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{{Short description|German Nazi Party official, Higher SS and Police Leader}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name =
| image = Eberstein.hoffman1.jpg
| caption = Eberstein in 1938
| term_start =
| term_end =
| predecessor =
| successor =
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1894|1|14|df=y}}
| birth_place = [[Halle (Saale)|Halle]], [[German Empire]]
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1979|2|10|1894|1|14|df=y}}
| death_place = [[Tegernsee]], [[West Germany]]
| restingplace =
| birthname =
| nationality = German
| party = [[Nazi Party]]
| otherparty
| spouse =
| children =
| residence =
| occupation =
| profession =
| committees =
| rank =
}}
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Eberstein was born on 14 January 1894 in [[Halle, Saxony-Anhalt|Halle on the Saale]],<ref name=reichstagdb2/> of the Dillenburger branch of the von Eberstein family.<ref>''Family News'', 1958. The Dillenburger branch was started by Karl (1687–1725), grandson of [[:de:Ernst Albrecht von Eberstein|Ernst Albrecht von Eberstein]]. See [http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Eberstein-Familien-Zeitung_Nr10_1900.pdf Familien Zeitung Nr10, 1900, foldout]</ref> His father was an army major. Karl was at cadet schools until 1912.<ref name=yerger41/> Early on in [[World War I]], Karl served in the German Army with Field Artillery Regiment 17 in August 1914.<ref name = reichstagdb2>[http://daten.digitale-sammlungen.de/~db/bsb00000147/images/index.html?nativeno=136 Reichstag, ''Der Deutscher Reichstag'', pg 136]</ref> He was also a balloon observer, and later a battery commander in Artillery Regiment 16.<ref name=yerger41/> He was awarded the [[Iron Cross]] Second Class and the Iron Cross First Class.<ref name=reichstagdb2/> After World War I, Eberstein fought as a member of the [[Freikorps]] in Middle Germany and/or [[Upper Silesia]],<ref name=reichstagdb2/> and also with the Halle "Protection Police".<ref name=yerger41>Yerger, p 41</ref> After that, he went into banking.<ref name=reichstagdb2/>
Eberstein joined the
Eberstein eventually reached the high rank of SS-''[[Obergruppenführer]]'',<ref name=reichstagdb2/><ref name=nuremberg-v20d194>IMT, Trial of the Major War Criminals, Vol 20 Day 194</ref> held two [[HSSPF]] posts, and was the Führer of ''[[SS-Oberabschnitt]] Mitte'' (and Elbe when Mitte was absorbed), and then later Führer of ''[[SS-Oberabschnitt]] Süd'' for over 10 years.<ref>Yerger, pp 31, 36, 86, 88, and 106</ref>
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The [[Gestapo]] was having problems with certain military officers, especially Major Meinel, who were not cooperating. Meinel was the army officer in charge of POWs for Munich and its surrounding areas. The Gestapo had been "screening" Soviet POWs in Stalag VII A Moosburg, and then shipping the "screened out" people to Dachau where they were murdered. Meinel discovered the murders were going on, and refused to follow orders to send several hundred of the remaining "screened out" Soviets to Dachau. He also complained to his superiors in the military about what was happening. "Screened out" people included anyone who was Jewish, any officers, believers in communism, incurably sick people, etc., but the Gestapo told Meinel their methods of screening were not his business.<ref name="ReferenceA">See the IMT, Nazi Conspiracy and Aggression, Supplement A. Also see the book by Otto, and the book by Steimer.</ref>
Eberstein became involved. In the book "Nazi Conspiracy and Aggression", several telex / telegrams between the various offices involved have been translated and reproduced. These telegrams state that von Eberstein telephoned the [[
== Authority over Dachau concentration camp ==
{{
On 12 March 1938, Eberstein was appointed Higher [[SS and Police Leader]] (HSSPF) for military district VII in Munich. In addition, on 17 December 1942 he was appointed HSSPF for the military district XIII in Nüremberg. [[Dachau concentration camp]] fell under Eberstein's authority as HSSPF.
