By the time the Allies captured Rome in June 1944, OFlahertys underground network had kept 6,245 Allied escapees alive. Hugh became a scratch golfer meaning he was quite good. Military Wiki is a FANDOM Lifestyle Community. In 1947, Kappler was tried by an Italian military tribunal and sentenced to life imprisonment in the military prison of Gaeta. Kappler's first action as head of German security forces in Rome was to help plan the rescue of Benito Mussolini by the SS special forces, a feat which was accomplished by Otto Skorzeny. Herbert Kappler (23 September 1907 9 February 1978) was a key German SS functionary and war criminal during the Nazi era. Boards are the best place to save images and video clips. Towards the end of 1934, on September 29, he married Leonore Janns who was the same age as Kappler (27 at the time) and came from the city of Heilbronn. 1,007 were shipped to Auschwitz. Download our mobile app for on-the-go access to the Jewish Virtual Library, 1998 - 2023 American-Israeli Cooperative Enterprise. In the 1973 feature film Massacre in Rome, which deals with the Ardeatine massacre, Kappler was portrayed by actor Richard Burton. In 1937, Kappler graduated from the Fhrerschule der Sicherheitspolizei (Leadership School of the Security Police) in Berlin as a Kriminalkommissar (criminal commissioner). Kapplers second in command in Rome, SS-Captain. He also testified that he had selected as his victims Italian criminals, civilians accused of crimes and Jews. Marina was born in Rome on November 4, 1942, to Jewish parents Giuseppe Del Monte and Clara Limentani. See the article in its original context from. He served as head of German police and security services (Sicherheitspolizei and SD) in Rome during the Second World War and was responsible for the Ardeatine massacre.[1][2]. He was a man of many faces who used his talent at disguise to help thousands of people escape from the Nazis. Six months after his escape, Kappler died at home in Soltau, on February 9, 1978, aged 70. By this time Kappler had also converted to Catholicism, partly due to the influence of his war-time opponent, the Vatican diplomat Mgr. One of the most notorious actions Kappler undertook while in Rome was the organization of the Ardeatine massacre where 335 Italian civilians were killed on March 24, 1944 in collective punishment for an attack by resistance fighters against the SS Police Regiment Bozen in Rome. What happened to Herbert Kappler, SS Colonel, after WWII? Hugh OFlaherty was born on February 28, 1898, in County Cork, Ireland. from the Jews of Rome, which Kappler later alleged was an attempt to prevent the deportations.[3][8][9]. In 1931, Herbert Kappler formally became a Nazi Party member. Kappler died on 09-02-1978, at home in Soltau at the age of 70. Statis. Access the best of Getty Images with our simple subscription plan. Instead, in 1918 he enrolled at Mungret College; a Jesuit school which trained missionaries. As Nazi police chief in Rome, he ordered the executions in 1944 after a midtown bombing attack by partisans killed 32 SS men. Kappler was in charge of Jewish roundups for deportations to Auschwitz. Paradoxically, after the war Kappler and O'Flaherty would become friends of sorts.[2]. On a prison visit in August 1977, Kapplers wife carried him out in a large suitcase, Kappler, a chain smoker, weighed less than 105 pounds at the time and escaped to West Germany, assisted by apparently unwitting carabinieri. 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. 2023 Getty Images. Despite this O'Flaherty assisted in helping members of Kapplers family in escaping from Rome at Liberation. 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. [citation needed] In 1938, during the Anschluss, he supervised the mass deportations of Austrias Jews to concentration camps. 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. In 1947, Kappler was tried by an Italian military tribunal and sentenced to life imprisonment in the military prison of Gaeta. She defended these donations on the grounds that she had spent her entire savings to try and secure her husbands release and to care for him while he was a prisoner. Kappler was also never affiliated with the Waffen-SS and spent the war performing "behind the lines" police and security duty. Kunigunde was born on August 21 1882. 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. In January 1936, he was assigned to duty at the Gestapo central office of Stuttgart. [citation needed] It was a large and prestigious establishment, owned by an uncle. Did Herbert Kappler become a Catholic? Appeals by both his wife and the West German government to release him were denied by Italian authorities. After serving as an SS-Anwrter from December 1932 to May 1933, Kappler was appointed an SS-Mann and assigned the SS membership number 55,211. OFlaherty did not just hide POWs. Kappler ordered a white line painted at the entrance to St. Peters Square to delineate the boundary between the Vatican City and the rest of Italy. 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. 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. He later married Anneliese Kappler, a nurse who had carried on a lengthy correspondence with him, before marrying him at a prison ceremony in 1972. iie was 70 years old. In his first action, 1,023 Italian Jews were deported, of whom only 16 survived. iie was 70 years old. He was head of German police and security services (Sicherheitspolizei and SD) in Rome during the Second World War and was responsible for the Ardeatine massacre. [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. [2], Due to Kappler's deteriorating condition and his wife's nursing skills, Anneliese Kappler had been allowed almost unlimited access to him. You got lucky! Impressed with his abilities, he was appointed to the Holy See; the Vaticans governing body. Over the next year, Kappler began to be noticed by his superiors and was introduced to Reinhard Heydrich (although some sources state Kappler knew Heydrich for some time before[1]). Photos:Kappler -United States War Department, Public domainvia Wikimedia Commons. The date of the Ardeatine massacre, March 24, 1944, became a national day of mourning in Italy, and the killings are still recalled with outrage. While serving his sentence in prison, Herbert Kappler divorced his first wife and married his nurse, Anneliese, in 1972. Among them was his future wife, Carla Capponi (1918-2000). World War II This page was last changed on 26 July 2021, at 19:26. 