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Ernst Kaltenbrunner
Kaltenbrunner
Historical Figure
Nationality: Germany, formerly Austria, born in the Austro-Hungarian Empire
Year of Birth: 1903
Year of Death: 1946
Cause of Death: Execution by hanging
Religion: Catholicism
Occupation: Soldier, Police Officer, Lawyer, Politician
Spouse: Elisabeth Eder
Military Branch: SS (World War II)
Political Party: NSDAP
Political Office(s): German legislator
Fictional Appearances:

Ernst Kaltenbrunner (4 October 1903 – 16 October 1946) was a high-ranking Austrian SS official during the Nazi era and a major perpetrator of the Holocaust. After the assassination of Reinhard Heydrich in 1942, and a brief period under Heinrich Himmler, Kaltenbrunner was the third Chief of the Reich Security Main Office (RSHA), which included the offices of Gestapo, Kripo and SD, from January 1943 until the end of World War II in Europe.

Kaltenbrunner joined the Nazi Party in 1930 and the SS in 1931, and by 1935 he was considered a leader of the Austrian SS. In 1938, he assisted in the Anschluss and was given command of the SS and police force in Austria. In January 1943, Kaltenbrunner was appointed chief of the RSHA, succeeding Reinhard Heydrich, who was assassinated in May 1942.

A committed anti-Semite and fanatical Hitler loyalist, Kaltenbrunner oversaw a period in which the genocide of Jews intensified. He was the highest-ranking member of the SS to face trial (Himmler having committed suicide in May 1945) at the first Nuremberg Trials, where he was found guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity. Kaltenbrunner was sentenced to death and executed by hanging in October 1946.

Ernst Kaltenbrunner in The Man With the Iron Heart[]

The Man With the Iron Heart
POD: May 29, 1942;
Relevant POD: May, 1945
Type of Appearance: Oblique contemporary reference

Ernst Kaltenbrunner[1] was one of nearly two dozen[2] German officials who were captured by the Allies at the end of World War II. The Allies sought to try Kaltenbrunner and the other men for war crimes. These plans were stopped twice by the German Freedom Front, first in November 1945, when the GFF destroyed the Palace of Justice in Nuremberg[3] and second in 1946, when the GFF destroyed the American residency zone in Frankfurt with a radium bomb.[4]

In 1947, the Soviets decided to try the officials in their zone. The GFF prevented this by crashing a plane into the courthouse, killing all the lawyers and judges, but leaving the accused unharmed.[5]

Ernst Kaltenbrunner in Worldwar[]

Worldwar
POD: May 30, 1942
Appearance(s): Down to Earth
Type of Appearance: Direct
Date of Death: 1965
Cause of Death: Killed during the Race-German War of 1965, probably by an explosive-metal bomb
Military Branch: SS (World War II, Race Invasion of Tosev 3)
Political Office(s): Führer and Chancellor of the Greater German Reich

Ernst Kaltenbrunner (1903-1965) was Führer-Chancellor of Germany for a brief period in 1965. Kaltenbrunner launched a war with the Race over Poland that led to his death and the deaths of most of Germany's leadership, and badly set back the country's fortunes for the remainder of the 20th Century.

When the Race invaded Earth in 1942, and after the Peace of Cairo was signed in 1944, Kaltenbrunner continued serving in the SS, ultimately becoming commander of the RSHA, a major security force comprised of many of the important police organizations in Germany. He held these posts throughout the reigns of Adolf Hitler and Heinrich Himmler, becoming Himmler's right-hand man, and after Himmler's death was elected Führer and Chancellor by the Committee of Eight.[6]

His reign was brief and disastrous. Shortly after taking office, Kaltenbrunner initiated Himmler's plan for the invasion of Poland, starting a war with the Race in which he was not supported by any other major human power.[7] Though Germany inflicted significant damage on the Race Colonies on Tosev 3, it never had a chance. Kaltenbrunner himself was killed in the war, and the hierarchy of the Nazi Party was destroyed. Kaltenbrunner was succeeded by Walter Dornberger, the only senior German official left,[8] who immediately sued for peace.[9]

See also[]

References[]

  1. Kaltenbrunner is not named in the book, but the Point of Divergence does not seem to have changed the composition of the Nuremberg defendants.
  2. The Man With the Iron Heart, pg. 260.
  3. Ibid., pg. 108.
  4. Ibid., pg. 260.
  5. Ibid., pg. 407-8.
  6. Down to Earth 547-548.
  7. Ibid., pgs. 550-570, generally.
  8. Ibid., pg. 606.
  9. Ibid., pgs. 614-618.
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