== Dismissal from posts ==
Karl von Eberstein was dismissed from all posts on 20 April 1945 for "defeatism", by ''Gauleiter'' [[Paul Giesler]], on orders from [[Martin Bormann]].<ref name="Yerger, pp 41, 106">Yerger, pp. 41, 106.</ref> The charge of "defeatism"
== Nuremberg testimony ==
Eberstein was a witness at the [[Nuremberg Trials]]. He was interviewed by
Eberstein also discussed his perspective on the [[Night of the Long Knives]] and ''[[Kristallnacht]]''. In the latter, he claimed that he ordered his police to protect Jewish businesses, claiming, "We in the SS considered this action downright indecent", and blamed the events on a speech by [[Joseph Goebbels]].<ref name=nuremberg-v20d194/> However, given the telegrams Eberstein sent on that night, his claims cannot be seen as carrying any weight. He also briefly discussed the treatment of downed enemy pilots, per the [[Geneva Convention]] and Hague Rules on Land Warfare.<ref name=nuremberg-v20d194/>
=== Denied involvement in Dachau concentration camp and the HSSPF ===
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Eberstein claimed to have given tours of Dachau concentration camp, on orders from Himmler, from 1936 onward. These tours included some Americans. Eberstein stated there was no reason to inspect the camps, and he had no right to do so; they appeared to be run sufficiently and during the war inmates looked "well fed". In Spring of 1944, Eberstein claimed he became aware of abhorrent medical experiments involving [[Sigmund Rascher]] and had Rascher arrested; he complained to Himmler as to the matter. Eberstein stated that Rascher was kept under arrest until 1945, but that he had no power over Rascher.<ref name=nuremberg-v20d194/>
Eberstein stated that he had no authority over the camp commander, and didn't know about the numerous executions inside the camp. Eberstein claimed he had nothing to do with [[Adolf Eichmann]]
<blockquote>In the fall of 1944 Himmler transferred to the Higher SS and Police Leaders the responsibility for safeguarding prisoner-of-war camps against mass escapes and against attempts from the outside to liberate prisoners. For this purpose, the Higher SS and Police Leaders were made senior commanders of the prisoners of war in their defense areas. According to international regulations regarding prisoners of war, police could not be used to guard prisoners of war, so the Higher SS and Police Leaders were taken over into the [[Waffen-SS]] and appointed generals of the Waffen-SS. - Eberstein's 1946 Nuremberg explanation for how he came to be in the Waffen-SS and to have some authority over POWs.<ref name=nuremberg-v20d195/></blockquote>
Eberstein claimed he had a dispute with ''[[Gauleiter]]'' [[Paul Giesler]], after Giesler ordered him to kill prisoners should the Americans approach, and he refused. He stated the general SS mostly ceased to exist by the start of the war, and that the ''Gauleiters''
== Denazification ==
{{
The [[Denazification]] of Germany included the classification of ex-Nazis into one of
== Timeline ==
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* 1934 Dec 15 to 1936 Mar 31. District Governor (''Kreishauptmann''), Dresden-Bautzen<ref name=reichstagdb2/>
* 1936. In Munich <ref name=nuremberg-v20d194/>
* 1936 January 30. Becomes SS-''[[
* 1936 April 1. Führer of ''[[SS-Oberabschnitt]] Süd''. Police president of Munich <ref name=reichstagdb2/><ref>Munich being the [[:de:Haupstadt de Bewegung|''Haupstadt de Bewegung'']], or 'capital of the movement'</ref>
* 1938 Mar 12 to 1942 Dec 17. [[HSSPF]] 'Main' (Benno Martin was de facto HSSPF)<ref>Yeger, p 36</ref>
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* Grand Cross of the [[Order of the Roman Eagle]] with swords (Italy)
==
{{Reflist|30em}}
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* Family Association of von Eberstein, descending from the Rhön. ''Family News'', February 1958. Heiligenholz, Bavaria, Germany. (Translation of Geschlechtsverband derer von Eberstein stammend von der Rhön).
