Johann Sanitzer

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Johann Sanitzer (born October 13, 1904 in Hundsheim , † August 15, 1957 in Salzburg ) was a senior officer of the Secret State Police in Vienna during the Nazi era .

Life

Sanitzer had been a member of the NSDAP since 1931 . In 1934 he took an active part in the July coup . After the " connection " of Austria to the German Reich in 1938 Sanitz was the Gestapo assigned. From autumn 1938 he headed the “Reaction, Legitimism, Right Opposition” section at the Gestapo headquarters in the former Hotel Metropol on Morzinplatz in Vienna, and from October 1939 to April 1941 the Gestapo department responsible for fighting sabotage, radio and parachute control. From 1941 to 1942, Sanitzer acted as head of the Gestapo branch in St. Pölten . In 1940 he was a leader in the smashing of the three Catholic-conservative resistance groups of Roman Karl Scholz , Jacob Kastelic and Karl Lederer . Allegedly 70 parachutists - mostly communist resistance fighters who jumped from the Soviet Union over the "Ostmark" - Sanitzer arrested after he had lured them into the trap with bogus radio messages.

Sanitzer was considered "probably the most notorious Viennese Gestapo officer". He was notorious for his particular brutality towards prisoners; during interrogation he used torture methods "which were unusual even on Morzinplatz". Surviving inmates testified that he wore an oilcloth cloak during some interrogations so as not to stain his suit with blood.

In 1949 Sanitzer was sentenced to lifelong heavy imprisonment by the Vienna People's Court . At the trial, the Gestapo man said that his torture methods really couldn't have been that bad, because “how else could there be surviving witnesses?” Johann Sanitzer was not arrested in Austria after his conviction, but handed over to the Soviet occupation forces. In 1955 he returned to his homeland.

In earlier research it was said that after 1949 Sanitzer had made it to the position of major in the Ministry for State Security of the GDR in Erfurt and had recruited numerous former Gestapo people there as employees of the MfS. However, this is likely to be incorrect.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Diana Carmen Albu: The news section II N / IV in the Gestapo headquarters in Vienna from 1938 to 1945.
  2. ^ Documentation archive of the Austrian resistance (ed.): Resistance and persecution in Vienna. Vol. 2. Vienna 1975, ISBN 3-215-05506-6 , pp. 436, 460.
  3. ↑ Michael Krassnitzer: Resistance in Hietzing. The fight for freedom 1934–1938 and 1938–1945 using the example of a Viennese district. Edition Volkshochschule, Vienna 2004, ISBN 3-900-799-58-X .
  4. ↑ The radio player from Morzinplatz. Gestapo officer Sanitzer in front of the People's Court . In: Arbeiter-Zeitung . Vienna January 12, 1949, p. 2 ( berufer-zeitung.at - the open online archive - digitized).
  5. ↑ Hans Schafranek "Resistance and Treason" (2017), p. 461ff.
  6. ↑ Life sentence for paramedics . In: Arbeiter-Zeitung . Vienna January 18, 1949, p. 2 ( berufer-zeitung.at - the open online archive - digitized).
  7. ↑ Erica Fischer: The most important thing is to remain true to yourself. The story of the twin sisters Rosl and Liesl. Vienna 2005, ISBN 3-8000-7081-2 .
  8. ^ Petra Weber: Justice and Dictatorship. Judicial administration and political criminal justice in Thuringia 1945-1961. Munich 2000, ISBN 3-486-56463-3 , p. 296.
personal data
SURNAME Sanitzer, Johann
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austrian head of department in the Gestapo Vienna
DATE OF BIRTH October 13, 1904
PLACE OF BIRTH Hundsheim
DATE OF DEATH August 15, 1957
Place of death Salzburg