the murder of 1,500 Polish intellectuals in the Lwów region, inBrzeziny andPodhajce in what is now part of Ukraine.[3] Witnesses said the Ukrainians who were ordered to dig the graves for the killings were themselves later slain on Kutschmann's orders. Witnesses also claim that Kutschmann shot a 17 or 18-year-old Jewish housemaid in Drohobycz in 1941, after he accused her of having transmitted avenereal disease to him.[4] In 1944, on the orders of intelligence officerHans Günther von Dincklage, he was transferred to Paris, where he was briefly associated withCoco Chanel during Operation Modellhut. While in France at the end of 1944, Kutschmann defected to seek refuge inVigo,Spain under the guise of aCarmelite friar named Pedro Ricardo Olmo Andrés, residing in Vigo.
When the French government began to investigate Nazi fugitives in 1947, he sought protection in theODESSA network and traveled by sea on the MVMonte Amboto, under the guise of aCatholic monk, arriving inArgentina on 16 January 1948. He was hired byOsram, a lighting manufacturer, where he served as purchasing manager. There in August 1973, he married Geralda Baeumler, an Argentinian citizen of German origin, a businesswoman and aveterinarian. They settled in the resort town ofMiramar, in the southern region ofBuenos Aires Province.[5]
Kutschmann lived there until January 1975, when he was found and exposed by journalist Alfredo Serra.[1] Renowned Nazi hunterSimon Wiesenthal inVienna arranged the extradition of Kutschmann. In 1975, after checking Kutschmann's citizenship and marriage, which proved false,Interpol requested his arrest. The Argentine government attempted to arrest him, but he escaped, thus losing his trail. In 1975, his Argentine citizenship was revoked. A second extradition request was made in 1985, and he was again arrested by Interpol agents in the town ofVicente López, in theGreater Buenos Aires. Given his precarious health, he was kept in a hospital prison inBuenos Aires, where he died of aheart attack in 1986 before he could be extradited.[1] His wife was reported to the authorities foranimal abuse, specifically foreuthanizing homeless dogs in gas chambers.[6]
TheAnti-Defamation League provided information contributing to the capture of Walter Kutschmann in 1985. The ADL provided identifying information regarding his scars from theSpanish Civil War, his tattoos, and his blood type.[7]
Had he been extradited, Walter Kutschmann would have been the first Nazi war criminal handed over by Argentina.[4]