7133 - Ernst Kaltenbrunner Autograph Document Signed at Nuremberg, Appointing His Attorney

Ernst Kaltenbrunner Autograph Document Signed at Nuremberg, Appointing His Attorney ADS in pencil, in German, signed “Kaltenbrunner,” one page, 8 x 12.25, October 22, 1945. Handwritten document submitted to the General Secretary of the International Military Tribunal in Nuremberg, in full (translated): "As my defense counsel I should like to retain Dr. Barwirsch, Attorney at Law in Davos, Switzerland, and request that I be allowed to confer with him at the earliest possible moment. (Yesterday I erroneously gave Zurich as his address). In case Dr. Barwisch cannot be available at this time, I should like for him to choose another Swiss attorney to take over the case. If the retaining of a substitute defense counsel is necessary, I should like to mention: Dr. Arnulf Hummer, Att'y at Law, St. Poelten, Lower Austria, Dr. Huber, Att'y at Law, Salzburg, Kaigasse." Backed by archival paper and in fine condition, with professional cleaning and minor restorations. Accompanied by a contemporary English translation and a deckle-edge photograph of Kaltenbrunner's corpse after his execution by hanging. Written less than a month before the opening of the International Military Tribunal, this document captures Kaltenbrunner in the earliest stages of organizing his defense against charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity. As chief of the Reich Main Security Office (RSHA) and the highest-ranking surviving SS security official brought before the tribunal, he faced extensive evidence linking the agencies under his authority to concentration camps, mass executions, deportations, and other atrocities. Although Kaltenbrunner initially sought Swiss attorney Dr. Barwirsch—and carefully corrected the address he had supplied the previous day—his request did not result in that appointment; he was ultimately represented at Nuremberg by German attorney Dr. Kurt Kauffmann. Kauffmann’s defense sought to distance Kaltenbrunner personally from many of the crimes attributed to the RSHA, arguing in part that his responsibilities had centered more heavily on intelligence matters, but the tribunal rejected the central thrust of that defense and convicted him of war crimes and crimes against humanity. Kaltenbrunner was sentenced to death, and was executed by hanging on October 16, 1946.