As Nazi police chief in Rome, he ordered the executions in 1944 after a midtown bombing attack by partisans killed 32 SS men. 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. SS Obersturmfhrer, The head of German police and security services in Rome. Kappler was posted to Rome as head of the Sicherheitsdienst (SD) and, from the beginning of the Second World War, he cooperated closely with the Italian police. The Irish War of Independence broke out in 1919, making life difficult. He was raised in Killarney where his father was a steward on a golf course where the family lived. He served as the Vaticans diplomat to Egypt, Haiti, Santo Domingo, and Czechoslovakia. I recommend you watch his trial here. Herbert Kappler passed away in 1978 after Anneliese broke him out of prison when he was . During those same years, Kurtna covertly spied for the Soviet Union, with devastating results for the many underground priests and faithful whose names he passed to the NKVD. You got lucky! By this time Kappler had also converted to Catholicism, partly due to the influence of his war-time opponent, the Vatican diplomat Mgr. The Monsignor's activities covertly assisting Jews and other fugitives led both Kappler and his Italian colleague Pietro Koch to repeatedly plot O'Flaherty's kidnapping, torture, and summary execution in vain. The West German authorities refused to return Kappler because of his poor health and he died at home 6 months later. Anneliese Kappler, wife of the former Rome Gestapo chief, Herbert Kappler and organizer of his controversial escape from a Rome military prison to West Germany, denied last night that any official German authority or any group had aided in the escape attempt. [18], In the 1973 feature film Massacre in Rome, which deals with the Ardeatine massacre, Kappler was portrayed by actor Richard Burton. Herbert Kappler joined the Nazi Party on 1 August 1931 at the age of twenty three. A particularly detested adversary of Kappler's was Irish Monsignor Hugh O'Flaherty of the Sacred Congregation De Propaganda Fide. . 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. Grow your brand authentically by sharing brand content with the internets creators. Hugh O'Flaherty was born to James and Margaret O'Flaherty in Lisrobin, Kiskeam, County Cork, Ireland, on February 28, 1898. In practice, refusal to obey orders during war is not possible. She declined to give details of the escape, saying these would appear in a mass-circulation magazine this week. Mr. Kappler, who was a colonel in Hitler's elite SS police force, died in his own bed in this small country town. 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. 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Kappler was convicted to life imprisonment by an Italian military tribunal after WWII and served life imprisonment in an Italian prison. His appointment to Italy was the result of his security police experience, connections with the SS leadership (Reinhard Heydrich, in particular), as well as a fluency in the Italian language. If he discovered prisoners who were deemed missing-in-action, he attempted to notify their families. He would be Kapplers only visitor until 1959. The Getty Images design is a trademark of Getty Images. In 1937, Kappler graduated from the Fhrerschule der Sicherheitspolizei (Leadership School of the Security Police) in Berlin as a Kriminalkommissar (criminal commissioner). OFlaherty was told he would be shot if he crossed the line not that it stopped him. Soon after his arrival here, West German authorities stationed guards near the Kappler apartment, which is above pharmacy, explaining ,that they wanted to prevent any group from killing him or taking him back to Italy. (1997), Military history of Italy during World War II, "An Italian doctor explains "Syndrome K", the fake disease he invented to save Jews from the Nazis", "Weitere Grber nicht mehr namenlos (neues deutschland)", "La vedova di Kappler a Trento per il culto del Simonino", "Erich Priebke, Nazi Who Carried Out Massacre of 335 Italians, Dies at 100", "Nazi funeral that's forcing Italy to face its past", "Kappler's escape MEETING WITH Hon. In 1931, Herbert Kappler formally became a Nazi Party member. Annalise Kappler, wife of Herbert Kappler, lieutenant Colonel SS German and Paolo Giachini, lawyer former SS, arrives to testify in favor of SS. The two lived at an address on Tbingern, Kurzestrasse 15, before later moving to an apartment listed at Stuttgart-Degerloch, Reutlingerstrasse 98. Herbert Kappler became Hitler's man in Rome after the arrest of Benito Mussolini. Walter Ciszek as a fellow political prisoner in the Gulag complex located 300km above the Arctic Circle and known as Norillag. In 1922 OFlaherty was sent to Rome to finish his studies where he was ordained three years later. TimesMachine is an exclusive benefit for home delivery and digital subscribers. In January 1936, he was assigned to duty at the Gestapo main office in Stuttgart. Kappler prison photo -Public domain via Wikimedia Commons. Monsignor Hugh O'Flaherty and his organisation were a major obstruction to the brutal Kappler and his Gestapo during this period. "First a great fear, then a great calm, an enormous lucidity. Hugh O'Flaherty, who also often visited him in prison, and with whom Kappler often discussed literature and religion. 