Question ( 102766) Answer ( 32) Member ( 11) Six months after his escape, Kappler died at home in Soltau, on February 9, 1978, aged 70.[4]. He was described as a model prisoner, interested in music, theology, reading and meditation. 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 film was filled with the Catholic faith of his wife, Maria von Trapp, and their family. David Alvarez and Robert A. Graham, S.J. [11][12], Kappler organised the Ardeatine massacre, in which 335 Italian civilians were killed on 24 March 1944 in response to a direct order from Adolf Hitler to "kill 100 Italians for each German", in retaliation for an attack by the Italian Resistance that had resulted in the deaths of 33 men of the SS Police Regiment Bozen's garrison in Rome. Kappler was also never affiliated with the Waffen-SS and spent the war performing "behind the lines" police and security duty. By early 1944, Kappler was the highest representative of the Reich Security Main Office in Rome and answered directly to both the military governorship, under Luftwaffe General Kurt Maelzer, as well as the SS chain of command under the Higher SS and Police Leader of Italy, SS-Obergruppenfhrer Karl Wolff. Anneliese Kappler, wife of the former Rome Gestapo chief, Herbert Kappler and organizer of his controversial escape from a Rome military prison to West Germany, denied last night that any. Kappler prison photo -Public domain via Wikimedia Commons. He would be Kapplers only visitor until 1959. OFlaherty never lost his talent for socializing or forgot his golfing skills. Arrest and Later Life. She smuggled him into West Germany by car. Six months after his escape, Kappler died at home in Soltau, on February 9, 1978, aged 70. Kappler was also portrayed by Christopher Plummer in the 1983 TV movie The Scarlet and The Black, which detailed Kappler's first meeting with Monsignor Hugh O'Flaherty. Retrieved from Wikimedia . By early 1944, Kappler was the highest representative of the Reichssicherheitshauptamt (Reich Main Security Office) in Rome and answered directly to both the military governorship, under Luftwaffe Major General Kurt Mlzer, as well as the SS chain of command under the Supreme SS and Police Leader of Italy, SS-Obergruppenfhrer Karl Wolff. In mid 1935, Kappler applied for transfer to the full-time SS and submitted an application to join the Sicherheitspolizei (Security Police) or SiPo. In these measures, Kappler came into direct conflict with the Vatican, which was highly suspected of harboring Allied fugitives and escaped prisoners, even though the Vatican under Pope Pius XII was technically neutral. In 1975, at the age of sixty-eight, Kappler was diagnosed with terminal cancer and he was moved to a military hospital in Rome in 1976. Appeals by both his wife and the West German government for compassionate release were denied by Italian authorities, but did earn him a transfer to a hospital in 1976. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. 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. Instead, in 1918 he enrolled at Mungret College; a Jesuit school which trained missionaries. iie. 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. Kappler and his first wife divorced while he was serving his sentence. 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. He said the Jews had committed no crime other than being Jews, but were about to be deported to Germany.. Mr. Kappler's wife, Anneliese, who said she had lowered him with ropes from the third floor of the hospital, explained that it had been her greatest wish that her husband, whom she called a Christbike figure, should not die in captivity. They deposed Mussolini and freed all Allied POWs. Hugh became a scratch golfer meaning he was quite good. Download our mobile app for on-the-go access to the Jewish Virtual Library, 1998 - 2023 American-Israeli Cooperative Enterprise. 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. Yet it was in The Scarlet and the Black that Plummer played his most Catholic role, the Gestapo chief in Rome, Herbert Kappler. Following the armistice between Italy and the Allied Forces on September 8, 1943, the German military occupied Rome and Kappler was ordered to serve as Chief of the Security Police and Security Service (Oberbefehlshaber des Sicherheitspolizei und SD) for all SS and police units deployed in Rome. Appeals by both his wife and the West German government to release him were denied by Italian authorities. 