She defended her husbands shooting of 335 Italian Jews and non-Jews in 1941 in reprisal for a partisan attack on Romes SS headquarters, saying he was acting under orders. Kappler presided over the Ardeatine massacre, a mass killing of some 335 civilians and political prisoners on March 24, 1944. The Italians demanded that Kappler be returned, but the West Germany authorities refused to extradite him and did not prosecute Kappler for any further war crimes, reportedly owing to ill-health. [9][13] Kappler's first wife divorced him while he was serving his sentence. He served as head of German police and security services ( Sicherheitspolizei and SD) in Rome during the Second World War and was responsible for the Ardeatine massacre. In practice, refusal to obey orders during war is not possible. She declined to give details of the escape, saying these would appear in a mass-circulation magazine this week. [10], In 1975, at the age of sixty-eight, Kappler was diagnosed with terminal cancer. Vittorio Lattanzio resigned from his position as Minister of Defense in the aftermath of the escape. In 1975 Kappler was diagnosed with cancer, but requests for his release were refused. Kappler's post-war time seeking asylum in the Vatican, and his resultant friendship with his former enemy Monsignor O'Flaherty, was dramatised in the radio play The Scarlet Pimpernel of the Vatican by Robin Glendinning. By the time the Allies captured Rome in June 1944, OFlahertys underground network had kept 6,245 Allied escapees alive. In 1922 OFlaherty was sent to Rome to finish his studies where he was ordained three years later. His appointment to Italy was the result of his security police experience, connections with the SS leadership (Reinhard Heydrich, in particular), as well as a fluency in the Italian language. Mr. Kappler, who died yesterday, was serving a life term for ordering the 1944 reprisal killing of 335 Italians when his wife, Anneliese, helped him escape from a prison hospital in Rome six months ago. Family of Kappler, ExSS Colonel, Withholds plans for His Funeral, https://www.nytimes.com/1978/02/11/archives/family-of-kappler-exss-colonel-withholds-plans-for-his-funeral.html. Italy demanded his extradition, but .West Germany said this was impossible under its Constitution. What happened to Herbert Kapplers first wife? Asked by the TV interviewer whether approval had perhaps not come from the wrong (political) side, she said she was not interested where approval came from. By 1929, he was a certified electrician, still living in Stuttgart. He was only obeying orders.. Streamline your workflow with our best-in-class digital asset management system. iie. He also coordinated the rescue of downed pilots, providing them with food, medicine and safe houses throughout Italy. Because of Kapplers deteriorating condition and his wifes nursing skills, Anneliese Kappler had been allowed almost unlimited access to him during his time in the Italian hospital. In 1937, Kappler graduated from the Fhrerschule der Sicherheitspolizei (Leadership School of the Security Police) in Berlin as a Kriminalkommissar (criminal commissioner). Statis. OFlaherty enlisted several VIPs. [17], Six months after his escape, Kappler died at home in Soltau, on 9 February 1978, aged 70. Among them was his future wife, Carla Capponi (1918-2000). He later married Anneliese Kappler, a nurse who had carried on a lengthy correspondence with him, before marrying him at a prison ceremony in 1972. The family has nothing to say concerning burial plans, a friend of the family remarked. iie was 70 years old. He later married Anneliese Kappler, a nurse who had carried on a lengthy correspondence with him, before marrying him at a prison ceremony in 1972. This function has been disabled for WW2 Gravestone. Erich Priebke did manage to escape and it was not until 1996 that Priebke would face justice. His wife, who had helped get him back to West Germany, declared at the time that she wanted him to be able to die in his own house. Kapplers second in command in Rome, SS-Captain. He was head of German police and security services (Sicherheitspolizei and SD) in Rome during the Second World War and was responsible for the Ardeatine massacre.