Heinz Jost (9 July 1904 – 12 November 1964) was a German
SS functionary
An official is someone who holds an office (function or mandate, regardless whether it carries an actual working space with it) in an organization or government and participates in the exercise of authority, (either their own or that of their ...
during the
Nazi era
Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...
. He was involved in espionage matters as 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 ...
'' (Security Service) or (SD) section chief of office VI (foreign intelligence) of the
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 ...
. Jost was responsible for genocide in eastern Europe as commander of
''Einsatzgruppe'' A from March–September 1942.
After Germany's defeat, Jost was tried and convicted by a U.S. military court at the
Einsatzgruppen trial. In December 1951, Jost was released from
Landsberg Prison
Landsberg Prison is a penal facility in the town of Landsberg am Lech in the southwest of the German state of Bavaria, about west-southwest of Munich and south of Augsburg. It is best known as the prison where Adolf Hitler was held in 1924, a ...
after his sentence was commuted to ten years and died in 1964.
Early life
Heinz Jost was born in the northern Hessian
Homberg (Efze)
Homberg () is a small town in the northern part of Hesse, a state in central Germany, with about 15,000 inhabitants. It is the seat of the Schwalm-Eder district. In 2008, the town hosted the 48th Hessentag state festival.
Geography
Homberg lies in ...
- Ortsteil Holzhausen - in
Hersfeld in 1904, to a middle-class Catholic and nationalistic family.
[The Nuremberg SS-Einsatzgruppen Trial, 1945-1958: Atrocity, Law, And History. Hilary Earl. Cambridge University Press, 2009. p. 115.] Heinrich Jost, Heinz's father, was a pharmacist and later became a fellow
NSDAP
The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party (german: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP), was a far-right politics, far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that crea ...
member.
[Testimony, Jost, 21 October 1947, in Trial, roll 2, 1129 and NO 2896, in ibid., roll 11, frame 0525.] Jost attended grammar school in
Bensheim
Bensheim () is a town in the Bergstraße district in southern Hessen, Germany. Bensheim lies on the Bergstraße and at the edge of the Odenwald mountains while at the same time having an open view over the Rhine plain. With about 40,000 inhabita ...
, graduating in 1923. As a student he became a member, and eventually a leader, of the Jungdeutsche Orden (
Young German Order
The Young German Order (in German , often abbreviated as ) was a large para-military organisation in Weimar Germany. Its name and symbol (see picture) were inspired by the Teutonic Knights ( in German).
The pseudo-chivalric group was involved in ...
), a nationalistic paramilitary movement.
[Wilhelm, "Die Einsatzgruppe A," 282.] Jost studied law and economics at the Universities of
Giessen
Giessen, spelled Gießen in German (), is a town in the German state (''Bundesland'') of Hesse, capital of both the district of Giessen and the administrative region of Giessen. The population is approximately 90,000, with roughly 37,000 univers ...
and
Munich
Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...
. He completed his civil service examination in May 1927. Heinz's legal career began as a legally trained civil servant employed in
Hesse
Hesse (, , ) or Hessia (, ; german: Hessen ), officially the State of Hessen (german: links=no, Land Hessen), is a States of Germany, state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt. Two other major histor ...
. He later worked in the district court at Darmstadt.
[Einsatzgruppen trial, Individual Judgment against Heinz Jost, pp. 512–514.]
Nazi career
Jost joined the
Nazi Party
The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party (german: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP), was a far-right politics, far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that crea ...
on 2 February 1928
[ with an NSDAP membership number of 75,946. He performed various functions for the party's operations in southern Hesse. From 1930 he settled as an independent lawyer in ]Lorsch
Lorsch is a town in the Bergstraße district in Hessen, Germany, 60 km south of Frankfurt. Lorsch is well known for the Lorsch Abbey, which has been named a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.
Geography
Location
Lorsch lies about 5 km wes ...
, Hesse. After the Nazi seizure of power in March 1933, Jost was appointed Director of Police in the city of Worms Worms may refer to:
*Worm, an invertebrate animal with a tube-like body and no limbs
Places
*Worms, Germany, a city
**Worms (electoral district)
*Worms, Nebraska, U.S.
*Worms im Veltlintal, the German name for Bormio, Italy
Arts and entertainme ...
and then to police director of Giessen
Giessen, spelled Gießen in German (), is a town in the German state (''Bundesland'') of Hesse, capital of both the district of Giessen and the administrative region of Giessen. The population is approximately 90,000, with roughly 37,000 univers ...
