Karl Kaleske http://www.HolocaustResearchProject.org

Karl Kaleske was born on the 19 February 1895 in Dobrin, Poland. He served with the 61^st Infantry Regiment in World War One, and won an Iron Cross 2^nd Class. He was also wounded in the conflict.

He entered the police in 1922 and was married in 1925. His SS number of 290196 indicates he entered this organisation in 1937. Karl Kaleske joined the Nazi Party on 1 January 1940 with membership number 7906104.

He was promoted to Untersturmfuhrer on 20 April 1939 while serving in the SD Main Office in Berlin, and he also served with the Gestapo in Koszalin, Poland.

Karl Kaleske was adjutant to Jurgen Stroop, who crushed the Jews of Warsaw in the most brutal fashion during the Warsaw Ghetto uprising in April / May 1943.

Kaleske survived the war and in 1946 the prosecution for the International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg obtained an affidavit from Kaleske that was used as evidence against Ernst Kaltenbrunner, the successor to Reinhard Heydrich as head of the RSHA in Berlin.

A portion of the statement reads:

My name is Karl Kaleske I was adjutant to Dr von Sammern-Frankenegg from November 1942 until April 1943, while he was SS and Police Leader of Warsaw.

I then became adjutant to SS and Police Leader Stroop until August 1943, the aktion against the Warsaw Ghetto was planned while von Sammern –Frankenegg was SS and Police Leader.

General Stroop took over the command on the day of the commencement of the aktion. The function of the Security Police during the aktion against the Warsaw Ghetto was to accompany the SS troops.

A certain number of SS troops were assigned to the task to clear a certain street, with every SS group there were from four to six Security Policemen, because they knew the ghetto very well.

These Security Policemen were under Dr Hahn, Commander of the Security Police of Warsaw. Hahn received his orders not from the SS and Police Leader of Warsaw, but directly from Ernst Kaltenbrunner in Berlin.

von Sammern

This applies not only to the Ghetto aktion but also to all matters, Dr Hahn frequently came to our office and told the SS and Police Leader that he had received such and such an order from Kaltenbrunner about the contents of which he wanted to inform the SS and Police Leader only.

He would not do this for every order but only for certain ones ….. I remember the case of 300 foreign Jews who had been collected in the Polski Hotel by the Security Police. Kaltenbrunner ordered the Security Police to transport these people.

During my time in Warsaw the Security Police were in charge of matters concerning the underground movement, the Security Police handled these matters independently of the SS and Police Leader, and received their orders from Kaltenbrunner in Berlin.

Clearing the ghetto street by street

Kaleske’s testimony was extremely damaging to Ernst Kaltenbrunner who was hanged at Nuremberg in October 1946.

Sources:

The Ghetto Men by French L Maclean, published by Atglen PA Schiffer Military History 2001.

Holocaust Historical Society.