SS Chief Who Stole 50 Kilos of Gold—Then Fled in a Suitcase
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Herbert Kappler was one of the most powerful SS officials in German-occupied Rome during the Second World War. Born in Stuttgart in 1907, he trained as an engineer before joining the Nazi Party in 1931 and the SS two years later. After serving with the Gestapo, Kappler was sent to Rome in 1939, where he developed close links with the Italian authorities and directed the activities of the SS intelligence service. Following the fall of Benito Mussolini and Italy’s armistice with the Allies in 1943, German forces occupied Rome. Kappler became commander of the Security Police and SD in the capital and surrounding region. He played a major role in the persecution of Rome’s Jewish community, first demanding 50 kilograms of gold and later assisting operations that resulted in more than 1,000 Jews being deported to Auschwitz. Only sixteen of those deported in October 1943 survived the war. Kappler also pursued resistance networks and attempted to stop the activities of Monsignor Hugh O’Flahert
Tags: World History, Herbert Kappler, Erich Priebke, Gestapo, Benito Mussolini, German occupation of Italy, Italy 1944, Ardeatine Caves, Gestapo officer, Gestapo definition, German SS, German war criminal, Second World War, Nazis after WW2, German occupation of Rome, Italian partisans, Italian resistance, Italy WW2, Galeazzo Ciano, German Gestapo
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