A close associate of Hitler, Bormann was appointed chief of staff of Rudolf Hess, Hitler's deputy, in 1933. After Hess fled to Great Britain in 1941, Bormann became head of the Party Chancellory and Hitler's secretary in 1943. In this position he was involved in matters pertaining to the Holocaust such as the euthanasia program, forced la [..]

A career naval officer, Dönitz was a submarine officer in the Kriegsmarine [German Navy] at the outbreak of World War II and became Commander-in-Chief of the Kriegsmarine in January 1943. Following Adolf Hitler's suicide on April 30, 1945, Donitz succeeded Hitler as the German head of state. On May 7, he ordered Alfred Jodl to sign the Allied [..]

Eicke joined the Nazi party and the SA in 1928. He transferred to the SS in 1930. Appointed commandant of Dachau in 1933, Eicke later became the Inspector of Concentration Camps, and instituted a reorganization of the camp system. He was known for his cruel treatment of prisoners, which became the norm in concentration camps. In 1939 Eicke was give [..]

While secretary of the Reich Transportation Ministry from 1942-1945, Ganzenmüller was responsible for overseeing the German railway system and directly involved in the deportation of approximately three million Jews who were transported to the death camps by rail. After the war he escaped to Argentina, but was able return to Germany in 1955. In 197 [..]

In 1936 Glücks became chief aide to Theodor Eicke and succeeded Eicke as the inspector of concentration camps in 1939. Glücks was responsible for the construction of Auschwitz and the creation of the gas chambers. In February 1940, Glücks recommended that a concentration camp be established at Auschwitz, and provided slave labor after the camp' [..]

Göring joined the Nazi party in 1922 and took part in the Beer Hall Putsch of 1923. He was one of the men responsible for creating the Gestapo and was the commander of the German Luftwaffe (air force) during World War II. In 1939 Hitler appointed Göring Reichsmarshall and the following year designate him as his successor. During this time, Göring a [..]

Head of the Sicherheitspolizei [Security Police, or Sipo], the SD [Sicherheitsdienst, Security Service], Reichssicherheitsdienst [Reich Security Service] and the Reichssicherheitshauptamt (Reich Security Main Office, RSHA). In this capacity he recommended that Jews in occupied territories wear distinctive badges, and gave instructions to Einsatzgru [..]

Chief of Staff of the German Army during World War I, Paul von Hindenburg became President of Germany, replacing Friedrich Ebert, in 1925. He was reelected in 1932. Hindenburg did not show opposition to the rising Adolf Hitler and appointed him Chancellor on January 30, 1933. Hindenburg, because of his role in the First World War, was so popular wi [..]

Chief of the Operations Staff of the Armed Forces High Command from August 1939 until the end of World War II. As such, Jodl was responsible for military planning, including the brutal methods that the German armed forces utilized during the war. He was also believed to have had a hand in deportations. Jodl signed the instruments of surrender at th [..]

Head of the Supreme Command of the Armed Forces during World War II. He was a primary planner of the Wehrmacht's operations on both fronts. As such, he was responsible for crimes committed by the armed forces during the war, including the murder of Jews. On trial at Nuremberg, Keitel claimed that he was merely following orders, but his defence [..]