Friedrich Rainer

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Friedrich Rainer

Friedrich Rainer (* July 28, 1903 in Sankt Veit an der Glan ; officially † August 18, 1947 in Ljubljana , date of death uncertain) was NSDAP Gauleiter and from 1940 Reich Governor of Salzburg , from 1941 of Carinthia .

Life

Friedrich Rainer's father Norbert Rainer was a teacher at a community school in St. Veit, part-time local historian and author of German national newspaper articles. He had three siblings and completed his school career at an elementary school in his hometown and the secondary school in Klagenfurt , where he graduated in 1922 . He then studied at the University of Graz Law and earned his money between semesters as workers and bank employee . After successfully passing his exams, he worked in a notary's office before receiving his doctorate at the end of 1926 . He then completed his preparatory service as a notary, passed the notary exam in 1929 and worked as a notary in Klagenfurt from 1931.

During his studies, Rainer joined the SA in 1923, and the Ostmark Graz academic fraternity in 1925. As a student he was a member of several organizations based in St. Veit, including a. in the vigilante group and in the gymnastics association . He took part in the Carinthian defensive battle . In October 1930 Rainer joined the NSDAP and was a co-founder of the NSDAP local group St. Veit. In January 1934 he joined the SS and was also a member of the SD . A close friend of his was Odilo Globocnik . In the same year, Rainer was employed by Gauleiter Hubert Klausner in his office; Globocnik was also sponsored by Klausner .

Because of high treason - the exact circumstances are not known - Rainer was sentenced in August 1935 to one year in police custody; he was released from prison in March 1936 for good conduct. In May 1936 Rainer was appointed to the Carinthian state government of the NSDAP. During the “ Anschluss ” on March 13, 1938, Gauleiter Josef Bürckel , the Reich Commissioner for the Anschluss of Austria to the German Reich , took him on as head of the organization department.

In May 1938 Rainer was personally appointed Gauleiter of Salzburg by Adolf Hitler and, after the Reichstag election in 1938, a member of the Reichstag . Rainer was September 1, 1939, Reich Defense Commissioner (RVK) in the military district appointed XVIII and on March 15, 1940 Reich Governor of Salzburg. On November 18, 1941, Rainer was given the NSDAP Gauleitung of Carinthia and also took over the role of governor . On November 11, 1941, Rainer was appointed Reich Governor and Head of Civil Administration (CdZ) of the occupied territories of Carinthia and Carniola by Hitler . As in Salzburg, Rainer was appointed RVK on December 11, 1942. After the fall of Italy on September 8, 1943, Rainer also took over the Adriatic Coastal Operation Zone as "Supreme Commissioner" and thus became head of civil administration in the Italian provinces of Friuli and Istria. In June 1943 he was appointed SS-Obergruppenführer .

Gravestone for Friedrich Rainer at the Klagenfurt-Annabichl cemetery; with Elhaz rune and quote from Hitler.

On May 7, 1945, Rainer handed over his official duties to an executive committee and fled to the Weissensee area . British soldiers arrested him following information from the population . In Nuremberg , Rainer testified as a witness in the trial of Arthur Seyß-Inquart in the trial against the 24 main war criminals . In February 1947 Rainer was extradited to Yugoslavia and sentenced to death by a military tribunal in Ljubljana on July 19, 1947 . The judgment was confirmed in August 1947 and, according to official information, carried out on August 18, 1947.

As in similar cases, rumors circulated until the 1950s that Rainer was still alive. Documents in the Slovenian State Archives, where Rainer's records from 1948 and 1949 were released after Slovenia's independence, suggest that the execution did not take place until November 1950.

literature

  • Alfred Elste, Michael Koschat, Hanzi Filipič: Nazi Austria in the dock . Anatomy of a political show trial in communist Slovenia. 2nd, revised edition. Hermagoras, Klagenfurt et al. 2000, ISBN 3-85013-754-6 .
  • Wolfgang Graf: Austrian SS generals. Himmler's reliable vassals. Hermagoras-Verlag, Klagenfurt et al. 2012, ISBN 978-3-7086-0578-4 .
  • Joachim Lilla , Martin Döring, Andreas Schulz: extras in uniform. The members of the Reichstag 1933–1945. A biographical manual. Including the ethnic and National Socialist members of the Reichstag from May 1924. Droste, Düsseldorf 2004, ISBN 3-7700-5254-4 , p. 488.
  • René Moehrle: Persecution of Jews in Trieste during Fascism and National Socialism 1922–1945. Berlin 2014 ( ISBN 978-3-86331-195-7 ), pp. 305-460.
  • Erich Stockhorst : 5000 people. Who was what in the 3rd Reich . 2nd Edition. Arndt, Kiel 2000, ISBN 3-88741-116-1 .
  • Maurice Williams: Gau, Volk and Reich. Friedrich Rainer and the Paradox of Austrian National Socialism (= archive for patriotic history and topography. Vol. 91). Verlag des Geschichtsverein für Kärnten, Klagenfurt 2005. ISBN 3-85454-107-4 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ According to Joachim Lilla, Rainer was executed in Belgrade on August 19, 1947, see: Joachim Lilla: Extras in Uniform. 2004, p. 488.
  2. ^ A b Wolfgang Graf: Austrian SS Generals. 2012, p. 119.
  3. ^ Helge Dvorak: Biographical Lexicon of the German Burschenschaft. Volume 1: Politicians. Sub-Volume 5: R – S. Published by Christian Hünemörder on behalf of the Society for Burschenschaftliche Geschichtsforschung (GfbG) . Winter, Heidelberg 2002, ISBN 3-8253-1256-9 , pp. 4–6, here p. 5.
  4. ^ Wolfgang Graf: Austrian SS Generals. 2012, p. 121.
  5. ^ Ernst Klee : The dictionary of persons on the Third Reich . Who was what before and after 1945 (= Fischer. 16048 The time of National Socialism. ). Updated edition. Fischer-Taschenbuch-Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 2005, ISBN 3-596-16048-0 , p. 477.
  6. ↑ Maurice Williams: Gau, Volk and Reich. Friedrich Rainer and the Paradox of Austrian National Socialism (= archive for patriotic history and topography. Vol. 91). Verlag des Geschichtsverein für Kärnten, Klagenfurt 2005. P. 279.
  7. ↑ Maurice Williams: Friedrich Rainer: From "Defender" to Yugoslav Collaborator? Carinthia I, born 190, History Association for Carinthia, Klagenfurt. 2000. pp. 423-436.
  8. ↑ When did the Carinthian Gauleiter really die? , ORF, April 26, 2010.
personal data
SURNAME Rainer, Friedrich
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austrian politician (NSDAP), MdR, Gauleiter of Salzburg and Carinthia
DATE OF BIRTH July 28, 1903
PLACE OF BIRTH Sankt Veit an der Glan
DATE OF DEATH uncertain: August 18, 1947
Place of death Laibach