Anton Malloth
Encyclopedia
Anton Malloth was a supervisor in the "Kleine Festung" (Small Fortress) part of the Theresienstadt concentration camp
.
, near Merano, in the Austrian province of South Tyrol
. His foster-parents ran a small agricultural business and guest-house. He did an apprenticeship as a butcher
and later became a lance corporal
in the Italian army, where he opted to serve in Germany
. In Innsbruck he received training as a "Schutzpolizei
" (a uniformed branch of the 3rd Reich police force) and later volunteered for police service in Prague
.
From June 1940 to May 1945, Malloth worked as a supervisor in the Gestapo
prison "Kleine Festung Theresienstadt", which was part of the larger Theresienstadt concentration camp. His nickname was "der schöne Toni" (The beautiful Toni). He was convicted of beating at least 100 prisoners to death and sentenced to life imprisonment in 2001, after escaping justice for 55 years.
After the end of the Second World War, Malloth went on the run for some time, living at his parents-in-laws' home in Wörgl
, Tyrol
. In early 1948, Malloth was arrested by the Austrian police. In the interrogation in front of a judge in Innsbruck, he played down his role in the Gestapo prison and denied having been involved with torture
and murder
.
An application for extradition
by the Czechoslovakia
n government was ignored by the Austrian justice department. Malloth was tried in absentia
in September 1948 in Czechoslovakia for war crimes in Theresienstadt, but by then Malloth had already been released by the Austrian court. After numerous witness testimonials, the Czechoslovakian court in Litoměřice
ruled that there was no doubt that Malloth had beaten to death about 100 detainees. The verdict was reversed in 1969, but the application for extradition was still pending.
From 1948 to 1988 Malloth lived undisturbed in Meran. In 1952 he became an Italian citizen. When his Italian citizenship was stripped, he became a German citizen in 1957.
In spite of several applications for extradition by Germany and Austria, the German consulate in Milan
issued him new passports as the previous ones expired. When he was expelled to Germany in 1988, the public prosecution department of Dortmund denied any extradition to Austria or Czechoslovakia. As there were no preliminary proceedings against Malloth, he was freed.
From 1988 to 2000, Malloth lived in Pullach
near Munich
. Gudrun Burwitz, the daughter of Heinrich Himmler
was instructed by the "Stille Hilfe
" to rent a comfortable room for him in a home for the aged, which was built on a lot formerly owned by Rudolf Hess
.
When it became public in the late nineties that the social welfare office had paid most of the expenses of Malloth's room, there was much criticism in the German media. The involvement of Himmler's daughter Gudrun Burwitz was also criticized.
Malloth was taken into custody on May 25, 2000 and charged by the public prosecution department in Munich. The trial started on April 23, 2001 in the prison in Munich
-Stadelheim
. On May 30, 2001 Malloth was convicted by the district court of Munich for murder and attempted murder and sentenced to life imprisonment.
Ten days before his death, cancer-suffering Malloth was declared unfit for prison and released.
Theresienstadt concentration camp
Theresienstadt concentration camp was a Nazi German ghetto during World War II. It was established by the Gestapo in the fortress and garrison city of Terezín , located in what is now the Czech Republic.-History:The fortress of Terezín was constructed between the years 1780 and 1790 by the orders...
.
Life
Malloth grew up in the town of SchennaSchenna
Schenna is a comune in South Tyrol in the Italian region Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol, located about 70 km north of the city of Trento and about 25 km northwest of the city of Bolzano .-Geography:...
, near Merano, in the Austrian province of South Tyrol
South Tyrol
South Tyrol , also known by its Italian name Alto Adige, is an autonomous province in northern Italy. It is one of the two autonomous provinces that make up the autonomous region of Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol. The province has an area of and a total population of more than 500,000 inhabitants...
. His foster-parents ran a small agricultural business and guest-house. He did an apprenticeship as a butcher
Butcher
A butcher is a person who may slaughter animals, dress their flesh, sell their meat or any combination of these three tasks. They may prepare standard cuts of meat, poultry, fish and shellfish for sale in retail or wholesale food establishments...
and later became a lance corporal
Lance Corporal
Lance corporal is a military rank, used by many armed forces worldwide, and also by some police forces and other uniformed organizations. It is below the rank of corporal, and is typically the lowest non-commissioned officer, usually equivalent to the NATO Rank Grade OR-3.- Etymology :The presumed...
in the Italian army, where he opted to serve in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
. In Innsbruck he received training as a "Schutzpolizei
Schutzpolizei
The Schutzpolizei , or Schupo for short, is a branch of the Landespolizei, the state level police of the German states. Schutzpolizei literally means security or protection police but is best translated as Uniformed Police....
" (a uniformed branch of the 3rd Reich police force) and later volunteered for police service in Prague
Prague
Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...
.
From June 1940 to May 1945, Malloth worked as a supervisor in the Gestapo
Gestapo
The Gestapo was the official secret police of Nazi Germany. Beginning on 20 April 1934, it was under the administration of the SS leader Heinrich Himmler in his position as Chief of German Police...
prison "Kleine Festung Theresienstadt", which was part of the larger Theresienstadt concentration camp. His nickname was "der schöne Toni" (The beautiful Toni). He was convicted of beating at least 100 prisoners to death and sentenced to life imprisonment in 2001, after escaping justice for 55 years.
After the end of the Second World War, Malloth went on the run for some time, living at his parents-in-laws' home in Wörgl
Wörgl
Wörgl is a town in Tyrol, Austria, in the Kufstein district. It is 20 km from the state border with Bavaria.-Transport:Wörgl is an important railway junction between the line from Innsbruck to Munich, and the inner-Austrian line to Salzburg...
