Edmund Glaise von Horstenau

Edmund Glaise von Horstenau ( Braunau am Inn , Austria - Hungary , 27 of February of 1882 - Nuremberg , Germany , 20 of July of 1946 ) was an Austrian historian and General ( General der Infanterie ) of the Wehrmacht during World War II .

Biography

Edmund Glaise von Horstenau was born in 1882 in the Austro-Hungarian Empire , in the same town of Braunau where Adolf Hitler was born seven years later. Von Horstenau participated in World War I as an officer of the General Staff and later served as head of the Archives of War in Austria from 1925 to 1938. He was also one of the first to join the Nazi Party in that country, Importance after Arthur Seyss-Inquart .

In 1934, he was appointed Councilor and, from 1936 to 1938, was Minister of the Interior during the term of the Austrian Chancellor Kurt Schuschnigg . He was then appointed vice chancellor and supported preparations for the Anschluss . Once annexed Austria, Von Horstenau was named Gruppenführer and incorporated to the Wehrmacht in charge of six divisions of infantry.

Germany invaded Yugoslavia on 6 of June of 1941 and Von Horstenau was named general plenipotentiary in Zagreb , the capital of the Independent State of Croatia , which had been a province of the Austro - Hungarian Empire, Ante Pavelic , its ruler had been recognized by Germany. Edmund Glaise von Horstenau and his troops were quartered in Zagreb. The Croats at that time maintained brutal hostilities related to religious intolerance ¹ with the Serbian population in Yugoslavia, Croats were sympathizers of the Italian fascists and, therefore, allies of Germany. The Wehrmacht was, to say the least, impotent, as well as of the Italian fascists, against the aggression to the Serbs, supporting with non-intervention the Ustasha , a paramilitary group belonging to the Croatian catholic religion, extremely cruel that wanted the extermination Of Orthodox, Jews, Gypsies and Communists, that is, Serbs .

The Ustasha had unleashed a ferocious and cruel reprisal against defenseless civilians, and Von Horstenau documented the horrors he saw even though he did not esteem the Serbs, complaining to Wilhelm Keitel in Berlin of the horrifying barbarity committed in that state, saying that “Pavelic has been Gone mad with hatred. ” ²Obviously, Himmler was directly informed by Pavelic and enthusiastically supported the killing of more than three hundred thousand Serbs. The attitude of critical witness of the Croatian behavior brought him enmity with the governor Ante Pavelic that tensed the relations with Berlin. The OKW downplayed the comments of Von Horstenau and this very disappointed decided to support the coup Lorković-Vokić in order to overthrow the bloodthirsty governor.

The Croatian government declared him persona non grata for his deeds, and von Horstenau was removed from the scene and assigned second-order tasks in Berlin until his capture by the United States in 1945. He was taken to Nuremberg , the Langwasser prison camp, and Intensely questioned about their actions in Yugoslav Croatia . Fearing Von Horstenau that they could transfer it to Yugoslavia and to be judged like proproata by the government of Josip Broz Tito , committed suicide 20 of July of 1946.

Distinctions

• Swedish order of 2nd class.
• Order of military merit provided by Bulgaria.

References