Ernst Misselwitz (31 August 1909 –?) was an SS-''

Hauptscharführer __NOTOC__ ''Hauptscharführer'' ( ) was a Nazi paramilitary rank which was used by the ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) between the years of 1934 and 1945. The rank was the highest enlisted rank of the SS, with the exception of the special Waffen-SS rank ...

'' who worked for the

Gestapo The (), abbreviated Gestapo (; ), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe. The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of Prussia into one organi ...

(Secret State Police). He became head of the unit IV E of the RSHA -

Reich Security Main Office The Reich Security Main Office (german: Reichssicherheitshauptamt or RSHA) was an organization under Heinrich Himmler in his dual capacity as ''Chef der Deutschen Polizei'' (Chief of German Police) and ''Reichsführer-SS'', the head of the Nazi ...

of the

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

. In 1952 he was found guilty of having tortured French resistance fighters. According to Serge Klarsfeld, French Intelligence employed Misselwitz after the war in helping them investigate wartime Nazi crimes and preparing court cases against wartime French collaborators.

Gestapo

Ernst Misselwitz arrived in July 1942

rue des Saussaies Rue des Saussaies is a short (50m long) street in the 8th arrondissement of Paris that adjoins the Ministry of the Interior. It begins at place Beauvau and finishes at place Saussaies. At number 10, lived the comte de Ségur, Napoleon I ...

at the ''

Sicherheitsdienst ' (, ''Security Service''), full title ' (Security Service of the ''Reichsführer-SS''), or SD, was the intelligence agency of the SS and the Nazi Party in Nazi Germany. Established in 1931, the SD was the first Nazi intelligence organization ...

'' (SD), the intelligence services of the SS. In January 1943, he joined the ''Befehlshaber der Sipo-SD'' (BdS) located at 84 avenue Foch. The BdS included the Gestapo for which he was in charge of unit IV E of the RSHA, whose remit was

French Communists French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with France ...

and

French Resistance The French Resistance (french: La Résistance) was a collection of organisations that fought the German occupation of France during World War II, Nazi occupation of France and the Collaborationism, collaborationist Vichy France, Vichy régim ...

Karl Bömelburg Karl Bömelburg (28 October 1885 – 31 December 1946) was an SS-''Sturmbannführer'' (major) and head of the Gestapo in France during the Second World War. He notably had authority over section IV J, charged with the deportation of the Jews, fo ...

was his boss as chief of unit IV. As a senior ''

'' ( SD) officer, he was given freedom of action and autonomy to hunt anyone thought to be anti-Nazi. He became a trusted agent of the SD and led numerous operations against the French Resistance. Misselwitz ran the interrogation and torture chamber in Paris Gestapo HQ. Before working in Paris, Misselwitz worked in Gestapo HQ in

Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of t ...

. On 3–4 July 1943

Jean Moulin Jean Pierre Moulin (; 20 June 1899 – 8 July 1943) was a French civil servant and resistant who served as the first President of the National Council of the Resistance during World War II from 27 May 1943 until his death less than two months l ...

was taken to the Gestapo headquarters in Paris where Misselwitz interrogated him along with

Klaus Barbie Nikolaus "Klaus" Barbie (25 October 1913 – 25 September 1991) was a German operative of the SS and SD who worked in Vichy France during World War II. He became known as the "Butcher of Lyon" for having personally tortured prisoners—primari ...

. Jean Moulin officially died of his injuries on July 8, 1943. Gilberte Brossolette, the widow of the Resistance hero,

Pierre Brossolette Pierre Brossolette (25 June 1903 – 22 March 1944) was a French journalist, left-wing politician and major hero of the French Resistance in World War II. He ran an intelligence hub of Parisian resistance at the Rue de la Pompe, before servi ...

, testified to Misselwitz' war crimes. In February 1944, Pierre Brossolette was arrested in

Rennes Rennes (; br, Roazhon ; Gallo: ''Resnn''; ) is a city in the east of Brittany in northwestern France at the confluence of the Ille and the Vilaine. Rennes is the prefecture of the region of Brittany, as well as the Ille-et-Vilaine department ...

. On 16 March, Misselwitz made the trip to identify him as they met in

while Misselwitz was on a mission. He ordered the transfer of Brossolette to avenue Foch on 19 March. Brossolette was interrogated and tortured by Misselwitz and also Robert Krekeller. On 21 March, Forest Yeo-Thomas, an agent of the

Special Operations Executive The Special Operations Executive (SOE) was a secret British World War II organisation. It was officially formed on 22 July 1940 under Minister of Economic Warfare Hugh Dalton, from the amalgamation of three existing secret organisations. Its pu ...

was captured by the Gestapo at the

Passy Passy () is an area of Paris, France, located in the 16th arrondissement, on the Right Bank. It is home to many of the city's wealthiest residents. Passy was a commune on the outskirts of Paris. In 1658, hot springs were discovered around whic ...

tube station. He was on a mission to rescue Brossolette from the Rennes prison and Misselwitz would interrogate him. Since Brossolette was afraid of talking and betraying his cause under further torture, he jumped out of a sixth-floor window to his death on 22 March. In May 1944, Jean Moulin 's sister went to the Gestapo office in Paris to ask for her brother's ashes. Misselwitz dismissed her.

French agent

With the

Liberation of Paris The liberation of Paris (french: Libération de Paris) was a military battle that took place during World War II from 19 August 1944 until the German garrison surrendered the French capital on 25 August 1944. Paris had been occupied by Nazi Germ ...

on 25 August 1944, Misselwitz fled from Paris to Germany. In October 1945, the 36-year-old Misselwitz reported to the French security services in northwest Berlin. Misselwitz was arrested and imprisoned for a short time and offered to spy among the inmates, starting in early 1946. In 1952 Misselwitz was convicted in a Paris court

In absentia is Latin for absence. , a legal term, is Latin for "in the absence" or "while absent". may also refer to: * Award in absentia * Declared death in absentia, or simply, death in absentia, legally declared death without a body * Election in absen ...

. He was sentenced to five years' imprisonment for the torture of Brossolette, but was never found or arrested.

Serge and Beate Klarsfeld Serge Klarsfeld (born 17 September 1935) is a Romanian-born French activist and Nazi hunter known for documenting the Holocaust in order to establish the record and to enable the prosecution of war criminals. Since the 1960s, he has made notab ...

discovered that the French secret services employed Ernst Misselwitz beginning in 1945. The time and place of his death are unknown.

References

{{Portal, Biography, Germany, World War II Gestapo personnel Holocaust perpetrators in France 1909 births Year of death missing

Gestapo

French agent

See also

References