Wolff could not help his friend Viktor. Despite a statement that Brack was “an extremely respectable, extraordinarily helpful person, whom any thought of committing an inhumane act was …farthest from his mind,” he still could not save him from the gallows. Even Brack’s statement that he had wanted to save the Jews from extermination by suggesting to Hitler in a conversation with Himmler that they could sterilize all the Jews so that the hated “Jewish blood” would die out without creating any ripples,
did nothing to lower the sentence imposed by the American judges. One passage in Brack’s statement should have served as a warning for Wolff; the friend admitted that it was “an open secret in 1941 in the higher Party circles” that “those in power intended to eradicate the entire Jewish population in Germany and the occupied territories.” Did SS Oberführer Brack include his Munich mate, SS Obergruppenführer Karl Wolff in those higher Party circles?
Wolff was just as unsuccessful as a witness in saving his friend Oswald Pohl, SS Obergruppenführer and Chief of the Economic and Administrative Main Office in the Reich Leadership of the SS, from the gallows. The former navy paymaster reached that position because Wolff sponsored him. When Wolff became ill and was placed in the sick bay in Hohenlychen following his kidney operation, Pohl did not let Himmler’s displeasure prevent him from remaining friendly, as opposed to most high-ranking SS officers. Since Pohl supervised all workers in the SS operations and, therefore in all the concentration camps, he was now accused at Nuremberg of having killed, or at least having impaired the health of millions of slave laborers—opponents of the National Socialist regime, Jews, prisoners of war, and civilians who had been taken by force from the eastern regions—in a brutal system of ruthless exploitation and starvation.
Wolff’s assurances that Pohl had always been an honest man, who had been forced by Himmler to act against his own conviction, didn’t help at all. Pohl had even tried to save Jews from “evacuation” (one of the many code words for murder) by stating that he could not do without their work if his operations were to fulfill their deliveries for the military. Wolff’s praise for Pohl as an excellent business manager turned to his disadvantage. The death sentence characterized Pohl’s set-up as “an efficient enterprise” but that was in reality managing “a criminal undertaking.” Wolff’s well-intentioned help would wind up haunting him. At his interrogation at the trial on June 4, 1947, the judges took from the flood of papers of the Third Reich, for the first time, the exchange of letters with State Secretary Ganzenmüller, dealing with transporting the Jews from the Warsaw ghettos to an extermination camp, which later provided the motive given by the court in Munich to sentence Wolff to prison.
________________
*
Allen W. Dulles,
The Secret Surrender
(New York: Harper & Row, 1966).
A
s in the proceedings against Pohl and Brack, Wolff was also a witness called by the defense in the case of one of the most powerful men in the German economy on trial, the big business man, Friedrich Flick. Among other things, as one of the members of the “Circle of Friends of the Reichsführer SS” he was accused of having supported a criminal organization with large donations. As Himmler’s chief adjutant and then as chief of the personal staff, Wolff had managed the donation funds. He testified that the money was used “only for social, cultural and representative purposes,” therefore not at all for criminal purposes.
Besides that, he testified that Flick had been an opponent of Hitler’s policies of war and conquest. In September 1938, during the crisis in the Sudetenland, this rich man was very much concerned about peace because the Führer’s demands could lead to a terrible disaster for Germany and the world. At that time, Flick had asked Wolff to make this clear to Himmler so that he could support the idea of a peaceful solution with Hitler. Wolff responded vehemendy that Hitler did not want war, and that he was so sure of this that he would put his money on any kind of wager. Although Wolff, as it later emerged, had completely misjudged Hitler’s intentions, he won the bet, at least for the year 1938. Flick sent the
Obergruppenführer a valuable hunting weapon, a triple-barreled shotgun, as his prize. It was simply a habit of his of maintaining friendships with small gifts. How helpful Wolff was to him with his testimony in Nuremberg is an open question; the big-business man received a prison sentence, like most others on trial, of which he only served a small part.
