Karl Taus

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Karl Taus (born September 24, 1893 in Gleisdorf , † November 19, 1977 in Leoben ) was an Austrian SS brigade leader .

Life

After attending elementary school and community school , he completed an apprenticeship as a typesetter and was active in this profession. On the Austrian side he took part in the First World War, received several awards and achieved the rank of NCO in the Austro-Hungarian Army . He became a member of the NSDAP in 1930 ( membership number 301.453) and of the SS in 1931 (SS number 6.786). Taus rose quickly to the SS and took over the leadership of the 38th SS Standard in Graz . After the July coup of 1934 he was imprisoned in the Wöllersdorf detention camp and given an amnesty under the July 1936 Agreement . Taus received the so-called blood order for participating in the July coup and was considered an " old fighter ".

After his release from prison, he lived in the German Reich and assumed the rank of SS Oberführer in the SS Upper Section North with its headquarters in Stettin . After the annexation of Austria , on March 21, 1938, Taus was assigned to the concentration camp inspector Theodor Eicke for the purpose of training to become leader of a concentration camp . For this purpose he was transferred to the Dachau concentration camp by Eicke and a few weeks later the camp commandant Hans Loritz rated him as follows: “Taus was trained in all departments [...] He is a good comrade, but much too soft. For this reason he will never make a good camp commandant or protective custody camp leader ”. Loritz recommended that Eicke, however, volunteer and evaluate again elsewhere. From April 22, 1938, Taus was assigned to a four-week training course in Buchenwald concentration camp . At the same time, Eicke informed the Buchenwald camp commandant Karl Otto Koch : “Oberführer Taus is to take over a KL later on, on the instructions of the Reichsführer-SS. I ask you to take it as keenly as possible and to report clearly and unambiguously after 4 weeks whether Taus is suitable for such a task ”. At the same time, Eicke prepared Taus for his task in Buchenwald as follows: “As your assessment [from Dachau] shows, you are making every effort to familiarize yourself with the responsible warehouse operations; however, it appears that they are too soft and do not approach their duties with the necessary severity and severity. Under these circumstances, there is little point in dedicating themselves to camp service. I ask you therefore to examine yourself whether you can withstand the later responsibility without suffering damage yourself ”. Soon afterwards, in a second report, Koch also judged Taus as too soft and unsuitable for concentration camp service. On June 14, 1938, Eicke finally judged Taus: "Taus has failed completely [...] It is now absolutely certain that Taus is neither qualified nor qualified to be used as a responsible SS leader in a concentration camp".

Shortly afterwards, Taus was reassigned to the General SS , where he was promoted to SS Brigade Leader in September 1939. During the Second World War , Taus was to be trained as an SS and police leader by the Higher SS and Police Leader (HSSPF) Hans-Adolf Prützmann in the Ukraine . From April to September 1942 Taus was deployed under Prützmann in Dnjepropetrovsk and Charkow . Prützmann judged him to be a comrade of impeccable character with merits for the Nazi movement, but due to a lack of hardship as incapable of taking on tasks in the occupied eastern territories according to his rank.

From April 1944 until the end of the war in May 1945, Taus was SS and police commander in Gorizia under the HSSPF of the " Adriatic Coastal Operation Zone " Odilo Globocnik .

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Life data according to: Andreas Schulz, Günter Wegmann, Dieter Zinke: The generals of the Waffen-SS and the police: Lammerding-Plesch . Biblio-Verlag, 2003, p. 200.
  2. ^ A b c Wolfgang Graf: Austrian SS Generals. Himmler's reliable vassals , Hermagoras-Verlag, Klagenfurt / Ljubljana / Vienna 2012, p. 64f.
  3. ↑ Karin Orth: The Concentration Camp SS , Munich 2004, p. 133.
  4. ↑ Loritz to Eicke on April 13, 1938. Quoted in: Karin Orth: Die Concentration Camp SS , Munich 2004, p. 133.
  5. ↑ Eike to Koch on April 22, 1938. Quoted in: Karin Orth: Die Concentration Camp SS , Munich 2004, p. 133.
  6. ↑ Eike an Taus on April 22, 1938. Quoted in: Karin Orth: Die Concentration Camp SS , Munich 2004, p. 133.
  7. ↑ Eike over Taus on June 14, 1938. Quoted in: Karin Orth: Die Concentration Camp SS , Munich 2004, p. 134.
  8. ^ Wolfgang Graf: Austrian SS Generals. Himmler's reliable vassals , Hermagoras-Verlag, Klagenfurt / Ljubljana / Vienna 2012, p. 65f.
  9. ^ Michael Wedekind: National Socialist Occupation and Annexation Policy in Northern Italy 1943 to 1945. Munich, 2003, p. 446.
personal data
SURNAME Taus, Karl
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austrian SS brigade leader
DATE OF BIRTH September 24, 1893
PLACE OF BIRTH Gleisdorf
DATE OF DEATH 19th November 1977
Place of death Leoben