August Eigruber (16 April 1907 – 28 May 1947) was an

Austrian Austrian may refer to: * Austrians, someone from Austria or of Austrian descent ** Someone who is considered an Austrian citizen, see Austrian nationality law * Austrian German dialect * Something associated with the country Austria, for example: ...

-born

Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...

Gauleiter A ''Gauleiter'' () was a regional leader of the Nazi Party (NSDAP) who served as the head of a '' Gau'' or '' Reichsgau''. ''Gauleiter'' was the third-highest rank in the Nazi political leadership, subordinate only to '' Reichsleiter'' and to ...

and ''

Reichsstatthalter The ''Reichsstatthalter'' (, ''Imperial lieutenant'') was a title used in the German Empire and later in Nazi Germany. ''Statthalter des Reiches'' (1879–1918) The office of ''Statthalter des Reiches'' (otherwise known as ''Reichsstatthalte ...

'' of

Reichsgau Oberdonau The Reichsgau Upper Danube (German: ''Reichsgau Oberdonau'') was an administrative division of Nazi Germany, created after the Anschluss (annexation of Austria) in 1938 and dissolved in 1945. It consisted of what is today Upper Austria, parts of S ...

(Upper

Danube The Danube ( ; ) is a river that was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire and today connects 10 European countries, running through their territories or being a border. Originating in Germany, the Danube flows southeast for , pa ...

) and

Landeshauptmann Landeshauptmann (if male) or Landeshauptfrau (if female) (, "state captain", plural ''Landeshauptleute'') is the chairman of a state government and the supreme official of an Austrian state and the Italian autonomous provinces of South Tyrol and T ...

Upper Austria Upper Austria (german: Oberösterreich ; bar, Obaöstareich) is one of the nine states or of Austria. Its capital is Linz. Upper Austria borders Germany and the Czech Republic, as well as the other Austrian states of Lower Austria, Styria, an ...

. He was convicted of war crimes at

Mauthausen-Gusen concentration camp Mauthausen was a Nazi concentration camp on a hill above the market town of Mauthausen (roughly east of Linz), Upper Austria. It was the main camp of a group with nearly 100 further subcamps located throughout Austria and southern German ...

and hanged.

Early life and Nazi career

Born in

Steyr Steyr (; Central Bavarian: ''Steia'') is a statutory city, located in the Austrian federal state of Upper Austria. It is the administrative capital, though not part of Steyr-Land District. Steyr is Austria's 12th most populated town and the 3r ...

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

, after finishing middle school, Eigruber underwent training in

geodesy Geodesy ( ) is the Earth science of accurately measuring and understanding Earth's figure (geometric shape and size), orientation in space, and gravity. The field also incorporates studies of how these properties change over time and equival ...

and fine

mechanics Mechanics (from Ancient Greek: μηχανική, ''mēkhanikḗ'', "of machines") is the area of mathematics and physics concerned with the relationships between force, matter, and motion among physical objects. Forces applied to objec ...

at the

n Federal Teaching Institution for

Iron Iron () is a chemical element with symbol Fe (from la, ferrum) and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, right in ...

- and

Steel Steel is an alloy made up of iron with added carbon to improve its strength and fracture resistance compared to other forms of iron. Many other elements may be present or added. Stainless steels that are corrosion- and oxidation-resistan ...

working. Thereafter, he was active in his profession. In November 1922 he joined the National Socialist Worker Youth of Austria, whose leader he became in 1925. In April 1928, he joined the

Nazi Party The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party (german: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP), was a far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported t ...

, whose Steyr-Land district leadership he took up in October 1930. For his activities in the NSDAP, which was banned in Austria, Eigruber was sentenced to several months in

prison A prison, also known as a jail, gaol (dated, standard English, Australian, and historically in Canada), penitentiary (American English and Canadian English), detention center (or detention centre outside the US), correction center, corre ...

. From May 1935, Eigruber was the Gau Director (''Gaugeschäftsführer'') for the banned Party in the Upper Austria Gau, and he took over complete leadership of the Gau as of 1936.

Rise to power in Nazi state

After the

Anschluss The (, or , ), also known as the (, en, Annexation of Austria), was the annexation of the Federal State of Austria into the German Reich on 13 March 1938. The idea of an (a united Austria and Germany that would form a " Greater Germa ...

, he was appointed ''

'' of

on 14 March 1938. On 10 April he was elected as a member of the German '' Reichstag'', representing Austria. On 1 June 1938, Eigruber joined the SA, with the rank of SA-'' Brigadeführer'' effective 12 March. On 25 July, he also joined the SS as a ''

Standartenführer __NOTOC__ ''Standartenführer'' (short: ''Staf'', , ) was a Nazi Party (NSDAP) paramilitary rank that was used in several NSDAP organizations, such as the SA, SS, NSKK and the NSFK. First founded as a title in 1925, in 1928 it became one of ...