. From this period came his association with Werner Best
Karl Rudolf Werner Best (10 July 1903 – 23 June 1989) was a German jurist, police chief, SS-''Obergruppenführer'', Nazi Party leader, and theoretician from Darmstadt. He was the first chief of Department 1 of the Gestapo, Nazi Germany's secret ...
, who brought Jost into the main Nazi intelligence and security agency, the ''Sicherheitsdienst'' (SD). On 25 July 1934, Jost began his full-time career with the SD. His SS membership number was 36,243. In May 1936, Jost was promoted in the SD Main Office to head Department III 2 (Foreign Intelligence Services).["CV of Jost," in SS Record Jost (NO 2896), in Trial, roll 11, frame 0525; and, Browder, Hitler's Enforcers, 201.] In 1938, Jost was head of the ''Einsatzgruppe Dresden'' which occupied Czechoslovakia.[ Reitlinger, ''The SS — Alibi of a Nation'', pp. 117, 138, 145.] In August 1939 Jost was tasked by Reinhard Heydrich
Reinhard Tristan Eugen Heydrich ( ; ; 7 March 1904 – 4 June 1942) was a high-ranking German SS and police official during the Nazi era and a principal architect of the Holocaust.
He was chief of the Reich Security Main Office (inclu ...
with obtaining the Polish uniforms needed for the false flag
A false flag operation is an act committed with the intent of disguising the actual source of responsibility and pinning blame on another party. The term "false flag" originated in the 16th century as an expression meaning an intentional misr ...
attack on the station in Gleiwitz.
When the 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 ...
(RSHA) was established in September 1939, Jost was appointed as chief of Amt VI (Office VI) ''Ausland-SD'' (foreign intelligence).[ One of the chief purposes of Amt VI was to counteract foreign intelligence services that might try to operate in Germany.][Kahn, David, ''Hitler's Spies'', p. 59.] He also served as an SS officer in the German invasion of Poland
The invasion of Poland (1 September – 6 October 1939) was a joint attack on the Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union which marked the beginning of World War II. The German invasion began on 1 September 1939, one week afte ...
in 1939.[
]
Einsatzgruppe command
Jost's career suffered by being linked with Werner Best
Karl Rudolf Werner Best (10 July 1903 – 23 June 1989) was a German jurist, police chief, SS-''Obergruppenführer'', Nazi Party leader, and theoretician from Darmstadt. He was the first chief of Department 1 of the Gestapo, Nazi Germany's secret ...
, who was a rival of Reinhard Heydrich. Best lost a power struggle with Heydrich who went on to become one of the most powerful men in the Nazi state. In March 1942, Jost was fired from his position as Chief of ''Ausland-SD''.[Doerries, ''Hitler's Last Chief of Foreign Intelligence'', pp. 21, 80.] Jost's place was taken by ''Brigadeführer
''Brigadeführer'' (, ) was a paramilitary rank of the Nazi Party (NSDAP) that was used between the years of 1932 to 1945. It was mainly known for its use as an SS rank. As an SA rank, it was used after briefly being known as ''Untergruppenf ...
'' Walter Schellenberg
Walter Friedrich Schellenberg (16 January 1910 – 31 March 1952) was a German SS functionary during the Nazi era. He rose through the ranks of the SS, becoming one of the highest ranking men in the '' Sicherheitsdienst'' (SD) and eventually a ...
, a deputy of Heydrich. Heydrich had given Schellenberg the task of building up a case for Jost's removal.[ According to Schellenberg, Jost was lacking in bureaucratic skill and drive.
Jost was sent to command ''Einsatzgruppe'' A, whose previous commander ]Franz Walter Stahlecker
Franz Walter Stahlecker (10 October 1900 – 23 March 1942) was commander of the SS security forces (''Sicherheitspolizei'' (SiPo) and the ''Sicherheitsdienst'' (SD) for the ''Reichskommissariat Ostland'' in 1941–42. Stahlecker commanded ''Eins ...
, had recently been killed in a battle with partisans. ''Einsatzgruppe'' A was then operating in the Baltic States
The Baltic states, et, Balti riigid or the Baltic countries is a geopolitical term, which currently is used to group three countries: Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. All three countries are members of NATO, the European Union, the Eurozone, ...
and in Belarus
Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by R ...
