Walter Reder (4 February 1915 – 26 April 1991) was an Austrian SS commander and

war criminal A war crime is a violation of the laws of war that gives rise to individual criminal responsibility for actions by combatants in action, such as intentionally killing civilians or intentionally killing prisoners of war, torture, taking hostage ...

during World War II. He served with the SS Division Totenkopf and the SS Division Reichsführer-SS. He and the unit under his command committed the Vinca massacre and

Marzabotto massacre The Marzabotto massacre (in Italian ''strage di Marzabotto'', "Marzabotto slaughter"), or more correctly, the massacre of Monte Sole, was a World War II war crime consisting of the mass murder of 1,830 civilians by Nazi troops, which took plac ...

in Italy in 1944. After the war, Reder was convicted of war crimes in Italy.

Early life

Walter Reder was born in Freiwaldau,

Austrian Silesia Austrian Silesia, officially the Duchy of Upper and Lower Silesia, was an autonomous region of the Kingdom of Bohemia and the Habsburg monarchy (from 1804 the Austrian Empire, and from 1867 the Cisleithanian portion of Austria-Hungary). It is la ...

, Austria-Hungary. His family was of conservative orientation. After World War I and the

dissolution of Austria-Hungary The dissolution of Austria-Hungary was a major political event that occurred as a result of the growth of internal social contradictions and the separation of different parts of Austria-Hungary. The more immediate reasons for the collapse of the ...

, the family left Austrian Silesia and settled in Garsten near

Steyr Steyr (; ) is a statutory city (Austria), 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 3rd lar ...

, their ancestral home. Reder's father, Rudolf, worked at the ''Brotfabrik Reders Söhne'' ("Bread Factory Reder's Sons") in Garsten and founded a calculator factory in 1925. According to press records from the 1920s, the company was not financially stable and went bankrupt in 1928. Subsequently, Reder's father received a prison sentence for fraud. As a result of the bankruptcy, Reder left his family and settled with an aunt in Vienna. In 1932, he left for

Linz Linz (Pronunciation: , ; ) is the capital of Upper Austria and List of cities and towns in Austria, third-largest city in Austria. Located on the river Danube, the city is in the far north of Austria, south of the border with the Czech Repub ...

and received education at the . That same year, he joined the

Hitler Youth The Hitler Youth ( , often abbreviated as HJ, ) was the youth wing of the German Nazi Party. Its origins date back to 1922 and it received the name ("Hitler Youth, League of German Worker Youth") in July 1926. From 1936 until 1945, it was th ...

SS career

Reder joined the

SS-Verfügungstruppe (SS-VT, ) was formed in 1934 as combat troops for the Nazi Party (NSDAP). On 17 August 1938 Adolf Hitler decreed that the SS-VT was neither a part of the (order police) nor the , but military-trained men at the disposal of the . In time of wa ...

and was granted German citizenship in December 1934. During World War II, he served in the

Waffen-SS The (; ) was the military branch, combat branch of the Nazi Party's paramilitary ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) organisation. Its formations included men from Nazi Germany, along with Waffen-SS foreign volunteers and conscripts, volunteers and conscr ...

. In March 1943 he was wounded and lost his left arm. Upon recovering, he was assigned to the SS Panzergrenadier Training and Replacement Battalion 3. (This unit was involved in the

Warsaw Ghetto Uprising The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising was the 1943 act of Jewish resistance in the Warsaw Ghetto in German-occupied Poland during World War II to oppose Nazi Germany's final effort to transport the remaining ghetto population to the gas chambers of the ...

of April-July 1943). In December 1943, Reder was transferred to the newly formed

16th SS Panzergrenadier Division Reichsführer-SS The 16th SS Panzergrenadier Division "Reichsführer-SS" () was a motorised infantry formation in the Waffen-SS of Nazi Germany during World War II. The division, during its time in Italy, committed a number of war crimes, and, together with the ...

and served in Italy until 1945. In 1943, Reder became the commander of the SS-Panzer-Aufklärungsabteilung 16, which committed several massacres in 1944. In March 1945, his division withdrew to Hungary and later to Austria. Reder was taken into custody by U.S. soldiers, who then handed him over to British forces near Klagenfurt.

Trial and conviction

Reder was extradited to Italy in May 1948 to stand trial for war crimes. He was tried by an Italian military court in Bologna for ordering the destruction of town of

Marzabotto Marzabotto ( Medial Mountain Bolognese: ) is a small town and ''comune'' in Italian region Emilia-Romagna, part of the Metropolitan City of Bologna. It is located south-southwest of Bologna by rail, and lies in the valley of the Reno. The area in ...

and other villages near Bologna in August and September of 1944 during so-called anti-partisan sweeps, and for ordering the execution of 2,700 Italian civilians in

Tuscany Tuscany ( ; ) is a Regions of Italy, region in central Italy with an area of about and a population of 3,660,834 inhabitants as of 2025. The capital city is Florence. Tuscany is known for its landscapes, history, artistic legacy, and its in ...

and Emilia during the same period. In October 1951, he was sentenced to life imprisonment at a fortress prison in

Gaeta Gaeta (; ; Southern Latian dialect, Southern Laziale: ''Gaieta'') is a seaside resort in the province of Latina in Lazio, Italy. Set on a promontory stretching towards the Gulf of Gaeta, it is from Rome and from Naples. The city has played ...

, on the

Tyrrhenian Sea The Tyrrhenian Sea (, ; or ) , , , , is part of the Mediterranean Sea off the western coast of Italy. It is named for the Tyrrhenians, Tyrrhenian people identified with the Etruscans of Italy. Geography The sea is bounded by the islands of C ...

coast between Naples and Rome. The citizens of Marzabotto and survivors of the massacre voted 237 to 1 against freeing Reder. Local officials had stated that as many as 1,830 civilians died in massacres in and around Marzabotto. Years later, a group of SS men whom Reder had commanded in 1944 were tried and convicted for their role in the Sant'Anna di Stazzema massacre. Their convictions and sentencing were conducted in absentia. Reder was paroled in January 1985, after which he returned to Austria. He died in 1991.

References

Sources

* ''Beschluss des Militärtribunals van Bari (Italien) vom 14. Juli 1980'', translation by the court interpreter Dr. Oscar Groschup, commissioned by advocat general Dr. Robert Linke, Ministry of Justice, Austria * ''Marzabotto: The Crimes of Walter Reder - SS-Sturmbannführer'', by (Vienna, 1985) * Barbara Tóth: ''Der Handschlag. Die Affäre Frischenschlager-Reder.'' Dissertation an der

Universität Wien The University of Vienna (, ) is a public research university in Vienna, Austria. Founded by Duke Rudolph IV in 1365, it is the oldest university in the German-speaking world and among the largest institutions of higher learning in Europe. Th ...

, Wien 2010
Volltext
DF; 1,5 MB 10. Juni 2010).

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Reder, Walter 1915 births 1991 deaths Austrian Legion personnel Austrian mass murderers Austrian Nazis convicted of war crimes Austrian people imprisoned abroad Austrian prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment Austrian Waffen-SS personnel Germans convicted of war crimes committed in Italy during World War II People extradited from Austria People extradited to Italy People from Austrian Silesia People from Jeseník People paroled from life sentence Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by Italy Recipients of the Gold German Cross Recipients of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross SS-Sturmbannführer World War II prisoners of war held by the United States