Karl Wolff
Karl Wolff | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Karl Friedrich Otto Wolff |
| Nickname(s) | Butcher of Northern Italy |
| Born | 13 May 1900 Germany |
| Died | Germany 16 July 1984 (aged 84) |
| Allegiance | Germany |
| Branch | Imperial German Army, Waffen-SS |
| Years of service | 1917-1945 |
| Rank | SS-Obergruppenfuhrer (General) |
| Unit | Italian SS |
| Commands | Waffen-SS and German Army infantry tank detachments |
Karl Friedrich Otto Wolff (1900-1984) was a German Nazi Army SS-General (from 1933-1945) in the Waffen-SS ground army of the SS led by Heinrich Himmler during World War 2 and is the Chief of the Nazi German Forces (both Waffen-SS and regular Heer detachments from the Wehrmacht and as well as some SS-Police forces like the Gestapo,Ordnungpolizei) in North Italy after the overthrow of Benito Mussolini in 1943 . He was also the boss of the infamous Herbert Kappler from 1943-1945 .
Karl Wolff served the Imperial German Army in Germany from 1917-1919 as an infantry soldier and later joined the National Socialist German Workers Party in 1931 led by Adolf Hitler as well as the Sturmabteilung and SS . In 1933 he was promoted to SS-General and became a Chief of Heinrich Himmler’s staff and was rivals with Reinhard Heydrich . In 1943 he was sent to Italy with SS-Gestapo Colonel Herbert Kappler and both infamous Nazis deported Jewish people to Nazi concentration camp’s in Germany but luckily Hugh o Flaherty rescued some of them and some Jews to escape the Nazis to the Vatican . After the war Karl Wolff was convicted of war crimes and genocide after the surrender of German Troops and tank forces in Italy in April 1945 before Wilhelm Keitel signed the surrender in May 1945. He died in 1984 (aged 84).
| SS Rank | German Army Rank Equivalent | Year |
|---|---|---|
| SS-Oberfuhrer | Colonel (Oberst) or Brigadier-General | 1931-1933 |
| Brigadefuhrer | Brigadier-General or Major General | 1933-1934 |
| Gruppenfuhrer | Major-General or Lieutenant General | 1934-1939 |
| Obergruppenfuhrer | Lieutenant General or General | 1940-1945 |