Karl von Eberstein

Friedrich Karl Freiherr von Eberstein (14 January 1894 – 10 February 1979) was a member of the German nobility, early member of the Nazi Party, the SA, and the SS (introducing Reinhard Heydrich to Heinrich Himmler in July 1931). He was elected to the Reichstag and held the position of the chief of the Munich Police during the Nazi era. Eberstein was a witness at the Nuremberg Trials.

Early life and career Eberstein was born on 14 January 1894 in Halle on the Saale, His father was an army Major. Eberstein attended the Royal Prussian cadet schools at Naumburg and Lichterfelde between 1904 and 1912. He then studied agriculture at the University of Halle until the outbreak of the First World War in August 1914. He enlisted as a war volunteer with the 75th Field Artillery Regiment. He served as a battery commander in the field with the 17th Field Artillery Regiment as a Leutnant of reserves, and earned the Iron Cross, 1st and 2nd class. He was also a balloon observer.

After the end of the war, Eberstein fought as a member of the Freikorps Maercker in Wittenberg in central Germany and the Freikorps Roßbach, with which he participated in the Kapp Putsch of March 1920 that attempted to overthrow the recently established Weimar Republic. He also began an apprenticeship in banking. He served in the Reichswehr as a battery chief in Artillery Regiment 16 but was discharged from the military in July 1920 in the wake of the Kapp Putsch. He joined the Halle Schutzpolizei (protection police) and helped to put down a Communist rebellion in Halle in April and May 1921. From May to September 1921, he served as a company commander and regimental adjutant with a Freikorp unit in Upper Silesia during the third Siesian uprising. From 1919 to 1924, he was also active in Der Stahlhelm, the German veterans organization.

Eberstein joined the Nazi Party in 1922, but quit after the failed Beer Hall Putsch in November 1923. He then re-joined the Party in 1925 (membership number 15,067). He was also an early member of the Schutzstaffel (SS number: 1,386) and on the staff of Heinrich Himmler. According to Jonathan Petropoulos, Eberstein was part of Himmler's strategy to attract members of the nobility and aristocracy to the SS. Eberstein was commissioned as an SS-Sturmführer on 1 April 1929.

Eberstein reached the rank of SS-Obergruppenführer on 30 January 1936. He held several major SS commands, as Führer of SS-Oberabschnitt Mitte, headquartered in Halle, from November 1933 to April 1936 and SS-Oberabschnitt Süd, headquartered in Munich, from April 1936 until April 1945. On 1 April 1936, he succeeded Himmler as police president of Munich and held this post until 23 October 1941. He was also named the Higher SS and Police Leader for Wehrkreis (military district) XIII based in Nuremberg from March 1938 to December 1942, as well as for Wehrkreis VII, based in Munich, from March 1938 until April 1945. As the highest SS commander in Bavaria, Dachau concentration camp fell under Eberstein's jurisdiction.

Heydrich and Himmler

Eberstein played a part in the first meeting of the two major leaders of both the SS and later the Holocaust: Reinhard Heydrich and Heinrich Himmler. Eberstein and Heydrich's families were both from Halle on the Saale. His mother was Heydrich's godmother. He was also a friend of Lina Heydrich, Reinhard Heydrich's wife. Acting on the advice of Karl von Eberstein, Himmler agreed to interview Heydrich. When Himmler cancelled Heydrich's interview in Munich due to alleged illness, Lina ignored the message, and sent Heydrich on a Munich bound train. Karl met Heydrich at the station and drove him to meet Himmler. Himmler received Heydrich and hired him as the chief of the new SS 'Ic Service' or Intelligence Service, which would later become known as the Sicherheitsdienst (SD).

Role during Kristallnacht Eberstein was the police president of Munich during Kristallnacht. On 10 November 1938, at 1:20 a.m., Heydrich sent out a telegram to various police organizations giving orders for police behavior during the riots. At 2:10 Eberstein sent a telegram to the State Police HQ of Augsburg, Nürnberg, Würzburg, and Neustadt a.d. Weinstraße, the Regierungspräsident, and the Gauleiter, with the subject line "Anti-Jewish Measures". It relayed orders "from the Berlin HQ of the State Police", saying that "Anti-Jewish demonstrations" would occur, with synagogues and Jewish communal centers as targets, and that the demonstrations were not to be interfered with, except to prevent looting and excesses. The Ordnungspolizei or Orpo (uniform order police) would "...do nothing to hinder the demonstrations", but the criminal police and state police would wear plain-clothes. The SS troops could help, but the state police was supposed to maintain control. It went on to state that between 20 and 30,000 Jews would be arrested in Germany. It concluded: "...Every effort will be made to arrest immediately as many Jews as the jails will hold, primarily healthy male and well-to-do adults of not too advanced age". A document from Beutel (probably Lothar Beutel), HQ of State Police Munich, six minutes later, stated that "officers of the state and criminal police" would accompany the demonstrators in plain-clothes, allow them to destroy Jewish shops and homes, but to prevent looting, after which the Orpo would secure the destroyed buildings.