[1][2]. Kappler was convicted to life imprisonment by an Italian military tribunal after WWII and served life imprisonment in an Italian prison. He had served 30 years of a life term imposed by an Italian military tribunal in 1948 for the reprisal killing during World War II of 335 hostages, including 57 Jews. The Italians unsuccessfully demanded that Kappler be returned, but the West Germany authorities refused to extradite him and did not prosecute Kappler for any further war crimes, reportedly due to his ill health. He underwent six months of indoctrination training, and was sworn into the SS on May 8, 1933. Kappler and his first wife divorced while Kappler was serving his sentence, but he was married again to Anneliese Kappler, a nurse who had carried on a lengthy correspondence with Kappler before marrying him in a prison wedding ceremony in 1972. [6][7][10][13], Kappler was arrested by British authorities in 1945, turned over to the Italian government in 1947, and tried the following year. He later arranged the deportation of a further 993 Roman Jews, nearly all of whom eventually died in Nazi gas chambers. You got lucky! Kappler and his first wife divorced while he was serving his sentence. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practicesof the time they were published. At his trial in 1948, after six hours, the head of the five-judge military tribunal gravely pronounced the stiffest sentence he could give under Italian law: "life imprisonment, including four years solitary confinement, for repeated and premeditated murder.. Germany was furious at the betrayal and retaliated by invading Italy. In January 1936, he was assigned to duty at the Gestapo main office in Stuttgart. Kurtna, who was always loyal to the USSR, only started to also spy for Nazi Germany in 1943 because his new handler, Kappler, repeatedly threatened to otherwise send Kurtna and his wife to a concentration camp. Herbert Kappler joined the Nazi Party on 1 August 1931 at the age of twenty three. Kappler and his first wife divorced while Kappler was serving his sentence, but he was married again to Anneliese Kappler, a nurse who had carried on a lengthy correspondence with Kappler before marrying him in a prison wedding ceremony in 1972. . List of aircraft of the Malaysian Armed Forces, Italy and the Second World War (1940-1945), Articles incorporating text from Wikipedia, German police officers convicted of murder, Military history of Italy during World War II, http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/features/2011/0304/1224291271284.html?via=mr, http://catholicexchange.com/2009/02/25/116165/, http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,915344,00.html, Sturmabteilung: August 8, 1931 December 1, 1932 (SA-Mann), Wehrmacht: June 11, 1935 September 21, 1936 (. . from the Jews of Rome, which Kappler later alleged was an attempt to prevent the deportations.[3][8][9]. Herbert Kappler joined the Nazi Party on August 1, 1931 at the age of twenty three. SOLTAU, West Germany, Feb. 10 (UPI) The family of Herbert Kappler, a former Nazi SS colonel, withheld plans for his funeral today to prevent pro- and antiNazi demonstrators from appearing at the rites. SOLTAU, West Germany, Feb. 9 (Reuters)Herbert Kappler; a_convicted Nazi war criminal, died of stomach cancer here today, six months after- a daring escape from a Rome military hospital. Hugh became a scratch golfer meaning he was quite good. In 1937, Kappler graduated from the Fhrerschule der Sicherheitspolizei (Leadership School of the Security Police) in Berlin as a Kriminalkommissar (criminal commissioner). Military Wiki is a FANDOM Lifestyle Community. (1997), Military history of Italy during World War II, "An Italian doctor explains "Syndrome K", the fake disease he invented to save Jews from the Nazis", "Weitere Grber nicht mehr namenlos (neues deutschland)", "La vedova di Kappler a Trento per il culto del Simonino", "Erich Priebke, Nazi Who Carried Out Massacre of 335 Italians, Dies at 100", "Nazi funeral that's forcing Italy to face its past", "Kappler's escape MEETING WITH Hon. As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. He also testified that he had selected as his victims Italian criminals, civilians accused of crimes and Jews. As the authorities refused to release him, in 1977, Anneliese carried Kappler out of prison in a large suitcase (he weighed less than one hundred five pounds at the time). Without hesitation, O'Flaherty took up Kappler's invitation and in prison the two men chatted over coffee. [18], In the 1973 feature film Massacre in Rome, which deals with the Ardeatine massacre, Kappler was portrayed by actor Richard Burton. In the 1973 feature film Massacre in Rome, which deals with the Ardeatine massacre, Kappler was portrayed by actor Richard Burton. Hunted by them, he ended up converting the SS chief in Rome. Kappler's second in command in Rome, SS-Captain Erich Priebke, managed to escape to Argentina and was not extradited to Italy to face trial over his own role in the Ardeatine Caves Massacre until 1996. Upon the outbreak of World War II, in September 1939, Kappler was serving as an SS-Hauptsturmfhrer (captain) out of