. Jost became ''Befehlshaber der Sicherheitspolizei und des SD'' (Commander of the Security Police and the SD) or BdS in Reichskommissariat Ostland
The Reichskommissariat Ostland (RKO) was established by Nazi Germany in 1941 during World War II. It became the civilian occupation regime in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and the western part of Byelorussian SSR. German planning documents initia ...
, with his headquarters at Riga
Riga (; lv, Rīga , liv, Rīgõ) is the capital and largest city of Latvia and is home to 605,802 inhabitants which is a third of Latvia's population. The city lies on the Gulf of Riga at the mouth of the Daugava river where it meets the Ba ...
. Jost retained this position until September 1942. According to Jost, this position carried substantial responsibility:
During the time the territory under his jurisdiction was subject to army control, Jost as Chief of ''Einsatzgruppe'' A cooperated with the army command. When the territory came under civilian administration, he, as Commander in Chief of Security Police and SD received his orders from the Higher SS and Police Leader Friedrich Jeckeln
Friedrich Jeckeln (2 February 1895 – 3 February 1946) was a German SS commander during the Nazi era. He served as a Higher SS and Police Leader in the occupied Soviet Union during World War II. Jeckeln was the commander of one of the largest ...
. In both cases Jost was responsible for all operations conducted in his territory.[
After his ''Einsatzgruppen'' command, Jost was able to secure a position with the occupation administration for the eastern territories that was run by ]Alfred Rosenberg
Alfred Ernst Rosenberg ( – 16 October 1946) was a Baltic German Nazi theorist and ideologue. Rosenberg was first introduced to Adolf Hitler by Dietrich Eckart and he held several important posts in the Nazi government. He was the head of ...
, where he acted as a liaison officer between Rosenberg and the Wehrmacht commander in southern Russia, Ewald von Kleist. At his later trial, Jost claimed that he held this position until May 1944, when as a result of enmity from Heinrich Himmler
Heinrich Luitpold Himmler (; 7 October 1900 – 23 May 1945) was of the (Protection Squadron; SS), and a leading member of the Nazi Party of Germany. Himmler was one of the most powerful men in Nazi Germany and a main architect of th ...
, he was forced to enlist with the Waffen-SS
The (, "Armed SS") was the combat branch of the Nazi Party's ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) organisation. Its formations included men from Nazi Germany, along with Waffen-SS foreign volunteers and conscripts, volunteers and conscripts from both occup ...
as a second lieutenant.[ Himmler decided in January 1945, that Jost should be retired from the SS with a pension.
]
Trial and conviction
In April 1945, Jost was arrested in Gardelegen
Gardelegen (; nds, Garlä) is a town in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is situated on the right bank of the Milde, 20 m. W. from Stendal, on the main line of railway Berlin-Hanover.
History
Gardelegen has a Roman Catholic and three Evangelical chur ...
, in Saxony-Anhalt, and was charged by the U.S. military with murders committed by ''Einsatzgruppe A''.
At trial
In law, a trial is a coming together of Party (law), parties to a :wikt:dispute, dispute, to present information (in the form of evidence (law), evidence) in a tribunal, a formal setting with the authority to Adjudication, adjudicate claims or d ...
(the 9th of the twelve, in total, trials convened, known as the Subsequent Nuremberg Trials
The subsequent Nuremberg trials were a series of 12 military tribunals for war crimes against members of the leadership of Nazi Germany between December 1946 and April 1949. They followed the first and best-known Nuremberg trial before the Int ...
), Jost tried to avoid responsibility for these crimes, by claiming the murders (or at least some of them) occurred before he came into command of the unit:
This defense was rejected by the tribunal:
Jost also claimed, through his attorney, that whatever he had done was justified by "self-defense, necessity, and national emergency". He further claimed he had nothing to do with carrying out the Führer's order (''Führerbefehl'') for the extermination of entire populations. These claims were rejected by the tribunal as being inconsistent with each other: "If, as a matter of fact, the defendant committed or approved of no act which could be interpreted either as a war crime or crime against humanity, the argument of self-defense and necessity is entirely superfluous."[
Jost did testify that when in May 1942 he received an order from Heydrich to surrender Jews under 16 and over 32 for liquidation, he placed the order in his safe and declined to transmit it. The tribunal found the evidence contradicted him. According to ''Einsatzgruppen'' status report number 193, dated 17 April 1942, there was an execution in Kovno aunas on 7 April 1942, of 22 persons "among them 14 Jews who had spread Communist propaganda".