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 Schtze in the Wehrmacht on June 11, 1935. [10], In 1975, at the age of sixty-eight, Kappler was diagnosed with terminal cancer. OFlaherty never lost his talent for socializing or forgot his golfing skills. Yet it was in The Scarlet and the Black that Plummer played his most Catholic role, the Gestapo chief in Rome, Herbert Kappler. https://www.nytimes.com/1978/02/10/archives/herbert-kappler-dies-nazi-fled-captivity-in-rome-called-a.html. In 1975 Kappler was diagnosed with cancer, but requests for his release were refused. Kappler attended four years of elementary school (Volksschule) followed by four more of high school and graduated in 1925. In 1947, Kappler was tried by an Italian military tribunal and sentenced to life imprisonment in the military prison of Gaeta. Tap into Getty Images' global scale, data-driven insights, and network of more than 340,000 creators to create content exclusively for your brand. 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. Statis. 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 24-03-1944 in collective punishment for an attack by resistance fighters against an SS formation in Rome. This function has been disabled for WW2 Gravestone. What happened to Herbert Kappler, SS Colonel, after WWII? Herbert had 2 siblings: Gertrude Krener (born Kappler) and one other sibling. Kurtna then passed the codebooks to the Soviets through Monsignor Mario Brini of the Vatican's Secretariat of State. 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. The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. . Appeals by both his wife and the West German government for compassionate release were denied by Italian authorities, but did earn him a transfer to a hospital in 1976. His Nazi Party membership number was 594,899. [citation needed] In 1938, during the Anschluss, he supervised the mass deportations of Austrias Jews to concentration camps. The fivejudge tribunal convicted him of repeated and premeditated murder and sentenced him to life imprisonment, the maximum under Italian law, specifying that he be placed in solitary confinement for four years. Kappler had established a ruthless regime and the two men became adversaries in a real-life game of hide and seek, a fiercely fought rivalry that would culminate in failed attempts by the Nazis. The radio play was first broadcast on November 30, 2006 on UK BBC Radio 4. In January 1936, he was assigned to duty at the Gestapo central office of Stuttgart. On a visit in August 1977, Kappler's wife carried him out in a large suitcase (Kappler weighed about 47kg (104lb) at the time) and escaped to West Germany, assisted by apparently unwitting carabinieri. Shahan Russell is one of the authors writing for WAR HISTORY ONLINE. Now he was practically in charge of Rome as. Appeals by both his wife and the West German government to release him were denied by Italian authorities. An SS officer, he had been an adviser to Italy's fascist police. Occasionally the digitization process introduces transcription errors or other problems; we are continuing to work to improve these archived versions. 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. Kunigunde was born on August 21 1882. By 1929, he was a certified electrician, still living in Stuttgart. It was later performed live under the name Kingfishers Catch Fire.[21]. The Italians unsuccessfully demanded that Kappler be returned, but the West Germany authorities refused to extradite him and did not prosecute Kappler for any further war crimes, reportedly due to his ill health. what happened to herbert kappler's first wife. [20], 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. Because of Kapplers deteriorating condition and his wifes nursing skills, Anneliese Kappler had been allowed almost unlimited access to him during his time in the Italian hospital. Herbert Kappler (23 September 1907 - 9 February 1978) was the head of German police and security services ( Oberbefehlshaber des Sicherheitspolizei und SD) in Rome during World War II. She also denied receiving financial aid for the escape from any group, but admitted, during a TV interview, that she had received money from various groups representing former SS members. Kurtna, however, turned the tables on Kappler by stealing the top secret Sicherheitsdienst codebooks from his office during the chaos that surrounded the Liberation of Rome. Six months after his escape, Kappler died at home in Soltau, on February 9, 1978, aged 70.[4]. Hugh OFlaherty was born on February 28, 1898, in County Cork, Ireland. They deposed Mussolini and freed all Allied POWs. Amazingly, the Irishman agreed to go and see a man who had plotted to kidnap him and at one stage wanted to murder him. Herbert Kappler (23 September 1907 9 February 1978) was a key German SS functionary and war criminal during the Nazi era. There was a great sense of letting go." . [9][13] Kappler's first wife divorced him while he was serving his sentence. He later remarried Anneliese Kappler, a nurse with whom he had carried on a lengthy correspondence, in a prison wedding ceremony in 1972. In January 1936, he was assigned to duty at the Gestapo central office of Stuttgart. The Italians demanded that Kappler be returned, but the West Germany authorities refused to extradite him and did not prosecute Kappler for any further war crimes, reportedly owing to ill-health. Meanwhile, the West German government has denied German press reports that it has secretly reached agreement with the Italian government on a means of ending the Kappler controversy. Mr. Kappler, who died yesterday, was serving a life term for ordering the 1944 reprisal killing of 335 Italians when his wife, Anneliese, helped him escape from a prison hospital in Rome six months ago. