Erwin Rösener

for war crimes.Rösener was born on 2 February 1902 in Schwerte, a town in North Rhine-Westphalia. He joined the Nazi party and the Sturmabteilung (SA) or 'Brownshirts' on 6 November 1926. He applied to join the Waffen-SS in October 1929 (his application was accepted in 1930). He was promoted 11 times between 1930 and 1944, eventually finishing with the rank of SS-Obergruppenführer and General of the Waffen-SS and Police [ [http://www.geocities.com/~orion47/SS-POLIZEI/SS-Ogruf_M-Z.html#*%20R%20* SS-Obergruppenführer & General der Polizei (M-Z) ] ] . He was a member of the Freundeskreis der Wirtshaft, or 'Circle of Friends of the Economy' [ [http://www.luebeck-kunterbunt.de/seite2/Freundeskreis.htm Freundeskreis Himmler ] ] , a group of German industrialists whose aim was to raise funds for racial research within the Third Reich. He was close to Heinrich Himmler, and reported directly to him during the war [ [http://www.ssocr.com/generalss/hsspf.htm Higher SS and Police Leaders ] ] .
From the end of 1941 to the end of the war Himmler assigned Rösener to SS Upper Division Alpenland [ [http://www.fpp.co.uk/Himmler/Note041241.html Real History and Hitler's Role in the Holocaust ] ] , part of whose territory was Slovenia. Between October 1944 and the end of the war he was head of anti-Partisan warfare in [Count 3(C) MURDER AND ILL-TREATMENT OF PRISONERS OF WAR: "In Yugoslavia the German Command and the occupying authorities in the person of the chief officials of the Police, the SS troops (Police Lieutenant General Rosener) and the Divisional Group Command (General Kubler and others) in the period 1941-43 ordered the shooting of prisoners of war". http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/imt/proc/count3.htm.] .Rösener worked closely with Leon Rupnik and Bishop Gregorij Rožman in fighting the Partisans [ Three photos of Leon Rupnik, Erwin Rösener and Gregorij Rožman. The first is outside Ljubljana central stadium on 20 April 1944 when the oath-taking ceremony on 30 January 1945:
http://www.250kb.de/u/060426/j/efb134ec.jpg
http://www.delo.si/inc.zoom.php?ppID=188530&target=1
http://www.mladina.si/tednik/200742/clanek/slo-tema--borut_mekina/img/tema-prisega.html-l2 ] , and ordered the formation of the pro-Nazi "Domobranci", the Slovenian Home Guard forces on 24 September 1943 [In his speech at the ceremony where the "Domobranci" swore loyalty to Hitler on 20 April 1944 Rösener said "On 24 September 1943 I issued the command for the foundation of "Slovensko domobranstvo". From the few troops of the so-called White Guard legionnaires, as per my order, "Slovensko domobranstvo" has grown. With the help of the Greater German Reich, we have trained, clothed and armed you. Today you have taken an oath, that you will, together with the German Army, the military SS and police fight for the freedom of all of Europe”. "Slovenec" newspaper, 21 April 1944. See
http://www2.arnes.si/~ljgozzb1/javnost17.htm
http://www.sds.si/forum/viewtopic.php?id=1460&p=2
Here Rösener is seen awarding medals to "Domobranci" members: http://img266.imageshack.us/img266/5913/heimwehrrsnerri6.jpg] .Rösener escaped to Austria after the war but was arrested by the British and returned to Yugoslavia. He was put on trial alongside Leon Rupnik, Gregorij Rožman and others, and was sentenced to death on 30 August 1946 [New York Times 31 Aug 1946:3:1. see photocopies of reports at http://forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic.php?t=25192] . He was executed by hanging on 4 September 1946, and was buried the same day in an unmarked grave at Ljubljana's Žale cemetery.

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