Martin Sandberger facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Martin Sandberger
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Sandberger's mugshot for the Nuremberg Military Tribunal (1 March 1948)
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| Born | 17 August 1911 |
| Died | 30 March 2010 (aged 98) |
| Occupation | Lawyer, judicial clerk, Nazi official |
| Conviction(s) | Crimes against humanity War crimes Membership in a criminal organization |
| Criminal penalty | Death; commuted to life imprisonment; further commuted to time served |
Martin Sandberger (born August 17, 1911 – died March 30, 2010) was a German SS officer during the Nazi era. He was found guilty of terrible actions during the Holocaust. He led a special unit called Sonderkommando 1a of Einsatzgruppe A. This unit operated when Nazi Germany took over Estonia during World War II.
Sandberger was responsible for the mass killings of Jewish people in German-occupied Latvia and Estonia. He also helped arrest Jewish people in Italy. They were then sent to the Auschwitz concentration camp. Sandberger was one of the highest-ranking officers from his unit to be tried. He was also the last person still alive who was tried at the Nuremberg Military Tribunals.
Early Life and Joining the Nazis
Growing Up and Studying
Martin Sandberger was born in Charlottenburg, a part of Berlin, Germany. His father was a director at a large company called IG Farben. Sandberger studied law at several universities in Germany.
Joining the Nazi Party
When he was 20 years old, Sandberger joined the Nazi Party. He also joined the SA, which was a Nazi group. From 1932 to 1933, he was a Nazi student leader in Tübingen. On March 8, 1933, Sandberger and another student, Erich Ehrlinger, raised the Nazi flag at the University of Tübingen. Ehrlinger also later led a special unit that committed many murders.
By 1935, Sandberger had earned his doctorate degree in law. He worked for the Nazi student League. He eventually became a university inspector. In 1936, he joined the SS, another powerful Nazi organization. He worked for the SD, which was the intelligence service of the SS.
By 1938, he had become an SS Sturmbannführer, which is like a major. He also worked as a judge's assistant and became a government official in 1937.
Actions During World War II
Role in Occupied Territories
After Germany invaded Poland in September 1939, Heinrich Himmler started a plan called Heim ins Reich. This plan involved moving out Polish people from certain areas. They were replaced with ethnic Germans from other countries. On October 13, 1939, Himmler put Sandberger in charge of an office. This office decided if German immigrants were "racially pure" enough to live in these areas.
In June 1941, Sandberger became the leader of Sonderkommando 1a. This was a special unit of Einsatzgruppe A. When Germany invaded the Soviet Union on June 22, 1941, Sandberger traveled with the commander of Einsatzgruppe A. Sandberger was involved in planning for the RSHA, a main Nazi security office.
The "Führer Order"
The Sicherheitsdienst (SD) was a Nazi group that played a big part in the The Holocaust in the Baltic states. The SD believed there was a secret order from Hitler, called a Führerbefehl. This order was to kill Jewish people. Sandberger learned about this order from Bruno Streckenbach, an official from the Reich Security Main Office (RSHA).
Sandberger later said that Streckenbach gave a speech about the Führer order. Streckenbach also told Sandberger directly that all Jewish people, Romani people, and communists should be killed. This was to "secure" the Eastern territories.
Actions in Estonia
Sandberger entered Riga with his unit. They destroyed synagogues and killed 400 Jewish people. They also set up groups to cause attacks against Jewish people. Later, during his trial, Sandberger tried to say he wasn't responsible. But the court found that he was in Riga and knew about these events.
In July 1941, Sandberger was sent to Estonia. His commander, Stahlecker, told him to carry out the Führer order there. Sandberger's unit began shooting Jewish people, Romani, communists, and mentally ill people. A report from October 15, 1941, showed that 474 Jewish people and 684 communists were killed in Estonia.
A report stated that almost all Jewish men over 16 had been arrested. Most were killed by local units under Sandberger's control. Jewish women who could work were arrested and forced to do hard labor. A camp was being built to gather all Estonian Jewish people. The goal was to make Estonia "free of Jews."
Other people were arrested and sent to concentration camps. A report from July 9, 1941, said that about 14,500 communists were arrested in Estonia. About 1,000 were shot, and 5,377 were sent to concentration camps.
On September 10, 1941, Sandberger ordered that all Jewish people be interned. This led to 450 Jewish people being held in a camp in Pskov, Russia. These people were later killed.
Sandberger was highly praised for his work in the SS. He was described as very hardworking and effective. On December 3, 1941, he became the commander of the Security Police and SD for Estonia.
Actions in Italy
Sandberger returned to Germany in September 1943. In late 1943, he became the Gestapo chief in Verona, Italy. In this role, he helped arrest Jewish people in Northern Italy. He also organized their transport to the Auschwitz concentration camp.
Later Role in Intelligence
In January 1944, Sandberger became a department head in the Reich Security Main Office. This was the foreign intelligence service. He managed the organization's money and records. He was also a direct contact between his boss and Heinrich Himmler.
After the war, Sandberger tried to avoid being charged. He shared secret information with British investigators. He tried to convince them that he had not committed any specific crimes in Estonia. However, later reports from the Einsatzgruppen were found. These reports showed his involvement in terrible actions.
After the War: His Trial
The Charges and His Defense
In the Einsatzgruppen trial, Sandberger was charged with crimes against humanity and war crimes. He was also charged with being part of a criminal organization (the SS). During his trial, Sandberger said he was not responsible for the killings. He tried to blame German police and Estonian local guards. But the court found that these groups were under his control.
Sandberger also claimed he arrested Jewish people in Pskov to protect them. He hoped the order to kill them would be canceled. He said he was only responsible for "a fraction" of the killings, about 300 to 350 people.
He admitted that he knew about the large number of communists arrested and shot. He also admitted that he collected Jewish people in camps, knowing they would likely be shot. He said these killings were done by men under his command.
Sandberger claimed he protested against the cruel "Führer order." But the Nuremberg Military Tribunal did not believe him. They found that he willingly followed the order.
The Verdict and Sentence
Sandberger was found guilty of all charges. In September 1947, Judge Michael Musmanno sentenced him to death by hanging.
Despite political pressure, General Lucius D. Clay confirmed Sandberger's death sentence in 1949. However, in 1951, Sandberger's sentence was changed to life imprisonment. This was done by a clemency board under John J. McCloy, a U.S. official in Germany. McCloy faced political pressure from Senator William Langer. Many of Langer's voters were of German descent. Langer felt that only the highest-ranking Nazis should be tried.
Release from Prison
Sandberger's father, a retired director from IG Farben, used his connections. He contacted the West German president, Theodor Heuss. Heuss then asked the U.S. Ambassador for a pardon. Many important people asked for Sandberger to be released early. These included the Minister of Justice and a bishop. A famous lawyer, Carlo Schmid, also spoke in favor of his release.
By late 1957, only four war criminals were still in prison in West Germany. Sandberger was one of them. He had been denied parole several times. In 1958, the German government asked for parole for all four prisoners. Sandberger was denied parole, but the board voted to change his life sentence to time served. This meant he would be released.
The release became official on May 6, 1958. Sandberger was set free three days later. He then got a job as a legal advisor.
Until 1972, Sandberger was called as a witness in Nazi war crimes trials. For example, he testified in 1958 in a trial against the "Einsatzkommando Tilsit." Later investigations into his responsibility for killings were stopped. This was because he had already been convicted in 1948. German law prevented him from being tried again for the same crimes. Martin Sandberger died on March 30, 2010, at the age of 98.
