Humbert Achamer-Pifrader (21 November 1900 – 25 April 1945) was an Austrian jurist, who was member of the SS of

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

. He was commander of ''Einsatzgruppe'' A from September 1942 to September 1943.

Biography

Achamer-Pifrader was born in Teplitz-Schönau. His mother was Elisabeth Pifrader. Achamer-Pifrader fought on the Italian Front in World War I as a

one-year volunteer A one-year volunteer, short EF ( de: ''Einjährig-Freiwilliger''), was, in a number of national armed forces, a conscript who agreed to pay his own costs for the procurement of equipment, food and clothing, in return for spending a shorter-than-usu ...

. He was positioned by Otto Steinhäusl in the police headquarters in

Salzburg Salzburg (, ; literally "Salt-Castle"; bar, Soizbuag, label= Austro-Bavarian) is the fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020, it had a population of 156,872. The town is on the site of the Roman settlement of ''Iuvavum''. Salzburg was founded ...

in 1926, and transferred to the civil service after two years of military and technical training. In addition to his professional activities, he began to study

law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been vario ...

and

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...

at the

University of Innsbruck The University of Innsbruck (german: Leopold-Franzens-Universität Innsbruck; la, Universitas Leopoldino Franciscea) is a public research university in Innsbruck, the capital of the Austrian federal state of Tyrol, founded on October 15, 1669. ...

and received his

doctorate of law A Doctor of Law is a degree in law. The application of the term varies from country to country and includes degrees such as the Doctor of Juridical Science (J.S.D. or S.J.D), Juris Doctor (J.D.), Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), and Legum Doctor (LL ...

there on 7 July 1934.Wolfgang Graf: ''Österreichische SS-Generäle. Himmlers verlässliche Vasallen'', Hermagoras-Verlag, Klagenfurt/ Ljubljana/ Wien 2012, p. 308 Achamer-Pifrader joined the Austrian

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 ...

on 10 November 1931 (membership number 614,104). In June 1935, he fled to the German Reich because of the Nazi ban in Austria, where he entered the service of the

Bavarian Political Police The Bavarian Political Police (german: Bayerische Politische Polizei), BPP, was a police force in the German state of Bavaria, active from 1933 to 1936. It served as a forerunner of the Gestapo in Bavaria, the secret police during the Nazi era, an ...

immediately. In early September 1935, he joined the SS (membership number 275,750) and rose steadily in this Nazi organization. In April 1936, he was transferred to the

Gestapo The (), abbreviated Gestapo (; ), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe. The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of Prussia into one orga ...

in Berlin, where he worked on "Austrian affairs".Wolfgang Graf: ''Österreichische SS-Generäle. Himmlers verlässliche Vasallen'', Hermagoras-Verlag, Klagenfurt/ Ljubljana/ Wien 2012, p. 309 After the beginning of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

, Achamer-Pifrader was head of the Gestapo in Darmstadt. He was promoted to SS-'' Standartenführer'' in 1941. From July 1942 he was Chief of the '' Sicherheitspolizei'' (SiPo; Security Police) and SD headquartered in

Wiesbaden Wiesbaden () is a city in central western Germany and the capital of the state of Hesse. , it had 290,955 inhabitants, plus approximately 21,000 United States citizens (mostly associated with the United States Army). The Wiesbaden urban area ...

. In September 1942 he became, in succession to

Franz Walter Stahlecker Franz Walter Stahlecker (10 October 1900 – 23 March 1942) was commander of the SS security forces ('' Sicherheitspolizei'' (SiPo) and the ''Sicherheitsdienst'' (SD) for the '' Reichskommissariat Ostland'' in 1941–42. Stahlecker commanded '' ...

and

Heinz Jost Heinz Jost (9 July 1904 – 12 November 1964) was a German SS functionary during the Nazi era. He was involved in espionage matters as the ''Sicherheitsdienst'' (Security Service) or (SD) section chief of office VI (foreign intelligence) of the ...

, commander of ''Einsatzgruppe'' A, which was responsible for the mass murder of (mostly Jewish) civilians. In addition, he was commander of the Security Police in Riga for some time.

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, Zweite aktualisierte Auflage, Frankfurt am Main 2005, p. 10 Achamer-Pifrader was promoted to SS-''

Oberführer __NOTOC__ ''Oberführer'' (short: ''Oberf'', , ) was an early paramilitary rank of the Nazi Party (NSDAP) dating back to 1921. An ''Oberführer'' was typically a NSDAP member in charge of a group of paramilitary units in a particular geographic ...

'' on 1 January 1943, and on 31 August 1943, awarded with the

Iron Cross The Iron Cross (german: link=no, Eisernes Kreuz, , abbreviated EK) was a military decoration in the Kingdom of Prussia, and later in the German Empire (1871–1918) and Nazi Germany (1933–1945). King Frederick William III of Prussia es ...

2nd Class and also the

War Merit Cross The War Merit Cross (german: Kriegsverdienstkreuz) was a state decoration of Nazi Germany during World War II. By the end of the conflict it was issued in four degrees and had an equivalent civil award. A " de-Nazified" version of the War Meri ...

, 1st class. In 1944 he returned to the Reich Security Main Office in Berlin and took over as Chief of Security Police in the field units of the Unit IV B.Wolfgang Graf: ''Österreichische SS-Generäle. Himmlers verlässliche Vasallen'', Hermagoras-Verlag, Klagenfurt/ Ljubljana/ Wien 2012, p. 312f On 25 April 1945, he died in an air raid on

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 ...

. Achamer-Pifrader married Maria Hauser (born 1906 in Salzburg) in 1929, with whom he had three children.

References

Literature

* Helmut Krausnick / Hans-Heinrich Wilhelm: ''Die Truppe des Weltanschauungskrieges'', DVA, Stuttgart 1981 .

External links

Biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Achamer-Pifrader, Humbert 1900 births 1945 deaths SS-Oberführer Einsatzgruppen personnel Gestapo personnel Holocaust perpetrators Austrian Nazi lawyers Reich Security Main Office personnel University of Innsbruck alumni Austro-Hungarian military personnel of World War I People from Teplice Sudeten German people Deaths by airstrike during World War II Austrian military personnel killed in World War II