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. Streamline your workflow with our best-in-class digital asset management system. 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 organized the Ardeatine massacre, in which 335 Italian civilians were killed on March 24, 1944, as a reprisal for an attack by resistance fighters that had resulted in the deaths of 33 men of the SS Police garrison in Rome. iie. List of aircraft of the Malaysian Armed Forces, Italy and the Second World War (1940-1945), Articles incorporating text from Wikipedia, German police officers convicted of murder, Military history of Italy during World War II, http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/features/2011/0304/1224291271284.html?via=mr, http://catholicexchange.com/2009/02/25/116165/, http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,915344,00.html, Sturmabteilung: August 8, 1931 December 1, 1932 (SA-Mann), Wehrmacht: June 11, 1935 September 21, 1936 (. He later arranged the deportation of a further 993 Roman Jews, nearly all of whom also died in the gas chambers. Following the armistice between Italy and the Allies on September 8, 1943, the German military occupied Rome and Kappler was appointed as Chief of the Security Police and Security Service (Oberbefehlshaber des Sicherheitspolizei und SD) for all SS and Order Police (Ordnungspolizei) units deployed in Rome. Lieutenant Colonel Herbert Kapplerwas head of The Gestapo in Rome during the occupation. [citation needed] In 1938, during the Anschluss, he supervised the mass deportations of Austrian Jews as part of the Holocaust in Austria.[3]. What happened to Herbert Kappler? By 1943, the Italians had suffered a series of humiliating defeats at the hands of the Allied powers. Herbert Kappler was born on September 23, 1907, to a middle-class family in Stuttgart in the German Empire. He also coordinated the rescue of downed pilots, providing them with food, medicine and safe houses throughout Italy. [19], Kappler was portrayed by Christopher Plummer in the 1983 TV film The Scarlet and The Black, which detailed Kappler's first meeting with Monsignor Hugh O'Flaherty. Thank you for using this website. 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. 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. As they already had so many enemies, the last thing they wanted was to alienate the worlds entire Catholic population by violating the Popes domain. Where is Herbert Kappler buried? He later arranged the deportation of a further 993 Roman Jews, nearly all of whom eventually died in Nazi gas chambers. On 19-04-1972, he married Anneliese Viktoria Wenger (born 1925), a homeopath and mother of three already grown children from a first marriage divorced in 1955 (including Eckehard and Ekkehard Walther, who was with her in Rome) In 1962, after hearing about Kapplers fate from a patient for the first time, she wrote to him and sent food parcels. Mrs. Kappler said she had received messages of support from people all over the world. See the article in its original context from. Kappler's second in command in Rome, SS-Captain Erich Priebke, did manage to escape and it was not until 1996 that Priebke . Raised a Protestant, Kappler wanted to convert to Roman Catholicism, but OFlaherty cautioned against it. SOLTAU, West Germany, Feb. 9 (Reuters)Herbert Kappler; a_convicted Nazi war criminal, died of stomach cancer here today, six months after- a daring escape from a Rome military hospital. from the Jews of Rome, which Kappler later alleged was an attempt to prevent the deportations.[3][8][9]. OFlaherty did not just hide POWs. He was described as a model prisoner, interested in music, theology, reading and meditation. The priest believed it might be misinterpreted as an attempt to influence his trial judges. Berlin directed him to have 10 times as many Italians shot in retaliation. Germany was furious at the betrayal and retaliated by invading Italy. The reports suggested that Bonn would place Kappler in a German hospital under strict police guard and the Italian government would find this a politically palatable solution to the row over his escape. In mid 1935, Kappler applied for transfer to the full-time SS and submitted an application to join the Sicherheitspolizei (Security Police) or SiPo. Kappler was posted to Rome as head of the Sicherheitsdienst (SD) and throughout the war years he cooperated closely with the Fascist police. Irmgard was born on December 9 1908. Kappler was also never affiliated with the Waffen-SS and spent the war performing "behind the lines" police and security duty. Marina was born in Rome on November 4, 1942, to Jewish parents Giuseppe Del Monte and Clara Limentani. It was a large and prestigious establishment, owned by an uncle. Shortly after his birth O'Flaherty's parents moved to Killarney, Ireland, and made a home on a golf course where James O'Flaherty worked as a steward. 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