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Heinrich Andergassen

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Andergassen during his trial in Naples, 15 January 1946

Heinrich or Heinz Andergassen (30 July 1908 – 26 July 1946) was an engineer, SS officer, and convicted war criminal who was executed for the torture and murder of seven Allied prisoners of war. He was a SS-Sturmscharführer[1] and later an SS-Untersturmführer in Northern Italy.

Career

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Andergassen was born on 30 July 1908 in Hall, Tyrol, Austria-Hungary. He was educated as a machinist at Swarowski in Wattens. In 1929 he voluntarily joined the Army and was trained at Viennese Arsenal. In 1937 he was appointed Gendarm. After Anschluss he got NSDAP membership, and became active with Gestapo.[2] During the German occupation of Czechoslovak Sudetenland in October 1938 he served in a 100-strong police unit. Then he started his career as a Gestapo officer in Innsbruck.[3] Andergassen was later sent to Italy, where he served as an SD officer in Merano. On the night of 15 September 1943, he led raids which resulted in the arrests of 25 Jews living in Merano. The Jews were locked in a basement and deported the next morning. They were taken by truck to Reichenau concentration camp in Austria and later to Auschwitz concentration camp. Only one of the Jews abducted, Valeska von Hoffmann, survived the Holocaust.[4]

Manlio Longon

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On 15 December 1944, the SS captured Manlio Longon Comitato di Liberazione Nazionale leader of the Italian Resistance Alto Adige. On the order of August Schiffer, Longon was tortured and hanged by Andergassen and Storz at Army Corps Bolzano on 1 January 1945.[5]

Roderick Stephen Hall

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On 26 January 1945 the OSS Captain Roderick Stephen Hall,[6] who had been active in occupied Italy for some months was captured by the SS in Cortina d'Ampezzo and forced to Gestapo Bolzano/Bozen. On 19 February 1945, Roderick Stephen Hall was tortured and killed by Andergassen and SS-Oberscharführer Albert Storz on orders of SS-Sturmbannführer August Schiffer, at the Bolzano Transit Camp.[7]

Arrest, trial, and execution

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On 30 April 1945 Andergassen, together with Schiffer and Storz as a driver, fled from the approaching American armed forces in a black Mercedes to Brennero.[8] On 8 May, he was captured by the 206th Counterintelligence Corp outside Innsbruck[9] Schiffer, Storz, and he were accused as war criminals, along with Gestapo officer Hans Butz. During their trial, held by the U.S. military in Naples, Andergassen made a voluntary declaration that the execution of Roderick Hall was approved by higher Nazi authorities.[10] On 16 January 1946, Andergassen, Schiffer, and Storz were sentenced to death by hanging for the torture and killings of Roderick Stephen Hall, four other Americans and two British soldiers. Butz received a life sentence due to his limited involvement and his lack of participation in any other murders.[11] On 26 July 1946, Andergassen, Schiffer, and Storz were all hanged at a military stockade in Livorno.[12]

Postwar reception

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Province of Bolzano/Provinz Bozen Criminal Investigation Department Commissioner Arthur Schuster charged the war criminal with being "the incarnation of sadism and brutality; he was incredibly blood-thirsty, especially when under the influence of strong drink, for which he had a great fondness, and was encouraged in all his excesses by his superior", this being August Schiffer.[13]

References

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  1. ^ Salter, Michael Nazi War Crimes, US Intelligence and Selective Prosecution at Nuremberg, p. 111
  2. ^ German Federal Archives. Heinrich Andergassen. Documents. CV
  3. ^ German Federal Archives. Heinrich Andergassen. Documents. CV
  4. ^ "Persecuzioni nazifasciste e famiglie smembrate nella Merano tra le guerre - Venosta". Alto Adige (in Italian). 9 September 2020. Retrieved 13 September 2022.
  5. ^ Agostini, Piero; Romeo, Carlo [Hrsg.]: Trentino e Alto Adige: province del Reich. Temi, 2002. S. 270
  6. ^ CIA. 2010 Featured Story Archive. Roderick Stephen Hall: The Saboteur of Brenner Pass
  7. ^ Quibble, Anthony. Fall 1967: 4-41-1: Roderick "Steve" Hall (An Alpine Tragedy During the Last Convulsions of World War II). Fall 1967: 4-41-1. Oct. 28, 2019
  8. ^ O'Donnell, Patrick K.: The Brenner Assignment... Philadelphia: Da Capo, 2008. p. 213
  9. ^ O'Donnell. p. 233
  10. ^ Lingen, Kerstin von: Conspiracy of Silence: How the "Old Boys" of American Intelligence Shielded SS General Karl Wolff from Prosecution. In: Holocaust and Genocide Studies. Vol. 22.1. 2008. p. 74- 109. Oct. 27, 2019
  11. ^ United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, courtesy of National Archives and Records Administration, College Park. Photo Defendant Heinrich Andergassen confers with the interpreter for the defense during his trial as an accused war criminal. Oct. 27, 2019
  12. ^ New York Times, 1946, July 27. p. 5. 3 S.S. Officers Hanged.
  13. ^ CIA. Historical Review Program. Release in Full 22 September 1993. Roderick "Steve" Hall. 27 October 2019

Sources

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Further reading

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