Wolff’s testimony also failed to protect Field Marshal Erhard Milch, who had risen from a fighter pilot in Göring’s fighter squadron in the First World War to master aircraft general in the Second World War, from being sentenced to life-imprisonment by the Nuremberg court-martial. However, Wolff’s testimony may have exonerated him of one charge, for which Milch could have been hanged. It dealt with the experiments by the physician Dr. Sigmund Rascher, also an SS Hauptsturmführer and later staff doctor of the Luftwaffe reserve, who locked concentration camp prisoners in pressurized chambers below atmospheric pressure, to simulate conditions at higher levels of the atmosphere. With another series of experiments he was searching for a way to save personnel from death from hypothermia in freezing seawater. Again, concentration camp prisoners were the guinea pigs. Many died or had severe damage to their health for the rest of their lives. He therefore turned to Himmler and managed to continue his experiments in the name of and with the money from the SS organization “Ahnenerbe.” In the bureaucracy, the “Ahnenerbe” reported to the Chief of the Personal Staff, and in this capacity Wolff had to deal with Rascher’s experiments. He even witnessed tests in the low-pressure chambers, and when he was later questioned about it, said he would have made himself available for such plans without a second thought. But many prisoners in the concentration camps volunteered because they had been promised shorter prison terms. Others, who had already been sentenced to death, were told that the sentence would not be carried through if they survived the experiments.
In Nuremberg, Milch was blamed for testing on humans as a crime against humanity. An exchange of letters between the master aircraft general and Wolff apparently incriminated him. Wolff testified that the Luftwaffe was no longer involved during the most hideous of the sadist Rascher’s experiments, where he enjoyed watching people die in the freezing water of a pool and in the air pressure chambers. Milch was also convinced that the victims had volunteered for the experiments.
During these interrogations, held mostly in 1947, Wolff was persistent and industrious in fighting for his own freedom. In letters to the American justices, to Dulles, Gaevernitz, to Waibel and Husmann, he reminded
them of the promises made at the surrender: whoever had not committed any crimes should be allowed to return home after a short time as a POW Dulles was to have told him at some point: “Even if you had made no personal requests, I certainly hope to have your help for later employment in Germany.” At the end of February 1947 Wolff wrote to President Truman, listed his accomplishments in some detail without any kind of false humility, requesting he be released from prison, citing the promises made in Switzerland. He was already known as a complainer for some time in Nuremberg, but in some ways he felt betrayed—and rightfully so. Gaevernitz and Husmann even recognized this. Because the latter was named by Wolff as one of his “guarantors” regarding the arrangements made at that time, he managed to obtain permission to visit Wolff in prison. Wolff’s behavior in custody did not exactly put the victors in a good mood. In February 1947 he complained furiously to one interrogator: “A Jew is killed in the gas chamber in a few seconds, without having an idea or even knowing it. My comrades and I have been allowed to die once every night for twenty-one months. This is much more inhumane than the extermination used on the Jews. Too much has been grossly exaggerated.” It was not surprising that the Americans could not trust him with the planned reeducation and retraining of the German people to embrace democratic principles.
Dr. Eugen Dollmann former SS Standartenführer, and Eugen Wenner former SS Obersturmbannführer, Wolff’s partners in Italy were much more clever than the general. Wenner had been Wolff’s adjutant and this made him interesting for the Allies’ investigations, but on the other hand, he had signed the surrender agreement and had to be rewarded. Dollmann was in greater danger. The Italians were saying that he had temporarily been SS police chief in Rome and that he had worked with a violent Fascist police officer, a torturing sadist named Pietro Koch. However, Cardinal Schuster, the archbishop of Milan, made sure at first that nothing happened to Dollmann. In the summer of 1946 he and Wenner were no longer willing to deal with the semi-illegality that was tolerated by the Allies, and the uncertain conditions it created. They requested that Baron Luigi Parilli, who was once again an influential manager in Milan, make sure that the promises by Allen Dulles, Gaevernitz, and the ominous Mister Blum were kept.
At the beginning of July they met in Parilli’s office. He already had a solution. As the Vatican chamberlain, he had recently met the U.S. Lieutenant General W. D. Morgan, Chief of Staff at Allied headquarters in
Caserta, who was now just outside the office of the Holy Father. Because Parilli had also privately been helpful to this American, he could be useful for his German friends. Together with Husmann, Parilli managed to get Dollmann and Wenner safe conduct passes to the offices of the OSS in Rome to negotiate their reward. Parilli already knew what the Americans would suggest to the former SS officers—they would each be offered a new existence abroad and all losses that they incurred during their imprisonment would be replaced. SS officers could always be useful, in the view of the Americans in OSS.
