The Making of an SS Killer: The Life of Colonel Alfred Filbert, 1905-1990

262 Pages·2016·6.06 MB·English

by  Alex J. Kay

The Making of an SS Killer
InthispioneeringbiographyofafrontlineHolocaustperpetrator,Alex
KayuncoversthelifeofSSLieutenantColonelAlfredFilbert,respon-
sibleasthefirstheadofSS-Einsatzkommando9,amobilekillingsquad,
for the murder of more than 18,000 Soviet Jews – men, women and
children–ontheEasternFront.HerevealshowFilbert,followingthe
political imprisonment of his older brother, set out to prove his own
ideologicalallegiancebydisplayingparticularradicalisminimplement-
ingtheordersissuedbyHitler,HimmlerandHeydrich.Healsoexam-
ines Filbert’s post-war experiences, first in hiding and then being
captured, tried and sentenced to life imprisonment. Released early,
Filbertwentontofeatureinacontroversialfilmintheleadroleofan
SSmassmurderer.Thebookprovidescompellingnewinsightsintothe
mindsetandmotivationsofthemen,likeFilbert,whorosethroughthe
ranksoftheNaziregime.
alexj. kay isSeniorAcademicProjectCoordinatorattheInstituteof
ContemporaryHistory,Berlin.HeisauthorofExploitation,Resettlement,
MassMurder:PoliticalandEconomicPlanningforGermanOccupationPolicy
intheSovietUnion,1940–1941(2006)andco-editorofNaziPolicyonthe
EasternFront,1941:TotalWar,Genocide,andRadicalization(2012).