'' also with an effective date of 12 March. On 22 May

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Germany from 1933 until his death in 1945. He rose to power as the leader of the Nazi Party, becoming the chancellor in 1933 and the ...

appointed him ''Gauleiter'' of

. He thus united under his control the highest party and governmental offices in his jurisdiction. In September 1938, ''Gauleiter'' Eigruber attended the ''Reichsparteitag'' in Nuremberg. When Passau Nazis met at the ''Deutschmeister'' Inn, Eigruber joined his allies and reminisced about their venture during the ''Kampfjahre''. He rose to the rank of SS-'' Brigadeführer'' in January 1939 and to SS-''

Gruppenführer __NOTOC__ ''Gruppenführer'' (, ) was an early paramilitary rank of the Nazi Party (NSDAP), first created in 1925 as a senior rank of the SA. Since then, the term ''Gruppenführer'' is also used for leaders of groups/teams of the police, fire d ...

'' in November 1940. On 1 April 1940, he was installed as ''

'' (Reich Governor) of Oberdonau. In July 1940, the ''Donau-Zeitung'' announced that August Eigruber would travel to

Passau Passau (; bar, label= Central Bavarian, Båssa) is a city in Lower Bavaria, Germany, also known as the Dreiflüssestadt ("City of Three Rivers") as the river Danube is joined by the Inn from the south and the Ilz from the north. Passau's po ...

by ship. There, he would be ceremonially welcomed at City Hall, and attend the latest play by Hans Baumann. On 16 November 1942 came his appointment as Reich Defense Commissioner (''Reichsverteidigungskommissar'') for his Gau. On 21 June 1943, Eigruber was promoted to the rank of SS-''

Obergruppenführer ' (, "senior group leader") was a paramilitary rank in Nazi Germany that was first created in 1932 as a rank of the ''Sturmabteilung'' (SA) and adopted by the ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) one year later. Until April 1942, it was the highest commissio ...

''. He was also made an SA-''Obergruppenführer'' on 9 November 1943. Toward the end of the war, as US forces approached his capital at

Linz Linz ( , ; cs, Linec) is the capital of Upper Austria and third-largest city in Austria. In the north of the country, it is on the Danube south of the Czech border. In 2018, the population was 204,846. In 2009, it was a European Capital ...

, he proclaimed the city a "fortress" to be defended to the bitter end. However, shortly after the beginning of the offensive on 5 May 1945, he fled and proclaimed Linz an open city. He managed to hide out using forged identification papers until 11 August 1945, but was arrested by US Army Counterintelligence, in Sankt Pankraz (a few miles south of

Kirchdorf an der Krems Kirchdorf an der Krems is a town in the Austrian state of Upper Austria on the river Krems, in the district of Kirchdorf an der Krems. Apparently settled by the year 903, it has 4,104 inhabitants in a relatively small area of 3 km. Population ...

Conviction and execution

At the Mauthausen-Gusen camp trials, held under the jurisdiction of the Dachau International Military Tribunal, he was sentenced to death by

hanging Hanging is the suspension of a person by a noose or ligature around the neck.Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed. Hanging as method of execution is unknown, as method of suicide from 1325. The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' states that hanging ...

on 13 May 1946 for his responsibility for crimes at Mauthausen concentration camp, where tens of thousands of prisoners died. The sentence was carried out in the prison yard at Landsberg Prison on 28 May 1947. Eigruber last words were "Lord, take care of Germany. Lord, take care of my family. Lord, take care of my children. I regard it as an honor to be hanged by the most brutal of victors. Long live Germany!"

Decorations and awards

Anschluss Medal The ''Anschluss'' Commemorative Medal () was a decoration of Nazi Germany awarded during the interwar period, and the first in a series of Occupation Medals. Description Instituted on 1 May 1938, the medal commemorated the annexation of Austria ...

, c.1938 * Sudetenland Medal, 1939 * Honour Chevron for the Old Guard, 25.5.1938 *

Golden Party Badge __NOTOC__ The Golden Party Badge (german: Goldenes Parteiabzeichen) was an award authorised by Adolf Hitler in a decree in October 1933. It was a special award given to all Nazi Party members who had, as of 9 November 1933, registered numbers fr ...

, 30.1.1939 *Clasp to the Sudetenland Medal, 1939 * NSDAP Long Service Award in Bronze, Silver and Gold, 1940-1942

References

Bibliography

* Florian Freund: ''Der Mauthausen-Prozeß'', in: ''Dachauer Hefte 13 - Gericht und Gerechtigkeit''; Hrsg.: Comité International de Dachau, Brüssel 1997 *

Ernst Klee Ernst Klee (15 March 1942, Frankfurt – 18 May 2013, Frankfurt) was a German journalist and author. As a writer on Germany's history, he was best known for his exposure and documentation of medical crimes in Nazi Germany, much of which was concer ...

: ''Das Personenlexikon zum Dritten Reich: Wer war was vor und nach 1945.'' Fischer-Taschenbuch-Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 2007, . * * * Erich Stockhorst: ''5000 Köpfe – Wer war was im Dritten Reich''. Arndt, Kiel 2000, . {{DEFAULTSORT:Eigruber, August 1907 births 1947 deaths Gauleiters Executed Austrian Nazis Members of the Reichstag of Nazi Germany Mauthausen Trial executions People from Steyr Sturmabteilung officers SS-Obergruppenführer Governors of Upper Austria Heads of government who were later imprisoned Heads of government convicted of war crimes