A U.S. Army vehicle drove them to Rome. They were provided with an apartment, U.S. rations and plenty of cigarettes, which in those days was the only valuable currency. It must have made them suspicious, however, that only people from the OSS were living in that house. A U.S. captain, who simply called himself Jim, made more specific offers to both of them that clearly implied espionage activities. They refused. In conversations lasting far into September, it was urgently suggested that they immigrate to Brazil. In case they refused that offer, the Americans then brought up the accusations that the Italians were leveling against Dollmann. The two Germans agreed that they could be dealt with quite differently.
The situation eased somewhat when they were given personal identification cards with assumed names and money was made available. They could now move about the streets of Rome. Dollmann was, of course, arrested by the Italian police on December 8, 1946, and Wenner shortly thereafter. The OSS intervened, but not strenously. The two were left to stew for a while. When they were finally released, they were offered passage to South America. But then suddenly they were required once again in Germany. In May 1947, they were taken to Oberursel, to the OSS center in the Taunus. At first they were placed in individual cells, but shortly after they were moved to better quarters, received good care, additional cigarette rations, and were allowed to take longer walks outside.
After a few more weeks, the OSS officers finally agreed that there wasn’t much to be gained from these SS officers. They were allowed a short vacation to visit their families and advised not to return to Oberursel. It was preferable that the SS officers escape to Italy because they could avoid what could become awkward for the occupying forces and the SS officers, namely interrogations by German de-nazification commissions. To start, they each received one thousand Swiss franks, four cartons of Chesterfield cigarettes and two bottles of whisky, which in those days was something
of a small fortune on the black market. In addition, they each received 3,400 reich marks in back pay. Furthermore, they found out that Italian officials and the Catholic church had been informed that the United States wanted no further complications where they were concerned. They were driven to Lake Tegern. The purpose according to their vacation permit was for relaxation. A man working to assist SS fugitives, who was sponsored by the Vatican and directed by Bishop Alois Hudal, the rector of a theological college in Rome, took the two men from Upper Bavaria through Austria and into Italy. Wenner agreed to be smuggled to Brazil. The Church could use the services of art historian Dr. Dollmann, and they agreed to hide him until he was no longer threatened by accusations.
Wolff had also requested leave on vacation privileges, but his request was denied at first. It was only on October 12, 1947, that he would be free for seven days. He also went to Lake Tegern where he visited both his families. Later he said that the Americans suggested that he not return to custody. However, this does not appear to be correct, because two days after starting his vacation, American officials protested; Wolff was a prisoner of the British, and they had not been consulted.
They were probably happy to be rid of Wolff so they could avoid fulfilling the promises that Allen Dulles had made in Switzerland.
At that point, the U.S. judges could not do without Wolff’s presence for long periods. In the course of twelve months, he was interrogated seventeen times and eleven of the examiners attempted to get useful testimony from him and sometimes they heard fantastic and odd stories. As he described his relationship to Himmler, he said that of course Hitler exerted the greatest influence on the Reichsführer SS. Reinhard Heydrich as Chief of the RSHA always egged Himmler into being more extreme, while he, Wolff, influenced him “in a balanced and soothing” manner, until the beginning of the war when he was called to the Führer headquarters. Himmler’s demise, his “purported” suicide, remains a mystery. It seems improbable that the man would seek death in such a strange way by marching into British headquarters to give himself up, immediately state his name, and poison himself. There are “many old SS veterans who are still absolutely convinced that Himmler was tortured to death.” In a memorandum, written for the Americans in April 1947, Wolff developed the theory that Himmler, “based on conversations the Führer had in general with the Reichsführer,” had decided “to relieve the burdens…from the shoulders of the new messiah Adolf Hitler. The Führer was to remain free of sin.” Himmler therefore wanted to perform the dirty work in silence.”
By this he meant making the “newly acquired
lebensraum
in the east germ free” through the mass murders. Was he implying that the Holocaust was therefore a misunderstanding between Hitler and Himmler?