Herbert Kappler
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Herbert Kappler (born 23 September 1907 in Stuttgart, Germany, died 9 February 1978 in Soltau near Lüneburg, Germany) was an SS-Obersturmbannführer of Nazi Germany, posted to Rome in 1939. As head of the Sicherheitsdienst in Rome, he cooperated closely with the Italian Fascist police. In 1944 he became head of the Gestapo in Rome.
Deportation of Jews from Rome
Kappler began to play a more significant role after 8 September 1943, when the Germans took over the control of Rome. That month he helped organize the rescue of Benito Mussolini by SS commandos. He planned and executed the deportation of about ten thousand Jews of Rome after the extortion of their gold. During the night of 15 October 1943, the Aktion started, and 1,259 Italian Jews were arrested. On 18 October, 1,007 were sent to Auschwitz; only about 10 came back alive.
The Ardeatine Caves Massacre
On 23 March 1944, Italian partisans killed 33 Germans with a bomb on Via Rasella in Rome. An order was received from Adolf Hitler to kill 10 Italians for each German soldier. Kappler, together with Pietro Caruso, the chief of the Italian police, was responsible for selecting the victims. People arrested on the spot, political prisoners, and Jews were taken by German officers Erich Priebke and Karl Hass to the Ardeatine Caves near Rome, shot in the neck in small groups, and buried under the sand. The cave entrances were subsequently sealed by exploding charges. Altogether, 335 Italians were killed at the Ardeatine Caves, among them 78 Jews.
Postwar Trial
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After the war Kappler was held by the British and then handed over to Italian authorities in 1947. He was put on trial before an Italian military tribunal and given a life sentence. In 1977, he fell ill and was taken to a hospital in Rome, from which he managed to escape. He died a year later in his own home in Germany.