The Making of an SS Killer
The Life of Colonel Alfred Filbert, 1905–1990
Alex J. Kay
InstituteofContemporaryHistory,Berlin
UniversityPrintingHouse,CambridgeCB28BS,UnitedKingdom
CambridgeUniversityPressispartoftheUniversityofCambridge.
ItfurtherstheUniversity’smissionbydisseminatingknowledgeinthepursuitof
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Informationonthistitle:www.cambridge.org/9781107146341
©AlexJ.Kay2016
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noreproductionofanypartmaytakeplacewithoutthewritten
permissionofCambridgeUniversityPress.
Firstpublished2016
PrintedintheUnitedKingdombyClays,StIvesplc
AcataloguerecordforthispublicationisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary
LibraryofCongressCataloguinginPublicationdata
Kay,AlexJ.,author.
ThemakingofanSSkiller:thelifeofColonelAlfredFilbert,
1905–1990/AlexJ.Kay.
NewYork:CambridgeUniversityPress,[2016]|©2016
LCCN2015042443|ISBN9781107146341(hardback)
LCSH:Filbert,Alfred,1905–1990.|Nazis–Biography.|War
criminals–Germany–Biography.
LCCDD247.H37K392016|DDC940.53/18092–dc23
LCrecordavailableathttp://lccn.loc.gov/2015042443
ISBN9781107146341Hardback
CambridgeUniversityPresshasnoresponsibilityforthepersistenceoraccuracyof
URLsforexternalorthird-partyinternetwebsitesreferredtointhispublication,
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accurateorappropriate.
Contents
Listofillustrations pagevii
Listoftables x
Acknowledgements xi
Listofabbreviations xiii
Glossary xvi
Introduction 1
1 ‘IwenttoschoolwithquiteanumberofJewish
co-religionistsandneverknewhatredforJews’:childhood,
youthandearlyadulthood,1905–1932 8
2 ‘Intermsofhischaracterheisirreproachableinevery
respect’:NaziPartymembershipandcareerintheSS
SecurityService,1932–1939 21
3 ‘Pitythatthescoundreldidn’tperish’:brother’s
imprisonmentandcareerstagnation,1939–1941 30
4 ‘So,we’vefinishedoffthefirstJews’:
SS-Einsatzkommando9anddeploymentintheEast,
June–July1941 43
5 ‘InVileyka,theJewshadtobeliquidatedintheirentirety’:
genocideofBelarusianJewry,July–October1941 57
6 ‘WasitthinkablethatI,ajuristandasoldier,woulddo
suchathing?’:suspensionfromtheReichSecurityMain
Officeandreinstatementuntilthewar’send,1941–1945 78
7 ‘Myson,whohasnotyetreturnedhomefromthewar’:
post-warsubmergenceandreintegrationintoWest
Germansociety,1945–1959 88
v
vi Contents
8 ‘Atrialofthismagnitudehasneverpreviouslytakenplace
beforeaGermancourt’:arrestandtrial,February
1959–June1962 96
9 ‘Alimited,lowermiddleclass,status-and-promotion
seekingphilistine’:imprisonmentandearlyrelease,
1962–1975 104
10 ‘Achessgameofegos’:Wundkanalandaftermath,
1975–1990 110
Concludingthoughts 122
Notes 127
Sourcesandliteraturecited 212
Index 235
Illustrations
1 MembersoftheLifeguardsInfantryRegimentNo.115posing
infrontoftheirDarmstadtbarracks,around1910.(Source:
HessischesStaatsarchivDarmstadt,R4,Nr.31736UF,
‘Soldaten,gruppiertvorFassadederInfanterie-Kaserne,
Darmstadt,um1910’.Photographer:GeschwisterStrauss,
Darmstadt.ReproducedwithpermissionoftheHessisches
StaatsarchivDarmstadt.) page9
2 LinaFilbert,eldersisterofAlfred,about1930.
(ReproducedwithpermissionofPeterFilbert,Weinheim.) 10
3 OttoFilbert,elderbrotherofAlfred,about1930.
(ReproducedwithpermissionofPeterFilbert,Weinheim.) 11
4 UniversityofHeidelbergidentitycardforsummersemester
1929.(Source:UniversitätsarchivHeidelberg,StudA,Filbert,
Alfred(1929),‘Erkennungskarte’.Reproducedwith
permissionoftheUniversitätsarchivHeidelberg.) 16
5 AlfredFilbert(secondrowfromthebottom,furthestleft)
withothermembersoftheGiessenstudentfraternity
Alemannia,1927.(ReproducedwithpermissionofPeter
Filbert,Weinheim.) 17
6 AlfredFilbert,1927.(ReproducedwithpermissionofPeter
Filbert,Weinheim.) 18
7 ThePrinz-Albrecht-Palais,headquartersoftheSDMain
Office,at102Wilhelmstraße,Berlin,inspring1941.(Source:
BrandenburgischesLandesamtfürDenkmalpflegeund
ArchäologischesLandesmuseum,Zossen,Messbildarchiv,
44L37/7204.26,ʻFassadedesPrinz-Albrecht-Palaisinder
Wilhelmstraße102,1941ʼ.Reproducedwithpermissionof
theBrandenburgischesLandesamtfürDenkmalpflegeund
ArchäologischesLandesmuseum.) 24
8 AlfredFilbertinSSuniformwearingtheinsigniaofanSS-
Untersturmführer,1937.(Source:BundesarchivBerlin-
Lichterfelde,VBS283/6010010064,RuSHA-AkteDr.Alfred
vii
viii Listofillustrations
Filbert.ReproducedwithpermissionoftheBundesarchiv
Berlin-Lichterfelde.) 31
9 AlfredFilbertinSSuniformwearingtheinsigniaofanSS-
UntersturmführerandthecufftitleoftheSDMainOffice,
1937.(Source:BundesarchivBerlin-Lichterfelde,VBS283/
6010010064,RuSHA-AkteDr.AlfredFilbert.Reproduced
withpermissionoftheBundesarchivBerlin-Lichterfelde.) 32
10 AlfredFilbertinSSuniformwearingtheinsigniaofanSS-
UntersturmführerandapeakedcapwiththeSSdeath’shead
badge,1937.(Source:BundesarchivBerlin-Lichterfelde,VBS
286/6400010138,SSO-AkteDr.AlfredFilbert.Reproduced
withpermissionoftheBundesarchivBerlin-Lichterfelde.) 33
11 KätheBernicke,futurewifeofAlfredFilbert,inherSS
marriageapplication,1937.(Source:BundesarchivBerlin-
Lichterfelde,VBS283/6010010064,RuSHA-AkteDr.Alfred
Filbert.ReproducedwithpermissionoftheBundesarchiv
Berlin-Lichterfelde.) 35
12 KätheBernicke,futurewifeofAlfredFilbert,inherSS
marriageapplication,1937.(Source:BundesarchivBerlin-
Lichterfelde,VBS283/6010010064,RuSHA-AkteDr.Alfred
Filbert.ReproducedwithpermissionoftheBundesarchiv
Berlin-Lichterfelde.) 36
13 Diagramofthestructureandpersonnelstrengthof
EinsatzgruppeBattheoutsetofOperationBarbarossa,June
1941.(Source:Bundesarchiv-Militärarchiv,Freiburgim
Breisgau,RH22/224,fols.107–108,ʻAnlagezum
KorpsbefehlNr.18vom24.6.41ʼ,herefol.108.Reproduced
withpermissionoftheBundesarchiv-Militärarchiv.) 44
14 Membersofthe2ndcompanyofReservePoliceBattalion9,
assignedtoEinsatzgruppeBinWarsaw.(Source:Staatsarchiv
Ludwigsburg,EL48/2IBü678.Reproducedwithpermission
oftheStaatsarchivLudwigsburg.) 47
15 RoutetakenbyEK9anditssub-commandosbetweenJune
andOctober1941.(Drawnbytheauthor.) 48
16 40GediminoProspektas(right)inVilnius,1905/1906.The
buildingsubsequentlybecametheNKVDheadquarters.
FromJuly1941,ithousedthemajorityofEK9,aswellas
heGestapoprison.(Source:LietuvosCentrinisValstybės
Archyvas,Vilnius,12843.Reproducedwithpermissionof
theLietuvosCentrinisValstybėsArchyvas.) 49
17 ThehouseofKazimierzSakowiczontheedgeofthePaneriai
Forest,fromwhichhewitnessedtheexecutionscarriedout