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. Kappler's second in command in Rome, SS-Captain Erich Priebke, did manage to escape and it was not until 1996 that Priebke . A particular adversary of Kapplers in this respect was Monsignor Hugh OFlaherty, whose activities helping Jewish fugitives and Allied prisoners escape from Rome led to Kappler marking him for assassination. Kappler was responsible for many cruel deeds in Rome as well as the massacre at The Ardeatine Caves, which were personally supervised by Kappler. Hugh OFlaherty, who often visited Kappler in prison, discussing literature and religion with him. She lowered him out a fourthfloor window with a mountainclimbing harness, hid him in a box and drove to West Germay. This page was last changed on 26 July 2021, at 19:26. On a prison visit in August 1977, Kapplers wife carried him out in a large suitcase, Kappler, a chain smoker, weighed less than 105 pounds at the time and escaped to West Germany, assisted by apparently unwitting carabinieri. Kappler ordered a white line painted at the entrance to St. Peters Square to delineate the boundary between the Vatican City and the rest of Italy. [18], In the 1973 feature film Massacre in Rome, which deals with the Ardeatine massacre, Kappler was portrayed by actor Richard Burton. [14][15], In 1948, Kappler was tried by an Italian Army military tribunal and sentenced to life imprisonment in the Gaeta military prison. Comment * what is insensible water loss. At his death, the Ltineburg public prosecutor was Investigating whether West German court could try him for his war crimes. Appeals by both his wife and the West German government to release him were denied by Italian authorities, but earned him a transfer to a hospital. Kappler and his first wife divorced while he was serving his sentence. Kappler's activities between 1929 and 1931 are little known, except that he was living in Stuttgart, occasionally performing work as an electrician. Shahan Russell is one of the authors writing for WAR HISTORY ONLINE. They deposed Mussolini and freed all Allied POWs. Kappler joined the Nazi Party on August 1, 1931 and the SS in 1933. In 1968 she visited him for the first time in the fortress of Gaeta. 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. Anneliese Kappler, wife of the former Rome Gestapo chief, Herbert Kappler and organizer of his controversial escape from a Rome military prison to West Germany, denied last night that any official German authority or any group had aided in the escape attempt. His wife divorced him while he was serving his sentence. As Rome fell to Allied forces, Kappler unsuccessfully tried to seek refuge in the Vatican, but he was arrested by British authorities in 1945 and later turned over to the Italian government in 1947. A particular adversary of Kappler's in this respect was Monsignor Hugh O'Flaherty, whose activities helping Jewish fugitives and Allied prisoners escape Rome led to Kappler having him targeted for assassination. Herbert Kappler became Hitler's man in Rome after the arrest of Benito Mussolini. Appeals by both his wife and the West German government to release him were denied by Italian authorities. Herbert married Irmgard Kappler (born Erckmann). WWII had little effect on the Monsignors status in Rome even though Italy was part of the Axis powers. Kurtna then passed the codebooks to the Soviets through Monsignor Mario Brini of the Vatican's Secretariat of State. This is a digitized version of an article from The Timess print archive, before the start of online publication in 1996. In mid 1941, now an SS-Major, Kappler was selected as a liaison officer to the government of Benito Mussolini as well as a security advisor to the Fascist police. Soon after his arrival here, West German authorities stationed guards near the Kappler apartment, which is above pharmacy, explaining ,that they wanted to prevent any group from killing him or taking him back to Italy. He mingled with Victor Emmanuel III, the King of Italy and he also became friendly with Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini; the founder of Italian Fascism. Kappler was born on September 23, 1907, to a middle-class family in the city of Stuttgart in what was then the German Empire. Lieutenant Colonel Herbert Kapplerwas head of The Gestapo in Rome during the occupation. He escaped from prison shortly before his death in West Germany in 1978. She also denied receiving financial aid for the escape from any group, but admitted, during a TV interview, that she had received money from various groups representing former SS members. iie was 70 years old. Access the best of Getty Images with our simple subscription plan. 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. OFlaherty was told he would be shot if he crossed the line not that it stopped him. Priebke's commanding officer, Col. Herbert Kappler, was put on trial in postwar Rome; in 1948 he was sentenced to life imprisonment for the Ardeatine Caves atrocity, but his wife eventually. By early 1944, Kappler was the highest representative of the Reich Security Main Office in Rome and answered directly to both the military governorship, under Luftwaffe General Kurt Mlzer, as well as the SS chain of command under the Higher SS and Police Leader of Italy, SS-Obergruppenfhrer Karl Wolff. Kappler came into direct conflict with the neutral Vatican under Pope Pius XII, which Kappler correctly believed was harbouring escaped Allied POWs, members of the Italian Resistance, and Jews. . Waiting to solve 5. 2023 jewish telegraphic agency all rights reserved. He rose to the rank of SS-Obersturmbannfhrer and was responsible for the Ardeatine massacre as well as dealing with Vatican City over its neutrality. What happened to Herbert Kappler? 