* {{cite book | last = Ailsby | first = Christopher | title = SS: Roll of Infamy | year = 1997 | publisher = Motorbooks Intl | isbn = 0760304092
* {{cite book | author= Campbell, Bruce | title = The SA Generals and the Rise of Nazism | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=I3mw3hfbXKQC | isbn=978-0-8131-9098-3 | year=2004 | publisher=University Press of Kentucky}}
* {{cite book | author = International Military Tribunal at Nurnberg | title = Nazi Conspiracy and Aggression | publisher = USGPO | url = https://www.loc.gov/rr/frd/Military_Law/NT_Nazi-conspiracy.html | date = c. 1947 }}
* {{cite book | last = MacDonald | first = Callum | year = 1989 | title = The Killing of Reinhard Heydrich: The SS 'Butcher of Prague' | publisher = Da Capo Press | location = New York | isbn = 978-0-306-80860-9
* {{cite book | last1 = Manvell | first1 = Roger | last2 = Fraenkel | first2 = Heinrich | title = Heinrich Himmler: The Sinister Life of the Head of the SS and Gestapo | year = 2007 |
* {{cite book | last = McNab | first = Chris | title = The SS: 1923–1945 | publisher = Amber Books | location = London | year = 2009 | isbn = 978-1-906626-49-5
* {{cite book | title = Royals and the Reich| author =
* {{cite book | last = Williams | first = Max | year = 2001 | title = Reinhard Heydrich: The Biography, Volume 1—Road To War | publisher = Ulric Publishing | location = Church Stretton | isbn = 978-0-9537577-5-6
* {{cite book| author=[[Mark C. Yerger|Yerger, Mark C.]] | title = Allgemeine-SS: The Commands, Units, and Leaders of the General SS |year = 1997 | publisher = Schiffer Publishing Ltd | location = Atglen, PA |isbn = 0-7643-0145-4 }}
'''German'''
* {{cite book | title = Der Deutsche Reichstag 1936 III Wahlperiode nach dem 30. January 1933
| author = Reichstag |location = Berlin |date = May 1936| publisher = R. b. Decker's Verlag, G Schenck |url = http://daten.digitale-sammlungen.de/~db/bsb00000147/images/index.html?seite=2 | language =
* {{cite book | author = Otto, Reinhard | title = Wehrmacht, Gestapo und sowjetische Kriegsgefangene im deutschen Reichsgebiet 1941/42 | publisher = Oldenbourg Wissenschaftsverlag | year = 1998 |
* {{cite book | author = Streim, Alfred | title = Sowjetische Gefangene in Hitlers Vernichtungskrieg. Berichte und Dokumente 1939–1945. |location = Heidelberg | publisher = C. F. Müller Juristischer Verlag | year =1982 }}. Pages 36–38, 45, 103-107. Excerpt at http://www.moosburg.org/info/stalag/meinel.html (translate.google.com used)
* {{cite book | title = Biographisches Lexikon zum Dritten Reich | author = Weiß, Hermann (Hg.) | publisher = S. Fischer Verlag GmbH | location = Frankfurt am Main | year = 1998 | isbn = 3-10-091052-4 }}
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| title = Dr. Munich No. 47 769: To the State Police of Augsburg, Nurnberg and Wurzburg. / Anti-Jewish Measures.
| author = Beutel, SS Oberfuhrer
| language =
| date = 1938-11-10
|
| url = http://library2.lawschool.cornell.edu/donovan/show.asp?id=465&query=
| title = Donovan Nuremberg Trial Collection, Vol 1
| publisher = Cornell University Law School Library
|
*{{cite web
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| title = Munich 47 768: To State Police Hq Augsburg, Nurnberg, et al. / Anti-Jewish Measures.
