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Exploring the World of the Second and Third Tier Men in the Holocaust: The Interrogation of Friedrich Jeckeln: Engineer and Executioner

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Abstract

Friedrich Jeckeln as Higher SS and Police Fuehrer for South Russia in 1941, and then North Russia from 1941 to 1944, was a key player in the development of the Holocast in the occupied Soviet Union. This article explores his career and motivations through the medium of his interrogation reports. Those interrogations were conducted by the NKVD from December 1945 to January 1946. They formed a key part in the development of a case against Jeckeln for involvement in crimes against the Soviet people. Using a variety of coercive techniques Jeckeln’s captors forced him to confront the enormity of his crimes. He was brought before a court and executed on the same day in February 1946.

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Notes

  1. See for example, Bennett ( 2011 ).

  2. Prusin (2003), see also Förster (1998, p. 481).

  3. See Aly and Heim (2002).

  4. Matthaüs (1996).

  5. Friedrich Jeckeln SS-Personalakte, Dokumenten der Zentralen Stelle der Landesjustizverwaltungen, Ludwigsburg, 204 AR-Z 129.67, British National Archives (Kew) TNA: HW16 class.

  6. Smelser and Syring (2003, pp. 262–267).

  7. Yerger (1997, pp. 272–276).

  8. Yerger (1997, p. 276).

  9. The Times, 8 January 1946, p. 4.

  10. Prusin (2003).

  11. Jeckeln to Himmler, 28 February 1932, Friedrich Jeckeln SS-Personalakte.

  12. Jeckeln’s first son was born on 20 January 1920; a daughter on 12 January 1922 and a second son on 25 March 1923. Cover sheet Friedrich Jeckeln SS-Personalakte.

  13. Jeckeln to Himmler, 28 February 1932, Friedrich Jeckeln SS-Personalakte.

  14. Three sons would be born on 14 September 1929, 27 October 1939 and 26 August 1941. Two daughters would be born on 15 October 1932 and 27 February 1938. Cover sheet Friedrich Jeckeln SS-Personalakte.

  15. Jeckeln career progression: 01.10.1913 Einjährig-Freiwilliger; 00.03.1915 Leutnant d. R.; 01.12.1930 SS-Anwärter; 05.01.1931 SS-Mann; 31.03.1931 SS-Sturmbannführer (with effect from 15.03.1930);22.06.1931 SS-Standartenführer; 25.09.1931 SS-Oberführer (with effect from 20.09.1931); 04.02.1933 SS-Gruppenführer; 20.06.1933 Regierungsrat; 01.10.1933 Major der Schutzpolizei; 01.11.1933 Oberstleutnant der Schutzpolizei; 13.09.1936 SS-Obergruppenführer; 01.04.1941 General der Polizei;01.07.1944 General der Waffen-SS. NSDAP-Number.: 163, 348 (Joined 01.10.1929); SS-Number.: 4,367 (Joined 01.12.1930).

  16. Charlotte Jeckeln to Adolf Hitler, 5 February 1943, Friedrich Jeckeln SS-Personalakte.

  17. Himmler to Charlotte Jeckeln, 17 March 1932, Friedrich Jeckeln SS-Personalakte.

  18. Jeckeln to Himmler, 28 February 1932, Friedrich Jeckeln SS-Personalakte.

  19. “The Blond Nonsense”, The Times, 19 June 1937, p. 14.

  20. Leningrad, Riga, Minsk, Kiev, Briansk, Velikie Luki, Nikolayev.

  21. Prusin (2003, p. 1).

  22. Prusin (2003, p. 10).

  23. Friedrich Jeckeln interrogation, 29 December 1945.

  24. Friedrich Jeckeln interrogation, 27 December 1945.

  25. Military-Historical Institute (Prague) microfilm reels in USHMM RG48.004M: Kamenets-Podolsk—Karton 1 items 100377, 100385, 100391; Babi Yar—Karton 2 items 100569, 100584; Berdichev—Karton 2 item 100421.

  26. Friedrich Jeckeln, interrogation, 13 December 1945.

  27. Friedrich Jeckeln interrogation, 14 December 1945.

  28. Prusin (2003, p. 11).

  29. The pre-war German definition of murder defines a murderer as someone who kills another person, treacherously, cruelly, or by means endangering the community, from love of killing; from sexual motives; from covetousness; from other base motives; from desire to conceal another crime.

  30. Friedrich Jeckeln interrogation, 30 December 1945.

  31. Eberhard Herf (20 March 1887–6 February 1946), SS-Brigadeführer und Generalmajor der Polizei—NSDAP Number: 1322780; SS Number: 411,970; Head of the German Order Police (Kdr ORPO) at Minsk December 1941–February 1942 and again 2 August 1943–1 February 1944; Head of German Order Police (Kdr ORPO) at Kharkov 28 February 1942–28 August 1943; chief of staff, German Anti-Partisan command (Chief Staber Bandenkampfverbande), 23 July–1 August 1943 and again 1 February–1 April 1944; staff, "Bohemia and Moravia" Region SS (November 1944 onwards); he was sentenced to death by a Soviet court at Minsk and hanged on 6 February 1946.

  32. Wolfgang von Ditfurth (1879–3 February 1946), Generalleutnant in the Reichswehr, retired with rank of Oberst 1 April 1932; recalled 1 October 1934; retired as Generalmajor 31 March 1939; recalled to duty 1 September 1939; commanded 403rd Security Division; discharged 31 July 1942; he was sentenced to death by a Soviet court at Riga and hanged on 3 February 1946. He may have died of natural causes before sentence was carried out.

  33. Friedrich Jeckeln interrogation, 3 January 1946.

  34. Friedrich Jeckeln interrogation, 27 December 1945.

  35. Friedrich Jeckeln interrogation, 28 December 1945.

  36. Friedrich Jeckeln interrogation, 30 December 1945.

  37. Friedrich Jeckeln interrogation, 1 December 1946.

  38. Friedrich Jeckeln interrogation, 4 January 1946.

  39. Friedrich Jeckeln interrogation, 8 January 1946.

  40. Friedrich Jeckeln interrogation, 17 January 1946.

  41. Friedrich Jeckeln interrogation, 18 January 1946.

  42. Friedrich Jeckeln interrogation, 27 January 1946.

  43. On the importance of the SS-Junkerschule see Kiekenap (2008).

  44. The Times, 11 February 1961, p. 5.

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  1. University of Plymouth, Room 1, 6 Portland Villas, Drake Circus, Plymouth, Devon, PL4 8AA, UK

    G. H. Bennett

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Bennett, G.H. Exploring the World of the Second and Third Tier Men in the Holocaust: The Interrogation of Friedrich Jeckeln: Engineer and Executioner. Liverpool Law Rev 32, 1–18 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10991-011-9087-z

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