the Stuttgart Gestapo main office. Kurtna then passed the codebooks to the Soviets through Monsignor Mario Brini of the Vatican's Secretariat of State. Giuseppe worked as a salesclerk at an interior decoration store in Rome. Shortly after his birth O'Flaherty's parents moved to Killarney, Ireland, and made a home on a golf course where James O'Flaherty worked as a steward. Kappler was posted to Rome as head of the Sicherheitsdienst (SD) and throughout the war years he cooperated closely with the Fascist police. While there, he asked to speak to the Monsignor and was probably surprised when OFlaherty agreed. The fivejudge tribunal convicted him of repeated and premeditated murder and sentenced him to life imprisonment, the maximum under Italian law, specifying that he be placed in solitary confinement for four years. Because of Kapplers deteriorating condition and his wifes nursing skills, Anneliese Kappler had been allowed almost unlimited access to him after he was transferred to an Italian hospital. Kappler's activities between 1929 and 1931 are little known, except that he was living in Stuttgart, occasionally performing work as an electrician. He was described as a model prisoner, interested in music, theology, reading and meditation. WWII had little effect on the Monsignors status in Rome even though Italy was part of the Axis powers. Both Capponi and Bentivegna had grown up under Benito Mussolini's dictatorship. Of the citys 9,700 Jews, 5,000 were hidden by the Vatican at different properties, and3,700 were hidden by OFlahertys group. 2023 Getty Images. His first assignment was as a member of an Allgemeine SS formation (the 13th SS-Standarte), operating out of Stuttgart, performing part-time duties as a member of the general SS. She lowered him out a fourthfloor window with a mountainclimbing harness, hid him in a box and drove to West Germay. Kappler attended four years of elementary school (Volksschule) followed by four more of high school and graduated in 1925. Kappler and his first wife divorced while Kappler was serving his sentence, but he was married again to Anneliese Kappler, a nurse who had carried on a lengthy correspondence with Kappler before marrying him in a prison wedding ceremony in 1972. It was a large and prestigious establishment, owned by an uncle. https://www.nytimes.com/1978/02/10/archives/herbert-kappler-dies-nazi-fled-captivity-in-rome-called-a.html. Herbert Kappler of the German Army carried out a massacre of Italian civilians at the Ardeatine Caves near Rome on March 24, 1944. She smuggled him into West Germany by car. Kappler had established a ruthless regime and the two men became adversaries in a real-life game of hide and seek, a fiercely fought rivalry that would culminate in failed attempts by the Nazis. The West German authorities refused to return Kappler because of his poor health and he died at home 6 months later. One of the most notorious actions Kappler undertook while in Rome was the organization of the Ardeatine massacre where 335 Italian civilians were killed on March 24, 1944 in collective punishment for an attack by resistance fighters against the SS Police Regiment Bozen in Rome. The Getty Images design is a trademark of Getty Images. From 1939 to 1940, he was briefly deployed to Poland and participated in various Einsatzgruppen actions before serving a further tour as a uniformed Gestapo officer in occupied Belgium where he acted to suppress resistance. Mr. Kappler's escape last Aug. 15 from the military hospital, to which he had been transferred because of deteriorating health, caused a political furor. Herbert Kappler (23 September 1907 - 9 February 1978) was the head of German police and security services ( Oberbefehlshaber des Sicherheitspolizei und SD) in Rome during World War II. Comment * what is insensible water loss. This is a digitized version of an article from The Timess print archive, before the start of online publication in 1996. Did Herbert Kappler become a Catholic? Herbert married Irmgard Kappler (born Erckmann). what happened to herbert kappler's first wife. On a visit in August 1977, Kapplers wife carried him out in a large suitcase (Kappler weighed about (104 pounds at the time) and escaped to West Germany. Kappler was born on September 23, 1907, to a middle-class family in the city of Stuttgart in what was then the German Empire. (Photo by Stefano Montesi/Corbis via Getty Images), 2001 x 2880 px (6.67 x 9.60 in) - 300 dpi - 1 MB. During his teenage years Hugh was a talented student and golfer . [citation needed] Raised a Protestant, Kappler wanted to convert to Roman Catholicism, but OFlaherty cautioned against it. 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