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. OFlaherty was told he would be shot if he crossed the line not that it stopped him. Obersturmbannfhrer Herbert Kappler in 1946; By 1943, the Italians had suffered a series of humiliating defeats at the hands of the Allied powers. The Monsignor decided to help. Following the end of the war, Kappler stood trial in Italy and was sentenced to life imprisonment. Asked whether there werent times when such orders should be disobeyed, Mrs. Kappler replied: One cannot judge this today if one has not experienced war. Of the citys 9,700 Jews, 5,000 were hidden by the Vatican at different properties, and3,700 were hidden by OFlahertys group. Therefore, he was allowed to visit POW camps throughout Italy. Wellwishers showered the Kappler apartment with flowers and telegrams, and young neoNazis marched along the street below with, Fascist and antiJewish banners. David Alvarez and Robert A. Graham, S.J. Monsignor Hugh O'Flaherty and his organisation were a major obstruction to the brutal Kappler and his Gestapo during this period. He was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment in the Gaeta military prison. Contents The film was filled with the Catholic faith of his wife, Maria von Trapp, and their family. [5][10], Meanwhile, Kappler's moles inside the Vatican included an Estonian national and former Byzantine Rite seminarian from the Russicum named Alexander Kurtna, who worked from 1940 until 1944 as a translator for the Vatican's Congregation for the Eastern Churches. While there, he asked to speak to the Monsignor and was probably surprised when OFlaherty agreed. Irmgard was born on December 9 1908. He escaped from prison shortly before his death in West Germany in 1978. 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. what happened to herbert kappler's first wife. Collect, curate and comment on your files. In January 1936, he was assigned to duty at the Gestapo central office of Stuttgart. In these measures, Kappler came into direct conflict with the Vatican, which was highly suspected of harboring Allied fugitives and escaped prisoners, even though the Vatican under Pope Pius XII was technically neutral. We have no ads to show you! In 1934, O'Flaherty received the title of Monsignor. What happened to Herbert Kappler? 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. Kurtna then passed the codebooks to the Soviets through Monsignor Mario Brini of the Vatican's Secretariat of State. The priest believed it might be misinterpreted as an attempt to influence his trial judges. To preserve these articles as they originally appeared, The Times does not alter, edit or update them. In 1937, Kappler graduated from the Fhrerschule der Sicherheitspolizei (Leadership School of the Security Police) in Berlin as a Kriminalkommissar (criminal commissioner). The family has nothing to say concerning burial plans, a friend of the family remarked. Comment * what is insensible water loss. Hunted by them, he ended up converting the SS chief in Rome. Germany was furious at the betrayal and retaliated by invading Italy. Occasionally the digitization process introduces transcription errors or other problems; we are continuing to work to improve these archived versions. 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. Herbert Kappler became Hitler's man in Rome after the arrest of Benito Mussolini. "First a great fear, then a great calm, an enormous lucidity. . 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. 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. 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. Vittorio Lattanzio resigned from his position as Minister of Defense in the aftermath of the escape. Italy demanded his extradition, but .West Germany said this was impossible under its Constitution. 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. Kappler came into direct conflict with the Vatican, as the Germans had strong suspicions that it was harboring Allied fugitives and escaped prisoners, even though the Vatican under Pope Pius XII was technically neutral. Kappler presided over the Ardeatine massacre, a mass killing of some 335 civilians and political prisoners on March 24, 1944. Family of Kappler, ExSS Colonel, Withholds plans for His Funeral, https://www.nytimes.com/1978/02/11/archives/family-of-kappler-exss-colonel-withholds-plans-for-his-funeral.html. In retaliation for the armistice between Italy and the Allies on 8 September 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. Herbert Kappler (23 September 1907 - 9 February 1978) was a key German SS functionary and war criminal during the Nazi era. Kappler and his first wife divorced while he was serving his sentence. 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. 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. Fortunately, they did not storm the Vatican because of its unique status. In 1937, Kappler graduated from the Fhrerschule der Sicherheitspolizei (Leadership School of the Security Police) in Berlin as a Kriminalkommissar (criminal commissioner). Kappler's second in command in Rome, SS-Captain Erich Priebke, did manage to escape and it was not until 1996 that Priebke would face justice. Herbert Kappler joined the Nazi Party on 1 August 1931 at the age of twenty three. It was later performed live under the name Kingfishers Catch Fire.[21]. Kappler converted to Roman Catholicism. Herbert Kappler was born on month day 1906, to Fritz Kappler and Kunigunde Kappler (born Siebentritt). 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 radio play was first broadcast on November 30, 2006 on UK BBC Radio 4. Toget about, he donned various disguises, hence his nickname the Scarlet Pimpernel of the Vatican. It came from a book about an Englishman who disguised himself to help French nobility escape the purges of the French Revolution. 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. TimesMachine is an exclusive benefit for home delivery and digital subscribers. He mingled with Victor Emmanuel III, the King of Italy and he also became friendly with Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini; the founder of Italian Fascism. In 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. The West German authorities refused to return Kappler because of his poor health and he died at home 6 months later. Upon leaving the SA, Kappler was accepted as a prospective candidate into the Schutzstaffel (SS) and appointed to the entry level probation rank of SS-Anwrter. Instead, he stayed to work for the Holy See, serving as a Vatican diplomat in Egypt, Haiti, Santo Domingo, and Czechoslovakia. The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. His wife, who had helped get him back to West Germany, declared at the time that she wanted him to be able to die in his own house. [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. 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." . [2], 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. He also coordinated the rescue of downed pilots, providing them with food, medicine and safe houses throughout Italy. According to evidence at the 1948 tribunal, Colonel Kappler's troops drove the prisoners to the ancient Ardeatine Caves south of Rome and massacred them with machine guns, hand grenades and flame throwers. Arrest and Later Life. He later arranged the deportation of a further 993 Roman Jews, nearly all of whom also died in the gas chambers. 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