Erwin Friedrich Karl Rösener (2 February 1902 – 4 September 1946) was a German '' Schutzstaffel'' (SS) commander during the Nazi era. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, he was responsible for mass executions of civilians in

Slovenia Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south and southeast, and a short (46.6 km) coastline within the Adriati ...

. Rösener was put on trial for war crimes and sentenced to death on 30 August 1946, then executed by hanging on 4 September 1946. He was posthumously included in the indictment at the Nuremberg Trials for war crimes.

Early life and SS career

Rösener was born on 2 February 1902 in Schwerte, a town in the Westphalia. He joined the Nazi Party and the '' Sturmabteilung'' ("Brownshirts") paramilitary group on 6 November 1926, serving as an SA-'' Sturmführer'' until 1929. He applied to join the SS in October 1929 (his application was accepted in 1930). He was promoted 11 times between 1930 and 1944, eventually finishing with the rank of SS-'' Obergruppenführer'' and General of the

Waffen-SS The (; ) was the military branch, combat branch of the Nazi Party's paramilitary ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) organisation. Its formations included men from Nazi Germany, along with Waffen-SS foreign volunteers and conscripts, volunteers and conscr ...

and Police. He was a member of the '' Freundeskreis der Wirtschaft'', or "Circle of Friends of the Economy", a group of German industrialists whose aim was to raise funds for racial research within

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...

. He was a close associate of SS chief Heinrich Himmler, and reported directly to him during the war. Rosener also served as a deputy in the '' Reichstag'' from 1933 until the fall of the Nazi regime in May 1945. In November 1933, he was elected from electoral constituency 22 ( Düsseldorf-East) and, from 1936 on, he was elected as a representative of electoral constituency 1 (

East Prussia East Prussia was a Provinces of Prussia, province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1772 to 1829 and again from 1878 (with the Kingdom itself being part of the German Empire from 1871); following World War I it formed part of the Weimar Republic's ...

War crimes in Yugoslavia

From the end of 1941 to the end of the war Himmler assigned Rösener as the Higher SS and Police Leader for SS-Oberabschnitt Alpenland, part of whose territory was Slovenia. Between October 1944 and the end of the war he was head of anti- partisan warfare in Ljubljana. During both assignments he ordered the execution of civilians, hostages and prisoners of war, actions which led to his name being on the indictment for war crimes at

Nuremberg Nuremberg (, ; ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the Franconia#Towns and cities, largest city in Franconia, the List of cities in Bavaria by population, second-largest city in the States of Germany, German state of Bav ...

. Rösener worked closely with Leon Rupnik in fighting the partisans, and ordered the formation of the pro-Nazi ''Domobranci'', the Slovenian Home Guard forces on 24 September 1943. Rösener escaped to Austria after the war but was arrested by the British and returned to Yugoslavia. He was put on trial alongside Leon Rupnik and others, and was sentenced to death on 30 August 1946. He was executed by hanging on 4 September 1946, aged 44, and was buried the same day in an unmarked grave at Ljubljana's Žale cemetery.

Gallery

File:Rosener odlikuje domobranske častnike.jpg, SS Lieutenant-General Erwin Rösener giving medals to Slovene Home Guard soldiers, c. 1944 File:Leon Rupnik, Erwin Rösener and Gregorij Rožman (2).jpg, SD Inspector-General Leon Rupnik, Bishop Gregorij Rožman, and SS-General Erwin Rösener File:Leon Rupnik, Erwin Rösener and Gregorij Rožman (3).jpg, SD Inspector-General Leon Rupnik, Bishop Gregorij Rožman and SS-General Erwin Rösener inspect Slovene Home Guard troops, after the second oath of allegiance, 30 January 1945.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rosener, Erwin 1902 births 1946 deaths Burials at Žale Executed German mass murderers Holocaust perpetrators in Yugoslavia Jewish Slovenian history Ljubljana in World War II Members of the Reichstag 1933–1936 Members of the Reichstag 1936–1938 Members of the Reichstag 1938–1945 Nazis executed by Yugoslavia by hanging SA-Sturmführer SS and police leaders SS-Obergruppenführer Waffen-SS personnel