Rudolf (“Rudi”) Emil Hermann Brandt ( German: Rudolf (“Rudi”) Emil Hermann Brandt ; June 2, 1909 , Frankfurt an der Oder - June 2, 1948 , Landsberg am Lech ) - German war criminal , personal assistant Heinrich Himmler , Deputy President of the Institute Ahnenerbe , Head of the Office of the Ministry of the Interior of Germany, Standartenführer SS .
Rudolf Emil Hermann Brandt | |
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Rudolf Emil Hermann Brandt | |
Date of Birth | June 2, 1909 |
Place of Birth | Frankfurt (Oder) , German Empire |
Date of death | June 2, 1948 (39 years) |
Place of death | Landsberg am Lech , Bavaria |
Citizenship | German Empire Germany Germany Germany |
Occupation | , , |
A lawyer by education, he received his education at the universities of Berlin and Jena ; doctor of law. In 1932 he joined the Nazi Party in order to gain career opportunities and entered the service at the headquarters of the Reichsführer. Since 1938, in the Personal Headquarters of the Reichsführer the SS held the position of Himmler’s personal assistant secretary. He also acted as a legal adviser; highly skilled stenographer. As a secretary, Himmler corresponded with many doctors who conducted experiments on people in concentration camps (in particular, Hirt , Rasher, Clouberg), and also headed the drafting of all sorts of documentation (including orders for the destruction of people or the beginning of certain experiments). According to the memoirs of many of Himmler's subordinates, who worked together with Brandt, the latter enjoyed great confidence from the Reichsführer and was distinguished by extreme diligence.
According to several reports , Brandt was on friendly terms with Felix Kersten and provided him with all possible assistance. Mention is also made of the fact that Brandt once saved his life by warning about an impending assassination attempt (planned by RSHA chief Kaltenbrunner ). Also, some sources mention that Brandt helped Kersten to forge documents for the release of people from concentration camps: he deliberately performed typing so that after the document was signed by the Reichsführer, several more names could be assigned to the person to be released. In his memoirs, Kersten noted the fact that, despite Rudolf’s conscientious fulfillment of the tasks assigned to him, he did not share most of the ideas of the Reichsführer and treated them with disapproval, considering him cruel and inhumane.
From March 30 to May 11, 1941 , he fought as a part of an artillery battalion in battles against Greece . In 1944, he received the title of Standarfenführer . At the end of the war, as an escort, he went with Himmler to a meeting with General Montgomery and was arrested in Bremmervörde. For some time he was kept, along with the rest of Himmler’s companions, in a civilian camp near Lüneburg . December 9, 1946 appeared on the Nuremberg trial of doctors . August 20, 1947 sentenced to death. His companion Felix Kersten tried to save him, however, despite Kersten's efforts, Rudolf Brandt was hanged on June 2, 1948.
Literature
- The Labyrinth , Memoirs of Walter Schellenberg, Harper and Brothers, 1956.
- Ernst Klee, Das Personenlexikon zum Dritten Reich. Wer War Was Unor Nach 1945 , Frankfurt am Main 2005, S. 71.
- Longerich , Peter. Heinrich Himmler: A Life. - Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press, 2012. - ISBN 978-0-19-959232-6 .