In addition, the tribunal found, that on 15 June 1942, one of Jost's subordinates wrote to the RSHA, requesting shipment of a ]gas van
A gas van or gas wagon (russian: душегубка, ''dushegubka'', literally "soul killer"; german: Gaswagen) was a truck reequipped as a mobile gas chamber. During the World War II Holocaust, Nazi Germany developed and used gas vans on a large ...
(used by the ''Einsatzgruppen'' for executions by means of carbon monoxide asphixiation) and gas hoses for three gas vans on hand. Jost denied any knowledge of this letter but admitted that the subordinate in question had the authority to order equipment.[
His sentence was reviewed by the "]Peck Panel
David W. Peck (December 3, 1902 – August 23, 1990) was an American jurist. From 1947 to 1957, he was Presiding Justice of the Appellate Division, First Department in New York, and in that time took a leading role in the reform of judiciary of ...
". In December 1951, Jost was released from Landsberg Prison
Landsberg Prison is a penal facility in the town of Landsberg am Lech in the southwest of the German state of Bavaria, about west-southwest of Munich and south of Augsburg. It is best known as the prison where Adolf Hitler was held in 1924, a ...
after his sentence commuted to ten years. He then worked in Düsseldorf
Düsseldorf ( , , ; often in English sources; Low Franconian and Ripuarian: ''Düsseldörp'' ; archaic nl, Dusseldorp ) is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in th ...
as a real estate agent. He died in 1964 at Bensheim
Bensheim () is a town in the Bergstraße district in southern Hessen, Germany. Bensheim lies on the Bergstraße and at the edge of the Odenwald mountains while at the same time having an open view over the Rhine plain. With about 40,000 inhabita ...
.
Notes
References
* Altenhöner, Florian, ''The Case of Heinz Maria Karl Jost'': Ein MI5-Vernehmungsbericht aus dem Jahr 1945, in: Journal for Intelligence, Propaganda and Security Studies 2 (2008) H. 2, S. 55–76.
* Diefenforf, Jeffry M., Frohn, Axel, and Rupieper, Hermann-Josef, ''American Policy and the Reconstruction of West Germany, 1945–1955'', Cambridge University Press, 1994.
* Doerries, Rienhard R., ''Hitler's Last Chief of Foreign Intelligence: Allied Interrogations of Walter Schellenberg'', Frank Cass, 2007 003 003, O03, 0O3, OO3 may refer to:
*003, fictional British 00 Agent
*003, former emergency telephone number for the Norwegian ambulance service (until 1986)
*1990 OO3, the asteroid 6131 Towen
* OO3 gauge model railway
*''O03 (O2)'' and other related ...
* Höhne, Heinz, ''Der Orden unter dem Totenkopf.'' München, Goldmann, 1967.
* Kahn, David, ''Hitler's Spies—German Military Intelligence in World War II'', Da Capo Press, 2000.
* Krausnick, Helmut, and Wilhelm, Hans-Heinrich, ''Die Truppe des Weltanschauungskrieges.'' Stuttgart, DVA, 1981.
''Trials of War Criminals before the Nuernberg Military Tribunals under Control Council Law No. 10, Nürnberg, October 1946 - April 1949'', Volume IV, ("Green Series") (the "Einsatzgruppen case")
also available a
(well indexed HTML version)
* Reitlinger, Gerald, ''The SS—Alibi of a Nation'', Viking (Da Capo reprint), New York, 1957.
*
* Wildt, Michael, ''Generation der Unbedingten – Das Führungskorps des Reichssicherheitshauptamtes.'' Hamburg, Hamburger Edition, 2003.
Further reading
* Earl, Hilary, ''The Nuremberg SS-Einsatzgruppen Trial, 1945–1958: Atrocity, Law, and History'', Nipissing University, Ontario
* Headland, Ronald, ''Messages of Murder: A Study of the Reports of the Einsatzgruppen of the Security Police and the Security Service, 1941–1943, Rutherford 1992
External links
*
Biography and photograph of Jost
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jost, Heinz
1904 births
1964 deaths
People from Homberg (Efze)
People from Hesse-Nassau
Nazi Party politicians
Young German Order members
SS-Brigadeführer
Einsatzgruppen personnel
Holocaust perpetrators in Russia
Holocaust perpetrators in Lithuania
People convicted by the United States Nuremberg Military Tribunals
Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by the United States military
Holocaust perpetrators in Belarus
Holocaust perpetrators in Latvia
German people convicted of crimes against humanity
Reich Security Main Office personnel