David Irving contends that Eberstein was a witness to Hitler's anger on that night, and that his testimony at Nuremberg helped prove that Hitler did not approve of Kristallnacht. This claim was refuted at the Irving v. Lipstadt trial, when Irving sued Lipstadt for calling him a Holocaust denier. Evans, in defense of Lipstadt, claimed that it made no sense for Eberstein to send his telegram of 2:10 a.m. if he had earlier that night listened to Hitler tirade angrily against the pogrom. The judge at the trial agreed that Irving "seriously misrepresents the available contemporaneous evidence".

Stalag VII A Moosburg and the Gestapo In late 1941, and early 1942, Eberstein was involved in a case involving Soviet Prisoners of War (POWs) at Stalag VII A, Moosburg, and the conflict between certain military officers and the SS over the murder of the POWs.

The Gestapo was having problems with certain military officers, especially Major Meinel, who were not cooperating. Meinel was the army officer in charge of POWs for Munich and its surrounding areas. The Gestapo had been "screening" Soviet POWs in Stalag VII A Moosburg, and then shipping the "screened out" people to Dachau where they were murdered. Meinel discovered the murders were going on, and refused to follow orders to send several hundred of the remaining "screened out" Soviets to Dachau. He also complained to his superiors in the military about what was happening. "Screened out" people included anyone who was Jewish, any officers, believers in communism, incurably sick people, etc., but the Gestapo told Meinel their methods of screening were not his business.

Eberstein became involved. In the book "Nazi Conspiracy and Aggression", several telex / telegrams between the various offices involved have been translated and reproduced. These telegrams state that von Eberstein telephoned the Reich Security Main Office or Reichssicherheitshauptamt (RSHA) and told them that it was "intolerable" for Meinel to stay in his position, and it would cause problems with the relationship between the military and the SS. He told the RSHA to ask the military's German High Command (OKW) to have Meinel transferred to another position. After a few meetings, this is what concurred. The OKW decreed that the POWs that Meinel had temporarily saved would be surrendered to the Gestapo and then sent to Buchenwald. Meinel was later sent to Lithuania. In his testimony, Eberstein gave organizational and historical information about the SS, the SA, their relationship with the German nobility, the Nazi Party, the SD (Security Service) and the Gestapo (Secret State Police).

With regard to his personal place in the chain of command, Eberstein stated that as a Police President, he had control over 1700 men in the Schutzpolizei (Protection Police), Ordnungspolizei (Order Police), and Kriminalpolizei (Criminal Police). He claimed the "chiefs of police had nothing to do with the political police or the security service" (meaning the Gestapo, and the SD). 1932 July 1 – 1933 Feb 19. Führer for SA Gruppe Hochland Delegate to the Nazi Reichstag for the 8th 'session' (Wahlperiod) 1934 May 1 – 1936 Apr 1. Führer for SS-Oberabschnitt Elbe (which had absorbed Mitte) 1934 June 30. (Night of the Long Knives) - in Dresden 1938 Mar 12 to 1942 Dec 17. HSSPF 'Main' (Benno Martin was de facto HSSPF) 1938 Apr 12 to 1945 Apr 20. HSSPF 'Süd' 1938 Nov 9-10. In chain of command for orders implementing (Kristallnacht). Führer of SS-Oberabschnitt Süd Police President of Munich 1939 Jun – Jul. Ill 1941 Apr 8. General der Polizei 1942 Oct – 1945 Apr. Worked in Bavarian State Ministry of the Interior 1944 Jul 1. General der Waffen-SS 1944 Nov. 1200 SS men left in his Oberabschnitt, none available for SS work 1945 early Feb. Dismissed, replaced by Vogler as temporary substitute for HSSPF and Oberabschnitt Führer Süd 1945 Apr 20. Relieved of all posts for 'defeatism' 1946 August 3 & 5. Nuremberg Trial witness, by which time he had been under arrest for 15 months 1979 Feb 10. Died in Tegernsee, Bavaria.

Awards and decorations Iron Cross of 1914, 1st and 2nd class Golden Party Badge War Merit Cross 1st and 2nd class with swords Sword of honour of the Reichsführer-SS NSDAP Long Service Award in silver and bronze SS Long Service Award Grand Cross of the Order of the Roman Eagle with swords (Italy)