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. While serving his sentence in prison, Herbert Kappler divorced his first wife and married his nurse, Anneliese, in 1972. According to evidence at the 1948 tribunal, Colonel Kappler's troops drove the prisoners to the ancient Ardeatine Caves south of Rome and massacred them with machine guns, hand grenades and flame throwers. After his sentencing (which upheld his lifetime conviction), Kappler went ahead with the conversion. Herbert Kappler was born on September 23, 1907, to a middle-class family in Stuttgart in the German Empire. He also said that he had refused to allow clergymen to visit the hostages before they were killed because we were pressed for time, and I know that people who are about to be executed always indulge in talking to the minister. Shortly before his trial, Mr. Kappler converted to Roman Catholicism. In the 1973 feature film Massacre in Rome, which deals with the Ardeatine massacre, Kappler was portrayed by actor Richard Burton. Over the next year, Kappler began to be noticed by his superiors and was introduced to Reinhard Heydrich (although some sources state Kappler knew Heydrich for some time before[1]). It was later performed live under the name Kingfishers Catch Fire.[21]. During this action, he demanded 110 pounds of gold from the Jewish community in Rome, which he later claimed was an attempt to prevent the round-up and the deportations. This is a digitized version of an article from The Timess print archive, before the start of online publication in 1996. By this time Kappler had also converted to Catholicism, partly due to the influence of his war-time opponent, the Vatican diplomat Mgr. 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. As Nazi police chief in Rome, he ordered the executions in 1944 after a midtown bombing attack by partisans killed 32 SS men. . As Rome fell to Allied forces, Kappler unsuccessfully tried to seek refuge in the Vatican, but he was arrested by British authorities in 1945 and later turned over to the Italian government in 1947. Without hesitation, O'Flaherty took up Kappler's invitation and in prison the two men chatted over coffee. 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. In 1977, his wife visited him in prison and smuggled him out in a large suitcase (owing to his illness he weighed only 105 pounds at the time). With a portion of Italy under German occupation, those POWs were at risk of being recaptured. In 1934, OFlaherty was appointedMonsignor; a title for high-ranking clergy members who have provided valuable service to the church. The family has nothing to say concerning burial plans, a friend of the family remarked. What happened to Herbert Kapplers first wife? In 1937, Kappler graduated from the Fhrerschule der Sicherheitspolizei (Leadership School of the Security Police) in Berlin as a Kriminalkommissar (criminal commissioner). 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. [20], 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. In 1947, Kappler was tried by an Italian military tribunal and sentenced to life imprisonment in the military prison of Gaeta. iie was 70 years old. 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. The Getty Images design is a trademark of Getty Images. Kappler converted to Roman Catholicism. Kunigunde was born on August 21 1882. Irmgard was born on December 9 1908. Kappler and his first wife divorced while he was serving his sentence. 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. Where is Herbert Kappler buried? In 1937, Kappler (now an SS-Oberscharfhrer (staff sergeant)) was sent by his Gestapo superiors to attend the Fhrerschule der Sicherheitspolzei (Leadership School of the Security Police) in Berlin from which he graduated in the summer of 1937 as a certified Kriminalkommissar (Criminal Commissioner). [2], By 1975, at the age of sixty-eight, Kappler was diagnosed with terminal cancer and he was moved to a military hospital in Rome in 1976. [2], Due to Kappler's deteriorating condition and his wife's nursing skills, Anneliese Kappler had been allowed almost unlimited access to him. Kappler was born to a middle-class family in Stuttgart in what was still the German Empire. The two lived at an address on Tbingern, Kurzestrasse 15, before later moving to an apartment listed at Stuttgart-Degerloch, Reutlingerstrasse 98. It is estimated his group hid over 6,500 people for the remainder of the war in farms, convents, churches, and private apartments. He rose to the rank of SS- Obersturmbannfhrer and was responsible for the Ardeatine massacre as well as dealing with Vatican City over its neutrality. 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. Kappler's second in command in Rome, SS-Captain Erich Priebke, did manage to escape and it was not until 1996 that Priebke would face justice. Thank you for using this website. He was promoted to SS-Obersturmbannfhrer (lieutenant colonel) on September 12 and quickly assumed his new duties operating out of the Italian capital. 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