Helmut Herbert Christian Heinrich Knochen (March 14, 1910 – April 4, 2003) was the senior commander of the
Sicherheitspolizei
The ''Sicherheitspolizei'' ( en, Security Police), often abbreviated as SiPo, was a term used in Germany for security police. In the Nazi era, it referred to the state political and criminal investigation security agencies. It was made up by the ...
(Security Police) and
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 ...
in Paris during the
Nazi
Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...
occupation of
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
. He was sentenced to death first by a British military court in 1947, and then by a Parisian military tribunal in 1954. After his sentences were commuted and reduced a few times, he was pardoned by
President de Gaulle and released in 1962.
Early life
He was born in
Magdeburg
Magdeburg (; nds, label=Low Saxon, Meideborg ) is the capital and second-largest city of the German state Saxony-Anhalt. The city is situated at the Elbe river.
Otto I, the first Holy Roman Emperor and founder of the Archdiocese of Magdebur ...
, Germany. Before joining 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 ...
in 1932, he worked as a
teacher
A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching.
''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. whe ...
and
editor
Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, photographic, visual, audible, or cinematic material used by a person or an entity to convey a message or information. The editing process can involve correction, condensation, orga ...
.
Nazi career
In 1936, he joined the
SS and became involved in the SD administration. In 1940, he was appointed the senior commander of security in
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 1942, the jurisdiction under his control stretched from northern
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
to
Belgium
Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...
. He was promoted to the rank of
Standartenführer
__NOTOC__
''Standartenführer'' (short: ''Staf'', , ) was a Nazi Party (NSDAP) paramilitary rank that was used in several NSDAP organizations, such as the SA, SS, NSKK and the NSFK. First founded as a title in 1925, in 1928 it became one of ...
in the same year. Knochen was involved in the deportation of
French Jews
The history of the Jews in France deals with Jews and Jewish communities in France since at least the Early Middle Ages. France was a centre of Jewish learning in the Middle Ages, but Persecution of Jews, persecution increased over time, includ ...
to concentration camps and was responsible for the execution of thousands of
Frenchmen
The French people (french: Français) are an ethnic group and nation primarily located in Western Europe that share a common French culture, history, and language, identified with the country of France.
The French people, especially the nati ...
. He was responsible for the arrest and torture of
SOE agents.
During the
plot to assassinate Hitler of July 20, 1944, together with the top security man in Paris, SS-Gruppenführer
Carl Oberg, he was arrested by Army troops under the command of Paris military governor, General
Carl-Heinrich von Stülpnagel. He was released after the coup collapsed. Following the liberation of Paris, Knochen was transferred to the
1st SS Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler
The 1st SS Panzer Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler or SS Division Leibstandarte, abbreviated as LSSAH, (german: 1. SS-Panzerdivision "Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler") began as Adolf Hitler's personal bodyguard unit, responsible for guardin ...
and he was degraded to the rank of SS-Grenadier.
Post-war trials, sentences, and reprieve
In March 1947, a British Military Court sentenced Knochen, alongside
Hans Kieffer Hans Josef Kieffer (4 December 1900 – 26 June 1947) was a Sturmbannführer (Major) and the head in Paris of the Sicherheitsdienst (SD), the intelligence agency of the SS during the German occupation of France during the Second World War. Kieffer' ...
, to death for the murder of a number of British parachute troops on or around 9 August 1944. However, on 16 September 1948, the sentence was commuted to life imprisonment, and further commuted in February 1950 to 21 years imprisonment. He was extradited to France in 1954 and sentenced to death. The sentence was later
commuted to life imprisonment. After he obtained a presidential pardon in 1958, Knochen was released on November 28, 1962, by President
Charles de Gaulle
Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle (; ; (commonly abbreviated as CDG) 22 November 18909 November 1970) was a French army officer and statesman who led Free France against Nazi Germany in World War II and chaired the Provisional Government ...
, simultaneously with his former chief
Carl Oberg. Back in Germany, he retired to
Baden-Baden
Baden-Baden () is a spa town in the states of Germany, state of Baden-Württemberg, south-western Germany, at the north-western border of the Black Forest mountain range on the small river Oos (river), Oos, ten kilometres (six miles) east of the ...
and died a free man in 2003.
In popular culture
*
The Eye of Vichy
''The Eye of Vichy'' (french: "L'Œil de Vichy") is a 1993 French documentary film directed by Claude Chabrol. It consists of a selection in chronological order of authentic footage, mostly newsreels and documentaries, shown on cinema screens in ...
, a French documentary film directed by
Claude Chabrol
Claude Henri Jean Chabrol (; 24 June 1930 – 12 September 2010) was a French film director and a member of the French New Wave (''nouvelle vague'') group of filmmakers who first came to prominence at the end of the 1950s. Like his colleagues an ...
where Knochen himself appeared
*
Les Bienveillantes
''The Kindly Ones'' (french: Les Bienveillantes) is a 2006 historical fiction novel written in French by American-born author Jonathan Littell. The book is narrated by its fictional protagonist Maximilien Aue, a former SS officer of French and G ...
, a 2006 historical fiction novel written in French by
Jonathan Littell
Jonathan Littell (born October 10, 1967) is a writer living in Barcelona. He grew up in France and the United States and is a citizen of both countries. After acquiring his bachelor's degree he worked for a humanitarian organisation for nine year ...
, where Helmut Knochen is featured meeting the main character Maximilian Aue.
* Field Gray, a 2010 fiction novel by
Philip Kerr
Philip Ballantyne Kerr (22 February 1956 – 23 March 2018) was a British author, best known for his Bernie Gunther series of historical detective thrillers.
Early life
Kerr was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, where his father was an enginee ...
where Knochen featured.
Notes
References
*
*
* Brunner, Bernhard, ''Der Frankreich-Komplex. Die nationalsozialistischen Verbrechen in Frankreich und die Justiz der Bundesrepublik Deutschland''. Wallstein, Göttingen 2004,
*
Klee, Ernst, ''Das Personenlexikon zum Dritten Reich. Wer war was vor und nach 1945''. Fischer Taschenbuch Verlag, Zweite aktualisierte Auflage, Frankfurt am Main 2005, S. 320.
* Moisel, Claudia, ''La France et les criminels de guerre allemands. Politique et pratique de la poursuite pénale après la deuxième guerre mondiale'', Éd. Norbert, 2004, .
*
* Magazine ''Historia'', N° 337, décembre 1974 par Philippe Aziz.
* Magazine ''Historia'', Hors Série N° 20, 1971, ''Les SS. 1 - L'ordre noir''.
* Magazine ''Historia'', Hors Série N° 26, 1972, par
Serge 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 ...
.
* Magazine ''Historia'', Hors Série N° 27, 1972, ''La Gestapo en France. 2''.
* ''L'oeil de Vichy'', (''The Eyes of Vichy''), documentary film directed by Claude Chabrol,
* Delarue, Jacques, ''SS et Gestapo s'imposent à la Wehrmacht'', in ''Le Journal de la France de l'occupation à la libération, les années 40'', Historia-Tallandier, n° 47, p. 1289-1290.
External links
Jewish Virtual Library*
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Knochen, Helmut
1910 births
2003 deaths
SS-Standartenführer
Military personnel from Magdeburg
Holocaust perpetrators in France
Nazi Party officials
People from the Province of Saxony
People of Vichy France
People extradited to France
Prisoners sentenced to death by the British military
Prisoners sentenced to death by France
Recipients of French presidential pardons
German prisoners sentenced to death
People extradited from the United Kingdom
Reich Security Main Office personnel
Waffen-SS personnel