Franz Kutschera

Life

Kutschera was born in Oberwaltersdorf, Lower Austria (then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire) on 22 February 1904 and was the son of a professional gardener and minor civil servant. After primary school he served as a cabin boy in the Austro-Hungarian Navy from 1918–19 and, afterward, attended gymnasium in Villach. He later enrolled briefly at a machinists school in Budapest before training to become a gardener like his father.

In February 1939, he was also appointed to the People's Court as a lay judge and upon Klausner's sudden death on 12 February, Kutschera was elevated to the post of Acting-Gauleiter for Carinthia.

World War II Shortly after the outbreak of World War II, Kutschera was named the representative in Carinthia of Friedrich Rainer, the Reich Defense Commissioner for Wehrkreis (Military District) XVIII, who was headquartered in Salzburg. Kutschera volunteered for military service with the Wehrmacht in March 1940 and was assigned to the 139th Gebirgsjäger (light infantry) regiment of the 3rd Mountain Division. He was later transferred to the 6th Mountain Division and took part in the Battle of France, serving in the Vosges during May and June 1940.

He was promoted to the rank of SS-Brigadeführer in November 1940. During the German Balkan Campaign, on 14 April 1941 Kutschera was named Chief of Civil Administration for Slovenian Carinthia and Upper Carniola, which were administered as part of his Gau, and where he became infamous in the war against the Yugoslav Partisans for his fanaticism and extreme harshness. On 27 November 1941, Kutschera was dismissed as Gauleiter for reportedly plotting to absorb the neighboring Reichsgau Salzburg into his jurisdiction. He was succeeded by his rival, Friedrich Rainer, the Gauleiter in Salzburg. Once in power in Warsaw, he increased the number of roundups (łapanka) of Polish citizens and the number of hostage executions. From October 1943 to January 1944, around 5,000 Poles were killed under Kutschera's orders, 1,200 of them were executed in the streets or on the gallows.

The execution was carried out by the combat-sabotage unit of Kedyw (the predecessor of Battalion Parasol). It was planned to carry out the execution in front of the Warsaw SS Headquarters at 23 Ujazdów Avenue. On the morning of 1 February 1944 three Kedyw gunmen: (Lot), who was armed with a German MP 40 submachine gun; (Kruszynka), carrying a British Sten; and (Miś), armed with a Luger pistol, ambushed Kutschera as his limousine approached SS Headquarters and opened fire directly into the car. Both Kutschera and his driver were shot multiple times and killed. A gun battle then erupted between the members of the assassination team and the responding German troops in which four Poles and two Germans were killed.

Kutschera's funeral ceremony was held by the Nazis at Brühl palace. Afterwards, his body was laid to rest on Heldenfriedhof part of Powązki Military Cemetery - not moved to Berlin or any part of Germany, as it was thought for decades. On 2 February 1944, the German authorities in Warsaw staged a public execution of 300 Polish civilian hostages as a reprisal for the assassination. Notable guests at the wedding included Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler and , a Polish spy for the Home Army who worked at the District Governor's office in Warsaw.

Jane Kutschera (later Rognskog) died in Norway in 1994. Her son, Sepp Kutschera, became an Alpinist, who was the first to climb Koh-e Keshni Khan in the Hindukush mountains, in 1963. He died on 22 May 2004.