, Tyrol
Tyrol (state)
Tyrol is a state or Bundesland, located in the west of Austria. It comprises the Austrian part of the historical region of Tyrol.The state is split into two parts–called North Tyrol and East Tyrol–by a -wide strip of land where the state of Salzburg borders directly on the Italian province of...
. In early 1948, Malloth was arrested by the Austrian police. In the interrogation in front of a judge in Innsbruck, he played down his role in the Gestapo prison and denied having been involved with torture
Torture
Torture is the act of inflicting severe pain as a means of punishment, revenge, forcing information or a confession, or simply as an act of cruelty. Throughout history, torture has often been used as a method of political re-education, interrogation, punishment, and coercion...
and murder
Murder
Murder is the unlawful killing, with malice aforethought, of another human being, and generally this state of mind distinguishes murder from other forms of unlawful homicide...
.
An application for extradition
Extradition
Extradition is the official process whereby one nation or state surrenders a suspected or convicted criminal to another nation or state. Between nation states, extradition is regulated by treaties...
by the Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...
n government was ignored by the Austrian justice department. Malloth was tried in absentia
In absentia
In absentia is Latin for "in the absence". In legal use, it usually means a trial at which the defendant is not physically present. The phrase is not ordinarily a mere observation, but suggests recognition of violation to a defendant's right to be present in court proceedings in a criminal trial.In...
in September 1948 in Czechoslovakia for war crimes in Theresienstadt, but by then Malloth had already been released by the Austrian court. After numerous witness testimonials, the Czechoslovakian court in Litoměřice
Litomerice
Litoměřice is a town at the junction of the rivers Elbe and Ohře in the north part of the Czech Republic, approximately 64 km northwest of Prague....
ruled that there was no doubt that Malloth had beaten to death about 100 detainees. The verdict was reversed in 1969, but the application for extradition was still pending.
From 1948 to 1988 Malloth lived undisturbed in Meran. In 1952 he became an Italian citizen. When his Italian citizenship was stripped, he became a German citizen in 1957.
In spite of several applications for extradition by Germany and Austria, the German consulate in Milan
Milan
Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...
issued him new passports as the previous ones expired. When he was expelled to Germany in 1988, the public prosecution department of Dortmund denied any extradition to Austria or Czechoslovakia. As there were no preliminary proceedings against Malloth, he was freed.
From 1988 to 2000, Malloth lived in Pullach
Pullach
Pullach, officially Pullach i. Isartal, is a municipality in the district of Munich in Bavaria in Germany. It is serviced by the S 7 line of the Munich S-Bahn, at the Großhesselohe Isartalbahnhof, Pullach and Höllriegelskreuth railway stations....
near Munich
Munich
Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...
. Gudrun Burwitz, the daughter of Heinrich Himmler
Heinrich Himmler
Heinrich Luitpold Himmler was Reichsführer of the SS, a military commander, and a leading member of the Nazi Party. As Chief of the German Police and the Minister of the Interior from 1943, Himmler oversaw all internal and external police and security forces, including the Gestapo...
was instructed by the "Stille Hilfe
Stille Hilfe
Die Stille Hilfe für Kriegsgefangene und Internierte abbreviated Stille Hilfe is a relief organization for arrested, condemned and fugitive SS members, similar to the veterans' association, set up by Helene Elizabeth Princess von Isenburg in 1951...
" to rent a comfortable room for him in a home for the aged, which was built on a lot formerly owned by Rudolf Hess
Rudolf Hess
Rudolf Walter Richard Hess was a prominent Nazi politician who was Adolf Hitler's deputy in the Nazi Party during the 1930s and early 1940s...
.
When it became public in the late nineties that the social welfare office had paid most of the expenses of Malloth's room, there was much criticism in the German media. The involvement of Himmler's daughter Gudrun Burwitz was also criticized.
Malloth was taken into custody on May 25, 2000 and charged by the public prosecution department in Munich. The trial started on April 23, 2001 in the prison in Munich
Munich
Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...
-Stadelheim
Stadelheim Prison
Stadelheim Prison, in Munich's Giesing district, is one of the largest prisons in Germany.Founded in 1894 it was the site of many executions, particularly by guillotine during the Nazi period.-Notable inmates:...
. On May 30, 2001 Malloth was convicted by the district court of Munich for murder and attempted murder and sentenced to life imprisonment.
Ten days before his death, cancer-suffering Malloth was declared unfit for prison and released.
Literature
- Oliver Schröm/ Andrea Röpke, Stille Hilfe für braune Kameraden, Christoph Links Verlag, 2002, ISBN 978-3-86153-231-6
- Ernst Klee, Was sie taten - Was sie wurden, Fischer Taschenbuch (4364), 12. Auflage 1998, ISBN 978-3-596-24364-8
- Ernst Klee, Persilscheine und falsche Pässe, Fischer Taschenbuch (10956), 5. Aufl. 1991), ISBN 978-3-596-10956-2
External links
- Nikola Friedrich: Wer nicht fühlen will, muß hören?
- Peter Finkelgruen: Der Justizskandal ist noch nicht aufgeklärt
- Thomas Karny: Rechenschaft statt Rache. Nach 56 Jahren steht der SS-Mann Anton Malloth vor Gericht. In: Wiener ZeitungWiener ZeitungWiener Zeitung is an Austrian newspaper. It is one of the most famous newspapers in Europe and one of the oldest, still published newspapers in the world. It is the official publication used by the Government of the Republic of Austria for its formal announcements. It was founded in 1703 under the...
, 25. Mai 2001 - Presse-Infos zum Fall Malloth