| author = Eberstein, Karl Friedrich Freiherr von
| language =
| pages = 23, 24
▲| accessdate = 2008-12-31 }} From {{cite web
| url = http://library2.lawschool.cornell.edu/donovan/show.asp?id=464&query=
| title = Donovan Nuremberg Trial Collection, Vol 1, Subdivision: The Case Against the Nazi Secret Police, Security and Intelligence System and Ernst Kaltenbrunner
| publisher = Cornell University Law School Library
|
*{{cite web|author=Evans, Richard J. |url=http://www.hdot.org/trial/defense/evans/430ciiD#evans_430ciiD5n42 |title=David Irving, Hitler and Holocaust Denial: Electronic Edition 4.3.c.ii.d. Manipulation of Evidence: the Eberstein Testimony |publisher=Emory University, Beck Center & Addison Wesley & Davenport Lyons Solicitors, London, 1999. |work=Holocaust Denial on Trial. Irving v Lipstadt. Defense Documents. |
*{{cite web
| url = http://www.bundestag.de/htdocs_e/history/parlia/roots.html
|
| author = German Bundestag
| title = Roots of parliamentarianism
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}}
*{{cite web|url=http://www.hdot.org/trial/judgement/13.08 |title=Irving v. Lipstadt Judgment. (Electronic Edition) |author=Gray, Charles. |work=Holocaust Denial on Trial |publisher=Emory University |
*{{cite web
| url = http://www.historisches-lexikon-bayerns.de/artikel/artikel_44621
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| work = Historisches Lexikon Bayerns (Historical Dictionary of Bavaria)
| publisher = Bayerischen Staatsbibliothek (Bavarian State Library)
|
}}
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| title = Irving vs. Lipstadt Judgment, Part XIII
| publisher = The Nizkor Project
|
| archive-date = 2008-12-25
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20081225124258/http://www.nizkor.org/hweb/people/i/irving-david/judgment-13-01.html
| url-status = dead
}}
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| url = http://avalon.law.yale.edu/imt/defense.asp
| title = Nuremberg Trial Proceedings Volume 1, Individual Defendants and Defense Counsel
|
| author = International Military Tribunal, Trial of the Major War Criminals
| publisher = Avalon Project, Lillian Goldman Law Library, Yale Law School. Also William S. Hein & Co. Inc.
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| url = http://avalon.law.yale.edu/imt/prosecu.asp
| title = Nuremberg Trial Proceedings Volume 1, Prosecution Counsel
|
| author = International Military Tribunal, Trial of the Major War Criminals
| publisher = Avalon Project, Lillian Goldman Law Library, Yale Law School. Also William S. Hein & Co. Inc.
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| title = Nuremberg Trial Proceedings Volume 20, Day 194
| date = 3 Aug 1946
|
| author = International Military Tribunal, Trial of the Major War Criminals
| publisher = Avalon Project, Lillian Goldman Law Library, Yale Law School. Also William S. Hein & Co. Inc.
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| title = Nuremberg Trial Proceedings Volume 20, Day 195
| date = 5 Aug 1946
|
| author = International Military Tribunal, Trial of the Major War Criminals
| publisher = Avalon Project, Lillian Goldman Law Library, Yale Law School. Also William S. Hein & Co. Inc.
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[[Category:1894 births]]
[[Category:1979 deaths]]
[[Category:
[[Category:People from the Province of Saxony]]▼
[[Category:German National People's Party politicians]]▼
[[Category:Nazi Party politicians]]▼
[[Category:Members of the Reichstag of the Weimar Republic]]▼
[[Category:Barons of Germany]]▼
[[Category:Dachau concentration camp]]
[[Category:German Army personnel of World War I]]
▲[[Category:German National People's Party politicians]]
[[Category:Holocaust perpetrators in Germany]]
[[Category:Kapp Putsch participants]]
[[Category:Members of the Reichstag 1933–1936]]
▲[[Category:Nazi Party politicians]]
[[Category:Nuremberg trials]]
[[Category:
▲[[Category:People from the Province of Saxony]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Iron Cross (1914), 1st class]]
[[Category:Recipients of the
[[Category:
[[Category:SS-Obergruppenführer]]
[[Category:Sturmabteilung personnel]]
[[Category:
[[Category:
[[Category:Members of the Reichstag 1936–1938]]
[[Category:Members of the Reichstag 1938–1945]]
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